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Lamy of Santa Fe
Originally published in 1975, this Pulitzer Prize for History-winning biography chronicles the life of Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy (1814-1888), New Mexico's first resident bishop and the most influential, reform-minded Catholic official in the region during the late 1800s. Lamy's accomplishments, including the endowing of hospitals, orphanages, and English-language schools and colleges, formed the foundation of modern-day Santa Fe and often brought him into conflict with corrupt local priests. His life story, also the subject of Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop, describes a pivotal period in the American Southwest, as Spanish and Mexican rule gave way to much greater influence from the U.S. and Europe. Historian and consummate stylist Paul Horgan has given us a chronicle filled with hardy, often extraordinary adventure, and sustained by Lamy's magnificent strength of character.
523 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
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410 people want to read
About the author
Paul Horgan
111 books32 followersPaul Horgan was an American author of fiction and nonfiction, most of which was set in the Southwest. He received two Pulitzer Prizes for history.
The New York Times Review of Books said in 1989: "With the exception of Wallace Stegner, no living American has so distinguished himself in both fiction and history."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ho...
The New York Times Review of Books said in 1989: "With the exception of Wallace Stegner, no living American has so distinguished himself in both fiction and history."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ho...
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July 13, 2009Apart from Paul Horgan fans, probably most people coming to this book will be doing so to learn more about the real life archbishop who inspired Willa Cather's great novel DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP. And just as Cather's novel concerns the friendship and work of two major characters--Archbishop Jean Latour and his vicar Father Joseph Vaillant--so Horgan's biography necessarily tells the story not only of Juan Bautista Lamy but also Joseph Machebeuf.
Horgan's biography succeeds magnificently in two ways. First, for those who will be coming to the book from reading Cather, one will find vastly greater depth and detail than was possible in that novel. So, the book is a boon for Cather fans. Second, even if one has not read Cather, the book tells a magnificent story of a truly heroic man and his closest friend. Their story is also the story of the West as a whole, and Santa Fe in particular. (excerpt from review by Robert Moore of Chicago)
Horgan's biography succeeds magnificently in two ways. First, for those who will be coming to the book from reading Cather, one will find vastly greater depth and detail than was possible in that novel. So, the book is a boon for Cather fans. Second, even if one has not read Cather, the book tells a magnificent story of a truly heroic man and his closest friend. Their story is also the story of the West as a whole, and Santa Fe in particular. (excerpt from review by Robert Moore of Chicago)
November 17, 2019
This book was first published in 1975. In 1976 the author won the Pulitzer Prize for history for this biography of Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy. In 1839 Father Lamy was a young priest in France who came with his good friend also a priest
to minister to the many Catholic immigrants in America. He spent his first years
In the Cincinnati area.
He was transferred to New Mexico after the war with Mexico in 1846. This area, now a part of the United States, had many Catholics, American and Mexican. He also ministered to Native Americans, some who had been converted to Christianity. He was promoted to bishop and then archbishop.
He traveled through dangerous country on horseback often with just one guide and very little food and water, to minister to the people he found. He married couples and baptized the children. He managed to bring more priests to the area. In time he brought in nuns. When he traveled with a group of new priests and nuns through the frontier lands, for safety, he would travel with a group of pioneers in wagons or with the US military assigned to area.
Churches, convents, schools, hospitals and an orphanage were established throughout the area, into Colorado and Arizona. An interesting account of the settling of the Southwest by European clergy. He was often resented by Mexican priests and hostile Native people. An amazing biography of a courageous and dedicated man who truly believed he was saving souls and helping humanity.
I rated this a five because it is so well researched and written. It was very interesting but at times more than I wanted to know. The book had 440 pages and 100 pages of bibliography, notes and index. An incredible account of the west by author Paul Horgan.
In 1927 Willa Cather wrote a fictionalized story of his life in New Mexico called ”Death Comes for the Archbishop.” Also worth reading.
to minister to the many Catholic immigrants in America. He spent his first years
In the Cincinnati area.
