Apache Lance, Franciscan Cross

Three Franciscan missions leave East Texas in 1731, fleeing the French and Apaches. Their caravan, crossing between the Colorado and San Antonio Rivers, is attacked by Apache raiders. The chief is killed and his warrior daughter, Ahuila, vows vengeance. She infiltrates the caravan and chooses to sacrifice young Fray Marcos. However, she falls in love with him and he with her. She kills a Spanish soldier who attempts to rape her, thus satisfying her vengeance. Apaches raid the new San Antonio mission, wounding Marcos and driving away the converts. Once healed, Marcos joins a search party and persuades the converts to return to the mission. Ahuila seduces the lovestruck Marcos during a reading lesson. He ponders leaving the Church for her, but knows European lifestyle would destroy Ahuila, and he could never survive in the wilds. After a failed pilgrimage to convert the Apaches, Ahuila chooses to remain with her people while Marcos opts for his vocation.