Francis Xavier Pierz

402: 1181:'s camp at great personal risk. After a considerable time arguing that he must see the Chief with the Ojibwe guards, who were under strict orders to shoot anyone, whether Ojibwe or White, who tried to cross the inner line and enter Hole in the Day's war camp, an older warrior, who was a Catholic convert, approached and said, "We have orders to allow no man to go beyond this line; now the black-robe says he must see the chiefs. There is no way of evading orders; we must carry the black-robe into the council. He thus does not go, but is carried, and that has not been forbidden." 3591: 1049: 1213: 1450: 1481: 246: 478: 1612: 727:, recalled, "They fixed him a good bed, but he always slept on the floor wrapped in a blanket. He would pray all night instead of sleeping. At Ottertail, he held school teaching the children catechism, in the Indian language. In his sermons Indian, he would often break out with 'Ya! Ya! Ya!' Always spoke in a very earnest, fatherly way. Once during a famous Sioux scare, the Sioux broke into Fr. Pierz's house and took his vestments and cassock. Later a 1446:

still able to take care of twelve missions, Indian, German, English-speaking. This year my Right Rev. Bishop urged me to retire and live with him or at least take charge of some small German mission. Two attacks of apoplexy endangered my life; but my homeopathic medicines soon restored my health. At the present I hear a continued buzzing sound in my ears, reminding me strongly that the time has come to prepare for my last mission journey."

474:. Father Pierz's letters describe how impressed he was by the zealous Ojibwa embrace of Catholicism, particularly by teenaged boys and young men, which Fr. Pierz described as the complete opposite of what he was accustomed to as a priest in Europe. They also reveal that, unlike local Protestant missionaries, Fr. Pierz did not believe in the then commonly held idea that, "Indians must be civilized before they can be Christianized." 1519: 1505:, or some Indian mission he attended in America. A few minutes' drive would satisfy him, for he no longer remembered the order he had given the coachman. He left his memory and his mind among the red men. The writer of these lines remembers the aged missionary, bowed down with the weight of years, with a faraway look in his eyes, walking the streets of Laibach, but his spirit apparently wandering in the American forests." 697: 1093: 739: 22: 902:. He continued, "I do wish that the choicest pieces of land in this delightful Territory would become the property of thrifty Catholics who would make an earthly paradise of this Minnesota which Heaven has so richly blessed, and who would bear out the opinion that Germans prove to be the best farmers and the best Christians in America." He warned, however, "Do not bring with you any 110: 735:

constant fun and good cheer. On his long trips if he had nothing to eat, it was alright, and if he had it it was alright, too. It took a good singer to outbeat him in singing the Chippewa hymns which he constantly taught the Indians. He always had medicine of all sorts, especially round pills in vials or glass bottles and gave precise prescriptions."

569: 1176:

and the Benedictine Sisters. St. Cloud and the surrounding countryside panicked and many young men volunteered for military service, only to be immediately withdrawn for military operations against the Dakota, which left St. Cloud defenseless. In response to an urgent plea from the Commanding Officer

971:

later wrote of Fr. Pierz, "Wielding a facile pen, gifted with poetic fancy, skilled in description, he filled week after week the columns of German papers in America and Europe with vivid picturings of the region, beckoning thither all who craved for happy homes, who foresaw in the cultivation of the

777:

and see what a fine country was there. He came across and was so delighted that he wrote about it in all directions... Father Pierz then came over to my house and celebrated Mass, and from that time visited us monthly. He usually stayed with us from Saturday till Monday, celebrating Mass on Sunday."

