Fort Vancouver Historic Structures Report

History and location

The structure at Fort Vancouver that by late 1845 was known as the "Old" Catholic Church had its beginnings as a warehouse. [1] As shown by the Emmons ground plan of 1841 and the Vavasour map of 1845, the "Chapel" or "Old Roman Catholic Church" was situated directly south of the Old Office and formed part of a row of buildings that divided the fort courtyard into two sections.

As did the Old Office, the Old Catholic Church stood only a few yards west of the line of the palisade that enclosed the small 1829-ca. 1836 fort on the east (see line BE on Plate I, vol. I). When the fort was enlarged to the east about 1836 this old line of pickets was removed, leaving three buildings standing isolated across the center of the yard.

Archeological excavations in 1952 were unsuccessful in finding any traces of the Old Catholic Church. [2] Therefore, the only reasonably precise evidence as to the exact location of this structure is the Vavasour map. According to that source, the chapel lay about twenty feet directly south of the Old Office and about 200 feet east of the Sale Shop. Its location is now designated as Building No. 1. [2] on the site plan of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.

Nothing has yet come to light concerning the precise function of this structure prior to its dedication to religious purposes in 1838 or 1839. That it was a warehouse is known, but whether for provisions, merchandise, or furs remains a mystery. But from its location in the western section of the fort and from the fact that it was considered "old" in 1838 or 1839, it can be assumed that the building probably dated from 1829, when the post was moved down from the hill to the river plain.

The history of religious activities at Fort Vancouver has already been recorded in some detail, and that story will not be repeated here. [3] Suffice it to say that the first Catholic priests to take up permanent residence in the Columbia District, Fathers Francois Norbert Blanchet and Modeste Demers, arrived at the depot on November 24, 1838. They had crossed the continent with the Company's express and came with the knowledge that the Governor and Committee in London had instructed the chief factor at Vancouver to "facilitate the establishing of the Mission." [4]

Such orders were entirely superfluous. Dr. McLoughlin had per haps been the primary mover in the drive to obtain Catholic priests for Oregon. Although he was away on furlough when the fathers arrived, his temporary replacement, James Douglas, was only too willing to carry forward the wishes of his chief and of the London directors.

On the day after they reached the depot, Fathers Blanchet and Demers improvised an altar in the schoolhouse and conducted the first Catholic mass ever said at Fort Vancouver and in "lower Oregon." From this beginning, their labors among the fort's Catholic employees rapidly expanded. Preaching, religious instruction, and the performance of baptisms, burials, and marriages went ahead diligently. Missionary work was also done among the Indians near the post. [5]

Even for the first mass the schoolhouse proved far too small to accommodate all who wished to attend services. [6] Undoubtedly the Catholic observances, like those of the Protestants, could have been held in the larger mess hall in the Big House had the priests so desired, but perhaps the fathers had much the same aversion to worshiping in such a secular and busy place as had been expressed by Chaplain Beaver. At any rate, they soon obtained what the Anglican minister had been unable to procure--a separate chapel.

In late 1838 or in 1839--witnesses fail to agree--the priests were permitted to take over for use as a chapel the "old store" within the pickets. [7] This was the structure near the center of the fort enclosure identified as the "chapel" by Emmons and the "Old R. C. Church" by Vavasour. Father Blanchet later described it as a "large building" but said that even it was "generally full" during mass and vespers. [8]

According to Father Blanchet, this chapel was never used for any purpose other than the holding of Catholic religious services and missionary labors after it was assigned to the priests. [9] But Lieutenant Emmons, who spent some time at the fort during 1841, noted in his journal that the structure was used both for Catholic and "Episcopal" services. [10] This latter observation was confirmed by Governor Simpson, who in the same year noted that divine service was performed regularly every Sunday at the post, in English for the Protestants and in French for the Catholics. "The same chapel, a building by the by, unworthy of the establishment, served both purposes at the time of our visit," he wrote; "but separate places of worship were about to be erected for the two denominations." [11]

