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Cataldo, Idaho
Cataldo began with the Cataldo Mission. The mission is 25 miles east of Coeur d'Alene. The church is the state's oldest standing building. The mission was started to serve the Coeur d'Alene Indians, a peaceful tribe that lived in tepees and moved around the area hunting, fishing, and collecting berries and roots. There were between 2,500 and 4,000 members along Coeur d'Alene Lake and the surrounding territory. The tribe was originally called the Schee-chu-umsh or Skitzsu. They were renamed by French trappers with a word that meant "heart of the awl", which meant the trappers thought they were shrewd bargainers. The Indians were very spiritual and when they heard a neighboring tribe had "medicine men" of great powers they wanted this magic for themselves. They sent words that the "black robes", Catholic Jesuit priests, would be welcome among their people. So in the early 1840s, Jesuit missionaries came to North Idaho.
In 1848, Father Anthony Ravalli came to bring religion to the Indians. In Italy Ravalli had studied theology, philosophy, mathematics, natural science, medicine, art, and architecture. He was ordained a priest in 1843 and joined Father Pierre Jean DeSmet's party of missionaries and came to the Pacific Northwest. He brought with him a broad axe, an auger, some ropes and pulleys, and a pen knife. For workmen he had two brothers and the Indians.
The church was 90 feet long, 40 feet wide, and 40 feet high. Planing and shaping were done by hand with a broad axe. Nails were not available so holes were bored in the upright and rafters and joined with wooden pegs. Woven wild grass covered the saplings and over it all was adobe from the river bank. The stone for the church's foundation had to be dug in the mountains half a mile away. Mud was used to hold the stone in place. Cement has been added over the years. Some of the timber was brought from a mile or more away. Inside three altars wee built and the decoration was carved by hand. Above the side altars were pictures depicting "Heaven" and "Hell," work of some of the best Old World artists brought to Idaho by the priests. The panels on the ceiling were carved by Brother Francis Huybrechts, as well as 14 pictures portraying the Passion of Christ which were enclosed in hand carved frames. Father Ravalli carved by hand from blocks of wood the statues of the Virgin Mary and of St. John the evangelist. He also carved the altar and painted it to achieve the affect of marble. The mission was later named Cataldo, after Father Joseph M. Cataldo, who arrived in 1877 and made the his headquarters when he was made superior of all the Rocky Mountain Missions.
The church was surrounded by many other structures of a self-sufficient village. There was a parsonage house (which still exists), Lodge for Brothers and Travelers, barn, grist mill, west cemetery, main cemetery, and Indian village. The Parish House was built in 1887. Originally located just 15 ft from the mission, it was lived in by the brothers assigned to serve the mission.
The mission served as site for council after the Indian conflict with Colonel Steptoe and as headquarters for Captain John Mullan when building his road. In 1887 because of pressure from encroaching white population, the fact that the mission was not within the reservation's boundaries, and the development of agricultural deficiencies, the mission (but not the building) was relocated to its present day site at DeSmet, Idaho, inside the Coeur d'Alene reservation boundaries.
In 1897 the mission achieved residential status (a father lived on site) and was renamed "The Station of the Blessed Jesuit and Martyrs." A private chapel was then added to the house. During 1899-1901 the house served as a training center for Jesuits. It was the only house of its kind in the Rocky Mountain Mission District. In 1929 a part-time resident from Spokane, Father Daly, lived and said mass five months of the year at the mission. In the 1930s, the house became a home for mission caretakers responsible for upkeep of the grounds and buildings. The caretakers continued to live there until 1973, when the mission was made into the state park.
Mine tailings were dredged from the river for about 30 years between 1930 and 1960. The "dredge fund" was set up by the local mines that once dumped their mine tailings into the river. It was established to appease the people of Coeur d'Alene who were concerned about the mine waste in the lake. The dredging took place six months out of the year, 24 hours a day. The mission was chosen as the site because at this point the river is almost level with the high water of the lake. It is wide and deep enough that no perceptible flow is apparent except at spring run offs.
In the "Flood of 96", an early thaw brought raging floods down the Coeur d'Alene river. Waters were nearly 17 feet higher than the previous July and nearly spilled over the dike. When the waters burst through, the basements and ground floors of almost every building in downtown Cataldo were flooded. Damage was estimated at over a million dollars. The railroad bridge and the old steel frontage bridge were weakened by the high water and more flooding could knock them over.
Last revised 10/30/98