The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980, March 28, 1931, Image 12

The Oregon statesman., March 28, 1931, Page 12, Image 12

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Newspaper Page TextPage Two 80th Anniversary Edition, The Oregon Statesman is Father Blanchet as Vicar-General of Grea t Territory, ' Laid Basis for That Religion A St. Paul Center of Church, Boys' College and Sisters" School in IJarly Territory Days GatHolics .Marked uenee o THE early history of the mid-Willamette valley is inextricably connected with the missionary urges of two I -creat relieious ctouds. Cath- ? olic and Methodist. Each pos- sessed evangelistic zeal for 1 Christianizing- the natives I and the settlers. The work of the missionaries of each or- der overflowed into the polit- i ical developments of the day and had a potent influence on j the territory's uniting with the United States. 1 Catholic history in Oreron and in the Marion county area pivots about the nam of . Father Blanchet. Ha It was who received the first appointment In 1837 as vlcar-general of the then vast, little known Oregon terri tory. Taking with him Rev. Father Modeete Demers as assistant, Blanchet traversed the 5000 miles, between his original Que bec pastorate and his new field of duty, . by canoes, portages, barges , and" horseback.. The ter ritory assigned him embraced 375.00 square miles, wa large ly populated by Indians and only a fringe of trappers, hunters and settlers lived In the vast area. 1 French Prairie men I Ask for Priest Father, Blanchet's appointment was hastened by the petitions of a group of settlers in the district now known as St. Paul. These men, retired employees of the Hudson's Bay company, had set tled in this new-called French Prairie district and through Dr. John McLoughlln, factor for, the company at Fort Vancouver, these Champoolck county farm ers in 1834 and in 1835 sent word to Bishop Provencher at Manitoba, Canada, asking for spiritual - leadership from the Catholic church. Their prayer was effectual; Mgr. Provencher when in eastern Canada ar ranged for the western transfer for Blanchet and thus the new Impetus to Catholicism was giv en to Oregon. Father Blanchet's first efforts were at Fort .Vancouver, . new Vancouver, Wash. Here be con ducted a- mission in the winter of 1838 and into spring of the x ? luuuwiDi year. Anxious to ex tend the Catholic influence, on December 12, 1838, Father Blanchet started to Cowlitx. in southwestern Washington, and here four days later he held the urst mass in the house of a Ca nadian settler and chose a 640 acre site for a mission. Hudson's Bay Permit Obtained in 1839 Momentarily the progress of the Catholic missions effort in Oregon was stopped by the tem porary refusal of the Hudson's Bay company to permit religious effort In the territory south of the Columbia river. Tho com pany ascribed Its protest to the fact that the area was then ; in controversy over title between Great Britaiu and the United States. itiancnet s efforts, however, were not withheld long from the Willamette valley. Hardly had the eastern dignitaries reached Fort Vancouver than Joseph Oer vais, Etienne Lucier and Pierre Beleque, a delegation represent ing Bottlers on French Prairie, paid the new men a visit and; in vited them to visit in Oregon.; i Thus it was that on January 3, 1839, Father Blanchet set out for the settlement In tho" Willam ette valley a few miles abe I Champoeg, near; the prencut LANDMARKS IN THE SALEM OF YESTERDAY r VT. 