ST. FRANCIS MISSION RECORDS
Historical Notes

Jesuits established St. Francis Mission in 1886 following Chief Spotted Tail's persistent requests for Catholic missionaries and the federal government rescinding its restrictions on Christian evangelization. The school has been continually staffed by Jesuits and Sisters of St. Francis until control was transferred to a local community corporation in 1972. After some early federal funding, the school prospered through the private contributions of Katharine Drexel and the federal disbursement of tribal funds held in trust.

Catholicism flourished on the reservation during the first half of the 20th century. In most communities, local parishes were organized, each with a catechist, lay sodalities, and an itinerant Jesuit pastor. Annually, the faithful gathered for reservation wide general sodality meetings followed by the statewide Catholic Sioux Congress.

Christian fervor waned after World War II, which has been addressed by revitalization efforts since the 1970s. Parishes were re-organized with more resident (and fewer itinerant) Jesuit and Native priests and deacons, and parish councils. The general sodality meetings and Catholic Sioux Congresses remain popular among the elders, however, many faithful also attend Mini (diocesan) and National Tekakwitha Conferences and have organized parish Kateri Circles.

See also -- Authors and Photographers among the Jesuits and Franciscan Sisters; includes dates on principal dates in their lives with respect to the Jesuit missions in South Dakota and Wyoming.

See also -- St. Francis Mission, St. Francis, South Dakota, in Marquette's Guide to Catholic Records about Native Americans in the United States; includes a chronology that identifies the principal missions and stations attended from St. Francis Mission, some of which developed into parishes on or near the Rosebud Reservation.

