Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
"Death Comes for the Archbishop" is a novel by Willa Cather set in the mid-19th century, chronicling the life of Father Jean Marie Latour, who becomes the Vicar Apostolic of New Mexico. The story begins with Latour's challenging journey from Canada to Santa Fé, marked by personal trials such as a shipwreck and a wagon accident. Upon arrival, he faces resistance from local Mexican priests and embarks on a journey to Mexico to obtain the necessary ecclesiastical authority. The narrative explores his missionary work, the establishment of a cathedral, and his relationships with various characters, including his friend Father Joseph Vaillant and notable figures like Kit Carson.
Throughout the novel, themes of faith, perseverance, and cultural interactions are woven into Latour's experiences in the American Southwest. As he navigates the complexities of his role, Latour is portrayed as a figure of compassion and dedication, embodying the challenges of forging a spiritual community in a diverse and often harsh environment. The story culminates in Latour's retirement and reflections on his life’s work as he approaches death, emphasizing the profound connections he has formed during his years of service.
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
First published: 1927
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Historical realism
Time of plot: Last half of the nineteenth century
Locale: New Mexico and Arizona
Principal characters
Bishop Jean Marie Latour , Vicar Apostolic of New MexicoFather Joseph Vaillant , his friend and a missionary priestKit Carson , a frontier scoutJacinto , an Indian guide
The Story
In 1851, Father Jean Marie Latour reaches Santa Fé, where he is to become Vicar Apostolic of New Mexico. His journey from the shores of Lake Ontario is long and arduous. He loses his belongings in a shipwreck at Galveston and suffers painful injury in a wagon accident at San Antonio. When he arrives, accompanied by his good friend Father Joseph Vaillant, the Mexican priests refuse to recognize his authority. He has no choice but to ride hundreds of miles into Mexico to secure the necessary papers from the bishop of Durango.
On the road, he loses his way in an arid landscape of red hills and gaunt junipers. His thirst becomes a vertigo of mind and senses, and he can blot out his own agony only by repeating the cry of the Savior on the Cross. As he is about to give up all hope, he sees a tree growing in the shape of a cross. A short time later, he arrives in a Mexican settlement called Agua Secreta (hidden water). Stopping at the home of Benito, Father Latour first performs marriage ceremonies and then baptizes all the children.
At Durango, he receives the necessary documents and starts the long trip back to Santa Fé. Father Vaillant in the meantime wins over the inhabitants of Santa Fé and sets up the episcopal residence in an old adobe house. On the first morning after his return, Father Latour, now officially bishop, hears the unexpected sound of a bell ringing the Angelus. Father Vaillant tells him that he found the bell, bearing the date 1356, in the basement of old San Miguel Church.
On a missionary journey to Albuquerque in March, Father Vaillant acquires a handsome cream-colored mule as a gift and another just like it for Bishop Latour. These mules, Contento and Angelica, faithfully serve the men for many years. On another trip, as the two priests are riding together on their mules, they are caught in a sleet storm and stop at the rude shack of the American Buck Scales. His Mexican wife warns the travelers by gestures that their lives are in danger, so they ride on to Mora without spending the night. The next morning, the Mexican woman appears in town and tells them that her husband murdered and robbed four travelers and that he killed her three babies. As a result, Scales is brought to justice and his wife, Magdalena, is sent to the home of Kit Carson, the famous frontier scout. From that time on, Carson is a valuable friend of the two priests. Magdalena later becomes the housekeeper and manager for the kitchens of the Sisters of Loretto.
During his first year at Santa Fé, Bishop Latour is called to a meeting of the Plenary Council in Baltimore. On the return journey, he brings back with him five nuns sent to establish the school of Our Lady of Light. Attended by Jacinto, an American Indian who serves as his guide, Latour spends some time visiting his own vicariate. Padre Gallegos, whom he visits at Albuquerque, acts more like a professional gambler than a priest; but because he is very popular with the natives, Latour does not remove him at that time. At last, he arrives at the end of his long journey, the top of the mesa at Acoma. On that trip, he hears the legend of Fray Baltazar, killed during an uprising of the Acoma Indians.
A month after his visit, he suspends Padre Gallegos and puts Father Vaillant in charge of the parish at Albuquerque. On a trip to the Pecos Mountains, Vaillant falls ill with an attack of the black measles. Bishop Latour, hearing of his illness, sets out to nurse his friend. Jacinto again serves as guide on the cold, snowy trip. When Latour reaches his friend’s bedside, he finds that Carson has arrived before him. As soon as the sick man can sit in the saddle, his friends take him back to Santa Fé.
Bishop Latour decides to investigate the parish of Taos, where the powerful old priest Antonio José Martinez is the ruler of both spiritual and temporal matters. The following year, the bishop is called to Rome. When he returns, he brings with him four young priests from the Seminary of Montferrand and a Spanish priest to replace Padre Martinez at Taos.
Bishop Latour has one great ambition: to build a cathedral in Santa Fé. He is assisted by the rich Mexican rancheros but above all by his good friend Don Antonio Olivares. When Don Antonio dies, it is found that he left his estate to his wife and daughter during their lives, after which it is to go to the church. Don Antonio’s brothers contest the will on the grounds that the daughter, Señorita Inez, is too old to be Doña Isabella’s daughter. The bishop and his vicar have to persuade the vain, coquettish widow to swear to her true age of fifty-three, rather than the forty-two years she claims. Thus the estate eventually goes to the church.
Father Vaillant is sent to Tucson, but after several years, Bishop Latour decides to recall him to Santa Fé. When he arrives, the bishop shows him the stone for building the cathedral. About that time, Bishop Latour receives a letter from the bishop of Leavenworth. Because of the discovery of gold near Pike’s Peak, he asks to have a priest sent there from Bishop Latour’s diocese. Father Vaillant, the obvious choice, spends the rest of his life in Colorado, though he returns to Santa Fé with the papal emissary when Bishop Latour is made an archbishop. Father Vaillant later becomes the first bishop of Colorado, and he dies there after years of service. Archbishop Latour attends his impressive funeral services.
After the death of his friend, Father Latour retires to a modest country estate near Santa Fé. He dreamed during all his missionary years of the time when he could retire to his own fertile green Auvergne in France, but in the end he decides that he cannot leave the land of his labors. He spends his last years with memories of the journeys he and Father Vaillant made over thousands of miles of desert country. Bernard Ducrot, a young seminarian from France, becomes like a son to him during those last years.
When Father Latour knows that his time has come to die, he asks to be taken into town to spend his last days near the cathedral. On the last day of his life, the church is filled with people who come to pray for him, as word that he is dying spreads through the town. He dies in the still twilight, and the cathedral bell, tolling in the early darkness, carries the news to the waiting countryside that death comes for Father Latour.
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