Crawford County WI Archives Church Records.....St. Gabriel's Parish ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/wi/wifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com October 27, 2007, 8:52 pm UPPER AND LOWER LOUISIANA—SEE OF ST. LOUIS The Catholic Congregation at Prairie du Chien The citation of a solitary example of missionary endeavor, and that by an unattached missionary, may tend to leave the impression that, despite the establishment of the new diocese to care for the missions west of the Appalachians, the work of evangelization in these parts was being neglected, or at least was being left to individual enterprise and zeal. In reality, the situation at the time was quite the contrary. Indeed, as we shall show, the case of Father Dunand, the lone Trappist, was the exception, not the rule. A definite, well-formed organization of 'Home Missions' was already in the field at this early date; but because of the small number of priests available for the work, as well as the vast extent of territory involved, it ought not to surprise one that 'outlying' missions, such as Prairie du Chien, were for the time accorded little or no consideration. Furthermore, the strained conditions of the period, ecclesiastical as well as political, made the effective carrying out of the home mission plan peculiarly difficult. It was in 1818, when Bishop DuBourg of New Orleans made St. Louis the centre of the diocese of Upper and Lower Louisiana, that the home missions began to take the lead in christianizing the vast territory lying to the west and north. Thus St. Louis became the heir of Kaskaskia as a pivot of missionary operations. At once, definite steps were taken to care for the French Canadian missions of the Upper Mississippi. Of the two orders assigned by Bishop DuBourg to the mission field, the Jesuits and the Lazarists, the latter were chosen for the missions of the North. Accordingly, acting on the advice of General William Clark, the Lazarists decided to make a first establishment at Prairie du Chien; but owing to a scarcity of priests the work could not be undertaken at the time. Meanwhile, the French-Canadian settlements of the North were being approached by the home missions from another center of missionary activity, the episcopal See of Cincinnati. To this newly-established diocese, and especially to its first bishop, Rt. Rev. Edward Fenwick, belongs in great part the credit for the pioneer work of many a Catholic foundation in the territory which today comprises the dioceses of Detroit, Dubuque, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and LaCrosse. One of the earliest of these foundations was that of Prairie du Chien. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Centennial History of St. Gabriel's Parish PRAIRIE DU CHIEN WISCONSIN 1836 1936 DR. P. L. SCANLAN, M. D. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/wi/crawford/churches/stgabrie14gbb.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wifiles/ File size: 3.2 Kb