Dates of Operation: 1848–1879
Current Diocese: Kansas City in Kansas
Previous Dioceses Involved:
St. Louis, 1848–1850
Vicariate Apostolic of Indian Territory East of the Rocky Mountains, 1850–1857
Vicariate Apostolic of Kansas, 1857–1877
Leavenworth, 1877–1879
Religious Orders who worked at the Parish / School:
Society of the Sacred Heart, 1848–1879*
Jesuits (Central & Southern Province), 1848–1869*
On a Reservation: No
On the Department of the Interior List: Yes
Tribal Nations Impacted (as listed in historical documents):
Potawatomi

Notes: The Jesuit Fathers asked the Sisters of the Society of the Sacred Heart to open a school for Native American girls at St. Mary’s. By the 1860s, the number of Native Americans living in the area dwindled with the influx of white settlers. When the Jesuits closed their mission in 1869, they transferred the property to the Sisters, who constructed a new building for their academy in 1870. At this point, only about half of the students were Native, and by the time the school closed in 1879, there were no more Native children in attendance.
Note about the Mission Archives: A selection of records from St. Mary’s Mission and school are housed at Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI: https://www.marquette.edu/library/archives/Mss/SMM/SMM-sc.php