The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1936-08-28
Father Ravalli, Broadly Educated, Taught Indians
Milling, Building and Arts, Finding Flatheads
Very Congenial to Work With; Planted First
Crop in State Near Stevensville in 1871.

approximately 800 miles from their
home in the Bitter Root valley. It is
a. matter of historical record that most
pagan tribes have had to have Chris
t1anity forced upon them; the F1athead
Indians asked that missionaries be sent
them.
Father De Smet arrived in the spring
Of 1910 and organized and built st.
Mary's Mission in 1841. The mission
has been called the first permanent
white settlement in the state of Mon
Jana. However, some authorities do
not agree to this, believing that the
first permanent settlement in the state
near the eastern border.
De Smet found the Flatheads very
congenial to work with. He baptized
nearly every member of the tribe and
organized them into a great chorus.
He also taught them agriculture and
IN the spring of 1841 the Flatheads
planted the first crop ever planted in
Montana near ~Stevensville.
St. Mary's Mission of the 184O's con-
and a few farm buildings constructed
of cottonwood logs. Two of the build
1ngs were rooted with handmade
shingles fastened with pegs. The other
buildings were rooted with sod. The
first chapel was twenty-five by thirty
lave 4CCG DuL was later CeOldCeO q
one thirty by sixty feet.
Ravalli Came in Early '4O's
In 1912 Father De Smet left the Wild
erneSS 10 secure more funds and men
for his mission. He Travelled to Europe,
where he was received in audience by
the Pope and given a promise OF fl
nancial aid in his work in the north
west. In Belgium Father De Smet met
Father Anthony Ravalli, a young priest
with an adventurous spirit. De Smet
old RavaH something of his work in
great forests, the mountains, the sing
ing rivers, and of the friendly Flat
heads. Ravalli decided to see for him
self and along with several others he
journeyed to America with De Smet.
The versatility of Father Anthony
laval IS amazing, and he was des-
tined to be OF great assistance in the.
was a complete education and he was
Versed In art, literature, medicine, phil
osophy, and farming. He wa Montana's
first doctor as well as Montana,s first
white artist. He awed the Flatheads
with his ability to cure their ills with
medicine and he painted fine religious
decoration of the Mission. Ravalli's
paintings and sculptures may still be
seen at the mission and several of his
sculptures are displayed in the histor-
ical museum at the capitol in Helena.
From far away Belgium Father Ra-
vaui brought two small millstCnes.
These had been a gift to the Flathead
Indians from a merchant of Antwerp
first mill in Montana. It was a crude
affair but 1t worked and was operated
by water power. The old stones OF this
11rst mill may now be seen in the state
historical museum.
First Flour and Saw Mills
Father Ravalli also erected the first
sawmiu in Montana. This, too, was a
crude affair, constructed entirely by
hand. The mill crank vas made of four
stralghtened wagon tires welded to-
gether. The blade was another wagon
tire flattened and teeth were cut out
with a chisel.
Even Tor his art work Ravalli had
only the crudest equipment and it is
said that he had to pull the hairs
from the tail of his favorite cat to
make his paint brushes. He felled great
trees to secure the best wood from
Of St. fgnatius Loyaia is said id to S' beaS
2 distinct resemblance to the famous
Reubens portrait of Loyola. Ravalli
nved to be a very old man and died
in 1884. He was buried in the old Mis-
sion cemetery at st. Mary's.
Ten years after it was founded, st.
Mary's Mission was abandoned by the
missionaries of the Catholic church.
It was leased to Major John Owen, with
the provision that if the priests re-
turned within three years the Mission
would again be theirs. This contract
between Owen and the Jesuits was the
first contract ever written in Montana
and was dated "St. Mary's Mission,