Immaculate Conception Parish in Wolf Point is celebrating its 100th year jubilee this year, and representatives recently received a plaque from the Wolf Point Chamber of Commerce in recognition of their centennial. The names of the individuals in the picture are: (back row, left to right) Chris Dschaak, R. J. Doornek, Loren Zimmer, Fr. Martin Ezeihuaku, Jeff Presser, and Kerry Hanks; (front row, left to right) Andrew Dschaak, Julie D’Ambrosio, Harriet Friesen.
Submitted by Roger J. Wimmer
Over 150 years ago, before homesteading, Jesuit priests began visiting the Wolf Point area once or twice a year. Mass was held in tents and houses as they brought the Catholic faith to the Assiniboine and Sioux and the few white settlers in the area.
In 1964, for the Golden Jubilee celebration of Immaculate Conception Church, Phil Dougherty, a now-deceased member of the parish, wrote a history for that occasion. He wrote of a saintly priest named Father Passino. The Indians called him “Long Foot”, as he would walk from mission to mission, teepee to teepee, and house to cabin in humility to tend to the temporal and spiritual welfare of all Christians, regardless of their creed, color, or state of life. He stated that Father Passino rarely accepted a ride on horse or in a buggy.
Dougherty also related the following story:
“Though it was humble and rustic, a sort of church was provided by John Chase, an early trader at Old Town (Wolf Point). The floor was Mother Earth, the seats were planks supported by nail kegs, the kneelers were the same floor, and the altar was a crude table adorned by tanned deer skins, which were richly beaded by the Indians. Home-tanned buffalo robes were laid for the priest to stand on while saying the Mass. The cabin was a one room house that was not provided with a confessional, so the priest and penitent walked around the cabin while the rite was taking place. Afterward, the penitents jokingly chided each other about the number of times they had circled the cabin and the severe strain upon the poor tired missionary.”
In 1889 the Fort Peck Reservation was reduced to its current size, with Poplar as the center of activity. By 1895, under the support of Jesuit, Father Fredrick Ebersweiler, the first Catholic Church, St. Ursula, was built in Poplar and the Wolf Point community was a mission of it. After the arrival of the railroads in the late 1880s, more white settlers came to the surrounding area, but the Reservation wasn’t opened to homesteaders until 1913. A Catholic mission had been established at Poplar in 1897. Bishop Mathias Lenihan created the Fort Peck Indian School in 1907 for the Northern Sioux on the Fort Peck Reservation. When white Settlers arrived in 1913, Catholicism and Christianity were already well on their way and here to greet them.
In 1913, Father Benedict Seethaler, one of three Benedictine priests brought to Montana by Bishop Mathias Lenihan, was assigned as pastor of St. Ursula in Poplar and its surrounding missions, which included Wolf Point. Father Benedict solicited the aid of the few Catholic families and supportive native Americans Indians in Wolf Point, along with two Benedictine brothers to erect a church in Wolf Point. Their tireless efforts provided an unassuming, but strong and secure wood frame church building in 1914. It was used as the main church of the parish until 1933. It served many other uses for many years to come, including a gymnasium for the Catholic School, storage and bus garage.
On January 1, 1917, Bishop Lenihan established Immaculate Conception Church as a parish and appointed Fr. Benedict Seethaler as its first resident pastor. Fr. Benedict, as he was lovingly referred to by his parishioners, was an inspiration to all. He tirelessly drove his horse and buggy, visiting cabins and farms, as well as the missions at Vida, Weldon, Oswego and Frazer. The Montana weather extremes and rugged countryside never discouraged him from spreading the Word of God to all, regardless of their faith or lack thereof. Much to the disappointment of the parishioners, Father Benedict was transferred to the Little Flower parish in Billings in 1931. He died in 1933, and requested to be buried in Wolf Point. The small chapel at Greenwood Cemetery where Mass is celebrated each Memorial Day stands over his grave.
There have been thirteen more priests assigned to Immaculate Conception since Father Benedict. There were 46 Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth that taught at the school from 1949 to 1972. Over the past 100 years, our parish has been blessed not only with dedicated clergy, but lay persons whose often tireless and behind the scenes efforts go un-noticed but NOT unappreciated. The choir, lay ministers, lectors, Religious Ed volunteers, Knights of Columbus, Altar Society members and the volunteers of our 70+ year old institution within an institution- the Catholic Hamburger Stand, which has been sustained in recent years by the help of members from other religious denominations in our community, including First Lutheran Church and Gospel Fellowship Church.
In June of 2010, Bishop Michael Warfel dedicated the new worship and gathering space. It was preceded by a sacred native American smudging ceremony performed by Assiniboine member, Ron Jackson. The new church replaces the old one on the east end of the plant complex that was dedicated in 1949 by Bishop William Condon. The Immaculate Conception School was also opened in 1949, but closed in 1972 due primarily to the diminished supply of religious nuns who taught the students.
A statement made some years back by Father Steve Zabrocki, the longest serving priest of ICC at 18 years, sums up the future of Immaculate Conception Church of Wolf Point the best: “As we continue to gather for Eucharist each Sunday as generations have before us to share our sacred stories and for the breaking of the bread, may we grow as a Eucharistic people centered in Christ. This does not happen just by itself. It happens through our many members giving of themselves for Christ and for one another. Generations of our faith communities have done that before us. May we continue that mission by sharing our faith throughout Northeastern Montana.”
Please help us continue
