Antonio Ravalli

Last updated
Antonio Ravalli
Born(1812-05-16)16 May 1812
Died2 October 1884(1884-10-02) (aged 72)
Other namesAnthony Ravalli
Education Roman College
Church Catholic
Ordained1843

Antonio Ravalli (b. in Ferrara, Italy, 16 May 1812 - died at St. Mary's, Montana, USA, 2 October 1884), also known as Anthony Ravalli, was an Italian Jesuit missionary, artist, and doctor active in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. He is known primarily for his contributions to the architecture and art of Jesuit missions in the region. He also inoculated the tribes he served against smallpox, and his efforts shielded the Bitterroot Salish against epidemics that devastated other tribes. In 1893 Ravalli County, Montana was named after him. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Anthony Ravalli was born 16 May 1812 to wealthy parents in Ferrara, Italy. [2] When he was fifteen, Ravalli entered the Society of Jesus. He attended medical school at the Roman College. In 1843, he was ordained a priest, and he responded to Pierre-Jean De Smet's appeal for missionaries to the Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest. [3]

Career

Ravalli traveled with the priests Louis Vercruyesse, Michael Accolti, and John Nobili, Francis Huybrechts, and six sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame de Namur, arriving at Fort Vancouver, 5 August 1844, after a voyage of eight months. He brought medical supplies, carpentry tools, and two mill stones to stock the Jesuit missions. He spent a few months at the mission of St. Paul on the Willamette River (Champoeg, Oregon), where he studied English and ministered to the sick (being skilled in medicine). In the spring of 1845, he joined Adrian Hoeck at the mission of St. Ignatius among the Kalispel (Pend d'Oreille), on the upper Columbia River in what is now Washington.

In 1845, Ravalli was transferred to St. Mary's Mission on the Bitterroot River in what is now western Montana. On his way there, he stopped at Colville, Washington, where he resuscitated a young Indian woman who had tried to hang herself. From then on, he had a reputation as a healer wherever he went. Upon his arrival at St. Mary's Mission, Ravalli inoculated the Bitterroot Salish people against smallpox. When he used up all the pharmaceuticals he had brought from Italy, he learned remedies from the Indians and made his own medicines. [3] He built a grist mill and sawmill at the mission.

When Blackfeet raids forced St. Mary's Mission to close in 1850, Ravalli continued his work at other missions. In 1854, he assumed charge of the Sacred Heart Mission established by Nicholas Point among the Coeur d'Alenes (Skitswish) of Northern Idaho. He designed and supervised the building of a church. With its altar and beautiful statues, carved by himself, it was described by a traveler as "a credit to any civilized country." Isaac Stevens, Governor of Washington Territory, who saw it in 1855, said 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." During the Yakima War from 1855 to 1857, Ravalli influenced the northern tribes to remain neutral.

In 1866, Ravalli and Joseph Giorda, superior of the Rocky Mountain missions, reestablished St. Mary's Mission in the Bitterroot Valley. Ravalli designed the interior of the chapel, which was dedicated 28 October 1866. To decorate the chapel, Ravalli carved statues of Mary and Ignatius of Loyola. He made whatever tools he needed with his own hands, including his paintbrushes, which he made with tail hair from his favorite cat. [4] He made his house into a sort of pharmacy where he dispensed medicines, and his skill as a doctor made the mission a regional medical center for Indians and whites alike. He traveled a two-hundred-mile radius in all weather to minister to the sick. Near the end of his life, a stroke left him partially paralyzed, but he still visited the sick in a wagon fitted with a cot. He died at St. Mary's Mission on 2 October 1884 and is buried in the cemetery there. [5]

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).

Legacy

Ravalli County, Montana is named for him, as is the town of Ravalli, Montana. In 2005, he was inducted into the Gallery of Outstanding Montanans at the Montana State Capitol. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ravalli County, Montana</span> County in Montana, United States

Ravalli County is a county in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,174. Its county seat is Hamilton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stevensville, Montana</span> Town in Montana, United States

Stevensville is a town in Ravalli County, Montana, United States. The population was 2,002 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arlee, Montana</span> Census-designated place in Montana, United States

Arlee is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) on the Flathead Reservation, Lake County, Montana, United States. The population was 725 at the 2020 census. It is named after Alee, a Salish chief. The chief's name has no "r", as the Salish alphabet has no letter "r".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flathead Indian Reservation</span> Indian reservation in United States, Confederated Salish and Kootenai

The Flathead Indian Reservation, located in western Montana on the Flathead River, is home to the Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d'Oreilles tribes – also known as the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation. The reservation was created through the July 16, 1855, Treaty of Hellgate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes</span> Indigenous tribe in Montana, United States

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation are a federally recognized tribe in the U.S. state of Montana. The government includes members of several Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai and Pend d'Oreilles tribes and is centered on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bitterroot Salish</span> Group of Native Americans of the Flathead Nation in Montana, United States

The Bitterroot Salish are a Salish-speaking group of Native Americans, and one of three tribes of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation in Montana. The Flathead Reservation is home to the Kootenai and Pend d'Oreilles tribes also. Bitterroot Salish or Flathead originally lived in an area west of Billings, Montana extending to the continental divide in the west and south of Great Falls, Montana extending to the Montana–Wyoming border. From there they later moved west into the Bitterroot Valley. By request, a Catholic mission was built here in 1841. In 1891 they were forcibly moved to the Flathead Reservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kutenai</span> Ethnic group; an indigenous people of Canada and the US

