Padre Martinez and Bishop Lamy

<p>Willa Cather in the historical novel Death Comes for the Archbishop depicts Padre Antonio Jose Martinez as an unscrupulous backward rogue priest and Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy as a civilizing heroic and monumental figure. Countering Cather's assessment and portrayal of these two larger-than-life Southwestern folk heroes Ray John de Aragon attempts to set the historical record straight. Padre Martinez (1793-1867) is viewed as a genius who was ahead of his time. Recognized as a champion of the poor defender of the Native Americans and proponent of human rights it was inevitable that he would clash with Lamy. Bishop Lamy (1814-1888) who also had his followers emerges as someone whose understanding of native New Mexican cultures was lacking but one whose intentions were to do good as a missionary in a strange and foreign land.</p>