First Mass

July 5, 1896

Documentation

• Idaho Catholic Register

Notes

"He was one of the Jesuit priests who served the mission churches of St. Stanislaus in Lewiston and St. Joseph in Slickpoo. He was making the two-day trek to Kamiah to offer Mass at the mission for the Nez Perce tribe. Fred invited him to his family’s home, and after gathering a few of the Catholic neighbors, Father Soer offered the first Mass in Nezperce. There were twelve Catholic families in Nezperce at the time, and Father Soer returned eight times in the following year to say Mass for them in the home of the Kemper family with the permission of Bishop Glorieux of Boise."