Historical Marker Program

St. Louis School for Osage Indian Girls

Osage County
Location: east of Clear Creek Bridge on US-60 in Pawhuska
Coordinates: 36.664885, -96.350041
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Reverend James D. White
Topics: American Indians; Education; Religion/Philosophy; Territorial Period, 1861–1907

This Osage girls school was founded in 1887 by St. Katharine Drexel and the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions. The original frame structure burned in 1889 and was replaced in 1890 by a four-story stone building. St. Louis School (later St. Louis Academy) was operated by Franciscan Sisters (1887–1915), Loretto Sisters (1915–42), and Blessed Sacrament Sisters (1942–49).