St. Mary's Mission was a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

mission founded in 1847 along the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...

. The Pottawatomie Indian Pay Station was built in 1857 for use by government agents to pay an annuity to the

Potawatomi The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...

Indians who relocated to the area from the

Great Lakes region The Great Lakes region of Northern America is a binational Canadian– American region centered on the Great Lakes that includes the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin and the Ca ...

. The city of

St. Marys, Kansas St. Marys or Saint Marys is a city in Pottawatomie County, Kansas, Pottawatomie and Wabaunsee County, Kansas, Wabaunsee counties in Kansas of the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 2, ...

was established around the mission. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Native American children were often forced to attend a Mission School. At St. Mary's parents sent their students to the school. The sisters and the priests insisted on teaching the students in English, French, and in the Potawatomi language to preserve their native culture.

In popular culture

* St. Mary's Mission is one of the stops in the video game ''

Oregon Trail II ''Oregon Trail II'' is an educational video game released by MECC in 1995. It was published by SoftKey Multimedia. It is a revised version of the original ''The Oregon Trail'' video game. It was redesigned with the help of American Studies Ph ...

''.

External links

History of The City of St. Marys
Jesuit churches in the United States Former Roman Catholic church buildings in Kansas Oregon Trail Churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas Religious organizations established in 1847 1847 establishments in Indian Territory Potawatomi Native American history of Kansas {{Kansas-RC-church-stub

In popular culture

See also

External links