Dates Event
1846-1851 Reverend Pierre-Jean de Smet (1801-1873), S.J., an itinerant missionary, visited the Brulé Indians.
1870-1881 Under the Peace Policy of President Grant, the government banned Catholic missionaries from the Rosebud Agency.
1870-1880s On many different occasions Chief Spotted Tail (1823-1881) requested Catholic missionaries. In 1877, at a White House meeting with President Rutherford B. Hayes, Spotted Tail said, "I would like to say something about a teacher. My children, all of them, would like to learn how to talk English. They would like to learn how to read and write. We have teachers there, but all they teach us is to talk Lakota, and to write Lakota, and that is not necessary. I would like to get Catholic priests. Those who wear black dresses. These men will teach us how to read and write English ..."
1879, 1889 The Vicariate Apostate of Dakota Territory was established, which became the Diocese of Sioux Falls in 1889.
1879-1894 Bishop Marty served as Vicar of Dakota Territory and then first Bishop of Sioux Falls.
1879-1886 Bishop Marty sent Benedictines from Standing Rock Reservation to visit intermittently.
1883 Reverend Francis M. Craft (Mohawk), a diocesan priest, resided on the Rosebud Reservation.
1883-1888 Priests residing on the Rosebud Reservation visited intermittently on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
1884 Bishop Marty began to encourage the Jesuits of the German Province (Buffalo, New York and Holland; now Munich, Germany) to consider establishing missions among the Lakota in Dakota Territory.
1885 Bishop Marty asked Jesuits from the German Province to establish a mission. The Jesuits agreed, acquired the site, and constructed the first building. The Jesuit community was established the following year. The site, then called Hinhansunwapa (Owl Feather Bonnet) was located near the camps of Chief Two Strike, the successor to Spotted Tail. Saint Katharine Drexel (1858-1955), a wealthy Philadelphia heiress, funded the first building and provided substantial financial support thereafter.
1886-1976 The Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity (first, the Mary Immaculate Province, Nonnenwerth, Germany, then the Holy Name Province, Stella Niagara, New York, and later the Sacred Heart Province, Denver, Colorado) established a community and taught at the St. Francis Mission school.
1886?-1965 St. Francis Mission operated a ranch in Nebraska.
1884-1901 The federal government provided varying levels of school funding.
1891 Rosebud Reservation delegates attended their first annual Catholic Sioux Congress at Standing Rock Reservation. The catechetical ministry and the St. Mary and St. Joseph Societies were then organized within the reservation parishes.
1891 For the first time, school enrollment exceeded 200 students, grades 1-8.
1893-1937 Many parishes were established throughout the Rosebud Reservation. They were served by itinerant pastors from St. Francis Mission.
1893 St. Francis Mission hosted its first Catholic Sioux Congress.
1895- St. Charles Church at St. Francis Mission was built and served as the school chapel and a local parish.
1895-1950s In the Canadian West, Father Albert Lacombe, O.M.I., created the Tableau-Catéchisme (Pictorial Catechism) or "Two Roads" based on Blanchet's L’Éschelle Catholique Historique. Lacombe added color graphics and two paths -- the evil way with a black road and a righteousness way with a red road each replete with corresponding symbols. On South Dakota Indian reservations and elsewhere in the United States and Canada, Catholic missionaries and native catechists used the “Two Roads” together with native language worship publications to the mid-20th century.
1896-1904 Federal school funding decreased gradually and then stopped. More money became available through Saint Katharine Drexel and other church sources.
1897 St. Francis Mission hosted a Catholic Sioux Congress.
1899-1931 Throughout the Rosebud Reservation itinerant Jesuits from St. Francis Mission established and attended to many chapels and missions, a number of which became parishes eventually.
1902 The Diocese of Lead was established and included all of South Dakota west of the Missouri River.
1902-1909 Bishop John Stariha (1845-1915) served as the first Bishop of Lead.
1905 St. Francis Mission hosted a Catholic Sioux Congress.
1906-1935 The government made tribal treaty funds available for school support. These were federally administered funds available on a per capita basis through a petition process.
1907 Among the Jesuits, administration over St. Francis Mission transferred from the German Province's Buffalo Mission to the former Turin Province's Rocky Mountain Mission (now consolidated with the Italian Province, Rome, Italy).
1908 St. Francis Mission hosted a Catholic Sioux Congress.
1909 Among the Jesuits, administration over St. Francis Mission transferred to the California Province (Los Gatos, California).
1909 The school enrollment exceeded 300 students for the first time.
1909 16 Jesuits (4 priests and 12 brothers), 18 Sisters of St. Francis, and 3 catechists served the mission, school, and chapels throughout the reservation.
1910-1915 Bishop Joseph Busch (1866-1953) served as the second Bishop of Lead.
1911-1913 Itinerant Jesuits from St. Francis established and attended to a mission on the Yankton Reservation, which thereafter became an independent mission.
1912 Among the Jesuits, administration over St. Francis Mission transferred to the Missouri Province (headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri).
1916-1948 Bishop John J. Lawler (1862-1948) served as the third Bishop of Lead.
1916 Most of the mission buildings are destroyed by fire, including the church, Jesuit residence, and girl's dormitory. Many administrative records were also destroyed but the boy's dormitory (a masonry building) and the carpentry shop remained.
1924 St. Francis Mission hosted a Catholic Sioux Congress.
1924 The school organized its first boy's basketball team for varsity competition.
1925-1933 Camp DeSmet was operated by the mission. It was a summer camp for non-Indian urban youth who attended Jesuit schools.
