USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume I > Part 74
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A considerable number of quail imported into Idaho nearly fifty years ago, were turned loose in the Boise and Payette Valleys, and it seems to have been a natural abiding place for them as they now exist in great numbers.
Idaho has the reputation of having the best trout fishing in the Northwest, and every stream and lake of the state is filled with the different varieties. In addition to this, the black bass has been planted by the Game Department in many of the lakes and streams of the state, and has become plentiful of late years.
In Lake Pend d'Oreille and other lakes of the north, a delicious white fish abounds. In the Snake River and all of its tributaries joining the river west of the Shoshone Falls, a very plentiful supply of salmon comes up from the ocean every year, and sturgeon also abounds in the larger streams.
Idaho is certainly a sportsman's paradise, and with its good roads, which everywhere abound, its equable and health-giving climate, its continuous sun- shine, and its liberal game laws, certainly invites the attention of the sportsman and the tourist.
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TWIN SCREW STEAMER MISS SPOKANE, RED COLLAR LINE Plying between Coeur d'Alene and St. Maries
STEAMER GEORGIE OAKES
The Georgie Oakes is owned by the Red Collar Line on Lake Coeur d'Alene, Ida., and is one of the oldest steamers operating in the Northwest.
The upper works are those of the Str. Coeur d'Alene formerly owned by pioneers C. B. King and James Monoghan. Later, when the Northern Pacific acquired the old Coeur d'Alene Railway and Navigation Company from D. C. Corbin, they became the owners of the Str. Coeur d'Alene. A new hull was built and the upper works removed from the Steamer Coeur d'Alene to what is now known as the Georgie Oakes.
The next owner was the White Star Navigation Company who transferred the Steamer to the Red Collar Line.
It is probably the most popular passenger and excursion steamer in the Northwest to this day, as every Sunday it makes its excursion trip from Coeur d'Alene to the head of navigation on the St. Joe river and return.
Thousands of tourists and people from Spokane enjoy their Sunday outing on board the Steamer Georgie Oakes.
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Congregational
Methodist
Catholic
Episcopal
CHURCHES OF POCATELLO
CHAPTER XXXVIII RELIGIOUS PROGRESS IN IDAHO
AN IROQUOIS TRADITION-EARLY MISSIONS JASON AND DANIEL LEE-SAMUEL PARKER-DR. MARCUS WHITMAN-HENRY H. SPALDING-CATALDO MISSION- CHURCH HISTORY-THE CATHOLICS-CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN AT BOISE- LATTER-DAY SAINTS PRESBYTERIANS-EPISCOPAL CHURCH-METHODIST EPIS- COPAL CHURCH-OTHER DENOMINATIONS.
There is a tradition that in the early part of the Nineteenth Century Iroquois Indians, who had been converted by Catholic missionaries, visited the tribes, dwelling on the headwaters of the Columbia River and told them the story of the white man's "Manitou." Early travelers found traces of the Catholic religion in the forms of worship practiced by some of these Indians and attributed them to the teaching of these early Iroquois.
In 1831 a few friendly native chiefs accompanied some returning traders to St. Louis and while there requested former explorer William Clark, then Indian agent for all the Northwestern tribes, to send white men to their country to tell them about the Great Spirit and "The Book," at the same time reminding him that their people had heard of the white man's religion through him and Captain Lewis a quarter of a century before. Clark reported their request to the Jesuit fathers and also to the Methodist General Conference, then in session in St. Louis. Shortly after this visit of the chiefs to St. Louis, Captain Bonneville reported that he had found a number of the Northwestern tribes deeply interested in the subject of religion, and during the next few years missionaries were sent into their country.
EARLY MISSIONS
Rev. Jason Lee and his nephew, Daniel Lee, two Methodist missionaries, with two lay members of that denomination, accompanied Capt. Nathaniel J. Wyeth on his expedition in 1834, for the purpose of establishing a mission somewhere in the Oregon country. On Sunday, July 27, 1834, Jason Lee, at the request of Captain Wyeth, preached at Fort Hall the first sermon ever delivered in what is now the State of Idaho. His text on that occasion was taken from First Corinthians (X, 31) : "Whether, therefore, ye eat or drink, or whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God." The audience was a rather
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
motley collection of trappers, traders, Indians and half-breeds, and after the services those present spent some time in witnessing horse races between the Indians and half-breeds. On Wednesday following this service, the missionaries left Fort Hall and later in the year opened their mission at a place called Sham- poig in the Willamette Valley. It was here that the Oregon provisional govern- ment was organized some years later.
