All of the original priests assigned to the Mission of Chicago also attended to the needy along the Illinois and Michigan Canal, particularly the Haytown Mission - the original Illinois Canal Mission. This mission was later relocated to Lockport, Illinois, and dedicated as Saint Dennis Church. Joseph J. Thompson, editor of the Illinois Catholic Historical Review during the 1920's, referred to the original priests as "Holy Tramps". The " Holy Tramps" labored spiritually and physically side by side with the pioneer builders of Mid-America, fulfilling the vision of Marquette and Jolliet. The toils of the pioneer builders, predominantly Irish immigrant laborers, built the canal that would give birth to the mighty megalopolis of Chicago.
Working under the most adverse conditions, the "Holy Tramps" - clothed in the same apparel for days, eating from a small sack of simple provisions, prey to the elements of weather and worldliness - would venture out on horseback, steadfastly seeking those in need of spiritual ministration. Haltingly, the priests would search out lodging in reckless, brawling wilderness taverns. Oftentimes, their nights were spent on the stony ground in transit between missionary stations that were miles apart. The best of worlds was when settlers opened their doors to a man of God offering homestyle hospitality.
From their saddlebags the "Holy Tramps" would remove a portable altar and the requisite articles used in the sacramental acts. The settlers in the encampments would provide a place for worship - at first, just a clearing in a field or a barn. 
Later, Mass would probably be conducted in a storehouse, public building or home until a formal church structure was erected. Once constructed the church would house the missionaries as they made their way across the frontier.
Catholicism was the frontier religion that had blazed the trail in Middle America as far back as the "Black Robes" of New France. Frontier Catholicism, while a smaller group in numbers, had the respect of the other denominations entering the northeast Illinois area. Small in number but large in success, Catholicism found itself increase in the Midwest fifty-three fold between 1825 and 1850. [Robert Frederick Trisco. Holy See and the Nascent Church in the Middle Western United States: 1826-1850. Rome. 1962, p. 22]
After the fourth of July 1836, the homesteading canallers set up settlements from Hardscrabble (the present day community of Bridgeport within Chicago), at the edge of Chicago, to LaSalle, Illinois. This brash group of newcomers was attached emotionally and spiritually to their Emerald Isle roots: "The memories of the old land were still fresh- the memories of the priest and the chapel and the graveyard; of Sunday and Feast Day, which brought families in scores together, to the all-atoning sacrifice, to fill their hearts for the coming week with grace to resist and overcome temptation in every form; to confess with broken-heartedness their failings, and draw strength to commerce anew - these were the thoughts of our good Illinois canallers,... " [Father Thomas M. Shaw, C.M. The Story of the LaSalle Missions. Chicago. 1908, p. 15]
After the resolution of the Blackhawk War in 1832 many speculators acquired land and drew up communities along the proposed canal route. The prospect of an explosion of humanity working along the canal route inspired many developers to plat detailed communities on paper. Emmetsburg was one such development. More commonly known as 'Haytown', it was located at a bend north of Lockport along the eastern bluff of the Des Plaines Valley where Will County meets Cook County. Speculators Edward Hunter, R. J. Gavin, Lanthrop Johnson and Robert Davidson recorded their plat for the town on January 5, 1837. This site became the settlement for workers on the canal.
At Haytown the rising tide of Catholic canal workers gave birth to the oldest mission on the canal: "The contractors on the Illinois and Michigan Canal had selected the site [Haytown] as the most convenient for one of the temporary settlements or camps. As the work advanced southward these settlements were abandoned and the Haytown Church was only rarely used, because the priest at the Joliet mission would say Mass in the houses of the Catholic settlers easy of access to neighbors." [The New World (Chicago Archdiocesan newspaper). 4 April 1900, p.5.]
In 1837, while the first nationwide financial crisis in America paralleled the first industrial depression in England, the Illinois and Michigan Canal project succeeded in keeping the canallers occupied and at work. The rush of humanity into the area was such that the flux created shortages of goods. Nevertheless, the work continued.
