When Bishop O'Gorman arrived in 1859, the vicariate covered 357,000 square miles, including what is now the state of Nebraska, northeastern Colorado, Wyoming, and parts of Utah, Montana and the Dakotas.
Making matters all the more challenging was the fact that Bishop O'Gorman had only three priests to assist him.
Bishop O'Gorman didn't waste any time addressing the manpower shortage ordaining Father William Kelly on June 25, 1859.
When Bishop O'Gorman died in 1874, the vicariate had 19 priests serving 12,000 Catholics in 20 parishes and 56 missions.
The first of these prelates was Bishop James Miles O'Gorman, a Trappist from New Melleray Monastery near Dubuque, Iowa.