In 1835 Rev. Samuel Parker was sent out as a missionary by the Dutch Reformed Church of Ithaca, New York. At St. Louis he was joined by Dr. Marcus Whitman and the two traveled with a party of trappers in the employ of the American Fur Company as far as the rendezvous on the Green River, in what is now western Wyoming. On August 10, 1835, while traveling through the South Pass, Doctor Whitman wrote in his journal: "Though there are some elevations and depressions in this valley, yet, comparatively speaking, it is level. There would be no great difficulty in the way of constructing a railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean."
Whitman and Parker found the Indians eager to learn of the white man's religion, and it was decided that Whitman should return east to secure other workers, while Parker went on with some fur hunters as far as Pierre's Hole (the Teton Basin), from which point he continued his journey with the Indians, proceeding down the Salmon and Clearwater rivers until they reached the Nez Perce country in the latter part of September. At the camping places along the route, Parker taught his Indian companions the Ten Commandments, which he says they understood and pronounced good. Parker was not a young man and the journey through the wilderness told severely on his health and powers of endurance. After a short rest at one of the Nez Perce villages, he went on to the Walla Walla River and selected a site for a mission.
Dr. Marcus Whitman was a Presbyterian and at the first opportunity after returning east he went before the mission board with his appeal for more helpers, but it seems that the board did not at that time give him much encour- agement. In February, 1836, he married and started with his young wife for the Far West. At Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he met Rev. H. H. Spalding and wife, also recently married, who were on their way to the Osage Indians as missionaries, and whom Doctor Whitman persuaded to accompany him to the Northwest. The four traveled with a party of fur traders and Mrs. Spalding, who kept a diary while on the journey, wrote on July 4, 1836, of meeting a party of Indians that had come to the rendezvous looking for their missionaries. With this Indian party were several squaws, "who were not content until they had saluted with kisses Mrs. Whitman and myself, the first white women they had ever seen."
On September 12, 1836, the missionary party arrived at Fort Vancouver, a few miles above the mouth of the Columbia River, where the two women re- mained until the mission buildings could be made ready for their accommoda- tion. The Whitman mission was located at a place called Waiilatpu, a few miles from Fort Walla Walla, and the Spaldings decided to locate their mission at Lapwai, on the south side of the Clearwater River, about twelve miles above its mouth. The Lapwai Mission, the first within the present borders of Idaho, was opened in the latter part of November, 1836. The Indian women were taught how to keep house, to knit, sew, spin and weave cloth, and the men were
REV. HENRY H. SPALDING Of Lapwai Mission
REV. TOUSSAINT MESPLIE First Catholic priest in Boise
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
taught farming. In the spring of 1839 a small printing press was received at Lapwai from the Honolulu Mission and was used to print in the Nez Perce language primers, hymns and selections from the Bible. This was the first printing press in the Northwest. About the time it was installed a branch mission was established at Kamiah, about sixty miles up the Clearwater, under the control of Rev. Asa B. Smith, but the Indians there were less tractable, would not permit their lands to be cultivated and in other ways showed their hostility, so that after about two years the branch mission was abandoned.
On November 15, 1837, a daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Spalding-the first white child born in what is now the State of Idaho. They named her Eliza, she grew to womanhood and married a man named Warren. In company with her sister, Mrs. Martha Spalding Wigle, Mrs. Warren attended the Pioneer Day reunion at Boise in September, 1913, and the two sisters related many interesting experiences of their early life at Lapwai. Mrs. Warren, then a girl about ten years old, was at the Waiilatpu Mission on November 29, 1847, when Doctor Whitman, his wife and thirteen others were there murdered by Cayuse Indians. A number of the school girls, including Eliza Spalding, were huddled together in one room expecting every moment that the Indians would kill them, when an old chief rode up and commanded that the women and children be spared. Eliza. who understood the Indian language, wondered at this order, but later she realized that the chief, knowing that the outrage would be punished, wanted the women and children held to purchase immunity.