He was transferred to New Mexico after the war with Mexico in 1846. This area, now a part of the United States, had many Catholics, American and Mexican. He also ministered to Native Americans, some who had been converted to Christianity. He was promoted to bishop and then archbishop.
He traveled through dangerous country on horseback often with just one guide and very little food and water, to minister to the people he found. He married couples and baptized the children. He managed to bring more priests to the area. In time he brought in nuns. When he traveled with a group of new priests and nuns through the frontier lands, for safety, he would travel with a group of pioneers in wagons or with the US military assigned to area.
Churches, convents, schools, hospitals and an orphanage were established throughout the area, into Colorado and Arizona. An interesting account of the settling of the Southwest by European clergy. He was often resented by Mexican priests and hostile Native people. An amazing biography of a courageous and dedicated man who truly believed he was saving souls and helping humanity.
I rated this a five because it is so well researched and written. It was very interesting but at times more than I wanted to know. The book had 440 pages and 100 pages of bibliography, notes and index. An incredible account of the west by author Paul Horgan.
In 1927 Willa Cather wrote a fictionalized story of his life in New Mexico called ”Death Comes for the Archbishop.” Also worth reading.
March 30, 2017
I acquired this book many years ago at a garage sale and it has been sitting unread on my bookshelves ever since. I was finally prompted to read it after finishing Willa Cather's fictional treatment of Jean Lamy, the first bishop of Santa Fe, located in the vast New Mexico territory acquired by the United States in the mid-19th century. Why, I wondered, did Cather write a fictionalized account, DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP, of Lamy when she could written a biography?
After reading Cather, I can see why. She was primarily interested in the beauty of the desert and the Indians and Mexicans who lived there when Lamy arrived as a Catholic missionary priest, from France, by way of a brief stint in the midwest. Yes, he tried to convert them, and make them into better Catholics, but as the same time, especially in the case of the Indians, he respected their beliefs and accepted their way of life. Her book, I think, is as much about how the southwest changed Lamy as he changed it. He became a part of the natural and powerful stark beauty of the region.
Horgan, of course, in writing a biography doesn't have the luxury of interpreting some of Lamy's (called LaTour by Cather) thoughts and actions. His is a very through and workmanlike biography, but much of his account of Lamy's life is taken up with his duties as an administrator, of setting up schools and parishes, finding priests and nuns to run them,, of constant financial problems in supporting church activities, jurisdictional disputes with the Mexican church, and dealing with the secular rulers and men of the region, including Kit Carson.
When Lamy died in l888 at the age of 74 he felt keenly that there was much unfinished church business,. That included the cathedral in Santa Fe, under construction. It still stands there today. A reader gets a strong sense from this book of the enormous effort that this man put into his work. True, much was still left to be done, but he always felt that he was sowing seeds that would flourish after his death (coincidentally, he was an avid gardener and planter of trees). In that he had to be respected as a man of deep faith.
Horgan concludes with these words, "not a philosopher, not a sophisticate, Lamy was an unquestioning perpetuator of the vales of almost two thousand years of faith, set forth in every august expression of liturgy, as well as in the daily simplicities of the peasant village life into which he was born. . ." Lamy was born in Clermont in the Auvergne region of France, and there is recorded "sa mort a ete' le fin d'un beau jour" - his death was the end of a fine day."
After reading Cather, I can see why. She was primarily interested in the beauty of the desert and the Indians and Mexicans who lived there when Lamy arrived as a Catholic missionary priest, from France, by way of a brief stint in the midwest. Yes, he tried to convert them, and make them into better Catholics, but as the same time, especially in the case of the Indians, he respected their beliefs and accepted their way of life. Her book, I think, is as much about how the southwest changed Lamy as he changed it. He became a part of the natural and powerful stark beauty of the region.
Horgan, of course, in writing a biography doesn't have the luxury of interpreting some of Lamy's (called LaTour by Cather) thoughts and actions. His is a very through and workmanlike biography, but much of his account of Lamy's life is taken up with his duties as an administrator, of setting up schools and parishes, finding priests and nuns to run them,, of constant financial problems in supporting church activities, jurisdictional disputes with the Mexican church, and dealing with the secular rulers and men of the region, including Kit Carson.