734:

John Fairbanks, also of White Earth, later recalled, "Indians had great respect for him. He had a holy picture or medal for anyone who did anything for him, saying, 'Now, wear and don't lose it my little child and keep this holy picture'. He carried rosaries constantly. He was great to joke and made

397:

gale that it had been enthusiastically embraced. He later wrote, "We contended with powerful waves, and we slipped up and down the storm billows as if over the roof of a long city. The ice cold water dashed above our heads in the front of our bodies from neck to heel. A European unaccustomed to such

1445:

His health, however, continued to decline. In a letter written on January 20, 1872, Father Pierz declared, "During the past year, my eyesight has failed me so that I am unable to read newspapers anymore. In the eighty-seventh year of my life my health is perceptively declining. Two years ago, I was

345:

One of Fr. Pierz's particularly devout converts was a 15-year old Odawa girl who took the Baptismal name of Marie and who died soon after entering the Church, but in whose sanctity Fr. Pierz firmly believed and upon whose intercession he later strongly relied. Fr. Pierz also composed a long work of

1407:

passed down among Hole in the Day's extended family is that the Chief's non-Catholic relatives objected for different reasons to Ignatius Hole in the Day's choice of burial. This is why they secretly dug up the Chief's body, and reburied him with traditional Ojibwe ritual at a secret location near

357:

Fr. Pierz later wrote of Marie, "Never did I know a more pious soul; never did I witness a more beautiful death than that of this pure young lady... Her blessed death accomplished much good in my mission, confirmed the faithful in piety, and brought about the conversion of many pagans. Henceforth,

1790:

A missioner in America is like a plaything in the hand of God. Sufferings and joys alternate constantly. No conquest for the Kingdom can be achieved here without exertion and the sweat of one's brow. Our dear Lord permits us to be humiliated and prepared by much suffering before he employs us as

362:

around his neck, visited pagan lodges, spoke amid many tears of the mercies of God regarding his own conversion and of the life of his blessed daughter, who thrice was granted the happiness of a vision of her transfigured Savior, and brought to me a number of Indians eager to learn the Christian

1184:

According to historian Fr. Robert J. Voigt, Fr. Pierz's decades of missionary work had taught him about the great importance of family connections within Odawa and Ojibwe culture, as well as the very deep love that parents feel for their children. With this in mind, Fr Pierz presented a bag of

543:

Also at Grand Portage, Pierz arranged for the clearing of a plot of farmland and orchard which, in keeping with Ojibwe ways, was owned and worked in common. He helped negotiate the sale of their surplus produce to nearby mining settlements. He founded a Catholic school for the children of the

1642:

described Fr. Pierz's legacy as follows, "Father Francis X. Pierz, a missionary to Indians in central Minnesota, published a series of articles in 1851 in German Catholic newspapers advocating Catholic settlement in central Minnesota. Large numbers of immigrants, mainly German, but also

886:

In one such letter, Fr. Pierz wrote, "Make haste, dear Germans, to precede all others and pick the best places that are to be found in America for your settlement. You will certainly find the best land, the healthiest region, and all freedom, and you will be provided for spiritually."

1291: 781:

Other locations around St Cloud where Mass was offered by Fr. Pierz before the first Catholic church was built on the downtown site of the future St Cloud Federal Building included the John Schwartz home at 10 North 15th Avenue and the Rothkopp homestead along and overlooking the

1269:

Ironically, the New Ulm Forty-Eighters' anti-Catholic procession may in reality have been motivated by fear over their increasing loss of social and political control. According to Kathleen Neils Conzen, "Thanks to the nature of its immigration, the church more than the

1112:. During an interview on White Earth in the 1920s, John Fairbanks recalled, "The Indian soldiers at Crow Wing, before leaving for the Civil War, marched to Father Pierz in solemn file. He blessed them and told them that they would come back safe and so they all did." 1814:

and only gave it out to him in small portions. Dugal begged for the bottle but Pierz said, 'No, no, you my pig.' Dugal when drunk feared Pierz. Once as he saw Pierz entering a store and knowing he was under a good supple of liquor, Dugal hid himself under a

668:), when he said, "Father Pierz changed his clothes thoroughly once a year. And that was when he reached Sauk Rapids, where an Irish lady always had a new clean clothes laid out for him which she bought or made and she would quite force him to change." 1651:, responded. Over 20 parishes where formed in what is now Stearns County, each centered on a church-oriented hamlet. As the farmers prospered, the small frame churches were replaced by more substantial buildings of brick or stone such as 1383:

in Collegeville, requested that his father receive a Catholic burial. As the Chief had been seriously considering converting to Catholicism but had never actually been baptized, Hole in the Day was buried by Fr. Pierz, without a

