A biography of explorer Juan Bautista de Anza, who established a land route between Mexico and California and became governor of New Mexico.

In 1774, just as the American colonies were getting ready to break away from the British crown, Spain sought to strengthen its hold on Alta California. The viceroy of New Spain ordered two expeditions to set out from what is now the Mexican/Arizona border and head toward the California coast. The first would establish a route through previously unexplored territory-five hundred miles of uncharted deserts, snow-capped sierra, and Indian land; the second...