Canadian settlement on the Willamette, where a log church was already awaiting him, four miles above Champoeg, having been built in 1836 when the French began to entertain the hope of having priests among them.[1] Here Blanchet took up his residence October 12th. On the 23d of December he blessed the bell he had brought with him, and on the 6th of January, 1840, the humble edifice was formally dedicated to St Paul, and mass was celebrated for the first time in the Willamette Valley. The next three weeks were chiefly devoted to religious exercises, the men being examined to ascertain if their prayers were remembered, the women and children instructed in their duties, and all made to confess their sins. The fourth week was occupied in visiting the settlers at their homes, and in selecting a square mile of land for the Catholic establishment.
In the mean time, Demers, having finished his visit to Nisqually, was assigned to the charge of the Cowlitz establishment, where he arrived the 13th of October, 1839. Next day he hung and rang out the first church-bell ever heard in the territory. There were at this time but eight families on the Cowlitz, including altogether forty-six persons, which number was occasionally augmented as more men were required by the Puget Sound Agricultural Company. To these persons Demers gave religious instruction during the early portion of the winter; and endeavored in the spring to impart a limited knowledge of farming to the natives within reach in the hope of ameliorating their condition.
During the earlier part of 1840 the jealous rivalry between the Catholic and Methodist missionaries was shown with much bitterness on both sides. The former regarded it as impudent intrusion that Protestant ministers should preach their heretical creed to
- ↑ This, the first building erected for public religious services in Oregon, was 70 by 30 feet in size. I suppose it to be identical with that in which Jason Lee and his associates preached to the settlers.
