It all began in the back-country of the Sierra Madre in western Mexico. An avid outdoorsman, True set out alone on a ten-day backpacking sojourn to report on the reclusive Huichol Indians, who believe they are descended from deer and use peyote to commune with their gods in nature. The Huichols live in an isolated world increasingly threatened by outside forces. True set out to explore the clash of the ancient and modern.

It took our small search party only a few days to find his hidden grave at the bottom of the great canyon. His killers were caught one week later. Yet years passed without justice, as the case became a metaphor for the very clash that True described. Finally, some measure of justice was won. But even then, after the killers' most ardent defenders admitted the two Huichols were guilty, they run free in the sierra.