< St. Francis Mission Records Index < St. Francis Mission Notable Events and People

ST. FRANCIS MISSION RECORDS

Historical Note

St. Francis Mission was established by Jesuits in 1886.  This followed Spotted Tail's persistent requests for Catholic missionaries and the rescinding of federal 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 --  St. Francis Mission Notable Events & People

See also --  Notable Authors and Photographers among the Jesuits and Sisters of St. Francis

See also -- Catholic Native America digital image collections

Scope and Content

Series: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

Series-level highlights followed by an index to Native authors and subjects. Related record sources in other Marquette collections and elsewhere are also noted. 

St. Francis Mission Series 1, Mission and School Correspondence: Correspondence by Jesuits, Brulé [Sicangu] Indians, and others at St. Francis Mission. St. Francis Mission transferred the correspondence to Marquette University, which pertains to mission origins (1878, 1887), government school contracts (to ca. 1980), school sports and extracurricular activities (1899-1978) and the St. Francis School's transition from mission to local community control (1971-1980). Other notable topics includes baptisms and conversions (1894, 1907), the Messiah movement (1894), petitions requesting missionaries for the Santee (1930) and Yankton (1916) Reservations, Camp DeSmet--a summer camp for boys from St. Louis University High School--(1925), the Black Hills claim (1928), poverty, economic development, and tribal rights on/ off the reservation (1937-1970s), military service and life on/ off the reservation by Brulé men (1942-1956), and veneration of Kateri Tekakwitha (1969-1980). Series 1 also includes letters by and/or about the following:

Series 1, Index to Native American Authors and Subjects

Relevant items in Series 5 and 8 also noted.

Badhand, Yankee L. (Brulé)	1948
Bird, John R. (Brulé)	1945
Black Elk, Ben (Oglala),	1936
Blue Thunder, Vernon J. (Brulé)	1943-1944, 1947-1948, 1954, 1956, n.d.
Bordeaux, Leland M. (Brulé)	1975-1977; 6-1: 1975 or 1976
Catches, Peter (Oglala)	1948
Chief Eagle, Dallas (Brulé)	1947, 1972
Clark, Dick (Brulé)	1954
Compos, Thomas H. (Brulé)	1949
Cross Dog, Lincoln (Brulé)	1949
Cuny, Sister Genevieve, O.S.F. (Oglala)	1973, 1980; see also Series 5, Indian Catechist; and Series 8, News Clippings, 1975-1976, 1980
Face, John E. (Brulé)	1948
Giroux, Curtis (Brulé)	1950
LaPointe, Frank	1972-1974; 5: 1971-1980; 6-1: 1975 or 1976
Left Hand Bull, Silas (Brulé)	1951, 1964; see also Series 8, News Clippings, 1973-1974
Many Horses (Oglala)
Louis J.	1953
Benjamin J.	1948-1950
Calvin	1949, 1951-1952
Omaha Boy, Anthony (Brulé)	1942-1945
Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Brulé)	1954
Roubideaux, Arthur C. (Brulé)	1942-1945
Sharpfish
Clavin C.	1943-1946, 1948
Louise	1946
Track, Mathew S. (Brulé)	1956
Tuttle, Marvin (Brulé)	1940-1950
Yankton Sioux (Yankton)	1916

Other series within the St. Francis Missions Records and other Marquette University collections contain documentation relating to this series.

Series 1-1, Correspondence -- Restrictions: These records (1980s and more recent ones; microfilm reel 4) are restricted for 25 years after their date of creation. Restricted microfilm is not available via interlibrary loan. For more information, please consult with archives staff.

Series 1-2, Correspondence -- Restrictions: These records are restricted for 70 years after their date of creation. For more information, please consult with archives staff.

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St. Francis Mission Series 2, Mission and School Reports: Reports by Jesuits, Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity, and others at St. Francis Mission. St. Francis Mission transferred the reports to Marquette University. 

Series 2-1, Reports: The chronicle (Kronik) of the Sisters of St. Francis and the school diary describe various general and special events at the St. Francis Mission School. The chronicle (typescript, page 9) also describes events during the Messiah movement, 1890-1891. KINI Radio: Sicangu Chronicle "News Notes" and a transcript of No. 39-40, Fancy Dance Memoirs by Chico Her Many Horses (Oglala), 1980, are also included. Series 9 includes related KINI recordings.

Restrictions: These records are restricted for 70 years after their date of creation. In For more information, please consult with archives staff.

