[3] The group sailed from Brest in September 1869 and traveled by railroad and stagecoach to Las Cruces, New Mexico, where Salpointe ordained Bourgade to the priesthood on November 30, 1869.

[2] He returned to the United States in 1875 and was sent to San Elizario, Texas, where he served as pastor for six years and distinguished himself by opening a parochial school under the Sisters of Loreto in 1879.

[5] In 1881 he was transferred to St. Vincent de Paul Church in Silver City, New Mexico, where he built a convent, hospital, and academy for the Sisters of Mercy.

[6] On February 7, 1885, Bourgade was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Arizona and titular bishop of Thaumacus by Pope Leo XIII.

[7] He served as archbishop for nine years, and his last annual report to Rome showed the archdiocese contained a Catholic population of 167,000 people, 45 churches with resident priests, and 340 missions.