Ulysses Walker, Sheriff of Taos County, is facing a tough re-election campaign against a well-funded opponent when a respected historian and acequiero. The murder looks like a dispute over shared irrigation water at first. But after two more murders the sheriff uncovers a web of corruption born out of New Mexico's troubled history. Sheriff Walker, with help from Ray Pando, Picuris Tribal Council Member, and LizBeth Tallichet of the FBI, must battle powerful and well-connected adversaries who want to enrich themselves by gaining rights to scarce water and land distressed by forest fires. These current day criminals, like the Santa Fe Ring before them, commit murder and mayhem with impunity. Sheriff Walker's battle to prevail culminates in a deadly chase down the Rio Grande's notorious whitewater, the Taos Box.