Series 2-2, Reports: This series includes pupil admission, enrollment, and attendance records, which were compiled quarterly and submitted to the federal government for the purpose of receiving per capita tuition payments from tribal trust funds. Generally, the lists include names of pupils and staff members, Indian tribal and non-Indian ethnicity, degree of Indian blood, dates of attendance with related comments, and statistical summaries. Many pupil lists are first categorized by gender, ethnicity, and lodging status and there under arranged alphabetically by surname.

The Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Records, Series 2-1, includes additional pupil attendance records for the St. Francis Mission School, which are also restricted.

Restrictions: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 restrict student-related records held by educational institutions without regard to their antiquity. But it does not apply to student records held by non-educational institutions such as the U.S. National Archives, which also holds copies of these student attendance records. For more information about access to these records at Marquette University, please submit an Application for Genealogical Query. For some schools, sanitized facsimiles (photocopies with obliterated confidential information) are available to on-site visitors as noted in the descriptive inventories. For contact information about access to these records at a record center of the U.S. National Archives, see Marquette's Guides to Catholic-Related Records about Native Americans in the United States. These records are not at Marquette, but at the institutions described.

St. Francis Mission Series 3, Mission and School Financial Records: The records contain only fragments from the financial transactions of St. Francis Mission and the Catholic Church on the Rosebud Reservation. Nonetheless, the records provide significant documentation pertaining to a variety of activities during the 1930s and accounts for two Rosebud Reservation parishes in the 1970s. Also of note is Father Buechel's ledger of stipends paid to Lakota catechists. 

St. Francis Mission Series 4, Mission and School Proceedings: Proceedings by Jesuits, Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity, and others at St. Francis Mission. The proceedings pertain primarily to school operations and its transition to community control (1970s-1980s). The local sodality proceedings include some information on veneration of Kateri Tekakwitha, the Catholic Sioux Congress, and the Tekakwitha Conference. Other series within the St. Francis Missions Records and other Marquette University collections contain documentation relating to this series.

Catholic Sioux Congress: The Congress records were acquired from both Holy Rosary Mission-Red Cloud Indian School and St. Francis Mission. Archives staff combined them into one enriched file within the Holy Rosary Mission/Red Cloud Indian School Records, Series 4. The Catholic Sioux Congress records include records of the South Dakota Congress (1920-1988) and the Montana-North Dakota Congress (1943-1986). Topics include discussions on "Spiritual dangers" (South Dakota, 1920s-1970s), religious vocations (South Dakota, 1961, 1967-1970s), and use of the sacred pipe (1973-1970s).

Wisconsin Jesuit Province Indian Apostolate Board: The Indian Apostolate Board records (1966-1990) were acquired from both Holy Rosary Mission-Red Cloud Indian School and St. Francis Mission. Archives staff combined them into one enriched file within the Holy Rosary Mission/Red Cloud Indian School Records, Series 4. The Board addressed common Jesuit concerns at Holy Rosary Mission/Red Cloud Indian School, St. Francis Mission, Rosebud Reservation, and Mother Butler Center/St. Isaac Jogues Church, Rapid City. Its topics included discussions on religious vocations among Native Americans.

St. Francis Mission Series 5, Mission and School Publications: Publications by Jesuits, Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity, and others at St. Francis Mission. St. Francis Mission transferred the bulk of the publications to Marquette University with the exception of a few items donated directly to Marquette University. This series includes school publications and mission fundraising newsletters and calendars plus transcripts of select recordings.

Other series within the St. Francis Missions Records and other Marquette University collections contain documentation relating to this series. The Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Records, Series 14-1, contains the most comprehensive holdings of St. Francis Mission periodicals (originals and microfilm).

Work in-progress: The Marquette University Libraries are developing bibliographic records for the publications in this collection. This includes all books, pamphlets, magazines, newsletters, prayer cards, published maps, published sound and video recordings, etc., and excludes clipping files and reprints of articles. As they are created, the bibliographic records will appear in Marqcat, the Marquette University online catalog. Furthermore, as an interim and supplemental search tool, most titles to publications in this and related collections appear in the Index to Publications in Native America Collections.        

St. Francis Mission Series 6, Mission, School, Jesuit, and General Photography: Photography by Jesuits with collected images from other photographers. St. Francis Mission transferred the bulk of the images to Marquette University with the exception of some items donated by Jesuits themselves. Most images pertain to St. Francis Mission, Brulé [Sicangu] Indians, Jesuits, and Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity on the Rosebud Reservation. Also included are images pertaining to Holy Rosary Mission/Red Cloud Indian School, Oglala Indians, Jesuits, and Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity on the Pine Ridge Reservation and elsewhere in South Dakota and adjacent states. This reflects, the diverse ministries served by Jesuits and their propensity to retain and share their personal papers with other Jesuits. Prominent subjects include school sports and extra-curricular activities (1930s-present), home visitations, reservation parishes, Catholic Sioux Congresses, and community celebrations. Information on the veneration of Kateri Tekakwitha is also included (1970).

