Willa Cather and the Spirit of Santa Fe
In 1927, acclaimed American novelist Willa Cather published Death Comes for the Archbishop, her luminous historical novel inspired by life in 19th-century New Mexico. The story follows Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy — the French missionary priest who became the first bishop (and later archbishop) of Santa Fe — and brings to life the rugged landscapes and cultural encounters of the territorial Southwest.
Nearly a century later, Santa Fe guide and historian Garrett Peck explores Cather’s Southwestern years in his newly published 2026 biography, The Bright Edges of the World: Willa Cather and Her Archbishop. Peck traces Cather’s journeys through New Mexico between 1912 and 1926 — years she described as transformative. “I have gone a-journeying in New Mexico on the trail of the Archbishop,” she wrote.
Cather immersed herself deeply in the region. She spent time in Taos among notable cultural figures including Mabel Dodge Luhan, D. H. Lawrence, and Frida Lawrence, who were part of the vibrant artistic circle shaping early 20th-century New Mexico. In Santa Fe, she stayed at Bishop's Lodge, where the quiet hills and big skies helped her imagine the spiritual and physical journeys at the heart of Death Comes for the Archbishop.
Born in 1873 in Virginia, Cather grew up in Red Cloud, Nebraska, whose prairie landscapes inspired many of her most beloved works. Novels such as O Pioneers!, The Song of the Lark, and My Ántonia explore the immigrant experience and the shaping power of landscape. Her novel One of Ours won the Pulitzer Prize in 1923. Throughout her life, Cather’s closest professional collaborator was editor Edith Lewis, who became executor of her literary estate after Cather’s death in 1947.
Walk in Cather’s Footsteps
For visitors to Santa Fe, Cather’s work offers more than literary history — it provides a way of seeing the city. The Cathedral Basilica, the Palace of the Governors, the old barrio neighborhoods, and the high desert light she absorbed are still here.
On our Historic Downtown Walking Tour at Santa Fe Discovery Walking Tours, we explore many of the places and personalities that shaped the world Cather encountered — from Archbishop Lamy’s legacy to the artistic ferment of the early 20th century.
And if you’d like to dive even deeper into Cather’s literary Santa Fe, we warmly recommend joining Garrett Peck on his dedicated Willa Cather Walking Tour, offered through his own guiding practice. It’s a wonderful opportunity to explore the city through the eyes of one of America’s great novelists — guided by the historian who has just brought her Southwestern journey vividly back to life.
After all, Santa Fe has always inspired storytellers. The landscape remembers — and when you walk it, the stories return.
About the Author
Ellen Bond arrived in New Mexico for college in 1971 and never looked back! Her guiding experience includes time as a docent at the New Mexico Museum of Art, the Santa Fe Opera and the historic La Fonda Hotel on the Plaza. She also hosts programs for Road Scholar in Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico. And Ellen leads an intriguing Santa Fe Spy Tour in downtown Santa Fe, as part of Discovery Walking Tours.