Father John Mary Iraneaus St. Cyr, the first resident priest at Chicago, worried about ministering to the growing canal population knowing that his time in Chicago was running out: "The numbers who came [to the Illinois and Michigan Canal] so greatly increased Father St. Cyr's flock that he was obliged to appeal to the bishop for help in ministering to so great a number of souls." [Carola Milanis. The Golden Jubilee Souvenir: History of Catholicity in Stephenson County, Illinois. Freeport. 1896, p.16.]
The assistant sent to help Father St. Cyr, Father Bernard Schaeffer, was frequently ill. In 1837, with the work on the canal in full swing, there is no doubt that one of these two priests, or both, ventured down the developing towpath to the canal mission. Nevertheless, Father St. Cyr was returned to his original diocese (St. Louis) even though the canal area was attracting large groups of newcomers.
The evidence is stronger that Father Timothy O'Meara, assigned by Bishop Bruté of Vincennes to assist Father Schaeffer, took a more active part along the canal. Being Irish, Father O'Meara must have been a godsend for those immigrants longing for a touch of home.
During 1838 the terrible scourge of cholera reared its ugly head along the canal. Putting their lives in harms way, the "Holy Tramps" moved among the sick and dying. Many times they became susceptible to the virulence of the disease. Hard work under hard conditions weakened the workers and created the conditions that invited disease. The word of God came as a healing balm for some and the final call to peace for others. Martin Murphy, a descendant of 1848 settlers who built a home around the Sag area, described the final resting place for these early canallers: "The first Catholic cemetery was at a place called Haytown, about two miles southwest of Lemont - which was called Athens in those days. When St. James Church and Cemetery were organized some of the bodies were moved from Haytown to St. James Cemetery, as the Haytown cemetery was being infringed upon for quarry purposes."["Lemont, Illinois, Its History in Commemoration of the Centennial of Its Incorporation: 1873-1973"(Pamphlet from Lemont Historical Society). Lemont. 1973]
In this time of tumult Bishop Simon Bruté managed to send two able priests, Fathers Julien Benoit and John Plunkett, to assist Father O'Meara along the canal route. After the crisis had subsided Father Plunkett stayed on along the canal. In late 1838 he purchased a frame shanty structure for the Haytown congregation.
By 1839 the counties of Will and Cook were comparable in population. Between 1839 and 1842 the work on the canal ground to a halt effecting worker camps and the supporting community around them. In all probability it was at this time that Haytown for all intents and purposes became a 'ghost town'. The laborer's pick was set aside for the farmer's plow. The richness of the land adjacent to the canal drew many away from canal-related work permanently. The growing population was able to sustain itself through agriculture and the commerce it created. A shift in the activities of the Church also occurred as Bishop Bruté passed away and Fathers O'Meara and Plunkett were replaced as the heads of the Catholic congregation at Chicago and Joliet/Canal Missions.
The new bishop of Vincennes, Right Reverend Celestine De La Hailandière, would send Fathers Maurice De St. Palais and Hypolite Du Pontavice to Chicago and Joliet respectively. While intrigue and controversy ruled the day in Chicago, the missions along the canal began to achieve some degree of stability. Growth and the addition of church structures along the waterway were forcing the development of a See that would focus on the expansion of the Illinois Catholic population. Even with the able assistance of Fathers John Gueguen and Francis Joseph Fischer the exploding mass of humanity was too much for Bishop Hailandiére. The Fifth Provincial Council, meeting on the 14th of May 1843, requested and received approval for a See centered at Chicago.
The first bishop of Chicago, Right Reverend William Quarter, lost no time in assessing the needs of the diocese. With no priests to assist him Bishop Quarter immediately filled the deep void left by the departing Vincennes priests. To Will County was sent Father John Ingoldsby. The mission church was still at Haytown but it was evident that the shanty village's days were numbered. Lockport was becoming the site of choice for the local residents. In 1844 work on the canal project commenced once again and by 1848 the Illinois and Michigan Canal would become a reality.
The year 1846 brought Father Dennis Ryan to the area along with members of his family. His presence inspired the community of faithful to urge him to stay on as their resident pastor. His consent consolidated the community effort to formalize their assembly and move the church to Lockport. With Father Dennis Ryan as the first resident pastor at Lockport the mission at Haytown was transformed into the Saint Dennis parish at Lockport.