St. Paul's Mission

Every spring, as the days get longer and the snow retreats up the mountainsides, wildflowers begin to appear in the valleys. First up every year are the buttercups, which celebrate early spring from their places on the sunny south-facing slopes. Call it Buttercup Season, the time when you can still feel a chill in the air, but know summer is well on its way. While there is usually plenty of good late-winter skiing at 49 Degrees North, and the back country skiers are finding plenty to shout about on the Kettle Crest, most people are ready for warmer pursuits and itching to get out of the house more. It's a good time to plan a car trip with the family to take in some of the region's rich history.

A good place to start is at St. Paul's Mission on the plateau overlooking the site of the Kettle Falls on the Columbia River. There, three and a half miles west of the town of Kettle Falls, you will find the Kettle Falls Historical Society Museum and the reconstructed St. Paul's Mission, a hewn-log church with a history that dates back to the Fur Trade. In 1847, Jesuit missionaries, who had been working among the local tribes since 1838, replaced their temporary chapel with this more permanent church above the Kettle Falls. The Falls were a rich fishing area for the local tribes who harvested salmon there during the annual salmon runs for untold generations, and was a traditional gathering place not only for local tribes, but also for many others who traveled there to fish and trade. St. Paul's Mission, then, proved an ideal base for the Catholics missionaries who brought their faith to the tribes and encouraged the tribes to take up agriculture. Later on new churches were built east of St. Paul's, first St. Regis, which became an Indian boarding school, and Immaculate Conception in Colville to serve the soldiers at Fort Colvile and the increasing number of settlers in the area. St. Paul's Mission, now abandoned, eventually fell into ruin until 1938 when it was fully restored. The restored Mission is very like the original, with walls of massive timbers, shutters that creak open on iron hinges, and a high ceiling rising to the peaked, cedar-shingled roof. Visitors who pull back the wooden bolt on the front doors and step inside feel the decades drop away and almost hear the echoes of the voices of the people who worshipped here in Latin, Salish, French and English.

Take the path that starts at the Mission. The graveyard north of the church is the final resting place of hundreds of the area's earliest residents, Indians and settlers alike. Some of the few remaining headstones date back to the Fur Trade era and record the names of some of the earliest settlers, including the famous McDonald name. Chief Factor Archibald McDonald oversaw operations at Ft. Colvile just to the north of the Mission from 1834 to 1844, and some of his descendants are buried here.

Walking north to the rim of the plateau, you'll see the site of the original Fort Colvile. Early spring is a good time to visit because that's when Lake Roosevelt is at its lowest level. When the plain below the mission is exposed by the receding waters, visitors can see the outlines of the old fort. Like St. Paul's Mission, Ft. Colvile holds a place of high esteem in the history of the Pacific Northwest. Hudson's Bay Company fur traders began the fort in 1825, choosing the site partly because of its convenient location at the crossroads of trade in the region, and partly because it was a great place to develop agriculture. Residents of the fort grew corn, wheat, barley, and vegetables, and raised cattle and hogs in addition to trading with the local Indians for fur. Continue west on the trail along the rim of the plateau to the overlook above the site of the Kettle Falls. Here you will find a large stone with patterns of grooves worn in its surface. This is the sharpening stone that used to rest along the shore of the Columbia River below the bluff. For generations prior to settlement, native fishermen used the smooth stone as a sharpening stone. As the waters rose behind Coulee Dam in the 1930s, this stone was removed to its present location overlooking the river.

Finally, be sure to visit the museum that is just south of the mission. The Kettle Falls Historical Society has put together a wonderful assortment of displays, including artifacts, period costumes, and interpretive displays that explain the important of the Kettle Falls fishery, and the history of Ft. Colvile and St. Paul's Mission. The museum is open from May through Labor Day. For more information, check the web at www.kettlefalls.com/HistoricalCenter.htm.

Contents

The Old Schoolhouse at Loon Lake

The Loon Lake Historical Society does for the Old Schoolhouse and Loon Lake what the Kettle Falls Historical Society does for the St. Paul's Mission and Kettle Falls: gather and preserve the rich and varied history of the area. Located in the Old Schoolhouse in Loon Lake, this dedicated group of volunteers works year 'round to sponsor events, make available historic photographs and personal histories, and keep the Old Schoolhouse humming with activity.

Settlers arrived in the area around Loon Lake and Deer Lake in the late 1800s, and in 1890 founded the town that we now know as Loon Lake. Logging was an important factor in the economy at the time, as was the brick works just south in Clayton. But the beautiful location on the shore of Loon Lake made the town a destination for people looking for outdoor recreation -- a bit of fun on the water or day on the beach. People from Spokane and elsewhere rode the train to Loon Lake to enjoy the day or a weekend, beginning a tradition that continues to this day of escaping the rigors of everyday life with a little fun outdoors in Northeastern Washington. While a Ferris wheel and excursion boat rides filled that need in the early days, resorts around Loon Lake and Deer Lake greet visitors today.

In 1929, the Loon Lake School District built the gorgeous brick building in town to house their two-room elementary school. In the 1990s when the District outgrew the building, they passed it on to the Historical Society. After extensive renovations to preserve and update it, the Old Schoolhouse continues its mission of serving the community as a gathering place and repository of the history and culture of the area. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and operated by volunteers in the Loon Lake Historical Society, the Old Schoolhouse is home to the Society's archives and the location of their yearly events. These include the Summer Festival on the first full weekend in August and the Kris Kringle Markt beginning the weekend after Thanksgiving and continuing through Christmas. Both feature arts and crafts, activities, food and all kinds of fun.

The Old Schoolhouse is located at 4000 Colville Road in Loon Lake. For more information, call 509 233-2222, or check the Web at www.loonlakehistoricalsociety.com or www.TheHeritageNetwork.org.

Contents

Welcome to NortheasternWashington.com
A project of The North Columbia Monthly
PO Box 541, Colville, WA 99114
Ph/fx: 509/684-3109
Web site: www.northcolumbiamonthly.com
E-mail: info@northcolumbiamonthly.com

All rights reserved. Copyright 2008-2010.