Taxer Sundown, a significant land baron, exerted control over a substantial portion of the moisture farming lands located on Ord Mantell around 37 BBY, in the final decades of the Galactic Republic.
Sundown came to Ord Mantell intending to "clean up" the world, but his method involved eliminating the existing land barons and seizing their businesses. He then attributed these deaths to the Mantellian Savrips, provoking the local population into hunting them down. Simultaneously, Sundown established his base of operations on Ten Mile Plateau, where he ran a facility that collected solar energy. He employed a group of enforcers armed with training lightsabers to guard his facility, with the aim of reinforcing his carefully crafted public image as a Jedi Knight.

Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had arrived on Ord Mantell to investigate the murder of the Venan nobleman, Baron Sando, were attacked by Sundown's mercenaries, as he wished to prevent their investigation from succeeding. After defeating these attackers, the two Jedi realized that the enforcers were acting without independent thought, as if Sundown was manipulating them using the Force. As the Jedi began to uncover Sundown's true motives, he attempted to capture their new ally, Nella Bold, and eliminate the Jedi. However, his plans were thwarted, and the Jedi, working alongside a tribe of Savrips led by Mawkran, defeated Sundown's private army, which forced him to flee the planet. During his attempt to escape in Nella's T-24 airspeeder, Obi-Wan successfully destroyed its top fin, causing Sundown to lose control of the vehicle. It crashed on Ten Mile Plateau, and the impact broke Sundown's neck, resulting in his death. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan then discovered that Sundown had been utilizing a mind control device to bolster his claims of being a Jedi Knight, as part of a larger scheme orchestrated by the Venan Baroness Omnino to damage the reputation of the Jedi Order.