1925-1926, 1934-1941 St. Francis Mission High School participated in the National Catholic Interscholastic Basketball Tournament at Loyola University, Chicago a and placed 3rd in 1935, 4th in 1940, and 2nd in 1941. They were recognized in 1938 as the best coached team and in 1940 as the team overcoming the greatest handicap. Nonparticipation in 1927 was due to an outbreak of scarlet fever on the reservation.
1925-1975 Several churches were closed throughout the Rosebud Reservation. See the Chronology of Parishes below for details.
1929 St. Francis Mission hosted a Catholic Sioux Congress.
1930 The Diocese of Lead became the Diocese of Rapid City, reflecting the change in see cities from Lead to Rapid City.
1931 St. Francis Mission received high school accreditation.
1933 St. Francis Mission graduated its first high school class.
1935 Federal funds became available to subsidize the boarding of students.
1936 St. Francis Mission celebrated its 50th anniversary and hosted a Catholic Sioux Congress.
1940 St. Francis Mission hosted a Catholic Sioux Congress.
1940s-1950s The enrollment at the St. Francis Mission school exceeded 500 students.
1947 St. Francis Mission hosted a Catholic Sioux Congress.
1947-1969 Bishop William T. McCarty (1889-1972), C.S.S.R., served as the fourth Bishop of Rapid City (formerly, Diocese of Lead).
1950 The Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum was built at the mission to house and display Reverend Buechel's collection of Brulé and Oglala material culture.
1955 Among the Jesuits, administration of St. Francis Mission transferred to the Wisconsin Province (Milwaukee, Wisconsin).
1957 St. Francis Mission hosted a Catholic Sioux Congress.
1964-1975 The dormitories are phased out and St. Francis Mission school transformed from a boarding school to a day school.
1964- The "Sioux For Christ" Sunday program began broadcasting on radio stations throughout Nebraska and North and South Dakota.
1965-ca.1980 The Rosebud Christian Social Action group operates a joint Catholic-Protestant venture providing socio-economic programs throughout the reservation.
April 1968 As Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Indian Education, Senator Robert F. Kennedy visited Rosebud and Pine Ridge reservations, including Holy Rosary Mission School.
1967 St. Francis Mission school formed a Parent Advisory Board.
1968 The Holy See approved the restoration of the permanent diaconate as a ministry for the Church in the United States.
1968 St. Francis Mission hosted a Catholic Sioux Congress.
1969-1987 Bishop Harold J. Dimmerling (1914-1987) served as the fifth Bishop of Rapid City.
1970 The Parent Advisory Board formed a community corporation, Sicangu Oyate Ho, Inc.
1972 Sicangu Oyate Ho assumed control of St. Francis Mission school and renamed it St. Francis Indian School.
1972-1973 St. Francis Indian School began to receive federal contract school aid.
1972-1980 St. Francis Mission continued to provide administrative and financial support to St. Francis Indian School.
1972-1976 The St. Francis community developed and hosted activities celebrating the U.S. bicentennial.
1974 The Diocese of Rapid City established a permanent deaconate program.
1975 The Diocese of Rapid City ordained Steven Red Elk and Reno Richards as permanent deacons. They are the first Native Americans in the United States to be so ordained.
1975-1976 Sicangu Oyate Ho now employed all of the key personnel at St. Francis Indian School with a contract from the Bureau of Indian Affairs under the 1975 Indian Self-Determination and Educational Assistance Act, PL 93-638.
1977-1978 The Diocese of Rapid City established the Sioux Spiritual Center, Maphiya Na Maka Okogina ["Between Heaven and Earth"] at Plainview as an administrative and retreat center for the permanent diaconate and Native outreach programs.
1978 St. Francis Mission established radio station KINI (96.1 FM).
1970s The parishes in Mission, Norris, Parmelee, and White River are now served by resident pastors from St. Francis Mission.
1980 St. Francis Mission hosted a Catholic Sioux Congress.
1982 The Sisters of St. Francis Community closed but Sister Helen Borszich, O.S.F., remained.
1983 St. Charles Church, St. Francis, hosted a Catholic Sioux Congress.
1985 Reverend Collins P. Jordan 1917-2004) was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Rapid City and assigned to St. Charles Church, St. Francis. He was the first Oglala Indian in the Diocese to be so ordained.
1986 St. Francis Indian School and St. Francis Mission celebrate their centennial year.
1986 A Mini-Tekakwitha Conference is held at St. Francis.
1988-1997 Bishop Charles J. Chaput (1944-, Potawatomi), O.F.M. Cap., served as sixth Bishop of Rapid City, then Archbishop of Denver and Archbishop of Philadelphia. He is the second Native American appointed a bishop in the United States.
1998-2010 Bishop Blase J. Cupich (1949-) served as 7th Bishop of Rapid City.
1990 The Diocese established an Inculturation Project Office to revitalize the faith among its 14,000 Lakota Catholics.
1992 The Diocesan Inculturation Project Office surveyed 10% of the American Indian Catholics and found 43% under age 18 and less than 20% practicing the Catholic faith.
1992 The Sisters of St. Francis at St. Francis Mission, Red Cloud Indian School, and nearby towns in Nebraska merged their communities and formed the Serena Regional Community.
1992 On behalf of himself and all pre-World War II Lakota catechists in the Diocese, Harry Blue Thunder (Brulé) of the Rosebud Reservation received the Lumen Christi Award of the Catholic Church Extension Society.
2000 Reverend Richard Jones, S.J., received the Lumen Christi Award of the Catholic Church Extension Society.
2003 St. Francis Mission established Icimani Ya Waste, a multipurpose center, with Sister Helen Borszich, O.S.F. as director.
2007 St. Francis Mission initiated a 24/7 Suicide Prevention Hotline.
  St. Francis Mission initiated a Family Recovery Program in collaboration with the Betty Ford Institute.
2009 St. Francis Mission initiated the St. Francis Mission Foundation.
2012 St. Francis Mission initiated a dental clinic in collaboration with the Creighton University Dental School.
2011- Bishop Robert D. Gruss served as 8th Bishop of Rapid City.
2013 St. Francis Mission initiated Sapa Un Academy, an elementary school based on the Jesuit Nativity school model.

