The first five Catholic families settled in this corner of North Dakota in 1906. This small enclave of German-Russians settled in an area primarily homesteaded by non-Catholics. However, determined to make their homes here, they took up the last of the area homesteads. They even purchased some tracts of land previously homesteaded by others.
There were obstacles for them when it came to fulfilling their religious obligations. The nearest Catholic church was St. James, located in Porcupine, ND, a small community eighteen miles southeast of the present St. Gertrude church property. Other obstacles included the primative means of travel, poor roads, and a scarcity of clergy. Even the weather could prevent people from attending Mass. But their faith was important to them and it was not unusual for a family to travel forty miles to attend Mass and other church service at Fort Yates, ND.
The first missionary priest to minister to the people was Fr. Ambrose from Fort Yates. The first Masses were offered in the sod house of Peter Miller and the home of Peter Loeb. After a few years, Mass was offered in the country schoolhouse where more of the neighboring families could attend. Fr. Bernard Strassmeyer and Fr. Francis were two Fort Yates priests to serve the early community. Visits from the missionary priests were infrequent. At times severe winter storms made regular monthly Mass impossible. At these times and other times of great distress or sickness, families would gather together to pray the Rosary.
By 1918 the number of Catholic families had increased to twenty-eight and had expanded across nine townships. By now most of the non-Catholic settlers had moved away, leaving a growing pocket of Catholics on the southern Dakota prairie. In 1912 construction of a church building, under the supervision of Fr. Gallus, was started. The financial situation needed to be addressed early; so it was decided to assess each family $22.10 to aid in the cost of the new church building. The completion of the new structure amounted to $2,300.00. Construction was completed in October of 1913. The honor of naming the new mission church went to the person who contributed the most money to the project. St. Gertrude was named after Gertrude Volk. Bishop Vincent Ryan announced in 1943, that all schools were to be at a central location on parish ground when ever possible so a meeting was held at the Dayo Loeb residence in October. There is was decided to move the school buildings from local areas to land neighboring St. Gertrude. The idea was for the pastor to undertake the task of teaching the children; at least for the time being. The district school was opened towards the end of November 1943. In 1945, Bishop Ryan obtained sisters from the Third Order of St. Francis from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to serve as teachers.
Fr. Hugo Backes supervised the building of the present church building in the mid-1950s. In 1959 a new high school building, attached to the church was built and opened. By this time the grade school children were being taught at the public schools. A new rectory and boarding house was built in 1974. This builing housed the priest, the coach, and the student boarders. Enrollment began to decline in the 1980s. St. Gertrude High School eventually closed with the last graduating class of 1987. Bishop John Kinney agreed to the sale of the high school and dormitories of St. Gertrude to the Prairie Learning Center Foundation in 1990. A close relationship was built between PLC and St. Gertrude until the center closed in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. By April 2020 a private rehabilitation center bought the PLC buildings and began to remodel and repurpose the buildings. It is now the Prairie Recovery Center.
St. Gertrude has been blessed with three religious vocations. Fr. Joseph Deichert serves as a chaplain in the US armed forces. Sr. Agatha Riehl, OSB, and St. Claudia Reihl, OSB, were members of the Benedictine community of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN.
Over the years many faithful parishioner moved away as they grew older and retired. Our church community in 2020 is still small; about twenty-nine families registered, but our Catholic faith continues to remain strong.
Priests Who Have Served St. Gertrude Please pray for all our priests.
+Fr. Bernard Strassuiser 1909-1914 +Fr. Ambrose Buscher 1910-1912 +Fr. Francis Geischuyler 1910-1911