This work of historical fiction tells the story of an old Ranger and his German immigrant neighbors who stand against secession from the Union in 1861 Texas, and pay the price. Lowrance Rutledge campaigns with Governor Sam Houston in a referendum against secession, then retreats to the borderlands canyon country to wait out the war. He busies himself fighting Comanche Indians and searching for a sunken Spanish treasure ship. But when he learns that the Confederate Home Guard has slaughtered his hill country neighbors who were fleeing Texas to avoid conscription into the Confederate army, he resolves to get revenge.