<b>Death Comes for the Archbishop</b> is a 1927 novel by American author <b>Willa Cather</b>. It concerns the attempts of a Catholic bishop and a priest to establish a diocese in New Mexico Territory.<br /><br />The narrative is based on two historical figures of the late 19th century, <b>Jean-Baptiste Lamy</b> and <b>Joseph Projectus Machebeuf</b>, and rather than any one singular plot, is the stylized re-telling of their lives serving as Roman Catholic clergy in New Mexico.&nbsp;<br /><br /><b>Willa Sibert Cather</b>&nbsp;(born Wilella Sibert Cather; December 7, 1873 &ndash; April 24, 1947) was an American writer known for her novels of life on the Great Plains, including <b>O Pioneers!</b>, <b>The Song of the Lark</b>, and <b>My &Aacute;ntonia</b>. In 1923, she was awarded the <b>Pulitzer Prize</b> for <b>One of Ours</b>, a novel set during <b>World War I</b>.