Like many young men during the fur trade, Lucien Maxwell turns his back on civilization and seeks a life of high adventure on the western frontier. Together with his good friend Kit Carson, Maxwell joins famed explorer John C. Fremont on a series of expeditions in the early 1840s. After years spent wandering the prairies and the mountains, Maxwell is eager to finally settle down in New Mexico with his young wife. A man of vision, he plans an ambitious trading and ranching enterprise that will help establish his legacy as one of the region’s most legendary settlers. But, before he can put down his roots, Maxwell must first contend with the Jicarilla Apache, who consider the mountains of Northern New Mexico their sacred homeland. While leading a group of pioneers down the Santa Fe Trail into New Mexico in June of 1848, Maxwell faces almost certain death in an epic clash with the Jicarilla Apache at Manco Burro Pass.