'B,- BARKER- 0RKTTrjRE .FAC TORY "LOCATED COMMERCIAL AND FERRY STREETS WHKRt MAKIO.V Li. 4J K M 4 Mat. MBTTfOrjIST V.PTSSWT. TTT-i-tT ERECTED 1852. MOVKp IN 1872 TO GIVJE FIU.CX TO PRESENT BRICK. . BMHITT HO0SE. SAXEH'S FIRST JEU OOBJiea OTATK 'ANO HIGH Lett ' TT. S. GBI8WOU STORE, SOUTH WEST CORNER STATE AND COMMKR C1AL STREETS. THE STATESMAN orrice was on the second floor OF THIS BU1LDINO, FROM, 1B55TO 1S.- FIRST BRICK IN SALEM ; EN LARGED TO PRESENT SIZE BEFORE 1882.. nBTXwnr.n'iil nnvp i unnor SALEM'S FtaST THTATRB OCCUPIED RKAR OF ' FLOORS. SECOND 1 AND THIRD Right s' TOE JOHN D. BOON HOUSE, BUILT bcv. w Arm in J.KK,. in , 180; - RE- MODELED BY J. B. I McCLANK. WHO RAN A STORE IN ONE CORNER. Me CLANE EXTENDED ATHB PORCHES UWB IIUttTtl IHIP UI HOUSE. JUDOE K, P. BOISE BOUGHT THE' HOUSE IN 1880. BUILT AN ADDITION ON THE FRONT, NEW PORCH Es AND CHANGED WIHTMWR AH. isArnpu SIDE. HOUSE STILL STANDING. 0 EPISCOPAL CBvhum, OLDEST PUB lio Enii.riK-r iv USED FOR PARISH HAI.EU HOUSE. STILL RJglit V:.:; J: ' T r t - - J - 1 KENTON'S PHOfOORAPH OAL I'ERY. FIRST STUDIO IN SALEM; LO CATED ABOUT S70 STATE STREET. Lft i t -hk2ji:ar,M:rs stood cor- "JI" AND COMMERCIAL ANE i!.??-- L 8TORE BELOW, ( OREGON TN8TTTUTE 1 WILLAM ETTE UNIVERSITY. TWO LOWER FI.OORR nairn vrxo m.oj 2l?J4lr rpRMJTORY ON THIRD FLOOR, of St. Paul. . The story of this momentous visit ia related in ' O'Hara's "Catholic History of Oregon": "When the vlcar-general ar rived at Cha&poeg he was pro vided with a mount and rode to the .hurcn, which stood at a dis tance of four miles. The church. the first erected in Oregon, a log structure, 30 by 70 - feet, had been built in 1836, having been undertaken as soon as the Het- tlers had received Mgr. Proven cner s pastoral promising them missionaries and exhorting them to the faithful practice of their religion. Father Blanchet took possession of a small room be hind the altar and spcut the aft ernoon in receiving visits from the people, whose ardent wishes had that day been reallsad. First Mass Held At St. Paul in 1839 - "The following Jay. January , the church, the first in the Pacific northwest, was classed under the patronage of the Apos tle 8t. Paul, and Holy Mass, for the first time in the present state of Orexon. was celeh VJn the presence of Canadians, B . 4 , . f 8 ' ( 1 I I I ' ' S If ' If .. . : . . r '' , ' I t ,Vi- - -! ' - J . . ..a .. ,.', . jl II; ; u t ' i ,' - 1 Hm'i mil n ji'.'r-- ;. ,;,; ,iTi, ., Rgd Schoolhouse, Slumbers in Big I rees at Hubbard HUBBARD. March 27 The I little red 'school Tioviso that many years ago stood by the side of the read on the. present Orlie Boje farm, no longer echoes to the Joyous school life of Hubbard boys and girls but quietly reposes under the big fir trees on the George Hovenden farm west of Hubbard where it does dyty as a machine shop. The school house, called ; the Goudy school, was named In honor of William Cou- dy..f an Oregon pioneer school ' teacher, and the father W Miss Mary Goudy who Is now living in Hubbard where she has spent 7 of the 80 years of ner lifetime. Miss Goudy says that her fath er tsught in Hubbard's I first schoolhouse, a little log building that was cast aside when th Goudy schoolhouse was erected. The j latter schoolhouse 'was fol lowed by a two-room build in ir which later was moved back and a much larger wooden building erected. Then as Hubbard! rrsw in size a better school building was, needed so the present large brick schoolhouse. that Is dear tn the heart of Hubbard folk ws dedicated March 21, 19K. The building is located not far from the spot on which was located Hubbard's first log cabin. their wives and children. For four weeks tble ricar general conducted a ,- mission among them, instructing all, baptising the women aid children and blessing the marriages." Blanchet took possession of section of lnd around the church before he left, confident that Dr. McLoughlin could se cure permission for a permanent mission on the Willamette river south of the dolumbla. in terri tory excluded fk-om Catholic mis sionary work by the first order of the Hudson's Bay company This permission Jt I " w- tote the vur nt isiq ..ac, w .vV.r . was vllU tJT . 