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University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository History ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 9-1-2015 CONFLICT, TENSION, STRENGTH: THE HISTORY OF ST. PAULS MISSION, ST. LABRE INDIAN SCHOOL, AND ST. STEPHENS INDIAN SCHOOL, 1884—PRESENT' Donna Peterson Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Peterson, Donna. "CONFLICT, TENSION, STRENGTH: THE HISTORY OF ST. PAULS MISSION, ST. LABRE INDIAN SCHOOL, AND ST. STEPHENS INDIAN SCHOOL, 1884—PRESENT'." (2015). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds/64 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in History ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. i Donna Patricia Peterson Candidate History Department Department This dissertation is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication: Approved by the Dissertation Committee: Dr. Margaret Connell-Szasz, Chairperson Dr. Durwood Ball Dr. Cathleen Cahill Dr. Gerald McKevitt, S.J. ii CONFLICT, TENSION, STRENGTH: THE HISTORY OF ST. PAUL’S MISSION, ST. LABRE INDIAN SCHOOL, AND ST. STEPHENS INDIAN SCHOOL, 1884–PRESENT by DONNA PATRICIA PETERSON B.A., History, University of Scranton, 2004 M.A., History, University of Scranton, 2004 DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy History The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico July, 2015 iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Margaret Connell-Szasz, my advisor and dissertation chair, for her encouragement, patience, and kindness. She is a wealth of knowledge, a superb editor, and a beacon of support. I am indebted to her for all of her insightful guidance and direction on the dissertation. I deeply appreciate my dissertation committee: Dr. Durwood Ball, Dr. Cathleen Cahill, and Dr. Gerald McKevitt, S.J. Dr. Ball is a wonderful mentor. I would like to thank him for recognizing my potential and for the opportunity to work at the New Mexico Historical Review. More importantly, he always makes time to meet with me, shares his expertise, and encourages me along the way. Dr. Cahill sets a fine example both inside and outside the classroom, and I appreciate all of her guidance, advice, and support. Her feedback will improve the dissertation immeasurably. It was a pleasure to work with Fr. McKevitt. He carefully read through my dissertation, kindly encouraged me, and offered sage advice. The University of New Mexico history faculty is superb. I would also like to acknowledge two terrific faculty members, Dr. Jason Scott Smith and Dr. Paul Andrew Hutton, for being excellent teachers who saw me through my comprehensive exams. An outstanding professor, Dr. Ferenc Szasz, deserves recognition too. His vast knowledge, unpretentious nature, and kind demeanor left a lasting impression. I wish he would have been able to see the completed dissertation. I would also like to thank the history department office staff: Yolanda Martinez, Dana Ellison, Barbara Wafer, and Hazel Mendoza-Jayme. Thank you to David Kingma, archivist for the Oregon Province of the iv Society of Jesus at the Foley Center Library at Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington, for locating pertinent material for my dissertation. I would like to thank my colleagues at the University of New Mexico, especially those that I worked with at the New Mexico Historical Review: Mike Burns, Willy Carleton, L. Candolin Cook, Maurice Crandall, Margaret DePond, Sonia Dickey, Meg Frisbee, Alessandra La Rocca Link, Kara McCormack, Jennifer McPherson, Scott Meredith, Brandon Morgan, Sarah R. Payne, Darren Raspa, Gabe Schrager, Susan J. Schuurman, Bree Stein, Christopher Steinke, Jason Stuart, Cindy M. Tyson, Robin Walden, and Hannah Wolberg. I appreciate their friendship. As an incoming PhD student, the NMHR staff welcomed me; the friendly conversations, advice, and enthusiasm sustained me through the graduate program; and my amazing coworkers and friends continue to motivate me. The dissertation would not have been possible without the friends I met in Hays, Montana. I am grateful that they welcomed me into their community. The kindness, camaraderie, and joy shared by the entire Mission Grade School staff and student body inspired me. The 2004–2006 Jesuit Volunteers, particularly Megan Rafferty Barnes, Barbara Lea, Maureen Gardner, and Megan Riley Padilla, were and continue to be extraordinary people and wonderful friends. I would like to thank the mission priests and sisters—Fr. Robert Erickson, Fr. Joseph Retzel, Sr. Helen Durso, Sr. Chris Ferrar, and Sr. Nora McCarthy—for their compassion, dedication, and kind heart. I am indebted to Liz and Toby Werk, Joan Racine, and the larger Werk family for their hospitality and friendship. v I would also like to recognize the love and