Perhaps Protestant services were held occasionally in the "old store," but the evidence that the usual place for these observances continued to be the dining room in McLoughlin's house is overwhelming. This condition held true even in 1841, the same year in which the observations noted above were made. Lieutenant Wilkes of the United States Exploring Expedition recorded in May of that year: "The dining-hall is given up on Sunday to the use of the ritual of the Anglican Church, and Mr. Douglass or a [Protestant] missionary reads the service." [12] Two years later, on August 13, 1843, Clerk Thomas Lowe noted in his journal: "Divine Service in the Hall of the Big House as on every Sabbath. Chief Factor Douglas acting as Chaplain and I reading the Lessons." The same journal for the latter half of 1845 contains a number of references to Protestant services in the mess hail but there is no mention of them being conducted in the chapel. [13]

It should also be mentioned that the French visitor, Duflot de Mofras, noted in 1841 the existence of "a Catholic chapel used as a school." [14] If the instruction was other than religious (of which there was a good deal), this writer has not yet encountered another mention of the fact.

As was brought out in considerable detail in Chapter XI on the Priests' House, the Catholic clergymen were by no means in continuous residence at Fort Vancouver until about 1844. During the frequent and often lengthy absences of the priests on other missionary errands, Catholic services continued to be held in the chapel under the leader ship of a lay person. Often this person was Chief Factor McLoughlin. Before the arrival of the priests he had long been in the habit of reading Roman Catholic prayers for the French Canadians and their families. [15] He continued to do so afterwards. On August 1, 1841, Lieutenant Emmons noted in his journal that it "being Sunday, Episcopal and Catholic service was performed within the Fort, Mr. Douglas officiating in the former at his residence & Dr. McLaughlin in the latter at the Chapel." [16]

By 1841 McLoughlin was quite generally regarded as a "professed" Catholic, although he did not formally return to the Catholic Church until near the end of the following year. After 1842 he was even more active in religious affairs. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that on December 1, 1844, Thomas Lowe wrote in his journal: "No priest being now here, Dr. McLoughlin read prayers in the Catholic Chapel." [17]

The Catholics at Vancouver, as did Governor Simpson, soon came to the conclusion that the building assigned to them was "unworthy of the establishment," and they began to plan the construction of a church of their own. They attempted to buy land for this purpose, but the Company refused to sell. About 1844, however, the officers at Fort Vancouver gave Father Blanchet the use of a sizable tract of land about 250 yards north and west of the stockade. Actual construction of the new church upon this parcel evidently had not begun by February 21, 1845; but it was reported as being under way during August of that year. [18]

Erected by the Company with timber and lumber from the firm's mills, the new church outside the fort was dedicated on May 31, 1846.19 With that action religious activities in the "old store" within the pickets ceased.

On June 18, 1846, Clerk Thomas Lowe made the following important notation in his diary: "A gang of men employed with [Charles Diamare dit] Baron [a depot carpenter] pulling down the old Church in the Middle of the Fort. There now only remains the Office to break the full sweep of the Fort Yard, the Church and Office having run right across the centre of the Fort." [20] The Old Roman Catholic Church was no more.

Construction details

Virtually nothing specific is known of the physical structure of the Old Catholic Church beyond what can be determined from the Emmons and Vavasour ground plans. No remains have yet been uncovered during archeological explorations, and the building cannot be discerned in any known view of Fort Vancouver.

All versions of the Vavasour plan seem to agree that the Chapel was about thirty feet wide. On the two original versions (Plates VI and VII, vol. I) the length appears to be between sixty and sixty-two feet. On the traced copy (Plate VIII, vol. I), however, the length scales out to approximately sixty-five to sixty-eight feet. Probably sixty feet was the approximate length.

Because the building was originally a storehouse, it can safely be assumed that it was of heavy Canadian-style construction. Because of its early erection date, the timbers undoubtedly were hand hewn. The roof almost certainly was gabled, with the ridge running north and south. The roof very likely was covered with vertical boards. In short, inside and out, it almost surely was similar to the other warehouses already described, except that it may have consisted of only one story and a garret.

According to the Emmons ground plan of 1841 the chapel had only one door, located in the west wall about one-third of the wall length from the north end of the building. As with the other stores, there probably were several small, shuttered windows on each wall.

The floors were undoubtedly heavy, rough planks. The inside walls, however, may have been lined with vertical deals either originally or when the structure was converted to a chapel.

