Voyage to Santa Fe — Janice Holt Giles

This voyage to Santa Fe is not only a journey in time and distance but Judith Fowler's voyage into her own heart and mind. Judith and Johnny have been married less than a year when, in the spring of 1823, they start the long journey across the plains from the Arkansas Territory to Santa Fe - the journey that is to be the test of their marriage.

Johnny Fowler (sometimes known as "Johnny Osage" because of his close friendship with the Osage Indians) has staked everything on his ability to guide a mule train over an unmarked trail through cruel and dangerous country. The wagons are loaded with the trade goods that are to make his fortune and driven by men distinguished more for toughness than for tractability. The muleskinners grumble at Johnny's autocratic discipline and resent the presence of his young wife, the only woman in the wagon train.

A strange journey for a gentle New England girl but there is spirit and self-reliance behind Judith's gentleness....