There were fifty-nine of the survivors, eleven of whom succeeded in making their escape and hid in the adjacent brush. The others were held prisoners in a large building for about a month before they were rescued. Mr. Spalding was absent from the Lapwai Mission at the time of the massacre and was told of the unhappy affair by a friendly Cayuse Indian, who warned him to keep away from Waiilatpu and travel by night to his own mission to avoid being seen by the hostiles. In the meantime a friendly Cayuse had brought news of the mas- sacre to Mrs. Spalding and William Craig took her and her two children to his house, where they were found by Mr. Spalding a few days later.
Peter S. Ogden, of the Hudson's Bay Company, as soon as he heard of the massacre, hurried to the mission with a party of trappers and half-breeds and succeeded in ransoming the forty-eight prisoners for fifty blankets, fifty shirts, a few handkerchiefs, a small quantity of tobacco and some guns and ammuni- tion. Ogden also gathered up the eleven who were hiding in the thickets and sent men to the Lapwai Mission to conduct the Spalding family to a place of safety. The family was found at the home of William Craig, canoes were procured from the friendly Nez Perce Indians and the party paddled down to the Hudson's Bay Company's post on the Columbia River about ten miles below the mouth of the Snake. From that point they went on down the Columbia to Oregon City, then headquarters of the Oregon provisional government. Later the Spaldings settled in the Willamette Valley, near Albany, where Mrs. Spalding taught school for several years, and where she finally died. In 1871 Mr. Spald- ing returned to the Nez Perce Indians, among whom he continued his missionary work until his death on August 3, 1874. His remains were buried near the old mission he had established thirty-eight years before.
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CATALDO MISSION
In the chapter on Explorers and Explorations mention is made of the visits of Father De Smet to the Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai Indians of Northern Idaho in the early '40s, but he made no effort to establish a permanent mission among them. In the fall of 1843 Father Nicholas Point and Charles Huet, a lay member of the Catholic Church, were sent to the Coeur d'Alene country and established the Mission of St. Joseph, on the St. Joe River, the river deriving its name from the mission. This was the first Catholic mission in what is now the State of Idaho. It was abandoned after about three years on account of the high waters in the spring which prevented the cultivation of the soil.
The second Catholic mission was established on the Coeur d'Alene River, about sixteen miles from its mouth, at a place afterward known as "Old Mission," or "Cataldo." Here in 1853 Fathers Gazzoli and Ravalli, assisted by the Indians, built the first Catholic house of worship within the present boundaries of Idaho. With a scant supply of building materials and few tools, these zealous mission- aries overcame all obstacles. As nails could not be obtained, they used wooden pins to fasten together the various parts of the building, and so well was their work done that the old mission chapel is still standing, a monument to the skill and fidelity of these early Jesuit fathers.
In 1878 the mission was moved across the line into Washington. The reason for the removal was that the Department of the Interior had discovered that it was located outside of the Indian reservation, and it was also near the route to the mines then being opened, which brought the Indians in contact with the whites, making the work of the missionaries more difficult.
CHURCH HISTORY
One of the most difficult tasks of the historian is to write an accurate account of the religious development of any given community. The pioneers who organ- ized the first churches have nearly all passed away ; pastors come and go, rarely remaining with one congregation long enough to become thoroughly familiar with its history; church records are often poorly kept and in many instances have been lost; hence the problem that confronts the writer is one not easy of solution. Among the early settlers of Idaho were many who belonged to some church before coming into the wilds of the Northwest. Where a few persons of the same faith settled near enough to each other, they would build a church, usually a small log or frame structure, and, though these frontier societies were sometimes without a preacher for months at a time, the members were as sincere in their faith as the church members of the present generation who worship in costly edifices of brick or stone.
To attempt to trace the history of each of these churches would be imprac- ticable in a work of this nature, even if full information concerning them could be obtained, so in this chapter the aim will be to give, in a general way, the main points in the history of the leading denominations, so that the reader may be able to form some idea of Idaho's religious progress.
