Jesuit missionaries had a profound effect on the history of the Northwest, and their influence on Missoula is no exception. In 1841, the first Jesuit priests made their way through the Missoula valley in response to a request by the Salish—who themselves has been exposed to Catholicism by Hudson’s Bay Company trappers—for a priest to come and live among them. The St. Mary’s Mission in Stevensville became the first Catholic church in Montana Territory. In 1873, the Jesuits opened a chapel in Missoula and a short time later built the St. Francis Xavier Church.

Within a decade of the church’s dedication, the congregation had outgrown the space and, in turn, the Jesuits hired Portland architect Mr. Blanchard and local contractor Patrick Walsh to design and build a new church. In August 1891, workers broke ground on the new St. Francis Xavier Church and it held its first services a year later—although many of the intricate details of the church remained incomplete for a dozen more years.

Built in the Romanesque Revival style, St. Francis Xavier features a prominent bell tower, arches above its windows and doors, some 30 elaborate stained glass windows, and detailed frescoes painted on the walls and ceiling in 1902 by Joseph Carignano, a Jesuit brother from Gonzaga College in Spokane. The church’s capacity of 750 people inclusive of the choir loft made it Montana’s largest church.

Credits and Sources:

Briggeman, Kim. “ Restored Stained Glass Window Going in at St. Francis Xavier,” Missoulian,October 25, 2011.

Cohen, Stan. Missoula County Images, volume II. Missoula: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1993.

Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service. “ National Register of Historic Places Inventory— Nomination Form, St. Francis Xavier Church.”  1980.

Historic St. Mary’s Mission and Museum.  http://www.saintmarysmission.org/history.html, accessed May 6, 2015.

Koelbel, Lenora. Missoula, The Way It Was: A Portrait of an Early Western Town. Missoula: Gateway Publishing and Printing, 1972.

Mathews, Allan James.  “ A Guide to Historic Missoula,” Montana Mainstreets, vol. 6. Helena: Montana Historical Society, 2003.

Photographs courtesy of Archives & Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana, Missoula, Montana.