Antonio Ravalli
Encyclopedia
Antonio Ravalli is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, 1812; d. at St. Mary's, Montana
Stevensville, Montana
Stevensville is a town in Ravalli County, Montana, United States. The population was 1,553 at the 2000 census.-History:Stevensville is officially recognized as the first permanent settlement in the state of Montana...
, USA, 2 October 1884) was an Italian Jesuit missionary, active in the western United States. In 1893 Ravalli County, Montana
Ravalli County, Montana
-National protected areas:*Bitterroot National Forest *Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge*Lolo National Forest -Demographics:As of the census of 2000 , there were 36,070 people, 14,289 households, and 10,188 families residing in the county. The population density was 15 people per square mile...
was named after him.
Life
He entered the Society of Jesus about 1833. With Fathers Louis Vercruyesse, Michael Accolti, and John NobiliJohn Nobili
John Nobili, born Giovanni Pietro Antonio Nobili, was an Italian priest of the Society of Jesus. He was a missionary in the Oregon Territory and later founded Santa Clara College in California, United States....
, Brother Francis Huybrechts, and six sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame de Namur, he responded to Pierre-Jean De Smet
Pierre-Jean De Smet
Pierre-Jean De Smet , also known as Pieter-Jan De Smet, was a Belgian Roman Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesus , active in missionary work among the Native Americans of the Midwestern United States in the mid-19th century.His extensive travels as a missionary were said to total...
's appeal for the American mission in 1843, arriving at Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's Columbia District...
, 5 August 1844, after a voyage of eight months. Having made a short stay at the mission of St. Paul on the Willamette River
Willamette River
The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
(Champoeg, Oregon
Champoeg, Oregon
Champoeg is a former town in the U.S. state of Oregon. Now a ghost town, it was an important settlement in the Willamette Valley in the early 1840s. It is positioned halfway between Oregon City and Salem and the site of the first provisional government of the Oregon Country...
), where he made a study of the English language and gave attention to the sick (being skilled in medicine), he joined Father Adrian Hoeck in the spring of 1845 at the mission of St. Ignatius among the Kalispel
Kalispel
Kalispel may refer to:* Pend d'Oreilles , a tribe of Native Americans* Kalispel-Pend d'Oreille, the language of the Pend d'Oreilles tribe* Kalispell, Montana, a city in the United States...
(Pend d'Oreille), on the upper Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
, Washington.
After some time he was transferred to the Flathead Mission of St. Mary's on Bitterroot River
Bitterroot River
The Bitterroot River is a tributary of the Clark Fork River in southwestern Montana, USA. It runs for about 75 miles south-to-north through the Bitterroot Valley, from the confluence of its West and East forks near Conner to the Clark Fork near Missoula.Ravalli County and Missoula County...
, western Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, where he remained until the mission was temporarily abandoned on account of the hostile Blackfoot Indians in 1850. In 1854, he assumed charge of the Sacred Heart Mission established by Father Nicholas Point among the Coeur d'Alenes (Skitswish) of Northern Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
. Here he designed and supervised the building of a church. With its altar and beautiful statues, carved by himself, it was described by a traveller as "a credit to any civilized country". Isaac Stevens
Isaac Stevens
Isaac Ingalls Stevens was the first governor of Washington Territory, a United States Congressman, and a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War until his death at the Battle of Chantilly...
, Governor of Washington Territory
Washington Territory
The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....
, who saw it in 1855, says in his official report: "The church was designed by the superior of the mission, Father Ravalli, a man of skill as an architect and, undoubtedly, judging from his well-thumbed books, of various accomplishments". In the general outbreak led by Yakima in 1856-67 his influence was largely instrumental in holding the northern tribes quiet.
In 1866 Nicholas Congiato
Nicholas Congiato
* Santa Clara College . Souvenir of Santa Clara College. Santa Clara, CA: University Press, 1901....
, superior of the Rocky Mountain missions, established the old Mission of St. Mary's on the Bitter Root, among the Flathead Indians, and among those appointed to the station was Father Ravalli, who had been with it at its abandonment sixteen years before. Here he remained until his death.
- "Fifty years a Jesuit and forty years a missionary, one of the noblest men that ever laboured in the ranks of the Church in Montana, his fame stands very high in Montana, where a later generation knows more of him than even of Father de Smet." (Chittenden).
See also
- Cataldo Mission, which he designed
- St Mary's Mission, which he designed
- History of IdahoHistory of IdahoThe history of Idaho is an examination of the human history and social activity within the state of Idaho, a geographical area in the Pacific Northwest area near the west coast of the United States and Canada...
- Stevensville, MontanaStevensville, MontanaStevensville is a town in Ravalli County, Montana, United States. The population was 1,553 at the 2000 census.-History:Stevensville is officially recognized as the first permanent settlement in the state of Montana...
- History of MontanaHistory of Montana-Indigenous peoples :Archeological evidence has shown indigenous peoples lived in the area for thousands of years. For example, rock art in Pictograph Cave six miles south of Billings has been dated, showing human presence in the area more than 2,100 years ago. Most indigenous people of the...