GUIDE TO CATHOLIC RECORDS ABOUT NATIVE AMERICANS IN THE U.S.
Volume 3: Western United States
Idaho: ID-5

Old Mission State Park
Interstate Highway 90 at Exit 39
P.O. Box 30
Cataldo, ID 83810

Phone: 208-682-3814
Email: See website

 

Hours: See website

Access: No restrictions

Copying facilities: Yes 

 

History:

ca. 1814-1840s

Lay Iroquois Indians from Canada, who were employed by the Northwest Fur Company, intermarried and catechized among the Salish Indians

1831, 1834, 1837, 1841

Four delegations of Salish, Iroquois, and Nez Perce Indians attempted to request Jesuit missionaries from Bishop Joseph Rosati, C.M., in St. Louis whose diocese then apparently included Montana; only the first and fourth delegations reached St. Louis whereas the others were killed by Indians from enemy tribes

1840-1841

In response to the fourth request, Reverend Pierre J. de Smet, S.J., visited the Coeur d’Alene, Kalispel, Kootenai, Nez Perce, Salish, and other tribes throughout the Northwest

1843-1846 (closed)

Rev. Nicholas Point, S.J., established a mission among the Coeur d’Alene Indians

1848-1877 (no longer Native)

Jesuits (formerly Missouri, Turin, and California; now Oregon Province, Portland, Oregon) established and administered Sacred Heart Mission (Coeur d’Alene), Cataldo

1877-present

Coeur d’Alene Indians relocated to the Coeur d’Alene Reservation where Jesuits established and have administered Sacred Heart Mission, De Smet

1930s-present

In honor of their ancestors, Coeur d’Alene Indians have visited Sacred Heart Mission and cemetery, Old Mission State Park, Cataldo, annually on the Feast of the Assumption (August 15th)

1976

Old Mission State Park established at Sacred Heart Mission and declared a national landmark in 1962

 

Holdings of Catholic records about Native Americans: 

Inclusive dates: 1842-1930  

Volume: Ca. 3.0 cubic feet

Description: Facsimile records (including selected items within exhibits) comprised of correspondence, cemetery records, clippings, photographs, paintings and drawings by Rev. Nicholas Point, S.J., and Rev. Pierre J. De Smet, S.J., plus video recordings; re: Sacred Heart Mission, the Jesuits, and Chief Andrew Seltice (1854-1902) and Coeur d’Alene Indians; from Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture [Eastern Washington State Historical Society], Spokane, Washington, and the Jesuit Archives and Research Center, St. Louis, Missouri, for records from the Jesuit Missouri and Oregon Provinces.

 

Unless otherwise noted, the repository on this page holds (or held) the records described here and they are not held at the Marquette University Archives.

new2006/rev2019