661:) lady, the wife of a Canadian Frenchman. I am the owner of the table used as an altar on that occasion. Some time after this Father Pierz came among us, and subsequently built the first Catholic church at Sauk Rapids." 1805:

at Crow Wing. This Dugal was quite pious but went on a spree once in a while – once a month. And Father Pierz would meet him in this condition and say to him in French, 'You are drunk again, my pig.' Once, on a trip to

1018:. Unable to be there to greet them, Father Pierz had left a letter for the party's leader, Father Demetrius de Marogna, by which he formally transferred his missions in and around Sauk Rapids to the jurisdiction of the 1204:

Even though all other peace-making efforts had failed, Chief Hole in the Day immediately replied that he would call off the uprising. He then journeyed with Fr. Pierz to Crow Wing and signed a peace agreement with the

1500:

According to Fr. John Seliskar, who knew Fr. Pierz in his last years, "The past for him was a blank; he had no realization of his surroundings. He would frequently hail a cab and request the driver to take him to

825:

Fr. Pierz had previously brought with him from Slovenia his 12-year-old nephew Joseph Notsch Jr., the son of his sister, Mrs. Apollonia Notsch. Joseph Notsch would accompany him on his trips, assist by serving

3615: 984:, until a new Germany arose in Stearns County -- a new Germany permeated to the core with that strong Catholic Faith and energy racy of the Catholic population of those historic provinces of olden Germany." 3862: 1223:

Despite these events, Fr. Pierz considered the resentments felt by the Ojibwe and Dakota to be perfectly understandable. For example, in a September 1862 letter, Fr. Pierz expressed his thoughts about

1392:

Clement Hudon Beaulieu and the other mixed race merchants with whom he had secretly hired the Pillager Band assassins, pretended at the time to be very scandalized by Fr. Pierz's burial of the Chief.

801: 788: 46: 1201:

could very easily be unleashed against the whole Ojibwe people, including their wives and their children. He ended by pleading with the Chief to negotiate peace with honor before it was too late.

1489: 858:, describing the family's passage on the immigrant ship, her impressions of frontier life, and expressed joy for having emigrated to America. The letter was also published by Janez Bleiweis in 268:

In 1835, Pierz departed for the missions of the United States after years of being inspired by the published letters of the Slovenian missionary known as, "The Snowshoe Priest", and future

786:, which later became the first location of St. John's Abbey and later of the St. Cloud Children's Home. Early Stearns County German settlers, however, dubbed the former Rothkopp claim ( 2883: 1485: 1177:

at Fort Ripley, Fr. Pierz also left St. Cloud immediately, but ran towards the potential war zone rather than away from it. Upon reaching the war zone, Fr. Pierz approached Chief

3650: 3640: 917:

According to historian Kathleen Neils Conzen, "Within weeks of the publication of his letter, scouts from separate German Catholic settlements in northeastern and north-central

708:

Meanwhile, the Ojibwa dubbed Fr. Pierz, "Old Man, Black Gown." Viewing him as a man of great spiritual power, they occasionally stole his socks to use as a folk remedy against

1388:, in the unconsecrated section of the Roman Catholic cemetery at Old Crow Wing. In an interview during the 1920s, an elderly Catholic Ojibwe recalled that mobbed up Crow Wing 3747: 1189:

about what he termed the foolishness of their intentions. He explained that there was already widespread outrage over the many settlers slain by the Dakota throughout the

1652: 1538: 3867: 1659:

stone structure built in 1873. Stearns County retains in its German character and is still home to one of the largest rural Catholic populations in Anglo-America."

