Three churches were established in town, including a Catholic mission by Father Francis Xavier Pierz.
Father Francis Xavier Pierz, a pioneer missionary priest, is the subject of many tales told among the Catholics of Stearns County, Minnesota.
Francis Xavier Pierz, Roman Catholic missionary to the Ottawa and Ojibwa Indians
The history of the parish dates back to 1865, when Reverend Francis Xavier Pierz started ministering to the community of Rich Prairie—as it was then known—along with Joseph F. Busch, Ignatius Tomazin, and James Trobec.
Francis Bacon | Francis I of France | Francis Ford Coppola | Pope Francis | Connie Francis | Francis I | Francis Poulenc | Francis of Assisi | Francis Drake | Richard Francis Burton | Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor | Francis | Francis Xavier | James Francis Edward Stuart | Francis Scott Key | Xavier University | St. Francis Xavier University | Francis Crick | Xavier Cugat | Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor | Francis Galton | Xavier Naidoo | Francis Toye | Francis II | Francis Fukuyama | Francis Collins | Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings | Arlene Francis | Taylor & Francis | St. Francis |
Saint Francis Xavier Church, Roman Catholic, was founded in 1948, named after Francis Xavier Pierz, a Slovenian missionary to Native Americans in the area, and largely responsible for attracting the large population of Slovenian, Polish, Bohemian, Slovakian and especially German farmers to the area and their annual bouja stand.