Series 6-1, Black & White Prints: Prints from Jesuits and others pertaining primarily to St. Francis Mission and the Rosebud Reservation.

Series 6-2, Color Prints: Prints from Jesuits and others pertaining primarily to St. Francis Mission and the Rosebud Reservation. Also included are captured images from frames of the motion picture, "The Blackrobe" by Chulack Productions, n.d. (1952?), which feature scenes of Reverend Eugene Buechel, S.J., and Holy Rosary Mission school, and the the Sioux Madonna oil painting by Seymour Twiss, n.d. (1930s?-1950s?)

Series 6-3, Color Slides: Slides from Jesuits and others pertaining primarily to St. Francis Mission and the Rosebud Reservation.

Series 6-4, Albums: Photocopies of contact-sheet albums created in 2005 from borrowed originals held by the Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum. The photocopies provide a visual key to the negatives in sub-series 6-5 and 6-6.

Series 6-5, Film Negatives:  [1922-1953], n.d. (1900s?-1960s?) Comprises over 10,000 roll-film negatives (ca. 3.75 cubic feet) received from the Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum in 2005. Marquette has retained the previous arrangement and numbering scheme. The negatives are divided by size, there under the vast majority are numbered sequentially, and arranged in chronological order. Although Father Buechel is the subject of a few images, it is believed that he created the bulk of them with his Kodak box camera and roll film between August 14, 1922, and ca. 1945. Also, included are a few negatives with a "Z" prefix, which may be an attribution to Father Zimmerman.

Buechel Photography Log Database: A searchable item-level description of the early film negatives received in 2009. Father Buechel created the original log, which notes the subject, place, and date for negatives 1-1057, August 14, 1922 to July 31, 1929.

Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum Database to Photographic Negatives: A searchable item-level description of the film and glass-plate negatives received from the Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum in 2005. (Includes Father Buechel's film negatives, but with less detail.)

Buechel, Reverend Eugene, S.J.: The Jesuit Papers in the Holy Rosary Mission/Red Cloud Indian School Records contain the bulk of Father Buechel's research papers regarding Brulé and Oglala language, beliefs, and traditions. They include papers authored by himself and Oglala and Brulé [Sicangu] Indians. However, his photography of Holy Rosary Mission, the Pine Ridge Reservation, St. Francis Mission, and the Rosebud Reservation is in the St. Francis Mission Records, Series 6, and his diary, personal correspondence, photography, and sermons regarding Holy Rosary Mission, the Pine Ridge Reservation, St. Francis Mission, and the Rosebud Reservation, are in the the St. Francis Mission Records, Series 7. Other series within the St. Francis Mission Records and other Marquette University collections contain more documentation about Father Buechel and the native authors who collaborated with him. Father Buechel's background.

Catholic Ladders: Holy Rosary Mission-Red Cloud Indian School Records, Series 6-2, includes color photographic copies of Lacombe's "Two Roads" or Tableau-Catéchisme = Pictorial Catechism; Holy Rosary Mission-Red Cloud Indian School Records, Series 7-1, under author unknown, includes narrative scripts to aid the use of Lacombe's "Two Roads" or Tableau-Catéchisme = Pictorial Catechism; Holy Rosary Mission-Red Cloud Indian School Records, Series 8, contains original copies of Lacombe's "Two Roads" or Tableau-Catéchisme = Pictorial Catechism; and Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Records, Series 8-1 and 8-2, contain original and electronic copies of various mnemonic and pictorial ladder catechisms. Father Buechel's photography in Holy Rosary Mission-Red Cloud Indian School Records, Series 6-1, and St. Francis Mission Records, Series 6-5, contain images of persons using these catechisms.

Series 6-6, Glass-Plate Negatives: [1883-1921], n.d. (1910s?-1920s?), Comprises approximately 1,650 photographic negatives (ca. 3.0 cubic feet) received from the Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum in 2005. Marquette has retained the previous arrangement and numbering scheme. The negatives are divided by size and there under numbered sequentially and arranged in random order. It is believed that Father Joseph Zimmerman created the bulk of these images on the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Reservations. However, he is the subject of a few images and some apparently were created before he served in South Dakota. Father Zimmerman began serving full-time at St. Francis in 1914 and left in June, 1920. It appears that some glass-plate negatives were created after that.

