| Back to INDEX | CATHOLICISM IN THE UPPER WIND RIVER
VALLEY: I. CATHOLIC BEGINNINGS. Catholics began to dwell in the Upper Wind River Valley almost simultaneously with the first white settlers; however, they lacked a church edifice of their own for more than half a century, until the opening of St. Helen’s Church in Dubois in 1947. In 1964 St. Helen’s was supplanted by a new structure, called Our Lady of the Woods. Until 1964 the Dubois area formed a mission of the parish in Lander; after that of St. Margaret’s in Riverton. Like the rest of Wyoming Territory, all of the present Fremont County fell at first under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Diocese of St. Louis, established in 1827. Wyoming became in 1851 part of the Vicariate of Indian Territory; in 1857, part of the Vicariate of Nebraska, with headquarters in Omaha; and in 1885, part of the newly formed Diocese of Omaha. Since 1887 the Diocese of Cheyenne has embraced all of the present State of Wyoming, Not until 1867 was the first parish in Wyoming inaugurated, in Cheyenne. Rev. William Kelly, its first pastor, was then the only diocesan priest in the entire Territory. He was responsible for the pastoral care of an area extending westward from Sidney, Nebraska, to Wasatch Canyon, Utah; and northward to Fort Laramie. Along the line of the newly constructed Union Pacific Railroad, Laramie became in 1872 the second Wyoming parish; and Rawlins, in 1879, the third. The earliest record of priestly activity in Fremont County dates from November, 1869, when Rev. J. J. McGovern, seemingly the brother of Mrs. Margaret Walsh, baptized her son while on a visit to Hamilton City, ten miles northeast of Atlantic City, and originally known as Miner’s Delight. A week later he baptized an infant girl in South Pass City. On this occasion he may well have celebrated the first Mass in the immense area of the Wind River Valley. In 1870 Fr. Erlach, the second pastor of Cheyenne, visited South Pass and Atlantic City, where he offered Mass and administered baptism to an Indian girl and a white baby. Lander became in 1882 the fourth parish established in Wyoming. Hoffman’s Catholic Directory for 1888 listed one bishop, five diocesan priests, one religious priest, and 448 Catholic families in all of Wyoming. The entire population of the rapidly growing Territory then stood at about 54,000. Lander’s first pastor, Rev. Daniel W. Moriarty, was born in 1858 in Milford, Massachusetts. His family settled in Nebraska in the late 1870s. After attending Harvard College for two years, he transferred to the Jesuit-run Boston College, where he gained a Bachelor of Arts degree. Following the completion of his seminary training in Quebec, he was ordained to the priesthood and began his ministry in the Nebraska Vicariate. Thereupon he was assigned to inaugurate a new parish in Lander. According to him, this parish encompassed some 22,000 square miles; (although it was not until 1925 that precise boundaries were attached to Wyoming parishes). Throughout this vast expanse, in Fr. Moriarty’s estimate, only 200 or so white persons resided, the rest being Indians. He judged the population of Lander to be in the vicinity of 100. Apparently a fair proportion of these were Catholics, since he performed 24 baptisms and three marriages in the course of his two years of residence. Lander kept growing at a rapid pace, with 525 inhabitants recorded in the 1890 census. This total rose to 737 in 1900 and to 1,726 in 1915. Without delay Fr. Moriarty provided Lander with its first Catholic Church. With the financial assistance of Eugene Amoretti, Sr. (1817-1910), Lander’s most prominent Catholic layman, the structure was completed in 1883. Mr. Amoretti, often referred to as the founder of Lander, was an immigrant from Venice, Italy, who became wealthy as a businessman, banker, and real estate developer. Also he gained prominence in public life as the first mayor of Lander, and a member of the first Territorial Legislature. The red sandstone religious edifice at the corner of Third and Garfield Streets seated 125. It was entitled the Church of the Immaculate Conception (a name changed in 1911 to the present one, Church of the Holy Rosary). After this building was abandoned in 1920 as unsafe, a second church was erected on the same site, and dedicated in 1928. In turn, it was replaced in 1965 at a new location overlooking Lander from the east by the present architectural gem. In 1884 Fr. Moriarty returned to Nebraska, were he served as pastor in Omaha and in various towns in the northeastern part of the State for the ensuing half-century. Between 1884 and 1912 no less