The Gila River flows gently through the parched Sonoran Desert and along its banks fierce Apaches, Pima farmers, Spaniards and brash Americans all vie for control in a harsh and unforgiving land: Miguel Santana a young Spaniard abandoned by his comrades; his Pima son Vitorio; Jacova, a woman whose indomitable spirit tamed a mighty Apache warrior; and the \"man of three bloods,\" belonging to all, and to none. On the banks of the Gila their lives all came together - in love and in war - as the great river carried them forward toward an uncertain future.