Religious Communities

Jesuit Superiors

From 1886 to 1994, the Superior of the Jesuit Community served simultaneously as Director of Rosebud Education Society.

Sources: Catalogs of the German, Missouri, Wisconsin, and combined U.S.A. Provinces of the Society of Jesus.

Dates Served Name (Birth-Death)
1886-1893 Reverend Emil M. Perrig (1846-1909), S.J.
1893-1896 Reverend John B. Jutz (1838-1924), S.J.
1896-1916 Reverend P. Florentin Digmann (1846-1931), S.J.
1916-1923 Reverend Eugene Buechel (1874-1954), S.J.
1923-1924 Reverend P. Florentin Digmann (1846-1931), S.J.
1924-1930 Reverend Joseph A. Zimmerman (1885-1954), S.J.
1930-1936 Reverend Martin A. Schiltz (1891-1979), S.J.
1936-1946 Reverend Mathew A. Connell (1894-1957), S.J.
1946-1950 Reverend Lawrence C. Helmueller (1908-), S.J.
1950-1957 Reverend Joseph P. Zuercher (1897-1957), S.J.
1957-1963 Reverend Richard G. Pates (1919-1989), S.J.
1963-1969 Reverend Richard T. Jones (1914-), S.J.
1969-1982 Reverend Bernard D. Fagan (1922-1997), S.J.
1982-1983 Reverend Richard T. Jones (1914-), S.J.
1983-1989 Reverend Patrick M. McCorkell (1944-), S.J.
1989-1994 Reverend Robert J. Tillmann (1948-), S.J.
1994-1997 Reverend James J. Strzok (1939-), S.J.
1997-2003 Reverend Ronald S. Seminara (1944-), S.J.
2003-2018 Reverend John E. Hatcher (1943-), S.J.
2018-present Reverend James M. Kubicki (1952-), S.J.
Superiors of the Sisters of St. Francis

From 1886-1970, the Superior of the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity served simultaneously as Principal of St. Francis Mission Grade School.

Sources: House Chronicles at St. Francis Mission and the Sacred Heart Province Archives of the Sisters St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity.

Dates Served Name (Birth-Death)
1886-1888 Reverend Mother Kostka Schlaghecken (1850-1932), O.S.F.
1888-1889 Sister Rosaria Lampe (1875-1929), O.S.F. (Acting)
1889-1907 Reverend Mother Leopoldine Serries (1845-1929), O.S.F. (Absent, 1892-1907)
1892-1907 Sister Cecilia Steffen (1835-1904), O.S.F. (Acting)
1894 Sister Camilla Lutz (1869-1943), O.S.F. (Acting)
1899 Reverend Mother Kostka Schlaghecken (1850-1932), O.S.F.
1907-1919 Reverend Mother Salesia Schmidt (1859-1925), O.S.F.
1919-1921 Reverend Mother Regina Stolz (1886-1937), O.S.F.
1921-1923 Reverend Mother Ludgera Terheggen (1874-1959), O.S.F.
1923-1927 Reverend Mother Majella Bleicher (1891-1935), O.S.F.
1927-1933 Reverend Mother Mathilda Schwartz (1867-1943), O.S.F.
1933-1939 Reverend Mother Evarusta Carver (1882-1960), O.S.F.
1939-1944 Reverend Mother Bertrand Flemming (1893-1984), O.S.F.
1944-1948 Reverend Mother Boniface Hufnagel (1895-1982), O.S.F.
1948-1950 Reverend Mother Hilga (Agnes) Gunther (1912-), O.S.F.
1950-1951 Reverend Mother Carmen Baumeister (1918-1999), O.S.F.
1951-1956 Reverend Mother Cecilia Lenenbrink (1924-), O.S.F.
1956-1960 Reverend Mother M. Liguori O'Reilly (1912-), O.S.F.
1960-1964 Reverend Mother Elenius Pettinger (1919-), O.S.F.
1964-1967 Reverend Mother Annette Tschacher (1930-), O.S.F.
1967-1973 Reverend Mother Genevieve Cuny (Oglala) (1930-), O.S.F.
1973-1979 Sister Helen Borszich (1935-), O.S.F.
1979-1982 Sister Betty Adams (1938-), O.S.F.

