Two French missionaries -- Jean Marie Latour and Joseph Vaillant -- make their way into the harsh, unexplored, mountainous region of New Mexico in the hope of revivifying there the religion that had been brought by Spanish priests and then left to decay in the hand of an insubordinate and materialistic clergy.<P> Father Latour, first bishop of the diocese, knew how to win the confidence of the Indians and to become a father of the Indians and to become a father indeed to the Mexicans.<P> Slowly and firmly he gained control of the padres of the region, gradually replacing the slothful with men stamped by his own ardor. The cathedral that he built in Santa Fe, using the stones of the region so that it might fit into its surroundings, was the crown of his missionary labor, in which he had succeeded in harmonizing two elements: the Catholic religion and the New Mexican way of life.