Catholicism in the Oklahoma Panhandle can be traced back nearly 500 years to when the Coronado Expedition crossed the area and Mass was celebrated there in 1542. The history from that point, however, is less clear.
What is known, though, is that a priest, Father David Dunne, from nearby Amarillo, Texas, came to offer the Mass in the area around Guymon in 1904.
A Catholic community in Hooker had been formed by Father Peter Kamp, the pastor at Woodward. The first Sacred Heart Church was constructed in 1907 and included a rectory. Saint Peter’s in Guymon was also built in 1907. In the beginning, Hooker was the parish and Guymon the mission. With the arrival of Father Albert Monnot, later Monsignor and rector of the Cathedral in both Oklahoma City and Tulsa, in 1909, Guymon became the parish and Hooker the mission. Father Monnot used a motorcycle to make his pastoral rounds on the rural dirt roads. The missionary spirit was alive and well with Father Monnot.
From 1916 until 1922, the pastor of Dallhart, Texas, cared for Guymon, Hooker and the Kollman farm in Beaver County. A grotto was fashioned in honor of the Immaculate Conception and was built during the pastorate of Father Harold Pierce. It boasted rock from 32 states, Canada, Mexico and the Holy Land, and was a source of great pride in the parish.
In 1943, Bishop Kelley invited Franciscans from Cincinnati, Ohio, to man the missions of the Panhandle. They accepted and remained through 1964. In the meantime, the first Catholic church in the vicinity of Boise City was Good Shepherd Chapel on the Lujan Ranch, near what is now Wheeless. It had been closed for decades until Bishop Reed asked Father John Scheller to build a church in 1961, and it was dedicated to the patronage of Saint Philip Benizi. In the early 2000s, the original name was restored back to Good Shepherd to honor its roots. It is still attended by Guymon.
Saint Frances Cabrini in Beaver was established in 1947. The Kollman ranch had been the Catholic presence in Beaver County, but Bishop Kelley believed a parish church in the town of Beaver had become necessary. He chose the name of the newly canonized naturalized American citizen, Mother Frances Cabrini. Saint Frances had come to America to serve Italian immigrants and was a remarkable woman. Bishop Kelley had a fondness for her when, as the head the Catholic Church Extension Society, preached her funeral homily in Chicago in 1917. A schoolhouse was purchased, renovated and became the parish church.
Guymon was transformed in the 1970s as economic opportunities arose that changed the face of the town. A larger church became an inevitability, and in 1985 the new Saint Peter’s was constructed at a different location. Ministries expanded and due to an emergent Hispanic population and the parish is thriving.
Due to its rather isolated geography, it is a unique church. The ability of the church to grow and maintain the faith under sometimes trying conditions, and being so far removed from the Archdiocesan See, is the story of Catholicism in the Panhandle. The grit and perseverance of the people is indeed inspiring to the entire archdiocese.