than 14 priests are known to have labored in the Lander parish, including several Jesuits from St. Stephen’s Mission, established in 1884. A rare insight into the extent of religious services offered in those early days is gained from a notice in the very first issue of the Wind River Mountaineer (1885). It advertised daily Mass in Lander at 6:30 A.M., with Sunday Mass at 10:00 A.M., followed by Sunday School an hour later. On the second Sunday of each month the pastor traveled as far as Fort Washakie for Mass. The notice makes no mention of regular services elsewhere. In 1912 Fr. William Keavey began a pastorate in Lander that lasted until 1923. Early in this apostolate Fr. Keavey used to travel to Riverton twice a month to offer Mass. Riverton, which numbered less than 50 inhabitants in 1905, started to grow rapidly soon after this. Its population rose to 488 in 1910; 803 in 1915; 2,023 in 1920; 1,608 in 1930; 2,540 in 1940; 4,142 in 1950; and 6,845 in 1960. With this increasing population Riverton was able to enjoy Mass every Sunday by 1922. Hudson also fell within the Lander parish limits. With less than 50 inhabitants in 1905, Hudson appeared in the census records as having 319 in 1910, 428 in 1915, and 977 in 1920. In 1917 the Church of the Ascension was erected in the fast growing town with seating accommodations for 80. Catherine Freeburgh recalled in 1982 that Fr. Keavey usually took a weekday railroad train from Lander, arriving in Hudson at 6:00 A.M. There, one of the parishioners would meet him. The evening train returned him to Lander. According to the recollection of the same old time parishioner, Fr. Keavey was accustomed to visit parishioners in the outlying districts by horseback. Pavillion was another mission of Lander until 1938; and so was Shoshoni. As for the Dubois part of the Lander parish, nothing in the scant records of the decades noted above suggests anything like frequent or regular pastoral visits to the Upper Wind River Valley. This is hardly surprising in view of the multiple demands on the pastor created by Lander, Hudson, Riverton, Pavillion, and Shoshoni. Then, too, the Indian Reservation, attended by the Jesuits from St. Stephen’s, occupied most of the land between Lander and Dubois. Furthermore, access to Dubois was difficult and very time-consuming; and the population was sparse. Into the twentieth century the trip from Lander to Dubois was under the best of circumstances a full-day’s journey; and in inclement weather, a considerably longer one. A primitive government road, constructed by the military in 1874, extended from Fort Washakie to Dubois. Lack of bridges, however, required travelers on horseback or in vehicles to ford the Wind River below the present Diversion Dam or above Bull Lake Creek, unless a ferry happened to be operating. The trail used to cross the badlands to East Fork, Wiggins Fork, Alkali, and Horse Creek, passing in the vicinity of the EA Ranch before turning south to Dubois. Not until 1906 was a rough, unpaved, one-lane wagon road blasted from the cliffs of Red Rocks. In the Medical History of Fort Washakie, Thomas Maghee, M.D., posted the following entry in 1873: “White settlers are scattered along the road all the way from Camp Stambaugh to the post. North of us, there are none!” Despite this contemporary disclaimer, the first permanent white settler around Dubois may have been Henry Clendenning, a former army bugler, who began to dwell in the area around the mid-1800s, and started a ranch. Oran M. (“Old Man”) Clark (1832-1910) took up residence in a cabin near the mouth of the DuNoir about 1870. Not until 1889 did the settlement receive a post office. The following year it was given the name “Dubois,” after the United States Postal Service refused to accept the proposed name, “Tibo” (“white man” in the Shoshone language). Incorporation as a town awaited until 1914. The Wyoming censuses of 1905 and 1910 omitted mention of Dubois, as it had less than 50 Inhabitants. Census data recorded 142 residents in 1915; 243 in 1920; 177 in 1930; 412 in 1940; 279 in 1950; 574 in 1960; 898 in 1970; and 1,067 in 1980. Catholics were numbered in this populace almost from the start of settlement; although, they constituted only a small percentage of the total. Perhaps the earliest Catholic family in the area, and certainly the most prominent, was that of the Amorettis. Eugene Amoretti, Sr., who had been most helpful in starting the parish in Lander, operated the Amoretti Cattle Company around Dubois in the latter decades of the nineteenth century. His son, Eugene Amoretti, Jr. (1871-1950), was born in South Pass City, but spent much of his life