When Lamy died in l888 at the age of 74 he felt keenly that there was much unfinished church business,. That included the cathedral in Santa Fe, under construction. It still stands there today. A reader gets a strong sense from this book of the enormous effort that this man put into his work. True, much was still left to be done, but he always felt that he was sowing seeds that would flourish after his death (coincidentally, he was an avid gardener and planter of trees). In that he had to be respected as a man of deep faith.
Horgan concludes with these words, "not a philosopher, not a sophisticate, Lamy was an unquestioning perpetuator of the vales of almost two thousand years of faith, set forth in every august expression of liturgy, as well as in the daily simplicities of the peasant village life into which he was born. . ." Lamy was born in Clermont in the Auvergne region of France, and there is recorded "sa mort a ete' le fin d'un beau jour" - his death was the end of a fine day."
September 12, 2020
The subject of this book is the Archbishop in Willa Cather's Death Comes to the Archbishop, Abp. Jean Lamy. Cather provides many artistic vignettes of episodes in the Lamy's life and it is really nice to then move to Horgan's biography and get a systematic treatment of that same life from start to finish. Horgan is a great writer and researcher; his skill as an author comes out on every page of the book.
I wish that he had made an attempt to connect his biography with Cather's novel, anticipating that many would be moving from her novel to his book, but he doesn't. There is hardly a mention, for instance, of Kit Carson.
But this criticism is a minor one and it is wonderful that this biography exists.
I wish that he had made an attempt to connect his biography with Cather's novel, anticipating that many would be moving from her novel to his book, but he doesn't. There is hardly a mention, for instance, of Kit Carson.
But this criticism is a minor one and it is wonderful that this biography exists.
August 17, 2014
Archbishop Lamy was a remarkable man, and Horgan's biography of him does him justice. I plan to reread Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop immediately, to experience again in that beautiful novel the life of this great man.
October 30, 2024
A masterful work - almost as good as Cather’s magnum opus on the same subject (albeit her novel is fictionalized), Death Comes for the Archbishop. Horgan is an exceptionally talented writer, as he is even able to make his descriptions of diocesan administrative work interesting. In combining his incredible prose with the depth of research he undertook, Horgan was able to produce a fascinating biography about a seminal figure in the history of the American Southwest.
4.75 / 5
Here is an example of Horgan’s prose from early in the book (this paragraph in particular made me realize that I was reading a work of an incredibly talented writer):
4.75 / 5
Here is an example of Horgan’s prose from early in the book (this paragraph in particular made me realize that I was reading a work of an incredibly talented writer):
Every age marked by a distinct historical style is an age of faith. The object of faith may change, but the impulse to define and live life in terms of a system of belief is constant. Great acts have been done in the name of many different beliefs. To understand any such act and the individual who gave it interest for us, it is necessary to take as a given element, regardless of our own relation to what we see as reality, the absolute and sometimes glorious significance of the faith which moved him.
July 6, 2018
What I love most about Pulitzer-winning historian Paul Horgan’s biography of the first Catholic archbishop of the American southwest are the cinematographic evocations of the frontier landscape.
The intimate, as in this almost biblical description of the garden Jean Baptiste Lamy grew in Santa Fe:
“Among his shade trees he cultivated elm, maple, cottonwood, locust, and both weeping and osier willows. There were red and white currants, plums as large as hen’s eggs, and flawless Catawba grapes. Every vine leaf, every shrub, was sound, and so were the trees – apple, peach, pear (he espaliered the pears with the help of Louis, his gardener, who was remembered as a ‘wonderful gardener, a little man’).”
The lyrical:
“The valleys showed walls striped like agate. One mountain range after another seemed to deny future escape. Those colossal earth wrinkles from afar made grand statements of beauty in form and atmosphere; but once entered, presented endlessly tortuous ways, caprices of weather, and repeated barriers to progress, all inducing a sense of captivity on a dishuman scale.”
