About St. Aloysius · Bullhead, South Dakota
St. Aloysius is a small Catholic mission parish in the village of Bullhead, South Dakota, on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in Corson County. Founded in the late 19th century as a Hunkpapa Lakota mission served by Benedictine missionaries, it has long been one of the historically Native-focused Catholic communities of the Diocese of Rapid City. The mission is currently attended from St. Bernard Parish in McLaughlin by Rev. Jim Hoerter and a small pastoral team that includes two religious sisters; weekend Mass is celebrated in English on Sunday at 4 p.m. Central Time. With about 37 registered households and roughly 80 parishioners — only a handful of whom gather for Sunday Mass — St. Aloysius is a quiet but enduring presence in the Grand River valley.
- Established
- 1884
- Patron
- St. Aloysius (Gonzaga)
- Rector
- Rev. Jim Hoerter
- Diocese
- Diocese of Rapid City
Why belong here
St. Aloysius is one of the historic Hunkpapa Lakota Catholic communities of the Standing Rock Reservation, with sacramental records reaching back to 1884 — more than 140 years of continuous Catholic life in the Grand River valley. Worshippers who value a small, intimate rural parish will find a quiet Sunday Mass in English, celebrated by a diocesan priest and two religious sisters who together tend not only the Bullhead mission but also the wider Corson County pastoral team. It is a parish where, in the words of one longtime observer, faith has been quietly kept by a few faithful households — and where new faces are still warmly welcomed.
Mass times at St. Aloysius
Weekly Mass schedule
St. Aloysius Mission, Bullhead
St. Aloysius is a small Catholic mission in the village of Bullhead, South Dakota, on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in Corson County. It is one of the historic Hunkpapa Lakota Catholic communities of the diocese and is currently classified as a parish attended from St. Bernard's in McLaughlin.
- Location: Bullhead, Corson County, South Dakota
- Standing Rock Sioux Reservation (South Dakota side)
- Diocese of Rapid City, Deanery 5
- Attended from St. Bernard Parish, McLaughlin
History and Founding
Catholic missionary work on the Standing Rock Reservation began in 1876 when Benedictine monks from St. Meinrad Abbey (under Abbot Martin Marty) arrived to serve the Hunkpapa Lakota and other communities. Sacramental registers at St. Aloysius date back to 1884 — among the earliest on the South Dakota side of the reservation — and the mission is recorded in diocesan records as serving the Hunkpapa Lakota of Bullhead from 1892.
- Sacramental records begin 1884 (baptisms, deaths), 1886 (first communions), 1887 (marriages), 1891 (confirmations)
- Mission listed for 1892–1959 in diocesan records
- Cared for by Benedictines from Conception Abbey (MO) and St. Meinrad Abbey (IN)
- Sacramental records held at St. Bernard, McLaughlin through the 1980s
2016 Diocesan Reconfiguration
In May 2016, Bishop Robert D. Gruss announced a sweeping reconfiguration of parishes in Harding, Perkins, and Corson Counties because of a projected shortage of active priests. Effective July 1, 2016, one pastor was assigned to the cluster of St. Bernard in McLaughlin, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin in Kenel, and St. Aloysius in Bullhead — with one weekend Mass celebrated in each location. The change brought Franciscan sisters onto the pastoral team.
- Bishop Robert D. Gruss, Diocese of Rapid City, announced the plan in May 2016
- Effective July 1, 2016: Bullhead joined the McLaughlin cluster
- Initial pastor assigned: Fr. Michel Mulloy
- Franciscans joined the pastoral team in 2016 at the bishop's invitation
Pastoral Team and Clergy
The mission is currently cared for by a diocesan priest and two religious sisters who together minister to three small parishes and to the wider Standing Rock community of about 4,165 residents.
- Rev. Jim Hoerter — Pastor (attended from McLaughlin)
- Sr. Jacque Schroeder, OSF — Franciscan sister from the Diocese of Peoria, first stationed at St. Aloysius in 1996, returned to Standing Rock in 2016
- Sister Mathilde Osomba Akatshi, SSFAT — Franciscan sister from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Parish Life and Community
St. Aloysius is a small, aging community in which faith has been kept quietly for generations. A 2021 Black and Indian Mission profile reported that the parish has about 37 registered households and 80 parishioners, but that only a handful typically attend Sunday Mass. The parish is paired in pastoral care with Kenel and McLaughlin and is supported by the wider Standing Rock Catholic community.
- 37 registered households; about 80 parishioners
- Sunday Mass typically draws only a handful of the faithful
- Pastoral team visits the wider Standing Rock community of ~4,165 residents of Corson County
Location and How to Find the Parish
St. Aloysius sits on Tatanka Street in the small village of Bullhead in the Grand River valley of northwestern South Dakota. Parish business is handled through St. Bernard Parish in McLaughlin, the host parish for the cluster.
- Address: 401 Tatanka St., Bullhead, SD 57621 (also referenced as 'Tatanka St., Bullhead, South Dakota 57621')
- Host parish: St. Bernard, PO Box 539, McLaughlin, SD 57642
- Host-parish phone (per diocesan directory): 605-823-4401
- Road access historically via the Milton Brown Otter Memorial Highway (largely gravel until recent paving)
Standing Rock Reservation Context
St. Aloysius is part of the network of small Catholic parishes and missions that the Diocese of Rapid City maintains on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. The reservation straddles the North Dakota–South Dakota border and is home to the Hunkpapa, Sihasapa, and other Lakota/Dakota bands. The diocese traces its work here to Benedictine missionaries of the 1870s and 1880s.
- Standing Rock Reservation straddles North and South Dakota
- Sister parishes on the reservation include St. Bernard (McLaughlin), Assumption (Kenel), St. Bede (Wakpala), and St. Peter (Fort Yates, ND)
- Catholic work on Standing Rock dates to 1876, when Benedictines arrived under Abbot Martin Marty
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Steve Biegler (later Bishop-elect of Rapid City)1996-2003
Served as Co-Pastor of St. Bernard, McLaughlin, with the cluster including St. Aloysius, Bullhead; Assumption of the BVM, Kenel; St. Bede, Wakpala; and St. Michael, Watauga (2001-2003).
- Rev. John Luleuntil 2016
Administrator of parishes in McIntosh, Bullhead, and Watauga; relieved of responsibilities in the 2016 reconfiguration.
- Rev. Michel Mulloy2016-
Assigned by Bishop Gruss as pastor of St. Bernard McLaughlin cluster (which includes St. Aloysius, Bullhead) effective July 1, 2016.
- Rev. Jim Hoerterby 2020-
Diocesan priest who, by the 2020 diocesan directory, serves as pastor of the McLaughlin cluster including St. Aloysius, Bullhead.