RUSTY RANDALL, a young man following his dream of becoming the author of an important work of history, sets out to learn and record the past events which took place on the Whitmire Ranch since its founding in 1890. The ranch's history of serving as a refuge for outlaws like Butch Cassidy who were on the run in the remote backcountry of the Utah-Colorado border, makes the project interesting and motivates Rusty to work hard every day. Four months into his research, his body is found in a remote part of the LaSal Mountains, a small caliber bullet lodged in his brain. Were there activities going on at the ranch that Rusty would have been better off not digging into? Or was his murder related to something else altogether? Deputy Sheriff Manny Rivera is assigned the case and sets out to learn the motive for the killing, and through that, identify the perpetrator.