The poignant early days of what is now my hometown, Denver:
“A Colorado immigrant in 1860 after weeks on the plains longed for news, and seeing the Pony Express – he capitalized it – approaching in a thunder of hooves, hoped for a little exchange. But ‘the Pony Express returning from San Francisco … passed us like the wind and we could get not a single word of news.’”
Horgan’s voluminously researched “Lamy of Santa Fe” has a serious subject and ambitions. But I like to amuse myself by calling the tome a historical adventure bromance. It comes most alive in descriptions of the bond between Lamy and his childhood friend Joseph Priest Machebeuf. In the old photos Horgan includes, Machebeuf looks like Yoda; Lamy, Obi-Wan Kenobi. The two travel to the United States together from their native France and overcome arduous trials. Both are high achievers -- the calm, patient Lamy and the impetuous, energetic Machebeuf, who becomes Denver first bishop.
Horgan is sincerely admiring of how far their faith takes them. I’m moved by their lifetime friendship. Machebeuf dies in 1889 in Denver, a year after Lamy in Santa Fe. Over the decades, they cement their ties with letters and visits that often require journeys that would test Job. Horgan writes of a meeting the two managed late in life:
“The essence of friendship was never to have enough time to exchange all the ideas and references and memories that wanted sharing.
In “Lamy of Santa Fe”, a garden is an apt metaphor for all that the pious immigrants planted in arid territory – schools, a hospital. Lamy is instrumental in helping bring the railroad and all the development that meant.
Horgan writes that Lamy was beloved by his parishioners and loved them in return. But the priest could be condescending. For example, he could never fully reconcile himself to the region’s beautifully suitable adobe architecture. He insisted on a stone European-style cathedral that was ruinously expensive.
Horgan, too, can be condescending. He writes of Native Americans as either childlike or murderous.
For all its breadth and depth, and for all Lamy brought to life, the narrowness of the perspective of “Lamy of Santa Fe” can be jarring. It made me want to hear more of the region from more voices.
I also want to see what has become of Lamy’s bountiful garden.
A book that leaves you wanting more is worth the read.
The intimate, as in this almost biblical description of the garden Jean Baptiste Lamy grew in Santa Fe:
“Among his shade trees he cultivated elm, maple, cottonwood, locust, and both weeping and osier willows. There were red and white currants, plums as large as hen’s eggs, and flawless Catawba grapes. Every vine leaf, every shrub, was sound, and so were the trees – apple, peach, pear (he espaliered the pears with the help of Louis, his gardener, who was remembered as a ‘wonderful gardener, a little man’).”
The lyrical:
“The valleys showed walls striped like agate. One mountain range after another seemed to deny future escape. Those colossal earth wrinkles from afar made grand statements of beauty in form and atmosphere; but once entered, presented endlessly tortuous ways, caprices of weather, and repeated barriers to progress, all inducing a sense of captivity on a dishuman scale.”
The poignant early days of what is now my hometown, Denver:
“A Colorado immigrant in 1860 after weeks on the plains longed for news, and seeing the Pony Express – he capitalized it – approaching in a thunder of hooves, hoped for a little exchange. But ‘the Pony Express returning from San Francisco … passed us like the wind and we could get not a single word of news.’”
Horgan’s voluminously researched “Lamy of Santa Fe” has a serious subject and ambitions. But I like to amuse myself by calling the tome a historical adventure bromance. It comes most alive in descriptions of the bond between Lamy and his childhood friend Joseph Priest Machebeuf. In the old photos Horgan includes, Machebeuf looks like Yoda; Lamy, Obi-Wan Kenobi. The two travel to the United States together from their native France and overcome arduous trials. Both are high achievers -- the calm, patient Lamy and the impetuous, energetic Machebeuf, who becomes Denver first bishop.
Horgan is sincerely admiring of how far their faith takes them. I’m moved by their lifetime friendship. Machebeuf dies in 1889 in Denver, a year after Lamy in Santa Fe. Over the decades, they cement their ties with letters and visits that often require journeys that would test Job. Horgan writes of a meeting the two managed late in life:
“The essence of friendship was never to have enough time to exchange all the ideas and references and memories that wanted sharing.