in Dubois. As a youngster he dwelt with his family part of the year in Lander, part in Dubois. His boyhood memories stretched far enough back to recall an Indian raid on a log cabin in Dubois (located on the site of the present post office) that resulted in the scalping of two women. After receiving his higher education at Notre Dame University, the College of the Sacred Heart in Denver, and Friends College in Omaha, he married an Omaha girl, Frances Creedon, and returned to the Lander-Dubois area. Like his father, he occupied himself as a businessman, banker, and real estate developer. For a time he managed the Lander Electric Company. In public life he served as a member of the Lander Town Council, as Treasurer of Fremont County for two terms, and as a member of the State Legislature in 1927 and 1928. He developed the first lodge in the Jackson Hole area, and operated it until about 1920. (The site was later utilized by the present Jackson Lake Lodge). In 1923 he built the Brooks Lake Lodge. As owner and operator of the EA Ranch on Horse Creek, he ran a cattle-raising business, and later a dude ranch. Here he spent much of his life. It was there that he died. Fr. Pate officiated at his funeral Mass at Holy Rosary Church, where he had been a trustee for many years. His daughter Eloise (1900-1969) continued to run the EA Ranch. Her education was gained at the Sacred Heart Convent in Omaha, and at the College of the Sacred Heart in Chicago. At the EA Ranch, on November 18, 1933, she married George Peck of Lander (still living in 1987), with Father J. J. Mullin, pastor of Lander officiating at the mixed marriage. For the remainder of her life Eloise continued to operate the ranch. She was an active member of Our Lady of the Woods Church, where her funeral Mass was celebrated. Her burial was in the imposing Amoretti family mausoleum in Mount Hope Cemetery in Lander. With her death, without issue, the Amoretti line became extinct. Another very early Catholic resident of Dubois was Thomas C. Moriarty (1862-1943). While his brother, Father Daniel Moriarty, was still pastor of Lander, he was instrumental in having Thomas move west to work for the Amorettis, first in Lander, and then in Dubois as foreman of the EA Ranch. In 1884 he rounded up 5,000 head of cattle for the Amorettis in DuNoir Valley. On November 16, 1898, he married Frances Mahala Burlingham (1879-1977). Frances, who was never a Catholic, was the daughter of one of the pioneer families of Dubois. She had come to this area at the age of ten. Her marriage ceremony was performed in Dubois at the Stony Point Ranch by Rev. William O’Dwyer, pastor of Lander from 1898 to 1899. It was the second wedding ever performed in that area, and the first Catholic one. Indeed the certificate of this marriage, located in the Fremont County Clerk’s office, makes it the earliest verifiable Catholic religious service of any kind around Dubois. (See the photocopy of this document on the opposite page). In 1906 the Moriartys opened the first restaurant in Dubois. They also operated their ranch at the head of the Wind River. There they maintained their residence until Mr. Moriarty’s death. Father John Spillane, who was then serving at St. Margaret’s in Riverton, officiated at the funeral services of Thomas in Dubois. Three of his children survived him, and dwelt in Dubois. They were John (1900- ? ), Thomas W. “Bill” (1902-1977), and Mary Mahala (1902-1965). A fourth child, Dane, died in 1924. These were among the very first white children born in this area. Only three others are known to have preceded them: Elmer Boedeker, born in 1884; King Pease, born in 1896; and Essie McCullough, born in 1897. Mary Moriarty married Claude Riggs (1895-1959) on April 30, 1921, with Father William Keavey of Lander officiating at the mixed marriage. Mrs. Riggs, who married Leonard Parker after Claude’s death, was an active member of the Church in Dubois. Her uncle, Rev. Daniel Moriarty, used to come occasionally from Nebraska to visit here; and may have offered Mass during these visits. Her funeral service was held at Our Lady of the Woods. Until after World War II the number of Dubois Catholics remained very slight. Church services for them were irregular and infrequent. Occasionally the pastor would make the arduous trip from Lander to offer Mass, confer the sacraments, and supply instructions. These ministrations occurred at the EA Ranch, the Yellowstone Motel (while run by the Meckems) or at the homes of Clarence and Mary Allison, Mary Riggs, Maymie O’Neal, Betty and Les Fossey, Mrs. Lacey, or others. Lou Meckem recalled in 1987 that during the 1930s a priest would visit