Caldera relates a man's lifelong, dangerous, and heart-breaking pursuit to define, discover and preserve the meaning of "family" in the deadly and hostile desert environment of Arizona Territory. Three forces shape his life: the indifference of his blood father, a former mountain man who stumbled upon great wealth and power; the love of his surrogate father, a Pima Indian warrior/farmer; and the hatred of his step-mother, a bordello madam. He is at first a happy-go-lucky kid in the Arizona Territory town of Privy. He becomes a Confederate scout, a husband and widower, a madman, and a guilt-ridden killer on a vengeance trail. His path leads back to Privy and a violent confrontation with the three forces and a mortal enemy.