support of my family, which includes Fred, Courtney, and Lucas Schank; Kyle and Megan Peterson; and Eugene and Beverly Ovesen. I am grateful to my in-laws, Scott and Kathy Peterson, for supporting my dream and helping to make it a reality. They gave of their time, so that I could devote more time to my dissertation. I would like to thank my parents, Fred and Eileen Schank, for developing my passion for learning and love for history. Without their endless love and support, the dissertation would have remained a figment of my imagination. I can always count on their encouragement. I am thankful for my husband, Adam Peterson, for being by my side every step of the way. His sacrifices, patience, assistance, and love sustained me throughout the research and writing. I enjoyed sharing this journey with the man I love. Finally, the dissertation pales in comparison to my two amazing children, Emma and Caleb. They are the brightest lights in my life. vi CONFLICT, TENSION, STRENGTH: THE HISTORY OF ST. PAUL’S MISSION, ST. LABRE INDIAN SCHOOL, AND ST. STEPHENS INDIAN SCHOOL, 1884– PRESENT by Donna Patricia Peterson B.A., HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON, 2004 M.A., HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON, 2004 PHD, HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO, 2015 ABSTRACT “Conflict, Tension, Strength,” explores the longevity of three separate Catholic Indian missions in the West: St. Paul’s Mission in Hays, Montana; St. Labre Indian School in Ashland, Montana; and St. Stephens Indian School in St. Stephens, Wyoming. These mission schools, in part, possess two common traits: they have all reached the 125- year milestone and they are all located on or adjacent to reservations that serve two distinct Indian tribes. St. Paul’s Mission is on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, home to the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine tribes. St. Labre Indian School serves students from the Northern Cheyenne and Crow reservations. St. Stephens Indian School is on the Wind River Indian Reservation, shared by the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes. Although these schools share a rocky legacy founded on assimilation and Catholicism, their efforts at cultural revitalization after Vatican Council II and Indian self-determination legislation warrant attention. By following this long trajectory, a true sense of adaptability and preservation emerges. Over the course of time, these three vii schools have intertwined themselves into the fabric of the community. Catholic Indian missions are not a relic of the past, but a part of the evolution and current story of Indian education. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction A Journey ...........................................................................................1 Chapter 1 Tribal Rivalries: The Struggles to Persevere on the Great Plains ....14 Native American Cultures..............................................................................15 The Horse and Rifle .......................................................................................17 The Great Plains .............................................................................................19 Conflict ..........................................................................................................23 Reservations ...................................................................................................35 Chapter 2 Roman Catholic Missionaries at St. Labre Indian School, St. Paul’s Mission, and St. Stephens Indian School ...............................................................50 Power Struggle for Authority at St. Labre .....................................................52 Cultural Brokers and Financiers at St. Paul’s ................................................78 Resistance to the Roman Catholics at St. Stephen’s ......................................89 Conclusion .....................................................................................................104 Chapter 3 Becoming American: Molding the Minds, Spirits, and Bodies at St. Labre Indian School, St. Paul’s Mission, and St. Stephen’s Indian School ...................105 Native Education ............................................................................................105 The Boarding School Experience ..................................................................107 The Split Curriculum .....................................................................................109 Resistance and Retention during the Boarding School Era ...........................113 Transition to Day Schools ..............................................................................120

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