Dubois a few times a year and conduct services before a congregation of six to eight persons, not all of them Catholics. Lou first came in 1925 to Dubois, where he, his brother “Shorty,” and his two sisters ran the Ramshorn Hotel for a year or so, before building and operating the Yellowstone Motel. In 1928 Lou married Lillian Leseberg of Lander (who later became a Catholic) at the former Circle Ranch. Father John Mullins, pastor of Lander from 1924 to 1938, officiated, and then celebrated a public Mass in Dubois. In his History of the Diocese of Cheyenne, Bishop McGovern noted that in 1940 Dubois had ten Catholic families, all but three of them involving mixed marriages. Religious services, he observed, were held once a month in Catholic homes, with the faithful observant in attendance (p.118). The Bishop also recorded that Lander then had 45 Catholic families, and Hudson, 20. Mary Allison and Dorothy Stevens recalled that a few years after this, Masses were offered about twice a month on weekdays in Dubois. II. ST. HELEN’S CHURCH, 1946-1964. Dubois gained its first Catholic Church building in 1946, when the Catholic Church in Pavillion was transported to Dubois. This white, wooden frame structure had been erected in 1925 in Pavillion, which then had a population of 30. The church was located on the east side of Cherry Street, between Forest and Euclid Avenues. It had been built at a cost of about $1,800 with the financial assistance of the Catholic Extension Society. Pavillion remained a mission of Lander until 1938, and thereafter, of Riverton. Subsequent to 1925 Pavillion experienced marked expansions and contractions of its population. Thus it rose to 200 inhabitants in 1928; shrank to 33 in 1934; and rose to 145 in 1938, a total maintained until 1947. For a while in the 1930’s church services were discontinued. They resumed in 1938; but by 1946 the church building was no longer utilized for religious services. It had, however, been used for a time by the Pavillion public school system for grade school classes. In 1940 the custom was to have a priest travel from Riverton on the fourth Sunday of every month to celebrate Mass at 8:00 A.M. Relocation of this church building to Dubois occurred during Fr. Pate’s pastorate in Lander, 1943 to 1949. For the ensuing four years or so, after 1946, Mass was offered in the Pavillion area in private homes, or in the Reclamation Hall. Thereafter Masses were permanently discontinued in Pavillion; and the faithful attended St. Edward’s in Morton. Lou Meckem recalls going to Pavillion, cutting the church into three sections, and then hauling it in three truckloads to Dubois. There he did most of the work in fitting together again these sections. Claude Riggs built a new foundation on a plot of land on First Street that had been obtained in 1931 for this purpose. This land was obtained from the Dubois Development Company. St. Helen’s church, as it was named from the days in Pavillion, accommodated a congregation of about 40. Its altar came from St. Margaret’s Church in Riverton. When the Lindsaus first came to Dubois in 1952, as they recall, Masses were offered every other Thursday about 8:00 A.M. by Rev. Thomas Cleary, the pastor in Lander from 1949 to 1959. Attendance at these services averaged 20 or so. Later, Fr. Cleary came to celebrate Mass on Sunday afternoons around 5:00 P.M. When Fr. Scullion replaced Fr. Cleary as pastor, his practice was to arrive Saturday evening, spend the night in the home of one or another parishioner, and then schedule Mass at 6:30 A.M. on Sunday. As tourism to Yellowstone Park kept increasing after World War II, congregations during the summer months overflowed the interior of St. Helen’s. The result was that summer services were occasionally held in the Legion Hall. Need for a larger church was discussed, in order to accommodate both the town’s growing population of Catholics and the increasing number of tourists. OUR LADY OF THE WOODS CHURCH, 1964-1987. Land for a new church was acquired between 1955 and 1961, consisting of several adjoining lots. In conformity with Bishop Newell’s wish that the building be relocated on the main street, the lots all fell within what was known as Switzerland Park. These acquisitions are bounded by Ramshorn Street on the north, Riverton Street on the east, and Welty Street on the south. They span the public alley running east and west from Riverton to Lander Streets. On the west the church property is bounded by the Forest Service plot facing on Ramshorn Street; and by the lots south of the alley and north of Welty Street, formerly owned by Mrs. Williamson, but now belonging to