SOURCE: “In Search of the Archbishop,” in The Catholic Historical Review, Vol. XLVI, No. 4, January, 1961, pp. 409-27.

In the following essay, Horgan examines fiction and nonfiction about the life of the historical Father Juan Bautista Lamy, the archbishop of Cather's novel.

It might be well to start by making the acquaintance of the man for whom I search. I, who have lived since childhood under the spread of his luminous shadow, once identified him in these words:

He was the first bishop and archbishop of Santa Fe, Juan Bautista Lamy. When he came to the [Rio Grande] in 1851 as vicar apostolic he found a sorry state of affairs. The nearest bishop had always been at Durango, fifteen hundred miles away … The population lacked not only for spiritual help but also for civilizing aids in other matters. There were no schools, no hospitals, no agency to provide a sense...