The central character served as youth in Ohio, where he met his lifelong friend Joseph Vallaint.  
One of the real life incidents incorporated in this novel is when the protagonist and a local guide take shelter from a blizzard in a mountain cave, and another is that protagonist's laborious journey to Baltimore.  It is peopled with such characters as the Navajo leader Eusebio and Kit Carson.  The central character served as youth in Ohio, where he met his lifelong friend Joseph Vallaint.  FTP, name this 1927 novel about Jean Latour, a novel by Willa Cather.
One of the real life incidents incorporated in this novel is when the protagonist and a local guide take shelter from a blizzard in a mountain cave, and another is that protagonist's laborious journey to Baltimore.  
Death Comes for the Archbishop