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 escort to hit the trail. Who could know that, in his impatience to begin his long journey and thus assume his responsibilities as captain-general of the New Mexico Kingdom, he was merely hurrying toward a lengthy confrontation with New Mexico's recalcitrant soldier-colonists and priests, and ultimately to his own demise? This book forms the centerpiece of Lucero's trilogy about New Mexico's colonial history. It tells the story of his Baca, Gomez, Marquez, and Perez de Bustillo forebears in their bitter conflict with Rosas, the most interesting governor to serve prior to the Pueblo Indian Revolt of 1680. Because of Rosas's cruel tyranny, Lucero's ancestors become tragically entangled in the insanity of colonial affairs. Based on a true story, the book sets out the particulars of Church and State relations in New Mexico during the period 1637 - 1641 that led to the assassination of its governor and the beheading of the eight citizen-soldiers who were responsible for his death. Donald L. Lucero is a former resident of Las Vegas, New Mexico, where he was born in his father's home, formerly the home of his paternal grandfather. He was educated in the Las Vegas schools through college, where in 1958 he received his B. A. in history from New Mexico Highlands University. After service with the U. S. Army, he served a two-year commitment with the U. S. Peace Corps in Colombia, South America. He then returned to New Mexico on a Peace Corps Preferential Fellowship to pursue graduate work in Counseling at the University of New Mexico. He received his M.A. in Counseling from this institution in 1965 and returned to complete his doctorate in Counseling Psychology in 1970. Since completion of a post-doctoral fellowship in Community Psychiatry and a second master's degree in Mental Health Administration at the University of North Carolina Medical School and School of Public Health, he has held several clinical and administrative positions in mental health. Dr. Lucero, a licensed psychologist, conducts a private practice in psychology in Raynham, Massachusetts. He is also the author of "A Nation of Shepherds," the first in the New Mexico Trilogy and "The Adobe Kingdom," both from Sunstone Press.