OLD MISSION AT CATALDO, KOOTENAI COUNTY. BUILT IN 1844. NO NAILS USED IN ITS CONSTRUCTION
INTERIOR OF OLD MISSION AT CATALDO
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
THE CATHOLICS
In every age and clime the Catholic Church has been a pioneer in carrying the banner of Christianity to remote and newly settled communities. The first . Catholic priests to minister to the spiritual needs of the white settlers were Fathers Toussaint Mesplie and A. Z. Poulin. Upon learning of the large influx of miners into the Boise Basin the Most Rev. Francis N. Blanchet, Archbishop of Portland, appointed these two missionaries to look after the interests of the Catholic miners in Idaho. They were both men of fine physique, strong, hardy and well calculated to bear the inconveniences of frontier life. Endowed with enthusiasm for their work, within six months they built four churches-St. Joseph's, at Idaho City ; St. Thomas', at Placerville ; St. Dominic's, at Centerville ; ' and St. Francis', at Pioneer City. They were all small frame buildings, yet, the high cost of lumber and labor made it difficult to raise the funds for these churches, though the miners contributed liberally, whether they were Catholics or not.
On March 3, 1868, what is now the Boise Diocese was established as a vicariate-apostolic, with the Rt. Rev. Louis Lootens as the first vicar apostolic. He was consecrated at San Francisco on August 9, 1868, by Archbishop Sadoc Alemany, of San Francisco, with the title of Bishop of Castaballa. After about six months in Idaho, he left to attend the ecumenical council of the Vatican and did not return until 1871. He resigned on account of failing health in March, 1874, but did not leave Idaho until October of the following year. .
The second vicar apostolic, Rt. Rev. Alphonse Joseph Glorieux, was conse- crated at Baltimore, Maryland, on April 19, 1885, by Cardinal James Gibbons. He arrived at Kuna on June 12, 1885, and was escorted to Boise by Father Hartleib, Kuna at that time being the nearest railway station to Boise. Upon the erection of the vicariate-apostolic of Idaho into the bishopric of Boise City, Bishop Glorieux became the first bishop of the new See of Boise City on August 26, 1893. And filled his office, universally beloved by all the people of the state until his death in 1917.
The second bishop of Boise City. the Rt. Rev. Daniel M. Gorman. was consecrated at Dubuque, Iowa, May 1, 1918, by the Apostolic Delegate Most Rev. John Bonzano, and immediately assumed his duties. The Boise Diocese includes the entire State of Idaho.
Since the coming of Fathers Mesplie and Poulin in 1863, the Catholic Church in Idaho has grown into forty parishes, with fifty-two outlying missions, about three thousand families and fifty resident priests. The church supports fifteen parochial schools and academies, located as shown by the following table :
Location
No. Sisters No. Pupils
Boise (two schools)
17
260
Coeur d'Alene
II
250
Cottonwood
6 179
De Smet.
8
61
Ferdinand
3
52
Genesee
4
75
Greencreek
3
80
Keuterville
2
55
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
Location
No. Sisters
No. Pupils
Lewiston
8
120
Moscow
4
72
Nez Perce
3
41
Pocatello
6
125
Slickpoo
13
85
Wallace
6
80
Total
94
1,535
The schools at De Smet and Slickpoo are for both white and Indian children. In charitable work, such as caring for the sick and injured, the church in Idaho has followed its time-honored custom of establishing hospitals, of which there are six in the state, to wit :
Location
No. Nurses
Boise
25
De Smet
4
Lewiston
22
Nampa
5
Pocatello
26
Wallace
15
Total
97
In the number of nurses given above are a number of sisters who are not actually nurses, but who are in charge of the administrative work of the hospitals; for example, the actual number of nurses at Pocatello is ten and at Wallace five.
CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST
Fort Boise was established in 1863, about the time that Fathers Mesplie and Poulin came as missionaries to the Boise Basin, and a few Catholic families were among the early settlers of Boise City. They were not overlooked by the two priests, services being held in a private dwelling or public building until a church could be erected The old archives show that "On the 15th of January, 1867, services were held by Father Mesplie in Boise City in the house of John O'Far- rell." On Sunday, September 7, 1867, Father Mesplie conducted services in the courthouse. In December, 1870, a little frame church was erected where St. Alphonsus' Hospital now stands and the few Catholic pioneers rejoiced in the thought that they had "a church of their own." Their joy was soon turned to disappointment, as the building was destroyed by fire in less than three weeks after it was completed. With a heavy debt (heavy for that day at least) hanging over the property, the poor people had to revert to the old order of things, and again, as shown by the records, "On June 15, 1871, Father Mesplie celebrated mass at the residence of John O'Farrell." After Father Mesplie received his commission as army chaplain, services were held in the chapel at Fort Boise, as the records show.
