Driven into exile from Carmena, Spain, in 1577, to escape the threat of death by the Inquisition, the Robledo family immigrates first to New Spain and then joins the Onate colonial expedition in 1596 to New Mexico. Set against the historically accurate backdrop of the colonial enterprise, and conveying a sense of New Mexico’s vast wilderness, freshness, beauty, and soul, the novel brings to life a courageous and devoted family bent on establishing a new homeland. Here is the true story of the...
In the winter of 1637, Luis de Rosas, a tough, two-fisted soldier, stood outside the convent door beating on its staves with a gloved hand. Appointed to the governorship of New Mexico, he had petitioned the viceregal authorities for permission to set out from the city of Mexico for Santa Fe in advance of the regular supply caravan. While he was initially obliged to curb his restlessness, he could wait no longer. He wanted the supply wagons loaded and for Fray Tomas Manso and the men of his...