Rosebud Education Society

Directors

From 1886-1994, the Superior of the Jesuit Community served simultaneously as Director of Rosebud Education Society.

Sources: St. Francis Mission.

Dates Served Name (Birth-Death)
1886-1994 See list of Jesuit Superiors.
1994-1999 Reverend Mr. Marlon Leneaugh (1957-, Brulé)
1999-present Ms. Mary Van Winkle (1961-)

 

St. Francis Indian/Mission Schools

Directors/Superintendents (Jesuits and Laity)

From 1886 to 1946, the Superior of the Jesuit Community served simultaneously as the Director/Superintendent of the St. Francis Mission School.

Double asterisk [**] = Served as assistant superintendent only.

Single asterisk [*] = Employed by Sicangu Oyate Ho as superintendent only.

Sources: Catalogs of the German, Missouri, Wisconsin, and combined U.S.A. Provinces of the Society of Jesus and St. Francis Mission Records.

Dates Served Name (Birth-Death)
1886-1946 See list of Jesuit Superiors.
1946-1947 Reverend Harold A. Fuller (1911-1955), S.J.
1947-1948 Reverend Burton J. Fraser (1899-1971), S.J.
1948-1950 Reverend Stanislaus E. Kalamaja (1914-1978), S.J.
1950-1956 Reverend George M. Pieper (1917-1998), S.J.
1956-1962 Reverend Joseph C. Gill (1926-), S.J.
1970-1971 Reverend Christian F. Keeler (1921-1996), S.J.*
1971-1975 Reverend Joseph C. Gill (1926-), S.J.
1975-1977 Mr. Leland Bordeaux (Brulé)**
1977-present See St. Francis Indian School for listings of personnel.

Grade School Principals (Sisters of St. Francis and Laity)

From 1886 to 1970, the Superior of the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity served simultaneously as the Principal of the St. Francis Mission Grade School.

Single asterisk [*] = Employed by Sicangu Oyate Ho.

Source: St. Francis Mission Records.

Dates Served Name
1888-1970 See list of Superiors of the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity
1970-1975 Sister Ann Jean Rotherham, O.S.F.
1975-1977 Mr. Mark A. Bordeaux, Sr. (Brulé)*
1977-present See St. Francis Indian School for listings of personnel.
High School Principals (Jesuits, Sisters of St. Francis and Laity)

From 1931 to 1968, the Director/Superintendent of the St. Francis Mission School served simultaneously as the Principal of the St. Francis Mission High School.

Single asterisk [*] = Employed by Sicangu Oyate Ho.

Source: St. Francis Mission Records.

Dates Served Name
1931-1968 See list of Directors/Superintendents of St. Francis Mission School.
1968-1970 Reverend Christian F. Keeler, S.J. (1921-1996)
1970-1972 Sister Bernard, O.S.F.
1972-1975 Mr. Leland Bordeaux (Brulé)*
1975-1977 Mr. Richard J. Bordeaux (Brulé)*
1977-present See St. Francis Indian School for listings of personnel.

Chairs, Parent Advisory Board of Sicangu Oyate Ho (Laity)

Source: St. Francis Mission Records.

Dates Served Name
1968-1969 Mr. Cato Valandra (Brulé)
1969-1970 Mr. Manley Nightpipe (Brulé)
1970-1971 Ms. Doris Leader Charge (Brulé)
1971-1972 Mr. Burton Whiting (Brulé)
1972-1974 Mr. Manley Nightpipe (Brulé)
1974-1975 Mr. Charles Archambault (Brulé)
1975-1976 Ms. Angelene Rabbit (Brulé)
1976-present See St. Francis Indian School for listings of personnel.
Executive Directors of Sicangu Oyate Ho (Laity)

Double asterisk [**] =Employed by Sicangu Oyate Ho as C.E.O. of St. Francis Indian School.

