The Arizona Territory of the 1870's was a land of uncharted wastes, a wilderness of desert and mountain crevasses, and a wilderness of human relationships. Hatred, fear, and instant reprisal contended with friendship, trust and forbearance as the white man and the Indian fought, mingled, and gradually gained an understanding of each other. Hardy Ryder, the leader of a mule train, soon discovers the dangers and enigmas of muleteers in his train, he is befriended by a young Indian boy, whom the townspeople call "Nutsy". The boy leads Hardy to a secret Indian hideaway. In the meantime, the soldiers blame the Indians for the massacre, but Hardy is doubtful. This is an unusually fast-paced Western novel about the men who won the West, based on the author's authentic research of those times in Arizona.