Lonesome Dove. Confusion on the final passages

I have been puzzling about two different aspects of the conclusion of the novel:

• Perhaps my biggest puzzle of the novel is Gus asking Woodrow to take his body back to Texas as his “final gift.” What was Gus hoping to do for Woodrow, there on his deathbed? Gus spent much of their years together prodding Woodrow to develop a more meaningful relationship with Newt, but his deathbed request for the Texas burial seem to ensure that Woodrow would be separated from his son. Seems at odds with the love and charity Gus showed both Woodrow and Newt. It definitely requires Woodrow to not settle in Montana for long, the ostensible purpose of the cattle drive. Was he simply just giving Woodrow something to do?

• Why are the final paragraphs of such a lengthy novel spent discussing the suicide of the proprietor of the Dry Bean? Woodrow has returned back to Lonesome Dove, realized he has sacrificed all of his earthly relationships, but then the narrative slips toward Xavier, a minor character. Is this a statement on men failing to realize the importance of human connection? Failing to appreciate that which they had?

Curious on your thoughts. Thanks.

My third (bonus) puzzlement is what were the members of the Hat Creek Cattle Company doing for the decade preceding the events of the novel? The men of the outfit, most especially Call, are shown as men of drive and grit, as yet they never roofed the barn or dug the well in all those years. Neither do they really have much of a herd of horses. Seems against their characters to be have so much time and accomplish so little.