8t. Paul became-the coniM-. in me 40 a, of the Catholic educa tiooal movement in the territory. Joseph' Larocque. a cniei trader ' for tii ia a v u p nay company, donated 4800 franca for a school for boys. Work-be gan In 1842 and the school was opened In the fall jf 1843. On the opening dajr, 30 lads, chieriy sons of farmers, were enrolled. Sisters Help In Building Convent Tb n-ie year a rnnvnt r.. the Sifters of Notre Dauio was - DEUX TEMPS CLUB uituoer f oz baiem's young men met Friday nlrht at thm m Odd Fellows hall and organized a social dancing club. Th object of the club is to hnM m. Informal parties, bi-weekly, Sat urday evenings, from 8 to 12 o'clock. The officers I Carey F. Martin, president and C Ij. McKary. secretarv- Tk. ecutlre committee consists of the foregoing officers and Sherman W. j Thompson, Chas. E. Rolen and Oswald West. Tkt Mm. clded upon for the organisation is the Deux Temps club. The Urst dance will nrohahi. m.tJ on the evening of Feb. 1st. oiaiesman, Jan. 19, 1896. h " ' 'I - - WAS IT EVER FOUND? A Large Sum of Money Lost M. Abrams and Co. 0 Deer Creek on the Hth inst. lost $14,000 in gold dust and coin. Mr. Abrams 1 1!J L . . . Dad US IHOTI0V In aatu'l J vuB uBuuuag pianes, aoing giaz- i C ug upon lag and patinOng the windows f10!6 he was ridin?. getting and doors. Nineteen . pupils, of . the muIe 100)1 irieht, and run ages 1 o 60 years, were In' the l?n8r the Bad(Ue were lost. At first classes for the school. Father the ,time h SPot off his mule he DeSmet. a Result, who had com was iust the south side of the new territory from St. ipoo'h the muIe completed at St. Paul, the Sls- to the new territory fm. cv laupooian: the mule was nt daph Louis, at thje. same time had es- at the .foot of the mountams, and tabllshed the Jesuit mission of noc 8een aS:am unti taken up at a St. Francis Javier on a site do- Plac where he had been .accus nated by thb vicar-general. t tomed to feed, sixteen or eighteen For five Sears hese edqcaUon- J""" diUnt- They have been al. missionary enterprises flour- mtn for the money constantly, ished but afscries of misfortunes bu at 8t dateB had not feuftd it." terminated the effort. The eold i',-ie'"n, July 29, 1S5G. rush to f California drained tuJ population away from St. P.,i and In the absence of their mi in. 1 t . . - and caused St. Joseph's Collnro for boys j to? hn n -Subsequentlj' tue juit mission locked its dbor and in 185 n Sisters of I Notre nm forced , to abandon thir .oht try-women had esnnn hA -r.. ky; maidens of the Calalpooias. who raised for them b-lght-eyed groups of half-breed boys and girls. The Catholic Father were here to bless the union and pre-pioneer fyears is lni.o.rfin. rj : An excerijt from, a descrlntin .ae tne "Tes of these youths. of life on French Prairie ln the , COndU,on the Pe- w w. one or peace and plenty. The earliest comers among the Americans took homes among them and speak with pleasant memories, of the quiet, peaceful, faraway life which the French ana naif-breed population rti iuere was a tlm -,k- French Prairie was the home spot or the Pacific northw. t mose ante-j)loneer days the Ca- .u.o rrencn. bad made their nouiea on tho bourn ir,.i en- 1 joyea.