In the summer of 1876 Father Archambault, then in charge of the missions, built a small church on the corner of Ninth and Bannock streets, upon a block purchased by the Catholics. This shanty (it could hardly be called a church)
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ST. JOHN'S CATHEDRAL, ROMAN CATHOLIC, BOISE
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EAST END CATHOLIC CHURCH, LEWISTON
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
became the pro-cathedral of Bishop Glorieux upon his appointment as vicar apostolic of Idaho. He set to work to improve conditions and in the course of a few years the original structure has been changed into a splendid cathedral. In 1889 St. Patrick's Hall was built alongside the church. The business district began to encroach on the church property and Bishop Glorieux found an oppor- tunity to dispose of it at a good figure, after which he bought the block bounded by Hays, Fort, Eighth and Ninth streets. In August, 1905, while the old church building was being moved to the new location it was destroyed by fire. A tem- porary church was erected and on Sunday, November 11, 1906, the corner-stone of the magnificent new cathedral was laid "amid pomp and splendor."
The plans for the cathedral were drawn by the firm of Tourtelotte & Hummel. Following the Roman style, the architects have designed a structure of massive and simple beauty. Bishop Glorieux was not permitted to finish the monument he undertook to erect, as his death occurred on August 25, 1917, and the work of completing the cathedral devolves upon his successor, the Rt. Rev. Daniel M. Gorman. Services have been held in the basement of the building since March, 1912; when completed the cathedral will have cost practically $200,000.
CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
The Mormon Church, or, more properly speaking, the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," was founded by Joseph Smith in 1830. Their first colony was established at Kirtland, Ohio, where opposition developed and they removed to Independence, Missouri, where they built a temple. Again opposition appeared and they took refuge in Caldwell County, Missouri, where they founded the Town of Far West. Being driven from this place they founded the Town of Nauvoo, Illinois, and there prospered for a time, when they again encountered opposition and in the spring of 1846 began their emigration westward. The first company reached Salt Lake, Utah, on July 24, 1847, and began the work of building up Salt Lake City.
Companies were sent out by Brigham Young, the head of the church, to found new settlements and some of these came into Southern and Eastern Idaho. The first settlement was made in Lemhi County, but it was abandoned after a few years. In April, 1860, a company of Latter-day Saints settled the Town of Franklin, where a stone schoolhouse was built in 1863 and a stone meeting-house 40 by 80 feet was erected in 1864. The Town of Oxford was settled in the fall of 1864 and its first bishop was William G. Nelson. Clifton was organized as a ward in 1869, with William J. Pratt as the first bishop.
In 1864 a number of settlements were made by the Latter-day Saints in what is now Bear Lake County. Among them were Bloomington, James H. Hart, bishop; St. Charles, William G. Young, bishop; Montpelier, John Cozzens, bishop; Bennington, Amos R. Wright, bishop; Georgetown, Philemon C. Merrill, bishop, and some others. All these settlements were made under the leadership of Apostle Charles C. Rich. In 1875 the Town of Albion was settled. Oakley followed soon after, and in 1883 a colony of adherents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints settled the Town of Rexburg, now the county seat of . Madison County.
In all these settlements, and a number of others founded by the Mormons, churches were built, schools established, etc., and all were marked by the industry,
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
thrift and frugality of the people. In another chapter is given an account of the political troubles with this peculiar sect, the test oath required of them before they could vote, etc., but within recent years all this has become "ancient history" and the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints now enjoy free- dom of worship and the rights of citizenship unmolested. The church is firmly established in a number of counties of the state and its members have contributed in no small degree to the civic and material progress of Idaho, many of its mem- bers having been called to public positions of trust and responsibility.
PRESBYTERIANS
The Lapwai Mission, the first in Idaho, was established by Rev. Henry H. Spalding, a Presbyterian missionary, and the first period of the history of this denomination in Idaho embraces the work among the Nez Perce Indians. Mission work here was suspended from 1847 to 1871, when Mr. Spalding returned to Lapwai and during the next three years he baptized 694 Indian converts. In 1873, about a year before Mr. Spalding's death, Susan and Kate McBeth, sisters, came to the mission and after the death of Mr. Spalding continued the work- Susan teaching the men and Kate the women. The former had previously worked among the Choctaw Indians until the Civil war compelled her withdrawal, and during the war she served as a nurse in the military hospitals in St. Louis. She died in 1893 and the mission work was carried on by her sister and others while the mission was in existence.
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