The earliest image among the glass-plate negatives is 0058, which is a portrait of Chief Red Cloud and Othniel C. Marsh at the Peabody Museum in 1883. It is believed to be a copy negative created at a later date. At least seven other glass-plate negatives are believed to copy negatives as well. They are negatives 1169-1174, 1182, 1184, all of which pertain to Western South Dakota, the Ghost dance and/or 1890 Wounded Knee massacre. Negative 0967 of Brother Michael Schmidt, S.J., of Holy Rosary Mission who died in 1896, is possibly the first original image captured among the glass-plate negatives.

Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum Database to Photographic Negatives: A searchable in-house item-level description of the film and glass-plate negatives received from the Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum in 2005.

Father Zimmerman's background

St. Francis Mission Digital Image Collection: This online collection features a less than 5% representative sampling of all images from the photography series.

About the collections: Native American-related images are found in these digital collections: Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions [images] (also includes images from the Walter Bernard Hunt Collection and the Sacred Heart Province Franciscan Records), The Indian Sentinel [illustrated magazine], Holy Rosary Mission/Red Cloud Indian School [images], St. Francis Mission [images]. Archivists have attempted to include all relevant locations and native ethnic affiliations (American Indian tribes, Eskimo communities, and other related groups) in cases where the boundaries of a reservation span more than one state, or is the homeland to more than one ethnic group. Also, archivists have consulted The Official Catholic Directory and other reference sources to identify related Catholic religious institutes (orders, etc.). If it is necessary to clarify identities, we advise researchers to consult the Help Pages for Native America Digital Collections. They include Master Lists of Authors of The Indian Sentinel, Master Lists of Catholic and Native Groups, and a link to the Master Index to the Marquette Native Catholic Guides, which provides comparisons between contemporary and historic names of related Catholic institutions. We would appreciate receiving information from visitors who are knowledgeable about any of these images. 

Searching tips: Related images (and articles with related contextual information) may exist in more than one collection at Marquette University, either online or off-line. To identify all online images pertinent to your research, go to the Advanced Search  function, which provides for simultaneous searching across multiple digital collections. To insure a thorough search, conduct multiple searches using different but related key words such as proper names of objects, persons, places, organizations, and ethnic groups. Many images not in the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions images appear as illustrations in The Indian Sentinel. Also, know that the digital collections contain a less than 5% representative sampling of all images from within the off-line collection with the corresponding name and that off-line images may be selected and ordered as well. On request, archives staff will develop custom image catalogues for patrons who provide specific parameters defined by broad subject categories, place, and years.

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St. Francis Mission Series 7, Jesuit Papers: Personal papers of Jesuits with papers of others collected by Jesuits at St. Francis Mission. St. Francis Mission transferred the bulk of the papers to Marquette University with the exception of some items donated by Jesuits themselves. While most papers pertain to St. Francis Mission, Brulé [Sicangu] Indians, and the Rosebud Reservation, some papers pertain to Holy Rosary Mission/Red Cloud Indian School, Oglala Indians, and the Pine Ridge Reservation or elsewhere in South Dakota and adjacent states. This reflects, the diverse ministries served by Jesuits and their propensity to retain and share their personal papers with other Jesuits. Other series within the St. Francis Missions Records and other Marquette University collections contain documentation relating to this series.

Work in-progress: The Marquette University Libraries are developing bibliographic records for the publications in this collection. This includes all books, pamphlets, magazines, newsletters, prayer cards, published maps, published sound and video recordings, etc., and excludes clipping files and reprints of articles. As they are created, the bibliographic records will appear in Marqcat, the Marquette University online catalog. Furthermore, as an interim and supplemental search tool, most titles to publications in this and related collections appear in the Index to Publications in Native America Collections.    

St. Francis Mission Series 8, General Publications: Publications, clippings, and U.S. Government documents pertaining to the Rosebud Reservation, at least in part. St. Francis Mission collected the bulk of these items with additional ones added by the Marquette University Archives. The newspaper clippings contain information on school curriculum, sports, and extracurricular activities (1920-1989), Camp DeSmet (1920s), the Catholic Sioux Congress and sodalities (1936), reservation poverty, economic development, and tribal rights (1937-1970s), Tekakwitha Conference (1936), veneration of Kateri Tekakwitha (1970-1975, 1980), school bicultural education (1973), Dakota [Lakota] language, beliefs and traditions (1973-1976), lay ministry and the diaconate (1974-1976), and radio ministry (1974, 1979, 1987). Other series within the St. Francis Missions Records and other Marquette University collections contain documentation relating to this series.