3610: 1380: 577: 1333:

summoned all the priests of his jurisdiction (some 30) to Saint Paul for a retreat. At the end of the retreat the Bishop insisted that Father Pierz celebrate his

1302:

In 1863, Father Pierz sailed for Europe to recruit additional priests for the Minnesota missions. Among those who returned with him were fellow Slovenian priests

987:

Unable to care for both the settlers and the Ojibwa, Father Pierz pleaded with Bishop Crétin to send more priests to assist him. The Bishop wrote in response to

672: 2174: 783: 3762: 3732: 1262:

who had founded and still dominated that settlement. Fr Pierz expressed a belief that the Dakota attack may have represented divine retribution for both the

1038: 494: 3797: 1303: 607: 576:

In Spring 1852, after a series of disputes with his bishop, Pierz secured a release from the Diocese of Detroit. He was recruited for the newly organized

1639: 1603:. When Father Robert J. Voigt visited Ljubljana in 1963, he learned that the precise location of Father Pierz's remains was unmarked, but still known. 835: 1442:. Most of the time it was the Mass of the Blessed Virgin, for Father Pierz had permission to say that Mass daily on account of his poor eyesight." 765:

The first Catholics to settle in what is now Stearns County were former Sauk Rapids pioneers James and Katherine Keough, who built a farmhouse and

457: 3832: 3556: 3551: 1315: 1165:

and, with many Ojibwe warriors, moved into Fort Ripley to help defend the fort against a possible attack from forces incited by Hole in the Day.

822:

settlers from the Northern Tier, Father Pierz tried at first to interest his fellow Slovenes to settle in the region, but with limited success.

358:

her parents lived very pious lives and zealously practiced their religion, but soon followed their daughter in death. Her father always wore the

3546: 679:

for desperately needed funds. Both European organizations had been formed to support Catholic missionaries abroad and were mainly funded by the

3902: 3877: 3872: 3842: 1769: 1235:. Fr. Pierz described a recent New Ulm festival and parade which were, from a Catholic perspective, a very deliberate and insulting mockery of 3837: 3817: 3787: 3737: 1682:(where 'Stearns County German' remains a recognized ethnicity today), and in 1905 negotiated with the Canadian authorities to establish the 773:. James Keough later recalled, "About the time that the Treaty with the Sioux Indians was ratified, I asked Father Pierz to come across the 3812: 3635: 3531: 1596: 1150:

Ojibwe men to fight in the American Civil War. Largely in reaction to this rumor and warlike coaxing by Hole in the Day, a group from the

2656: 3536: 1124: 557: 320: 3757: 2736: 2674: 1791:

instruments of His mercy in the conversion of the Pagans and allows us to enjoy the comforts of soul their spiritual rebirth causes."

1076:

after giving the Last Rites to a dying Ojibwe Catholic. Fr. Pierz subsequently eulogized his deceased fellow missionary in a work of

1025:

The following year, he was instrumental in bringing Mother Benedicta Riepp and a group of Benedictine nuns from the Abbey founded by

1329:

According to Father Robert J. Voigt, "Father Pierz was loved by the priests and people alike. To give some examples: in 1865 Bishop

1588: 1307: 226:. In later years, all of his former parishes would become sources of Slovene immigrants and pioneer settlers of Central Minnesota. 3590: 1419:

from which he never entirely recovered, Father Pierz reluctantly accepted the limitations of age and retired to the predominantly

3727: 1758:

The Slovene Ethnographic Museum in Ljubljana holds numerous rare American Indian artifacts collected and donated by Father Pierz.

1683: 830:, and when necessary do the cooking. In 1854, Notsch's parents and siblings became the first Slovenian family to emigrate to the 1623:

Father Pierz continues to be fondly remembered in both his native land and in central Minnesota. He remains a popular figure in

540:

it to some 900 individuals, Christians and Pagans. This he broke down prejudice and prepared the way for future conversions."

3847: 3807: 3767: 2577: 2549: 2447: 2367: 2302: 1323: 1263: 296: 98: 1266:

festival parade and for what he considered the dishonorable behavior of local settlers' and corrupt Federal Indian Agents.

