First Mass

1830

Photos

Documentation

• Oklahoma Historical Society, Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture — "Catholic Church"

Notes

The Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture states that Fr. Charles Van Quickenborne, S.J. offered Mass at Chouteau's Post during his 1830 visit to the Osage — one of the oldest permanent American settlements in what became Oklahoma, near present-day Salina. The same trip is described as also including stops at Nathaniel Pryor's Osage subagency and along Cabin Creek, but Chouteau's Post is the most specifically documented of the three. The popular idea that Coronado's 1541 search for Quivira passed through and left a Mass in the Oklahoma panhandle does not hold up — even the Oklahoma Historical Society's own entry only hedges that claim conditionally, with no date, location, or priest named, so it isn't used here. Including pic of HMDB's Chouteau's Post marker for geolocation purposes.