The Kutenai, also known as the Ktunaxa, Ksanka, Kootenay and Kootenai, are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern Idaho, and western Montana. The Kutenai language is a language isolate, thus unrelated to the languages of neighboring peoples or any other known language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bitterroot Valley</span>

The Bitterroot Valley is located in southwestern Montana, along the Bitterroot River between the Bitterroot Range and Sapphire Mountains, in the Northwestern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bitterroot River</span> River in Montana, United States

The Bitterroot River is a northward flowing 84-mile (135 km) river running through the Bitterroot Valley, from the confluence of its West and East forks near Conner in southern Ravalli County to its confluence with the Clark Fork River near Missoula in Missoula County, in western Montana. The Clark Fork River is a tributary to the Columbia River and ultimately, the Pacific Ocean. The Bitterroot River is a Blue Ribbon trout fishery with a healthy population of native westslope cutthroat trout and bull trout. It is the third most fly fished river in Montana behind the Madison and Big Horn Rivers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlo (Native American leader)</span>

Charlo was head chief of the Bitterroot Salish from 1870 to 1910. Charlo followed a policy of peace with the American settlers in Southwestern Montana and with the soldiers at nearby Fort Missoula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hellgate Treaty</span> 1855 treaty between the United States and Bitterroot Salish

The Treaty of Hellgate was a treaty agreement between the United States and the Bitterroot Salish, Upper Pend d'Oreille, and Lower Kutenai tribes. The treaty was signed at Hellgate on 16 July 1855. Signatories included Isaac Stevens, superintendent of Indian affairs and governor of Washington Territory; Victor, chief of the Bitterroot Salish; Alexander, chief of the Pend d'Oreilles; Michelle, chief of the Kutenais; and several subchiefs. The treaty was ratified by Congress, signed by President James Buchanan, and proclaimed on 18 April 1859. It established the Flathead Indian Reservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregorio Mengarini</span> Jesuit priest

Gregorio or Gregory Mengarini was an Italian Jesuit priest and missionary and linguist. He worked as a pioneer missionary in the northwest of the United States to the Flathead Nation, and became the philologist of their languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Mary's Mission (Montana)</span> Historic church in Montana, United States

The Historic St. Mary's Mission is a mission established by the Society of Jesus of the Catholic Church, located now on Fourth Street in modern-day Stevensville, Montana. Founded in 1841 and designed as an ongoing village for Catholic Salish Indians, St. Mary's was the first permanent settlement made by non-indigenous peoples in what became the state of Montana. The mission structure was rebuilt in 1866. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre-Jean De Smet</span> Jesuit priest (1801–1873)

Pierre-Jean De Smet, SJ, also known as Pieter-Jan De Smet, was a Flemish Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He is known primarily for his widespread missionary work in the mid-19th century among the Native American peoples, in the midwestern and northwestern United States and western Canada.

The Swan Valley Massacre was an incident in 1908 in which four Pend d'Oreilles Indians, members of an eight-person hunting party, were killed by a state game warden and his deputy in the Swan Valley in northwestern Montana. The state of Montana did not honor off-reservation hunting permits, although the hunting right was established by federal treaty. The game warden confronted the Pend d'Oreilles party and a gunfight ensued.

The Ravalli County Museum in Hamilton, Montana, is operated by the Bitter Root Valley Historical Society (BRVHS) in order to acquire, preserve, and interpret the historical and cultural heritage of the Bitter Root Valley and the inhabitants of Ravalli County, Montana. United States. The Museum is open year-round and features three main focal points: local history, natural history and art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Owen State Park</span> Park in Montana, USA

Fort Owen State Park is a historic preservation area owned by the state of Montana in the United States, located on the northern outskirts of the town of Stevensville, Montana. The park is named for Fort Owen, a mission and later trading post established in 1841 and named for trader John Owen. The park is one acre (0.40 ha) in size, 3,293 feet (1,004 m) in elevation, and is owned and managed by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Fort Owen is known as the "cradle of Montana civilization".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian Hoecken</span>

Adrianus Hoecken, SJ was a Jesuit missionary of Dutch origin who worked among different Native American tribes in the United States. He was a younger brother of fellow Jesuit Christian Hoecken and one of the first travel companions of fellow Jesuit Pierre-Jean De Smet.

Nicholas Point;, was a French Catholic priest, artist, and member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He is known primarily for the drawings and watercolors he created during his missionary work in the mid-19th century among the Native American peoples in the northwestern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Immaculate School for Native Americans</span> School in Idaho

The Mary Immaculate School for Native Americans was constructed in June 1908 for educating children of the Coeur d’Alene tribe in the Sacred Heart Mission in Desmet, Idaho. The school was run by the Catholic nuns of the mission as an Indian boarding school to educate and civilize its pupils. It was eventually closed as a school in 1974 and the title of the building was transferred from the Sisters of Charity of Providence to the Coeur d’Alene tribe. It was used as the location for the tribe's education department, the cutting and sewing industry, and a historical interpretive center. The building was added to the National Historic Register in 1975. In 2011 the building was destroyed in a fire while being used for storage and telecommunications.

References

Citations

Bibliography

Wikisource-logo.svg This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Antonio Ravalli". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company.