Lamy of Santa Fe

Paul Horgan

Wesleyan University Press, Mar 5, 2003 - Biography & Autobiography - 560 pages

The extraordinary biography of a pioneer hero of the frontier Southwest.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History (1976)

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.

About the author

PAUL HORGAN (1904-1995) was a novelist, historian and biographer—and one of the 20th century's most gifted authors. He twice won the Pulitzer Prize for History in a literary career spanning seven decades, and taught at Yale University, University of Iowa and Wesleyan University. His many other books include The Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History (Wesleyan, 1991).

Bibliographic information

• Title: Lamy of Santa Fe
• Author: Paul Horgan
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Wesleyan University Press, 2003
• ISBN: 0819565326, 9780819565327
• Length: 560 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / General; History / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies); History / United States / General