Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather

Even if you don't read this book while sitting in front of the Cathedral in Santa Fe, you will still feel like you have dropped back into New Mexico in the 19th century.  Each chapter is an episode in the simple challenging lives of Bishop Latour and his good friend Father Villiant.  It is such a story of time and place and what life must have been like in the frontier.  You might also ponder what the world would be like if all the missionaries that went out in the world had been so interested and respectful of the cultures they encountered.