MEDFOKP MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD, OREGON
Dream of Bishop Comes True With New
A 7
PERFECT FOR ANY TYPE MOM . . .
uamonc Church in Town of m. Shasta
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VESTIBULE The vestibule of St. Anthony's Catholic
church in Mt. Shasta, Calif., is shown in this picture. The
church boasts beautiful mosaic windows.
By AILEEN SIMMERS '
Mail Tribune Correspondent
Mt. Shasta, Calif On foot,
on mule and by stage coach
they came.
One hundred and ten years
ago, the roads were trails and
the trails were often un
mapped, sometimes obscure
and always tough going. In
spite of the hardships, how
ever, the Catholic priests got
to northern California to
establish missions, and Into
southern Oregon on mission
ary visits In 1853.
The Bishop of San Francis
co Diocese knew the Catho
lics in this rugged mining
country needed the comforts
the practice- of their faith
would give them, not to men
tion their spiritual salvation.
He envisioned churches
which eventually came to be,
but It was a long hard road
to travel. In the meantime the
hardy missionaries said Mass
in farm houses, hotels, . in
mining huts or wherever they
were needed, for the hard
working, hard drinking min
ers in the busy diggings
where not only the men but
the priests as well had to be
tough to survive.
Begins to Function
The Church began to func
tion in the summer of 1853.
Father James Croke, working
on the Oregon mission, com
ing as far south as Yreka to
hold services in the camps
and surrounding diggings.
Father Croke was a man to
whom great distances made
little difference. In a letter
to Archbishop Blanchet of
Oregon City, in 1853, he says
'he was at Jesse Applegate's
ranch In the Umpqua valley.
In a letter from Jacksonville
he speaks again cf his mis
sionary work in that region,
and throughout southern
Oregon.
Father Croke, who at that
time was the missionary to
southern Oregon, visited on
his missionary rounds up near
Patrick Creek and around
Myrtle Creek, northeast of
Crescent City.
Mines had developed in
1854, Redwood Diggings, Big
Flat, Growler Gulch, Hurdy
Gurdy Creek, Black's Ferry,
Altaville and Low Divide to
nar.ie but a few. It Is assumed
the priest included these dig-,
ings on his tours.' Father
Croke worked five years in
Oregon mission and was
named Pastor of Portland be
fore his return to San Fran
cisco. There was a Father
Fierens who was pastor at
Jacksonville in 1862 and
1863, and in 1864 Father
F. X. Blanchet took over at
Jacksonville.
Makes Pilgrimage
It was probably Father
F 1 o r 1 a n Schweninger, a
Benedictine Monk, and the
pastor of Shasta and Trinity
counties who made a pilgri
mage to the camps along the
North Fork of the Salmon ri
ver at this time. There is rec
ord of a Father Walrath who
rode on his mule to Smith
river and Trinidad for serv
ices. Father Florian is record
ed as having gone by mule to
the Smith river mines to the
north. ,
Two young Irish priests,
Father James Cassin and Fa
ther Thomas Cody in July,
1855, were appointed to Sis
kiyou county headquarters at
Yreka with Father Cassin
made pastor of Yreka with
jurisdiction over Crescent
City. They first landed, after
over 200 miles of hazardous
trails, at Callaghan's Ranch
in the southern end of Scott
Code Program Is
Adopted for Letters
Complete structure of the
Zoning Improvement Plan
Code program which will be
come available for use by
mailers July 1," has been re
vealed by Postmaster General
T Friwarrl Dav. Al Bradford.
acting postmaster at the Med-
ford post office, has reported.
Five-digit ZIP Code num
ber. sr currently being as
signed to every post office and
city delivery zone in me coun
try. "The new system will make
it possible for businesses to
pre-sort mail by existing auto
matic data processing equip
ment with little, if any, addi
tional effort or cost but with
great savings in time and ex
nan tn the nost office de
partment, resulting In better
delivery of an man," uay
said.
The Postmaster General ex
plained that ZIP coded mall
will be able to by-pass as
mBny as six current hand op
erations and will lay the
ground work for extensive
automatic sorting of mail by
optical reading equipment in
the future.
valley, and held services in
the ranch house.
Leaving Callaghan, they
passed through Rough and
Ready, now known as Etna,
and through Ft. Jones, where
the military was statitoned
because of the Indian upris
ing going on at that time.