883:, Ohio, he wrote glowing descriptions of Minnesota's climate, its soil, and its large tracts of free land for homesteaders. 370:, where Father Pierz fought to keep the struggling mission operating. He also sailed to other missions around the shores of 1819:

robe. But Pierz chatted and stayed so long that Dugal finally gave up and, casting off the robe, said, 'Father, I confess!'

1752: 1420: 1185:

tobacco as a sign that he came in peace. Fr Pierz then spoke to Hole in the Day and his followers for one half hour in the

2485: 1342: 1330: 1015: 269: 401: 393:-singing was a new addition to Ojibwe culture, Fr. Pierz learned while travelling with Ojibwe Catholics through an 1838 1600: 664:

During an later interview, Father Aloysius was almost certainly referring to Mrs. James Keough (née Katherine Brady of

3887: 3882: 3782: 3777: 3752: 1561: 1372: 1142:

To further convince other Minnesota Ojibwe to join his uprising, Chief Hole in the Day spread a false rumor that the

3792: 3772: 2942: 1730: 1705:

A statue of Fr. Pierz, which celebrates his role as a missionary and peacemaker by showing an Ojibwe warrior and a

1662:

Furthermore, according to Kathleen Neils Conzen, "Stearns County Germans early established daughter settlements at

1206: 1162: 747: 429: 3907: 1836: 770: 552:

were also under his jurisdiction. In October 1839, the bishop ordered Pierz to move to take over the missions at

229:

After years of attempting to improve farming methods among the poor farmers of his parish, he published the book

237:) in 1830. His efforts led to his being awarded a medal of honor by the Carniolan Agricultural Society in 1842. 1889: 1580:. After the war, the pillboxes were destroyed without any thought to their religious or historical importance. 3897: 3852: 1862: 599:. Traveling on foot between his missions, Pierz carried on his back all that was necessary for saying Mass. 3827: 2859:

From Slovenia to St. Stephen 39 pilgrims travel from the birthplace of Bishop James Trobec to his gravesite

2816: 2501: 2332: 2233: 2216: 1976: 1136: 911: 751: 524:

According to historian Fr. Robert Voigt, "Father Pierz was also the doctor for the Indians. He had his own

94: 3075: 1135:, to drive all American and European immigrants from Minnesota. His threats to attack and take control of 3802: 1065: 665: 277: 207: 2858: 1311: 367: 2175:

Brinkman, Marilyn Salzi, "Family ties remain to priest who promoted settlement of Central Minnesota",

2124:. A photocopy is in Father Francis Pierz file in the Archive Room, Stearns County Historical Society, 544:

mission. His letters provide a vivid glimpse into daily life on the mission. The Catholic missions at

2117: 1675: 1523: 961: 3655: 723:

During an interview at White Earth during the 1920s, Mrs. Isabel (née Vanoss) Belcourt, formerly of

253: 3892: 3742: 1718: 1542: 701: 553: 250: 3345: 1713:

in 1952. During the early 21st century, however, the statue was removed following protests by the

1434:

According to Fr. Robert J. Voigt, "In Father Pierz's time, the Masses in this church were usually

3315: 3050: 3010: 2528:

Franc Pirec: oce umme sajdere na Kranjskem in apostolski misijonar med Indijani v severni Ameriki

2404: 2387: 2281:

Franc Pirec: oče umme sajdere na Kranjskem in apostolski misijonar med Indijani v severni Ameriki

2157: 2113: 1951:

Franc Pirec: oče umme sajdere na Kranjskem in apostolski misijonar med Indijani v severni Ameriki

1920:

Franc Pirec: oče umme sajdere na Kranjskem in apostolski misijonar med Indijani v severni Ameriki

1699: 1583:

Furthermore, the cemetery and the two churches associated with it were destroyed by order of the

1236: 995: 615: 398:

dangers would have cried with fright; my Indians sang joyous spiritual songs with good courage."

