9, 1868 by Archbishop Joseph S. Alemany. At the time, the population of Idaho consisted of approximately 20,000 people, of whom only 1,500 were Catholic. Shortly after his appointment, Bishop Lootens was called to Rome to participate in the First Vatican Council. When he returned to Idaho, he found that the gold rush had ended, leaving only scattered ghost towns in its wake. Lootens submitted his resignation, and moved to Victoria, British Columbia, where he died on January 12, 1898. Eight years after Lootens' resignation, on 7 October 1887, a new vicar apostolic Alphonse Joseph Glorieux was appointed by Pope Leo XIII. Glorieux, a native of Belgium and an alumnus of the American College of the Immaculate Conception there, was consecrated bishop by Cardinal James Gibbons while attending the Third Council of Baltimore on 19 April 1885 in the Cathedral of the Assumption (Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary). The bishop made Boise his see, and established St. John the Evangelist parish as the cathedral. On the 25 August 1893, Pope Leo XIII established Boise as a diocese and appointed Glorieux as its first bishop. Twentieth century The opening of large tracts of land to settlement and the arrival of the railroad greatly increased the population of Idaho. When the diocese was officially established in 1893, there were approximately 7,000 Catholics in the state. It grew dramatically over the following century. One group of significance are the Basque people, who began immigrating to Idaho early in the twentieth century and primarily worked within the sheep industry. (Approximately 15,000 of their descendants remain in the diocese today.) Succeeding Glorieux as bishop in 1918 was Monsignor Daniel Mary Gorman selected by Pope Benedict XV. Gorman was a priest of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa. He oversaw large growth within the diocese during his nine years as bishop, adding 32 diocesan priests, completing construction on the cathedral, and doubling enrollment in parish schools. The third bishop of Boise was Edward Joseph Kelly, a native of The Dalles, Oregon and priest of the Diocese of Baker City. Kelly was selected by Pope Pius XI. Consecrated as bishop in 1928, Bishop Kelly served for 28 years until his death in 1956; the state's only Catholic high school bears his name (Bishop Kelly High School). On the death of Kelly, Pope Pius XII gave the See of Boise to