In 1837 Caleb Landers flees his trading post north of Taos, New Mexico to avoid the Mexican Army. Caleb, along with his friend and scout, Thomas Lyon, take a pack train from Taos to Bents Fort on the Arkansas River-the only outpost between Santa Fe and Independence, Missouri. There they meet Lope de Saavedra (aka "Flower Watcher") who agrees to lead them across Texas to Galveston Bay. The story is about a life and death journey across Texas, northwest to southeast-Taos to Galveston Bay. For Flower Watcher it is his death march. For Caleb and his associates, it is where they will start a new life when they open their trading station near Houston, capital of the new Texas republic."