Magdalena's Perilous Journey is a chronicle of a young woman's journey during the era of the 1680 Pueblo Revolt in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her journey takes her from Mexico City to the barren wasteland of the frontier, a colony established by the Spanish leaders in 1610. In the late 1670s, her uncle, Antonio Otermin, is appointed Governor of the colony and he has picked Magdalena's father to be his Secretary. The family undertakes the grueling trip to Santa Fe, where it has been the intent of church leaders led by the Franciscan fathers, that the present inhabitants, the Pueblo Indians, will all be converted to Christianity and serve the needs of the colony. It soon becomes apparent that there is much dissension against this plan. The Indian Pueblos, led by an angry and determined medicine man, Cuernos Blancos, unite together to revolt against the Spaniards. Magdalena and her family are caught in the crosshairs of the revolt. After many of their countrymen have been slaughtered in battle, the survivors have no choice but to leave their homes in the middle of the night and attempt to return to Mexico City. It is another grueling trip for them, but this time most of them are on foot. Magdalena's fiance, a soldier in Otermin's army, has been ordered to travel to Isleta Pueblo near the western border to intercept a caravan from Mexico City which is carrying food, weapons and ammunition. Because of this, the lovers are separated and it is unknown whether they will ever be reunited.