ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - An Italian-born nun who challenged Billy the Kid, calmed angry mobs and helped open New Mexico territory hospitals and schools faced her first test for the long road to sainthood on Tuesday.
Witnesses said during her life Segale fought against the cruel treatment of American Indians and sought to stop the trafficking of women as sex slaves. They also testified that in death Segale has helped cancer patients and poor immigrants who have prayed to her for help.
Segale, a nun with the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, came to Trinidad, Colorado, in 1877 to teach poor children and was later transferred to Santa Fe, where she co-founded public and Catholic schools. During her time in New Mexico, she worked with the poor, the sick and immigrants. She also advocated on behalf of Hispanics and Native Americans who were losing their land to swindlers.
Her encounters with Old West outlaws later became the stuff of legend and were the subject of an episode of the CBS series "Death Valley Days." The episode, called "The Fastest Nun in the West," focused on her efforts to save a man from a lynch mob.
However, her encounters with Billy the Kid remain among her most popular and well-known Western frontier adventures.
According to one story, she received a tip The Kid was coming to her town to scalp the four doctors who had refused to treat his friend's gunshot wound. Segale nursed the friend to health, and when Billy came to Trinidad, Colorado, to thank her, she asked him to abandon his violent plan. He agreed.
Later, Segale found St. Joseph's Hospital in Albuquerque before returning to Cincinnati in 1897 to start Santa Maria Institute, which served recent immigrants.
Her work resonates today, with poverty, immigration and child care still being high-profile issues, said Allen Sanchez, president and CEO for CHI St. Joseph's Children in Albuquerque, a social service agency Segale founded.
Officials say it could take years - possibly a century - before Segale becomes a saint. The Vatican has to investigate her work and monitor for any related "miracles."
Those miracles could come in the form of healings, assistance to immigrant children detained at the U.S. border or some other unexplained occurrences after devotees pray to her, officials said.