James Vesely

Seasons of Harvest: a Novel of the Rio Grande Valley James Vesely

Seasons of Harvest begins a great, sweeping epic of the early Southwest. The story introduces young Neska, and the spirited captive girl, Walking Moon, as the ancient Anasazi begin the long trek from their distant cliff house dwellings to the timeless Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico. Neska becomes a leader. As generations pass, the Pueblo people are forced to defend themselves against raiding Plains Indians, encroaching Navajo and Apache, as well as the merciless Comanche while across an ocean, a strange, new threat looms. In Spain, a dark, forbidden love forces young Primitivo Apodaca to leave his home and seek his fortune as a conquistador in the New World. Awed by the horses and fearsome weapons of the Spanish, Pueblo warriors soon meet Francisco Coronados army and the bloody, tragic results change the river world forever. Years later, young Miguel Apodaca follows his grandfathers footsteps as a soldier in the army of Don Juan Oñate, but is ultimately disillusioned and repelled by the cruelty of Spanish conquest. Miguel finally deserts, fleeing a charge of treason and the hangmans noose, to begin a new life in the vast New Mexico wilderness.