Mrs. Jean Murdock. Concrete plans for the new structure began to materialize in 1960 during the pastorate of Rev. Michael Scullion in Lander (1959-1966). (Fr. Scullion’s pastorate saw also the construction of a new church in Lander, and another in Jeffrey City, plus the partial restoration of the church in Hudson.) George Burns, Henry Smith, and Fr. Scullion formed the Building Committee. Plans were drawn up by the Lander architectural firm of Corbett and Dehnert. Their design for both the exterior and the interior has since been widely admired for its originality and beauty. A striking feature of the interior has been the altar, cut from a large half-log, and with the bark left intact. Over the years visitors have continued to voice their admiration of it. Roy G. Noble of Lander was the contractor. Construction costs of $50,000 were borne in part by a gift of $10,000 from the Catholic Extension Society. With a seating capacity of 160, the edifice has proved equal to accommodating congregations during all seasons, To put an end to the confusion that had arisen because the Catholic Church in Dubois bore the same name as St. Helen’s Episcopal Church in Crowheart, the name was changed from St. Helen’s to Our Lady of the Woods (OLW). On May 22, 1964, Bishop Newell officiated at the dedication ceremony. Following the ceremony a banquet was held in the American Legion Hall. Later in 1964 the land and building of St. Helen’s in Dubois were sold to Walter and Charlotte Lindsau. They have since remodeled the building, and added to it; and continue to make it their residence. Beginning in 1964, Our Lady of the Woods became a mission of St. Margaret’s in Riverton. The reason for the transfer of jurisdiction from Lander was the fact that St. Margaret’s was henceforth staffed with two priests, whereas Holy Rosary continued to have but one. Following is a list of pastors in Riverton who were responsible for the Dubois mission: Adolph Pate (1964-1972), Jerome Logue (1972-1974), Joseph Fraher (1974-1978), Gerald Chleborad (1978-1982), Ronald Stolcis (1982-*** ), and William Espenshade (***-). Cletus Prado was the first assistant pastor (1964-1965), followed by Gilbert Callahan (1965-1967), William Gianola (1966-1969), Colm Woods (1969-1971), James Doudican(1971-1972), William Espenshade (1972), Vincent Langfield (1972-1975), Ronald Stolcis (1975-1977), Victor Grabrain, O.S.B. (1977-1978), John Robinson, O.S.B. (1978-1979), Tibor Furak, O.S.M. (1979-1982), John O’Shea, S.J. (1983), Robert Lynch, S.J. (1985-1987), and Patrick Shea (1987). Father O’Shea was the only one of these priests to reside weeklong in Dubois. Father John Broderick, S.J., from Weston, Massachusetts, who began his ministry in St. Margaret’s in 1983 as a summer supply priest, has also dwelt in Dubois from three to seven months each year since then. The other priests have been accustomed to commute from Riverton each weekend. From the date of its opening, Our Lady of the Woods has been fortunate in having Masses each weekend on Sunday mornings; and from 1971 on, also on Saturday evenings. An exception occurred during the periods between 1982 and 1985 when Riverton was reduced to one priest. During these intervals Eucharistic Services, conducted by Lay Ministers of the Eucharist, had to be substituted for Mass. During the residence of Fr. O’Shea and Fr. Broderick, Masses have been offered also on weekdays, Monday through Friday, at 7:00 A.M. Thanks to Eileen Grove organ music has added to the attractiveness of weekend services. Material improvements have continued to benefit the church structure and grounds. Thus, 1967 saw a lawn planted in front of the church, and a garden to the east. Parishioners erected a rustic rail fence along the Ramshorn Street and Riverton Street boundaries in 1971. About this time the Turner Construction Company of Riverton donated and poured the paved parking lot. Since then Henry Smith and Bill and De Lamb have defrayed the expense of repaving the parking lot periodically. These well-maintained additions have helped make Our Lady of the Woods one of the most attractive, if not the most attractive properties, in the center of Dubois. Originally the church basement was left unfinished. Between 1973 and 1975 the walls were painted, the floor was carpeted, and two bathrooms were installed. Also a well-equipped kitchen was built thanks chiefly to the expert cabinet-making skills of Bob Grove, who was assisted by a number of other parishioners. Thereafter the basement was suitable for meetings, dinners, receptions, CCD classes, and, at times, winter Masses. A wood-paneled office and bedroom, installed in 1973, provided