In “Lamy of Santa Fe”, a garden is an apt metaphor for all that the pious immigrants planted in arid territory – schools, a hospital. Lamy is instrumental in helping bring the railroad and all the development that meant.
Horgan writes that Lamy was beloved by his parishioners and loved them in return. But the priest could be condescending. For example, he could never fully reconcile himself to the region’s beautifully suitable adobe architecture. He insisted on a stone European-style cathedral that was ruinously expensive.
Horgan, too, can be condescending. He writes of Native Americans as either childlike or murderous.
For all its breadth and depth, and for all Lamy brought to life, the narrowness of the perspective of “Lamy of Santa Fe” can be jarring. It made me want to hear more of the region from more voices.
I also want to see what has become of Lamy’s bountiful garden.
A book that leaves you wanting more is worth the read.
February 10, 2023
A tough read with all the words that are either not used now days or you are not a Catholic. I read the book because I grew up in New Mexico and thought the book would increase my knowledge of my birth state. I was born in New Mexico in the 1930s. We studied USA and New Mexico history in those days. I wanted to refresh my New Mexico history. This book really did much more. It taught me what the state was like in 1850 and what all this Catholic priest did to advance schools, churches, and what the life of a Christian should be. The man was true man of Christ who never once thought of anything but spreading the Christian religion and helping the vast number of uneducated Indians, Mexicans, and poor that made up most of the people living in an extremely poor state. He must of traveled 25,000 miles on the back of a horse. All in all this is a great read. One last thing; it won a Pulitzer Prize in history. Look up the book on your browser for of the in-depth info on the book.
November 12, 2024
The tireless work of Archbishop Lamy and his influence on the development of the American southwest are most impressive. The book describes the cultural and historical settings where Lamy found support and where he faced challenges from France, Rome, Mexico, indigenous tribes, and the environment.
When I read Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop many years ago, I was only vaguely aware her main character, Archbishop Latour, and others were based on historical 19th century figures. I recently picked up a copy of Cather's novel and want to read it again, so I hope this helps me better understand the setting of her story.
When I read Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop many years ago, I was only vaguely aware her main character, Archbishop Latour, and others were based on historical 19th century figures. I recently picked up a copy of Cather's novel and want to read it again, so I hope this helps me better understand the setting of her story.
August 25, 2023
An interesting history account of two young men from France who were Catholic priests and best friends and their work as priests to the expanding development of the Southwest region of the US in the 1800’s.
The writing is beautiful, and painted quite a realistic picture of life in what we often refer to as “the Wild West.”
The perseverance of these priests was commendable and I am sure their legacy continues today.
The book is very detailed and quite long.
The writing is beautiful, and painted quite a realistic picture of life in what we often refer to as “the Wild West.”
The perseverance of these priests was commendable and I am sure their legacy continues today.
The book is very detailed and quite long.
November 10, 2025
Life of Bishop Lamy and his efforts to establish a revived (and less corrupt) Catholic presence in New Mexico and surrounding US territories from the 1850s to the 1880s. Does good job outlining his challenges with local priests, conflicting bishoprics, finances, and increasing American settlement in the area.
October 28, 2022
Well Worth Reading
It’s an excellent and inspiring story about the type of man Lamy was in order to meet the challenges that he faced. It’s also a good piece of history of the Southwest in the 1800’s.
It’s an excellent and inspiring story about the type of man Lamy was in order to meet the challenges that he faced. It’s also a good piece of history of the Southwest in the 1800’s.
July 29, 2020
Essential to understanding this place.
April 12, 2023
Classic tale that still resonates.
February 5, 2025
My grandmother 's favorite story
A factual narrative of the characters of Willa Cather's book, Death Comes for the Archbishop, which was required reading for us. Much longer than the novel, but more accurate with much more descriptive detail.
A factual narrative of the characters of Willa Cather's book, Death Comes for the Archbishop, which was required reading for us. Much longer than the novel, but more accurate with much more descriptive detail.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews