The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-07-13
BISHOP WEHRLE DESCRIBES THE
BEGINNING OF THE CHURCH IN
WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA.
Pioneer Days-Abbot Marty and the
Benedictines-M Monastery at Rich
ardton-The Diocese of Bismarck
Material and Spiritual Prospects.

waterfall anu SPtTtA00t EtSSfSSS'
The story of the building up OF
the Church in the western part of the
State of North Dakota is the same
history of struggle, encouragement
and eternal vigilance that every do
cese, especially in the western part OF
our country, has experienced, writes
the Right Reverend Bishop Wehrle,
o. S. F., of Bismarck, n. D., in Exten-
sion Magazine. For twenty-three
years I have been in this field, one
might say on the firing line, and
during that period have tried to do
nv share toward building up the
Church in this new and promising
country.
In 1876 and 1877 Abbot Marty, the
future Vicar-Apostolic, had visited
Buford in the endeavor to bring back
the hostile and fugitive Indians under
Sitting Bull. From that time on
visit was made twice a year by the
priest stationed at Bismarck to the
Catholic soldiers of Buford. The
journey was made up the Missouri
on the boat which brought provisions
for the military post. In 1885 the
Great Northern was extended to
Buford, and consequently the priest
living at DEVILS Lake could more
conveniently attend to the mission
than the priest at Bismarck, and the
duty fell to him.
In the month of July, 1888, Bishop
Marty, the Vicar-Apostolic of the Da-
kotas, sent me to Devils Lake, a town
on the Great Northern Railroad, Civ
ing me charge of all missions west
of that point as far as the Montana
State line. This territory was 25S
miles in length. However, he prom
ised that he would soon send priest
to Minot, 116 miles west of Devils
Lake, thus leaving but half of that
vast territory upon my SOUL
The first Mass ever celebrated at
Minot was offered up under tent, and
thirty minutes after Mass one of the
crowd was killed in gamblers fight!
In 1888 l made my first visit to the
northern part of my present diocese,
and my people consisted of about
forty Catholic soldiers at Buford, three
or four families at Williston, perhaps
thirty-five families at Minot, twenty
eight families at st. Mary's, now
called Foxholm, and some scattered
Catholics in different section houses
along the railroad. A few weeks al
terward a priest arrived at Minot,
but almost Immediately after his ar
rival he was taken sick with the noun
tain fever and died three weeks later.
Early Labors and Trials.
| had under my charge the northern
half of the present diocese of Bismarck
and about one-fourth of the present
diocese of Fargo-certainly an i'm
mense territory, that seemed all the
vaster considering that the total num-
ber of Catholics under my care did
not consist of more than 100 families;
and, in order to reach them all, l
often had to say Mass in twenty-four
different places, widely scattered. In
this work I was assisted by another
Benedictine father, who resided with
me.
After building a church at Minot in
1889, and at st. Mary's, or Foxholm,
as it is now called, we were compelled
to pay thirteen per cent interest on a
debt of a thousand dollars for the
Minot church. Farmers often paid as
high as twenty per cent interest. And
these different disadvantages, all
working together, discouraged many
an immigrant, so that in 1891 the
number of Catholics was smaller than
in 1888.
Then, close onto the shadow of our
other misfortunes, came the money
panic of 1898. It is quite evident
that under such unfavorable condi-
tions we could not build up. We had
our hands full in trying to keep things
as they were. Thus, for number
of years all the mission work in the
whole northern half of the present
diocese of Bismarck was taken care OF
by one priest.
Abbot Marty and the Benedictines
Bismarck had been a town as early
as 1870 Not far from there, on the
other side of the Missouri River, was
located one of the largest and oldest
Indian towns, where the holy Father
De Smet, on his journey in 1841 and
1912, had said Mass and baptized
some Indians. From that time or
they had a special love and reverence
for the BLACK robe" 1t is a boast oi
some of the oldest Indians at Elbo
woods that they have been baptized
by the good BLACK robe," Father De
Smet