3625: 2951: 1722: 1671: 1667: 1409: 1239: 1194: 1011: 942: 894:

on 1 March 1854, Fr. Pierz urged, "Germans who live in overpopulated cities and are become too

592: 506: 154: 334:

Chief known as Sharp Knife, Fr. Pierz was very successful at making converts, even though the

307:

had already frozen over, Father Pierz was prevented from immediately joining Father Baraga in

3857: 3425: 3300: 2121: 1999:

Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors

1726: 1663: 1279: 1042: 999: 968: 855: 545: 441: 58: 3245: 3235: 3025: 2776:

Ljubljana: Inštitut za zgodovino Cerkve pri Teološki fakulteti Univerze v Ljubljani, p. 339.

2714:

Ljubljana: Inštitut za zgodovino Cerkve pri Teološki fakulteti Univerze v Ljubljani, p. 339.

3722: 3717: 3415: 3255: 2935: 2754: 2692: 2190: 2125: 1714: 1169: 1073: 1037:, to educate the many children of the German immigrants in Central Minnesota. They founded 683: 453: 420:. After a friendly visit, Fr. Baraga persuaded Father Pierz to re-establish the mission at 417: 383: 161: 3440: 3275: 3015: 2578:

http://www.pierzmn.org/index.asp?SEC=A5DBE2CB-8C5E-41EB-8C1C-A611FF5D86BD&Type=B_BASIC

1550: 1161:

The other Ojibwe chiefs, however, did not agree with the idea of going to war against the

945:

Valley, and fifty pioneering families huddled in crude cabins that bitterly cold winter."

25:

Portrait of Francis Pierz from the book about his life written by Florentin Hrovat in 1887

8: 3605: 3400: 3280: 2995: 1493: 1048: 907: 899: 871: 588: 215: 196: 3020: 1061: 2833: 1777: 1762: 1710: 1624: 1616: 1577: 1573: 1502: 1228: 1224: 1116: 1105: 1034: 847: 680: 676: 497:", a commandment for the Catholic clergy to communicate with their flocks in the local 445: 437: 55: 3681: 3450: 3305: 1127:

spoke out in favor of the Ojibwe joining forces with their traditional enemies, Chief

3165: 2545: 2363: 2298: 2189:

Apollonia Notsch biographical file, Archive Room, Stearns County Historical Society,

1474: 1376: 1155: 1151: 1019: 960:

settlers arrived, staking out claims throughout what are today Morrison, Benton, and

774: 690: 631: 316: 138: 134: 3696: 3511: 3365: 3110: 3070: 2382:

Sister M. Grace McDonald, O.S.B. (1957, first paperback edition published in 1980),

199:

on March 13, 1813, by Bishop Anton Kavčič. Two of his brothers also became priests.

3390: 3260: 3190: 3055: 1734: 1733:. The statue was re-erected inside Billig Park, along Main Street South, in nearby 1721:, who had believed, incorrectly, that Fr. Pierz was associated with the much later 1695: 1592: 1584: 1565: 1438:

at which the congregation sang German songs accompanied by Mr Anthony Rauch on the

1428: 1364: 1353: 1338: 1212: 1077: 687: 650: 347: 203: 184: 176: 33: 3480: 3000: 1278:

New Ulm became by the end of the 19th century a Catholic stronghold overlooked by

581: 521:

in Ojibwe, almost certainly that he learned from Bishop Baraga's hymnal, as well.

3822: 3571: 3506: 3470: 3455: 3395: 3335: 3310: 3290: 3215: 3185: 3170: 3150: 3145: 3085: 2928: 2829:

MISSIONARY IS HONORED; Catholics Dedicate Father Pierz Statue at St. Cloud, Minn.

2139: 2085: 2070: 2043: 1706: 1635: 1531: 1424: 1368: 1349: 1190: 1186: 1178: 1173: 1120: 1097: 991: 949: 866: 827: 805: 792: 759: 724: 717: 603: 532:

epidemic broke out, and no regular doctor was available, the missionary sent for

514: 490: 471: 466:

who worked as an agent for the company, had been instructing local Ojibwe in the

409: 339: 273: 180: 142: 86: 3566: 3420: 3405: 3375: 3230: 2657:

Hočevar, Ksenja. 2014. "Nekoč slavno pokopališče, danes konjenica prestolnice."

