St. Labre Indian school

How the “miracle of St. Labre” came about…

In March 1884, four Ursuline Sisters from Ohio climbed into a horse and buggy loaded down with supplies and set out from Miles City on an arduous journey.  At their destination in present day Ashland, they established a school and mission to serve Cheyenne families wandering homeless and hungry across the Tongue River Valley. 

Eight years earlier, the Cheyenne and other Plains Indian tribes were victorious at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in their effort to protect lands set aside by various treaties.  In the battle’s aftermath, the Cheyenne were in disarray, fraught by military struggle, disputes over reservation boundaries, the eradication of buffalo herds, and the loss of their nomadic ways.  

The Sisters acquired a small log cabin and adjacent land along the Tongue River and called it St. Labre, after a French saint remembered for his poverty and simplicity.  By 1954, only 64 children attended school at St. Labre. Many thought the school would close, but the “miracle” continued.  In the next decade, Pryor and St. Xavier mission schools on the adjacent Crow Indian Reservation joined the St. Labre family.  A thriving St. Labre celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2009.  Two years later, it dedicated a new dormitory for students who live on campus during the week.   

St. Labre today

St. Labre is a bright spot on an otherwise often bleak economic and cultural landscape. Yet, nearly one-half of St. Labre’s professional staff is Native American.  Many St. Labre graduates return home as teachers, nurses, and lawyers or in other capacities, prepared to carry forward the St. Labre’s mission of love, faith, and hope.  

Web site: www.stlabre.org