Breckenridge, Colorado collection

The Benedictine history began in Breckenridge which was a bustling mining camp in the 1880's. Father James E Chapuis who held the first full-time pastorate of the Catholic Church in Breckenridge appealed to Bishop Joseph P. Machebeuf of Denver for Sisters to staff his hospital and school. Bishop Machebeuf, in turn, offered the Breckenridge parish to the Benedictine priests of Saint Vincent Abbey, Latrobe, Pennsylvania. In the spring of 1886, Mother Ottilia Hoeveler, OSB, prioress of Saint Mary in Nauvoo, Illinois and Sister Theresa Krug, OSB, in between her two terms as prioress traveled to Breckenridge, saw the need, and accepted the challenge.

The Benedictine Sisters of Chicago arrived in June. The original group included Sister Adelaide Stuerzl, OSB, Sister Anastasia Kiekhoefer, OSB, Sister Angela Quinlan, OSB, and the prioress of the Chicago community, Mother Luitgard Huber, OSB. Their first response was directed to Saint Joseph Hospital. The miners' hospital which was partially supported by the county was immediately turned over to the Sisters. In July, Mother Luitgard assigned Sister Hilda Walzem, OSB, Valerie Theis (novice) and Katie Rupp (postulant) to the Breckenridge mission. Valerie Theis later left the community and Katie Rupp became Sister Hedwig Rupp, OSB.

The Sisters opened a day school for boys and girls in September 1886. Sister Pauline Dotterweich, OSB, and Philomena Leib (postulant), who later became Sister Ehrentrude Leib, OSB, joined the school that fall. This school eventually became Saint Gertrude Academy a select boarding school. When Mother Luitgard returned to Chicago, Sister Hilda Walzem, OSB, became the first superior of the Breckrenridge community in December, 1886. At this point, the first two priests, Father Rhubanus Gutman, OSB and Father Eusebius Geiger, OSB arrived and held their first mass in the Sisters' convent due to the deplorable condition of the church.

With the passage of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1890, there was a substantial decrease in the population and prosperity in Breckenridge. Bishop Nicholas C. Matz of Denver toured the diocese during the spring and early summer of 1890 and consulted with the Sisters to move to another location.