1907:

Usodna privlačnost Amerike: pričevanja izseljencev o prvih stikih z novim svetom

1568:, the tombstones from St. Christopher's Cemetery were all removed by the German 1449: 972:

land prosperity for themselves and their children. At the call of Father Pirec (

3686: 3660: 3541: 3501: 3465: 3460: 3380: 3140: 3130: 3125: 3120: 3040: 1816: 1656: 1480: 1404: 1389: 1334: 1259: 1247: 1026: 898:

in the employ of Americans and Protestants", to migrate as homesteaders to the

846:. Apollonia Notsch, however, later wrote a famous letter in the history of the 839: 635: 510: 375: 335: 312: 300: 288: 188: 62: 3295: 2270:, vol. 5. 1917. St. Paul, MN: Catholic Historical Society of St. Paul, p. 240. 834:, and carried with them an altarpiece for Fr. Pierz which had been painted by 245: 3711: 3645: 3620: 3576: 3561: 3225: 2116:

during the 1920s by Father Benno Watrin, OSB. Taken from the Archives of the

1801:

I remember an incident of Father Pierz and a man named Dugal, the Government

1648: 1243: 1232: 1197:

was too numerous and too powerful for them to defeat, and what is now called

1132: 1068:. During the night of December 3, 1858, Fr. Lavtižar froze to death during a 1053: 895: 755: 728: 713: 596: 477: 449: 421: 394: 371: 304: 211: 157: 3410: 3240: 3080: 2990: 1168:

When the news of the attempted uprising reached him, Fr. Pierz was visiting

716:, Fr. Pierz continued to both preach and to teach his converts hymns in the 671:

With his bishop unable to finance his work, Father Pierz had to rely on the

3676: 3250: 3045: 2980: 1773: 1687: 1679: 1628: 1611: 1534: 1400: 1385: 1319: 1295: 1275: 1147: 930: 903: 851: 766: 646: 261: 3195: 1780:

missionaries and pioneers had played in the building of Central Minnesota.

1526:

arcade porch at the former site of St Christopher's Cemetery in Ljubljana.

1030: 218:(Bela Peč, in Slovene), he was appointed parish priest of the villages of 3385: 3210: 3090: 2920: 2256:

The Diary of Bishop Frederic Baraga: First Bishop of Marquette, Michigan.

1251: 1231:

during two recent battles between local German-American settlers and the

1128: 1003: 549: 537: 502: 3475: 3200: 3100: 3060: 2985: 1768:

In 2018 a group of 39 Slovenian pilgrims visited both St. Cloud and the

1473:, where he lived for several years as a permanent guest in the Diocesan 3526: 3521: 3516: 3430: 3330: 3325: 3105: 3095: 3030: 1807: 1802: 1698:, which was Fr. Pierz's last parish assignment before returning to the 1644: 1462: 1143: 1109: 977: 953: 880: 816: 709: 623: 525: 498: 366:

In the summer of 1836, Bishop Rese transferred Pierz to the mission of

173: 3180: 2846: 568: 3320: 3135: 2631:

Rev. John Seliskar, "The Reverend Francis Pirec, Indian Missionary,"

1745: 1569: 1554: 1470: 1416: 1216: 1007: 934: 831: 619: 467: 433: 425: 308: 281: 223: 192: 165: 90: 82: 74: 3863:

Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

3270: 3175: 758:

in 1851, it declared much of southern and central Minnesota open to

3630: 3496: 3350: 3340: 3065: 2879: 2800:

America's Religious Architecture: Sacred Places for Every Community

1458: 1435: 1198: 1092: 1069: 957: 938: 918: 862:, and convinced other Slovenes to follow the Notsch family's lead. 611: 587:

Father Pierz was assigned a mission field, comprising the whole of

529: 324: 169: 146: 122: 70: 3445: 3355: 3035: 2901:

Franc Pirc (1785–1880): Sadjar na Kranjskem in misijonar v Ameriki

2787: