The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1900-05-19

I
beaten in appearance, it has stood 70
years like a rock of safety in the mids
:, of the turmoil in the neart of the busl
= ness life of the city, its doors neVe
e closed to those who wished to find com
!, fort within. And today will begin IN
work of removing it stone by ston
from its foundation, its altars laid bar
: of their holy symbols and Yestment
and all signs of a structure held dea
to thousands because its close connec
ton with the best and highest emo
tiOns of their nature will be swept ava.
and become but a memory.
No wonder that the old walls seemed
: to eXhale a melancholy which perme
ated and surrounded tho note o.
thanksgiving The windows were opeT
to the soft, warm air of the morning
which crept in with a soothing breath
moving gently the boughs of the ole
elrns. whose fresh green leaves rustlec
softly and sighed, too, for they, 100
must fall with the Cathedral and the
strong current of life which sent out
to greet the spring, renewal, a reSur-
rection, joy and hope to all. seemed
| to have been put forth in vain. But
the people caught the note and throb
Of gratitude sent a response of appre-
citation for the day and its beauty
which made this last service one to De
remembered as long as they lived.
After it was over the crowds left
! slowly. There was no pushing or hur-
| rying to get out into the air, Which
usually propels an audience on such a
perfect day 1t was the last time they
would be there and they reluctantly
hung back, Ioathe to leave the place.
Many stayed in tkeir seats and conned
their prayer books deaf to everything
but the silence that the memory of the
past environed them, and the devout
thoughts which held them.
Bishop Matz was assisted in the SER
vice by Father Phillips as master of
ceremonies, Father Callahan, Father
Casey and Father Duffy. In his last
words to the people the bishop went
back to the early history of the cathe-
dral and spoke of its struggles and how
from d handful Of Catholics in the state
the numbers had grown from between
go 600 to 10000 He touched lightly on the
recriminati0ns that had made the work
Of getting rid of the parish debt so
much more difficult to accomplish, and
how it had now emerged so gloriously
from its burdens. He hoped it would
be a warning in the future for the peo-
pie not to criticise, see that all was for
the best and to put their shoulders to
the wheel and help carry on the noble
projects outlined for the future.
The time for closing had to come.
One by one tho old parishioners slipped
away, furtively wiping away the tears !
that would come in spite of all effort TO |
crush them back 1t was then the turn
of the photographers. They came in |
ard set up their tripods and took views |
Of the altars, sachristy and body of the |
church. 1t was after . o'clock before I
they were gone and the old place was |
silent forever to the tread of the my
radS who have thronged il in the past. |
The sexton came over from the parish
house and turned the key in the door.
The simple ceremony closed the ca
-hedraTs history and today the cast
from the brick and mortar will indi-
aate the work of demolition.
The wrecking of St. Mary's began
Monday morning.
How different and how much easier
o tear down this little church than it
vas to rear it. Those who know it's
history, and there are few in Denver
Who do not know something of it.
would say to the wreckers: Work
With reverent hands. There is not a
lie upon that roof that cost not many
ears; nor brick in those old walls
,ut was bought with great labor and
with sacrifice
The history of the church is the hiss
ory of Catholicism in Colorado, and
s insignificant as this building as it
ow stands is, in comparison with its
ame. cathedral" yet it was not at
rst even such as it is now.
It's history is comprised in a series
f additions. First a bare, oblong,
ne-Story. store-like building on the
lains. with a bell swung on a derrick
I front. Later the aisles were added:
ater still the steeple, the belfry and ,,
be finals, until it stands as it does
Jday.
The original church was built in 1860,
I'd the first services We're held Christ
las night in that year. Women, Pro-
estant and Catholics. loaned their cur
aims and artificial flowers to deck the :
iUar. The building had just been COM !
leted By the tireless energy of Father
Lacheboeuf, later bishop. 1t stood on
le outskirts of Denver. The furtherest
sSidences We're at Seventeenth and /
urtis streets, on the present site of
le Ernest & Cranmer building This
as the home of Judge Amos Steck i
he only other brick buildings in the {
ty at the time the church was COM 3
eted were the mint and a brick store v
hiding at Fifteenth and Blake oc- /
lpied by the D. D. White company. [
hree buildings and the "commissary'' a
Hiding on the west side were used as u
aces Of refuge by the people of tho d
~ during periods when Indian out
'eaks were feared. So far out was the
lurch that no one thought of fleeing
it on that memorable evening in D
64, when Bill Shotridge, a youth
ith chalky face, galloped into town to g
lnounce that the Indians We're COM II II
&. The people found refuge in the =
building, those who lived n
the west side, where Ferry street. VI
Nv Eleventh street, was the business :.
rect. and in the store buildings and ! y
int on Blake street. And they ioked III
I'd still joke on the weapons the men i
ok with them, rifles, hatchets. bitch =
rks, rocks, bows and arrowS-every-
ing and anything to be found hastily.
1t the best joking came after it was Y
und out by the scouts and sentinels +
sted about the outskirts and in the =
rricaded streets that "Bill' Shot
ige's Indians were nothing more than
band of drunken Mexican drovers.
wing their herd north. The pistol
ID rife shots Shotridge heard was the h;
apping of their whips. 81
Those were stirring. exciting times. lie
d though the little church had small tt
ncern with these Indian scares and 40
her threatened calamities, it will w
silly be seen from the condition on 81
times, when men took more thought W
preserving their lives than for saw bl
their souls, what vicissitudes it suf al
ed. But it prospered.
n 1859 it had grown so in member dC
ip that 1t was necessary to enlarge hi
and in that year and in 1870 the is
le aisles were added and the spire in &C
:. In 1870 the present bishops housa g!
Joining was began. Previous to that 81
ther Machebeuf had lived in a small tn
an-to' back of the church, now part 10
the vestry, and later in a small tn
oden house on the site of the present M
hops mansion. The church has been WI
cred little since that time beyond tie an
Ial repairs. tn
The church almost immediately aflar
conpletion began to he - e,i.er frt