Roots of the Catholic Faith in West Texas

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do my best to honor every word. This is the story of the roots of the Catholic faith in West Texas, right here in Floyd County. Now settle in, because this story starts a long, long way back.

We're talkin' the 1540s. A Spanish conquistador by the name of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado came through this very region on an expedition to conquer what folks were calling the fabled cities of gold. He and his men stopped to rest at a campsite in Blanco Canyon, southeast of where present-day Floydada now stands.

That's the first seed, planted in the dust and the canyon wind of the South Plains. Whatever Coronado found or didn't find out there in those canyons, he brought the Catholic faith with him, and it stayed even after he left. The South Plains eventually came under the care of the Mexican Diocese of Linares.

Then, once this land became a United States territory, the region came under the jurisdiction of an American bishop who extended direct pastoral care. New country, new governance, same ancient faith trying to take root in that wide, flat land. In 1890, the Catholic Church created the Dallas Diocese, and this region fell under its watch.

Come the early 1900s, a priest named Father David H. Dunn was out here ministering to area Catholics. Many of those Catholics were immigrants, drawn by the availability of land in West Texas.

Others came up from Mexico during the Mexican Revolution, seeking something more than survival. These weren't grand cathedral congregations. These were people in a hard country holding onto something.

And then in 1908, a milestone. The first Catholic church in what would one day become the Diocese of Lubbock was built, over in Hermleigh. First one.

Out of what would become many. After that, circuit-riding priests took to the roads, ministering across the area wherever they were needed. In 1926, the Catholic Church established the Diocese of Amarillo, and growth kept right on coming in the decades that followed.

Now, if you want to talk about a boom, look at the 1950s. The marker calls it the most productive decade of area church building, and it points to one reason in particular: the Bracero program. Under that program, hundreds of thousands of workers emigrated from Mexico into the United States each year.

Communities grew. Congregations grew. And churches went up.

That momentum carried right on into the 1970s, with church building continuing at a high rate. Then in 1983, the Vatican established the Diocese of Lubbock, carved from twenty counties of the Diocese of Amarillo and five counties from the Diocese of San Angelo, which itself had been created back in 1961. Twenty-five counties, one diocese, and a story that began with a conquistador resting his boots in Blanco Canyon sometime in the 1540s.

From a campfire in the canyon to a diocese with its own seat. West Texas has a way of holding onto things.

What the marker says

Spaniards first introduced the Catholic faith into this region when conquistador Francisco Vasquez de Coronado passed through in a 1540s expedition to conquer the fabled cities of gold. He and his men rested at a campsite in Blanco Canyon, southeast of present-day Floydada. The South Plains would come under the care of the Mexican Diocese of Linares. Once a United States territory, this area came under the jurisdiction of an American bishop who extended direct pastoral care. In 1890, the Catholic Church created the Dallas Diocese, which attended to this region. By the early 1900s, father David H. Dunn ministered to area Catholics, many of whom were immigrants responding to the availability of land in West Texas; other Catholics arrived from Mexico during the Mexican Revolution. By 1908, the first Catholic church in the future Diocese of Lubbock was built in Hermleigh. Soon, circuit-riding priests ministered in the area. In 1926, the Catholic Church established the Diocese of Amarillo and church growth continued in the following decades. The 1950s was the most productive decade of area church building, partially attributed to the Bracero program, in which hundreds of thousands of workers emigrated fom Mexico into the U.S. each year. Church building continued at a high rate into the 1970s. In 1983, the Vatican established the Diocese of Lubbock, formed from 20 counties of the Diocese of Amarillo and five from the Diocese of San Angelo, which was created in 1961. Today, the Diocese of Lubbock continues to serve the spiritual needs of Catholics in the region. (2008)