for the first time quarters for a priest to remain overnight. Fr. O’Shea, with the aid of Walt Lindsau, constructed a garage in 1983. Soon after becoming pastor, Fr. Stolcis resolved very satisfactorily the severe problem of heating the church in winter by installing insulation around the walls; by suspending two fans from the ceiling; and by supplementing the original oil heating system with electric heating, which was donated by Modern Electric of Casper. In 1983 Fr. Broderick, John Reid, and Walt Lindsau combined forces to attack the sources of heat loss in the basement by insulating the windows in the basement and those at the east and west ends of the church; and by providing a door at the foot of the basement staircase. An underground, computer-controlled sprinkling system for the front lawn, donated by Mr. Baumann, owner of the local Coast To Coast store, began operating the same year. Thanks to the generosity of Larry and Robert Vignaroli of Casper and Jackson respectively, electric heating was installed throughout the basement in 1984. Our Lady of the Woods gained a sizable parish library in 1985, when Fr. Broderick donated and then processed some 700 religious books for the use of parishioners, plus another 375 for consultation by the priests. The Altar and Rosary Society, known since 1976 as the Dubois Council of Catholic Women (DCCW), has enrolled automatically, as members, all women of the parish. Since its formation in 1949 the Society has been blessed with a core of active members. As the minutes of meetings attest, their time-consuming efforts have been of key importance in promoting the material and spiritual welfare of the mission. By means of bake sales, thrift sales, dinners, whiskey raffles, and an annual bazaar, funds were raised to supplement the regular collections, and utilized for a variety of good purposes. These include such purchases as flags and a lamp for the sanctuary, covers for kneelers, church cleaning, obtaining of trees for the front lawn, and payment for a number of repairs and improvements. Members have long provided flowers for the sanctuary, cared for altar linens, mailed Mass cards to bereaved families, and served coffee and refreshments after religious services. Six thousand note cards depicting in color the altar and sanctuary were purchased in 1965 for sale in the vestibule. Visitors have been purchasing them over the years as an attractive memento of the church. Besides helping to compile lists of parishioners, the Council has hosted Christmas parties and ecumenical luncheons. Also it became involved in providing teachers and textbooks for CCD classes. In 1970, 1974, and 1986 Dubois acted as host chapter for the Thermopolis Deanery Meeting of the Council of Catholic Women. A Christmas Cantata has been sung annually at Our Lady of the Woods since the Cantata’s inauguration in 1976. Elizabeth Atchley, its original organizer and yearly director, has attracted volunteer voices (50 in 1985) from townsfolk of various religious persuasions to participate in these musical presentations. The concerts, provided free to all townsfolk, have regularly drawn capacity audiences in the church. After the concerts, singers and audiences have been provided with refreshments in the basement by ladies of the DCCW. The 1986 parish census listed 52 families. The most recent gift of the Dubois Council of Catholic Women is a statue, 42 inches in height, depicting Our Lady of the Woods. After being carved from Yugoslavian linden wood by the sculptor Hugo Grossrubatchen in his northern Italian studio, it arrived in Dubois in time for Christmas, 1986. Once raised on its pedestal behind the altar, it began to attract the admiration of all for its beauty and appropriateness. Hopefully this representation of the patroness of the little church of Our Lady of the Woods will continue to gaze down fondly upon future generations of her parishioners up to and well beyond the year 2064, the centenary of Our Lady of the Woods. IV. PRINCIPAL SOURCES UTILIZED. A. PUBLISHED. Bishop Patrick A. McGovern, editor, History of the Diocese of Cheyenne (Cheyenne, 1941). Emma Snyder, History of Holy Rosary Parish (Lander, 1982). Irene M. Jones, Pavillion City (Pavillion, 1976). Mary Back, Dubois and the Upper Wind River (Dubois, 1962), typescript. Wyoming State Journal, Lander. Bound volumes (passim). UNPUBLISHED. Minutes of meetings of Altar and Rosary Society meetings of St. Helen’s and Our Lady of the Woods, 1954 ff. Oral interviews with several parishioners, with Father Stolcis, and with Tom Bell, curator of the Pioneer Museum in Lander.
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