Source: St. Francis Mission Records.

Dates Served Name
1971-1977 Mr. Frank LaPointe (Brulé)**
1977-present See St. Francis Indian School for listings of personnel.

Sapa Un Academy, Principal

Dates Served Name
2013-present Reverend Jim LaFontaine, S.J.

 

Native Catechists (Brulé laity): First generation of Native catechists.

Source: St. Francis Mission Records, Stipend Lists in Series 3-2 Financial Records; Compiled in 1992 for the Lumen Christi Award Application of the Diocese of Rapid City.

Name Known dates served, 1930-1954
Arrow Side 1933-1934
Arrowside, Frank 1931-1945, 1948-1954
Arrow Sight, Frank 1931
Big Crow, John 1930-1935, 1946-1947
Black Elk, Paul 1930-1944
Black Elk, Valandra 1933-1934
Blue Thunder, Harry 1935-1936
Bordeaux, Francis 1935-1936
Bulltail, Moses 1934, 1936
Chasing Hawk, Jesse 1930-1938
Crow Good Voice, William 1931-1952
Eagle, B. 1936
Guerue, Albert 1951-1954
Hollow Horn Bear, Dan 1931, 1935, 1945-1948
Hollow Horn Bear 1930, 1935
Iron Shell, Isaac 1946-1952
Jackson, Narcisse 1935-1936
Larvie, Tom 1934-1935
Law Seeder, George 1935
Leading Fighter, Ben 1933-1934, 1937-1951
Little, Noah 1950-1951
Little Bull, Tom 1930-1936
Little Thunder, Clark 1932-1933
Low Cedar, George 1934-1935, 1938, 1946
Moccasin Face, George 1931-1937
Night Pipe, Alfred 1934-1936
Penneaux, Charles 1935-1936
Picket Pin, David 1934
Red Fish 1932-1933
Red Fish, William 1931-1934, 1943-1945
Running Bird, Henry 1931-1934
Sharp Fish, Leo 1930-1934
Sleeping Bear, Paul 1932
Swift, Charles 1946-1948
Thin Elk, Joe 1936
Walking Eagle, Felix 1934-1946
Walking Eagle, Joseph 1944-1946
White Crane Walking, Isaac 1931-1933
White Hat, Joseph 1931-1936, 1938-1944
White Lance, Joe 1933
Native Permanent Deacons

Source: Diocese of Rapid City

Dates Served Name (Birth-Death) Community, Dates Served
1976- Reverend Mr. Ben Black Bear, Jr. (Brulé) (1946-) St. Francis, Rosebud Reservation, 1976- .
1987-1990 Reverend Mr. Truman Stevens, Jr. (Brulé) St. Francis, Rosebud Reservation, 1987-1990.
1993- Reverend Mr. Marlon Leneaugh (Brulé) (1957-) Mission, Rosebud Reservation, 1993- .
1994- Reverend Mr. Leroy DeCory (Brulé) (1938-) St. Francis, Rosebud Reservation, 1994-1995; Rapid City, 1995- .
1998- Reverend Mr. Harold Condon (Sans Arc) (1949-) Cherry Creek, Cheyenne River Reservation, 1985-1988; Oglala, Pine Ridge Reservation, 1985-1994; Dupree, Cheyenne River Reservation, 1994-1998; Parmelee, Rosebud Reservation, 1997-1999.

 


 

KINI Radio

 

Directors (Jesuits)

Position discontinued in 1996.

Source: St. Francis Mission Records.

Dates Served Name (Birth-Death)
1978-1982 Reverend Joseph C. Gill (1926-), S.J.
1982-1985 Mr. John T. Carr (1943-), S.J.
1985-1996 Reverend Christian F. Keeler (1921-1996), S.J.

 

Managers (Laity)
Dates Served Name (Birth-Death)
1978?-198?  
198?-1992 Mr. Mark Iyotte (Brulé)
1992- Mr. Bernard Whiting, Jr. (1956-, Brulé)