St. Paul's Mission was a Jesuit

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

church established in the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trade, fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake b ...

's (HBC)

Columbia District The Columbia District was a fur trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of British North America in the 19th century. Much of its territory overlapped with the disputed Oregon Country. It was explored by the North West Company betwee ...

, in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

region of North America, in the 1830s. The mission was built near the HBC's

Fort Colville Fort Colville was a U.S. Army post in the Washington Territory located north of current Colville, Washington. During its existence from 1859 to 1882, it was called "Harney's Depot" and "Colville Depot" during the first two years, and finally " ...

, on the bluff then overlooking

Kettle Falls Kettle Falls ( Salish: Shonitkwu, meaning "roaring or noisy waters", also Schwenetekoo translated as "Keep Sounding Water") was an ancient and important salmon fishing site on the upper reaches of the Columbia River, in what is today the U.S. ...

on the Columbia River. The building still stands today.

History

Both

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

and

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

missionaries visited Kettle Falls several times from 1836 on, attempting to convert

natives Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

to Christianity. The first missionaries, representatives of the

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was among the first American Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the largest and most imp ...

and sponsored by the Presbyterians and

Congregationalists Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs it ...

, arrived in 1836. They were unable to baptize any Indians. Catholic missionaries, led by French-Canadian Fathers

François Norbert Blanchet François Norbert Blanchet (September 30, 1795 – June 18, 1883) was a French Canadian-born missionary priest and prelate of the Catholic Church who was instrumental in establishing the Catholic Church presence in the Pacific Northwest. He was ...

and

Modeste Demers Modeste Demers (11 October 1809 – 28 July 1871) was a Roman Catholic Bishop and missionary in the Oregon Country. A native of Quebec, he traveled overland to the Pacific Northwest and preached in the Willamette Valley and later in what would beco ...

, arrived in 1838. They delivered the first Catholic mass between the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

and the Cascade Range in 1839 and baptized 19 Indians, but were unable to establish a permanent mission. Their efforts were more focused on St. Paul Roman Catholic Church, in the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east ...

. Following Belgian Father DeSmet's preaching to the Sxoielpi ( Colville Indians) in August 1845, a small log chapel was built. Two years later the present hand-hewn log church replaced it. Sometime around 1869, St. Paul's Mission was abandoned in favor of a location seven miles north of the present city of

Colville Colville may refer to: Places Canada * Colville Lake (Northwest Territories), a lake in Northwest Territories * Colville Lake, Northwest Territories, a settlement corporation *Colville Range, a small mountain range in southwestern British Colu ...

. Damaged by fire in 1910, the present structure was restored in 1939–40.St. Paul's Mission
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Spokane Outdoors
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References

External links

washington.edu
Photograph: ''St. Paul's Indian Mission, near Kettle Falls, Washington, 1888'' Catholic missions History of Washington (state) Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Buildings and structures in Stevens County, Washington Religious buildings and structures in Washington (state) National Register of Historic Places in Stevens County, Washington {{Washington-struct-stub