While the English faltered at establishing their earliest colonies in Virginia, the Spanish had explored the American Southwest and built enduring settlements some fifteen hundred miles from their capital at Mexico City. These early adventurers and clergy went into the territory, many motivated by greed and others by an obsessed desire to save the souls of natives, and Santa Fe quickly became the jewel of the region. A century later, two pampered women of wealth ventured into the territory and are exposed to the true burdens and joys of life. Their lives are intertwined with that of a Spanish captain as he strives to deal with a crazed padre, marauding natives, and a power-hungry aristocratic don enslaving the friendly native population.