Setting and social milieu
The action takes place on the Spanish–Mexican frontier around San Ildefonso: the fertile San Ildefonso valley (Don Ambrosio’s house and garden, the Presidio) and the harsher prairie—Sierra Blanca and the Llano Estacado with ravines and groves. The narrative juxtaposes two worlds (arid plains vs. sheltered valley) and maps frontier society—landed families, the military garrison, mission priests, rancheros, peons, and Indian tribes (Waco, Pané, Comanche, Jicarilla). Superstition, caste distinctions, and patronage networks shape behaviour and outcomes.

Principal characters
- Carlos, the cibolero: expert horseman, tracker, buffalo-hunter, devoted son and brother, protagonist motivated by love for Catalina and family honor.  
- Catalina de Cruces: Don Ambrosio’s daughter, Carlos’s beloved and willing partner in elopement.  
- Rosita and Carlos’s mother: gentle sister and eccentric widow whose suffering fuels Carlos’s retaliation.  
- Don Juan: a ranchero friend and suitor to Rosita.  
- Colonel Vizcarra and Captain Roblado: corrupt, ambitious officers who conspire against Carlos; Roblado is crueler.  
- Lieutenant Garcia and Sergeant Gomez: subordinate soldiers (Garcia is killed in the Presidio assault).  
- Vicenza (maid), Padre Joaquín (corrupt priest), Manuel (mulatto) and Pepe (zambo): betrayers, trackers, and agents who pursue Carlos.  
- Allies and aides: Josefa, Antonio, the faithful dog Cibolo, Waco warriors.

Narrative arc (condensed)
Carlos rises in local prestige early—at the San Juan fiesta he demonstrates remarkable horsemanship and publicly presents a heron-plume trophy to Catalina, provoking military jealousy. His cibolero expeditions and trade with Waco Indians earn him wealth, renown, and a Waco alliance after valor in battle. Jealousy and predation lead Vizcarra and Roblado to fabricate “Indian” attacks: they burn Carlos’s rancho, engineer Rosita’s abduction, and manipulate public panic to mask their crime.

A lost note and Vicenza’s betrayal precipitate a garden ambush at Don Ambrosio’s; Carlos narrowly escapes, Catalina is briefly seized and released by bribe. Hunters Manuel and Pepe lay a ravine trap; Cibolo’s vigilance and Carlos’s resourcefulness turn the ambush into a bloody skirmish in which the trackers die and Carlos slips away. Betrayal by a peon later brings his capture; his mother suffers—and dies—under public punishment. Carlos is aided covertly (money, weapons, a message) and, with Josefa’s help, escapes custody.

Conflict escalates: Carlos storms the Presidio roof, kills Lieutenant Garcia, wounds Vizcarra, becomes an outlaw pursued by bounty and slander. He consolidates power with five hundred Waco warriors and returns as a “White Chief” to wreak vengeance: the Presidio and settlement are stormed and burned, principal adversaries (including corrupt officers and complicit priests) are killed or executed, and San Ildefonso is largely destroyed. Afterwards Carlos withdraws east, establishing a plantation, marrying, and maintaining ties with his indigenous allies.

Themes and tensions
The narrative interrogates institutional corruption (military and ecclesiastical), racial and social prejudice, betrayal, honor, and frontier justice. It contrasts individual skill, loyalty, and marginalised agency with civic hypocrisy and the collapse of authority on the border.