Yreka had 8.000 Inhabi
tants in 1855 and had a pro
portionate complement of
saloons and gambling honsei
as well as a few lynching.
Framt Church Erected
A frame church was imme
diately erected in Yreka. In
1866 a new brick church took
its place and was burned in
1871. In the rugged town of
Humbug, two miles from
Eureka, of 2,000 miners,
many were Catholic French
Canadians, who had come
down from the trading posts
of Oregon.
South of Yreka the priests
visited Greenhorn, Dead
wood, Ft. Jones, Greenview,
Etna Mills and Callaghan.
Other places included on
their tours were Scott Bar,
Sommcs Bar, Forks of the
Salmon River, Sawyers Bar,
Orleans, and Happy Camp.
All these communities were
reach on foot or by mule.
In 1857, Father Florian was
appointed pastor at Yreka.
According to burial records
of the priest's pastorate in
Paradise Flat one young
miner met his death from a
pistol ball. Another was the
victim of a savage brawl,
having been fatally stabbed
by his antagonist. Still others
lost their lives In cave-Ins and
drownings and burning. Even
some of the tough ones could
not survive the harrowing
existance.
Without Resident Priest
In 1858, the parish of Yre
ka was without a resident
priest. In 1859 a Father L.
Shnyder took over and held
regular services at Hawklns
ville, French Bar and Scott
Bar. In 1860 arrangements
were concluded to transfer
Siskiyou county into the new
ly formed Vicariate of Marys-
ville. By 1863, after a succes
sion ; of priests, Yreka was
again without a pastor. In
1864 a new priest arrived and
over a period of years many
advances were made in the
building of mission churches
in Siskiyou county.
In 1903, the town of Mc-
Cloud was added to the list
of missions and an independ
ent parish was created at
Dunsmuir. The parish of
Dunsmulr then took on the
missions of Edgewood, Mott,
Sisson, (now Mt. Shasta),
Squaw Valley and Upton. In
1912 McCloud and Sisson re
mained as Dunsmulr missions,
but Edgewood, Mott and Up
ton became attached once
more to Yreka.
Until 1919 Father Carr was
pastor of Dunsmuir, succeed
ed by Father Patrick Cronan,
who stayed until 1922. In
July of that year, a young
priest fresh from the sheep
camp missions of Nevada,
named Father Michael Myles,
assumed the duties of the
parish for a few months. In
those days the priest walked
the eight miles between Duns
mulr end Mt. Shasta as they
had no roads, nor a car if
there had been a road. One
could take- the train occa
sionally. Weed is mentioned
as a mission of Dunsmuir
during this period, and was
made a separate parish in
1937.
No Longer In Parish
Many years passed until
1947 when Mt. Shasta was
no longer a part of Dunsmuir
parish. The Rev. Edward
Christen of Sacramento was
named pastor of the newly
formed St. Anthony'i parish,
saying his first Mass in Mt.
Shasta Nov. 9. 1947. He re
mained until 1B55 when the
Rev. Machael Myles, who had
been here many years ago,
was sent from Yreka to take
his place and who has re
mained in Mt. Shasta since.
Father Christen is now In
Sacramento.
Grateful hearts and willing
hands pitched in to build a
small hall, rectory and a new
church. The old church was
then turned Into a hall. The
new church was dedicated In
1954 by Bishop Robert Arm
strong of the Sacramento Dio
cese, of which St. Anthony's
nas long been a part.
The dream of the Bishop of
San Francisco Diocese 110
years ago has now come true.
Mt. Shasta has a beautiful
modern brick church, all
through the efforts of dedi
cated missionary labors, the
hard work of ranchers and
mines, the rugged living and
preaching conditions and the
faith that someday the church
would be constructed in Mt.
Shasta.
Today it boasts beautiful
mosaic windows, with a large
mosaic in the vestibule, in
stalled In 1962. It has a
"quiet" room, and an air of
peaceful dignity.
St. Anthony's Altar Society
can not be overlooked In the
chain of events which make
St. Anthony's church the up
to date joy to the parishioners
It has turned out to be. Many
thousands of dollars were
raised by the society over the
years to attain the goal now
reached.
Parishioners have fur
nished the Interior with beau
tiful statutes and other necessities.
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