Work in-progress: The Marquette University Libraries are developing bibliographic records for the publications in this collection. This includes all books, pamphlets, magazines, newsletters, prayer cards, published maps, published sound and video recordings, etc., and excludes clipping files and reprints of articles. As they are created, the bibliographic records will appear in Marqcat, the Marquette University online catalog. Furthermore, as an interim and supplemental search tool, most titles to publications in this and related collections appear in the Index to Publications in Native America Collections.         

St. Francis Mission Series 9, Mission, Jesuit, and General Sound Recordings: Sound recordings recorded or collected by Jesuits at St. Francis Mission. St. Francis Mission transferred the bulk of the recordings to Marquette University with the exception of a few related items added by archives staff. While most papers pertain to St. Francis Mission, Brulé [Sicangu] Indians, and the Rosebud Reservation, some recordings pertain to Holy Rosary Mission/Red Cloud Indian School, Oglala Indians, and the Pine Ridge Reservation or elsewhere in South Dakota and adjacent states. This reflects, the diverse ministries served by Jesuits and their propensity to retain and share their recordings with other Jesuits. Other series within the St. Francis Missions Records and other Marquette University collections contain documentation relating to this series.

Work in-progress: The Marquette University Libraries are developing bibliographic records for the publications in this collection. This includes all books, pamphlets, magazines, newsletters, prayer cards, published maps, published sound and video recordings, etc., and excludes clipping files and reprints of articles. As they are created, the bibliographic records will appear in Marqcat, the Marquette University online catalog. Furthermore, as an interim and supplemental search tool, most titles to publications in this and related collections appear in the Index to Publications in Native America Collections.  

General Recordings

Holy Rosary Mission Summer Session: Towards an Indian Perspective: A 1978 summer conference at Holy Rosary Mission, Pine Ridge Reservation, that featured Brule and Oglala Indians, Jesuits, and others familiar with Catholic Church involvement on Indian reservations in South Dakota. The presentation, "An Educator Looks at Catholic Church Teaching" by Agnes Picotte has been transcribed and is located in St. Francis Mission Records, Series 5, Mission and School Publications.  

Jesuit Recordings

Father Stolzman chaired the Medicine Men and Clergy Meetings held at St. Francis Mission. The meetings were a theological dialogue comprised of 85 sessions between Brulé and Oglala Indian medicine men (with spouses and associates) and Jesuit priests. The record is comprised of eight open reel recordings and 233 audio cassettes (St. Francis Mission Records, Series 9), approximately 1,000 pages of transcripts (St. Francis Mission Records, Series 7), and related drafts and presentations (Holy Rosary Mission/Red Cloud Indian School Records, Series 7 and 9, and St. Francis Mission Records, Series 7 and 9). From and with these documents, Stolzman wrote The Pipe and Christ: A Christian-Sioux Dialogue, 1986, a comparative analysis of Catholic and Native belief and ritual. For more information, see the Medicine Men and Clergy Dialogue.      

Related recordings produced and/ or collected by Father Stolzman include talks by several medicine men on religious topics and the retelling of a vision quest experience by a non-Indian Fordham University theology student who lived on the on the Rosebud Reservation for one summer, ca. 1976-1979.

Father Stolzman's background

From 1995-2002, the Lakota Task Force (Diocese of Rapid City, South Dakota) held a follow up dialogue that built on the Medicine Men and Clergy Meetings. See the Inculturation Task Forces Records (Lakota Inculturation Task Force, Series 2).

KINI Radio: Includes broadcast series such as Sioux for Christ and Sicangu Chronicle, a news commentary. Series 2-1 Mission and School Reports includes the scripts for the KINI Radio: Sicangu Chronicle "News Notes" and a transcript of No. 39-40, Fancy Dance Memoirs by Chico Her Many Horses (Oglala), 1980.

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St. Francis Mission Series 10, General Motion Pictures: Scenes filmed by Reverend Joseph A. Zimmerman, S.J., including the Catholic Sioux Congress, Rapid City Indian Camp, St. Francis Mission, and the Tekakwitha Conference. Also included are two films by Chulack Productions titled, "The Blackrobe" and "The Sisters." The former includes views of Reverend Eugene Buechel, S.J. and scenes from Holy Rosary Mission school, now Red Cloud Indian School. Selected color still prints from these films are included in Series 6-2. Other series within the St. Francis Missions Records and other Marquette University collections contain documentation relating to this series.

St. Francis Mission Series 11, Objects: Personal objects from Brother Schwarzler at St. Francis Mission.

St. Francis Mission Series 0, Unprocessed Records: Marquette University also holds unprocessed archival records from St. Francis Mission. These records have not been prepared for research use. Some restrictions may apply. 

Related Collections at Other Repositories