Four senior clergy meet in Rome and choose Father Jean-Marie Latour to lead the new Catholic diocese in New Mexico.

Fathers Latour and Vaillant arrive in Santa Fe after a long overland journey from Ohio.

Santa Fe clergy refuse to recognize Latour's authority, forcing a long journey to the Bishop of Durango to clarify his appointment.

Lost in the desert, Latour finds a cross-shaped tree, stops to pray, and his animals then discover water.

Latour's authority as bishop is officially recognized, and he and Vaillant celebrate Christmas dinner together in Santa Fe.

Vaillant convinces the wealthy rancher Manuel Lujon to part with his two prized white mules.

Latour hires the Indigenous guide Jacinto and begins making journeys through the Pueblos of his diocese.

Father Gallegos is officially suspended, and Vaillant is sent to replace him as priest in Albuquerque.

Latour visits Taos for the first time and encounters the powerful, corrupt priest Father Martínez.

Latour travels to Rome and returns with new priests, installing one of them as Martínez's replacement in Taos.

Don Antonio Olivares pledges to fund the cathedral's construction at a party, then dies suddenly of a heart attack.

Vaillant departs for Colorado to minister to Gold Rush prospectors, and Latour gives him both white mules.

Latour is promoted to Archbishop and then retires to a small piece of land near the village of Tesuque.

Vaillant dies, and Latour travels to Denver to attend his old friend's funeral.

Latour dies in his rooms in Santa Fe and is buried beneath the cathedral he dedicated his life to building.

A group of senior Catholic clergy in Rome appoints the young priest Jean-Marie Latour to lead a new diocese in the newly acquired US territory of New Mexico. Latour and his friend Father Vaillant endure a grueling journey to Santa Fe, only to find their authority rejected by local clergy, forcing Latour to travel thousands of miles to clarify his appointment. After establishing himself as bishop, Latour works to reform the church in New Mexico, suspending corrupt clergy, replacing them with devout priests, and building alliances with influential local figures. His greatest ambition—constructing a grand cathedral in Santa Fe—takes decades to realize, requiring him to navigate difficult relationships and mourn the deaths of key benefactors. As Vaillant departs permanently for Colorado to minister to Gold Rush prospectors, Latour faces the loneliness of leading his diocese alone, eventually rising to Archbishop before retiring. He dies in the city that became his life's work and is buried in the cathedral that stands as his lasting legacy.

The defining milestones of Bishop Latour's mission in New Mexico.

Latour discovers the hidden Catholic settlement of Agua Secreta and performs weddings and baptisms for its residents.

Vaillant tells Latour the story of the Virgin of Guadalupe appearing to a humble man and asking him to build a shrine.

A woman warns Latour and Vaillant that her husband plans to murder them; the priests escape by drawing their gun.

Kit Carson appears and offers the rescued woman Magdalena a place in his home; her murderous husband is later hanged.

Latour visits Laguna Pueblo and Jacinto teaches him the Indigenous names for the region's local land formations.

Latour visits Acoma Pueblo and says mass in its dilapidated church, feeling a profound sense of loneliness.

Latour learns that the corrupt priest Fray Baltazar enslaved and abused Acoma residents until they threw him from the mesa.

Latour learns Vaillant has fallen ill with measles and immediately sets out with food and medicine to help him.

Father Martínez and Father Lucero establish a schismatic church that does not require priests to remain celibate.

Father Martínez suddenly dies, bringing his long open conflict with Rome's authority to an abrupt end.

Don Antonio's brothers contest his will, claiming his daughter Inez is illegitimate in order to seize the inheritance.

Doña Isabella admits her true age in court, Don Antonio's brothers lose their case, and the church stands to inherit.

Vaillant contracts malaria during his diocesan boundary travels and recovers in Latour's garden before departing for Arizona.

A young seminarian named Bernard becomes like a devoted son to the aging Latour during his years of retirement.

Latour shares a final handshake with his old Navajo friend Eusabio, reflecting on all the changes they have witnessed.

While establishing his diocese, Bishop Latour encounters both the deep faith and the hardships of frontier Catholic life—from the isolated village of Agua Secreta, whose residents have practiced Catholicism for generations without a priest, to the miraculous story of the Virgin of Guadalupe that shapes how local Catholics experience God. A dramatic escape from a murderous host leads to the rescue of the abused woman Magdalena, who finds a new life through the help of Kit Carson and a community of nuns. Traveling through the Pueblos, Latour witnesses both the awe-inspiring beauty of ancient Indigenous sites and the lasting damage done by corrupt clergy like the tyrannical Fray Baltazar. The defiance of Father Martínez reaches a crisis point when he and an ally form a schismatic church, though both men die before Latour must fully confront them. A bitter legal battle over the Olivares inheritance tests Latour's ability to protect his most loyal benefactors. In his final years, Latour takes comfort in a young seminarian while maintaining old friendships, including one last farewell with the Navajo elder Eusabio.

The encounters, confrontations, and community moments that shaped the diocese.

Fathers Latour and Vaillant begin their journey to New Mexico by rail and riverboat before continuing overland from Galveston.

A group of nuns arrives in Santa Fe and puts the rescued woman Magdalena in charge of their kitchen.

Latour spends a night with Jacinto's family and reflects on the devastation that European diseases have brought to Indigenous communities.

Latour and Jacinto shelter in a sacred Indigenous cave during a snowstorm; Jacinto warns Latour never to reveal its location.

Latour arrives to find Vaillant already recovering from measles; Kit Carson had brought his friend food and provisions days earlier.

Kit Carson's wife warns Latour that trying to censure Father Martínez would cost him the respect of Martínez's parishioners.

Father Lucero repents on his deathbed and begs Father Vaillant's forgiveness for his role in the schismatic church.

Latour finds the enslaved woman Sada prostrate before a church statue, confessing she has not attended mass in nearly twenty years.

Latour visits the grieving Navajo Eusabio and reflects on the deep contrast between Indigenous and European relationships with the natural world.

Latour shows Vaillant the rocky yellow hillside that reminds him of France and declares it the future site of his cathedral.

Latour receives a letter about lawless Colorado Gold Rush prospectors who are living without any spiritual guidance.

On one of Vaillant's return visits to New Mexico, Latour asks for his friend's blessing, sensing it may be their last meeting.

Latour reflects on Kit Carson's role in besieging the Navajo people at Canyon de Chelly and mourns the injustice done to them.

Latour falls ill after riding through a storm and decides to leave his retirement home and return to Santa Fe.

The completed cathedral fills Latour with deep satisfaction, and he realizes that Santa Fe, not France, has become his true home.

From the moment Fathers Latour and Vaillant begin their arduous overland journey, the novel traces a series of pivotal moments that reveal the true nature of its characters and the world they inhabit. Latour's growing friendship with the Indigenous guide Jacinto opens his eyes to the devastation of colonization and the sacred traditions his church has long sought to suppress, including a night sheltered in an ancient ceremonial cave that leaves him deeply unsettled. Encounters with characters like the enslaved Sada and the grieving Eusabio force Latour to confront the spiritual and human costs of frontier life and colonial expansion. The decision to build a cathedral becomes Latour's defining ambition, even as he prepares to send his closest friend Vaillant to Colorado—a farewell he senses may be permanent. In his final years, Latour reflects on the injustices done to the Navajo people and on his own complicated place in New Mexico's history, ultimately recognizing that the territory he once arrived at as a stranger has become his one true home.

The key discoveries, decisions, and emotional shifts that defined Latour's journey.