Furnishings

No specific information seems to be available concerning the furnishings and decorations in the Old Catholic Church. It is known, however, that a fairly large assortment of religious objects was available for the chapel at Fort Vancouver and for the other missions in the Columbia District. Evidently it was in the spring of 1839 that "boxes" arrived at the depot from Canada by way of London containing "ornaments, images, crucifixes, rosaries, and lastly books." [21] The next year there were received from Paris two boxes, one containing books and the other church ornaments. [22] It is virtually certain that additional shipments came during subsequent years.

Although it is reasonably certain that Anglican services were never held in the Roman Catholic Chapel during Outfit 1845, there was, as has been seen, a chance that the two denominations shared the Old Catholic Church at least for a time during earlier years. Perhaps unfortunately for the purposes of this chapter, much more is known about the religious objects associated with the Anglican services at Fort Vancouver than about those employed by the Catholic priests. For these reasons, together with the fact that there seems to be no other logical place to record them, the articles belonging to the Anglican "Church Establishment" at Fort Vancouver are listed in this chapter.

It will be recalled that the Anglican minister, the Reverend Mr. Herbert Beaver, was sent out by the Company to serve as chaplain at Fort Vancouver. He arrived on September 6, 1836. Four months earlier the firm's barque Columbia had delivered a pulpit, surplice, altar cloth, silver communion service, Bible, prayer books, register books, and a bell, all forwarded by the Governor and Committee for Beaver's use. After a stormy two years at the depot, the chaplain departed for home, but he left behind the religious books and equipment. These items remained at Fort Vancouver until Chief Factor James Douglas moved the headquarters of the Columbia District to Fort Victoria in 1849. The Bible, the registers, and the communion service may be seen today in Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria, British Columbia (see Plates LXIX and LXX).

The list below is from the Columbia Depot inventory of "articles in use" taken in the spring of 1844, but, except for a few variations in spelling, there were no changes in the inventories examined through that taken in the spring of 1848. With the reminder that these objects probably were stored in the Big House where the Church of England services were normally held, the list follows:

Recommendations

a. A thorough archeological exploration of the Old Catholic Church site is suggested. Even if no structural remains are found, such a reconnaissance would be valuable in proving that when structures were demolished prior to 1860 at Fort Vancouver even the footings were ordinarily removed. Proof of such a practice should be of utility in interpreting archeological findings elsewhere in the fort area.

b. Although a reconstructed chapel would be of value for the interpretation of an important and interesting facet of life at Fort Vancouver, the almost total lack of specific structural and furnishings data plus the fact that the building was demolished very shortly after the end of Outfit 1845--the period to which the post is to be reconstructed--seem to require a recommendation that its rebuilding be given a low priority.

c. If the Old Catholic Church is reconstructed, a special study should be conducted to determine the types of furnishings and decorations employed in other Pacific Northwest Catholic missions of the period. The original records of the first Catholic missionaries in the region are in the archives of the Archbishop in Portland, Oregon, and undoubtedly would provide valuable information. Other early missions, such as that at Cataldo, Idaho, still preserve early religious objects and decorations.

1. For an example of the use of the term "old Church" see Lowe, "Private Journal," p. 42. For a statement that the Catholic chapel originally was an "old store," see deposition of F. N. Blanchet, in Claim of the Mission of St. James, Vancouver, Washington Territory, to 640 Acres of Land ([Washington, D.C.?:] W. H. Moore, Printer, [1863 ] ), p. 24.

2. Caywood, Final Report, pp. 7, 13.

3. See Hussey, History of Fort Vancouver, pp. 173-80, 208-13.

4. George Simpson to [Bishop of Quebec], London, February 17, 1838, MS, G.L.O., Old Townsites, Docket I (165), Box No. 31, in National Archives .

5. A detailed description of the types of instruction given and the types of services held is to be found in Blanchet, Historical Sketches, pp. 24-26; See also Notices & Voyages, pp. 14, 27, 87.

6. For a colorful description of this service, see Blanchet, Historical Sketches, p. 23.

7. Affidavit of Joseph Petrain, October 25, 1873, G.L.O., Old Townsites, Docket I (165), Box No. 31, in National Archives; Deposition of F. N. Blanchet, in Claim of the Mission of St. James, p. 24.

8. Blanchet, Historical Sketches, p. 27; In 1841 Assistant Surgeon Silas Holmes said that the "little chapel was always full upon the Sabbath." Holmes, "Journal," 3:4.

9. Claim of the Mission of St. James, p. 24.

10. Emmons, "Journal," 3: entry for July 25, 1841.

11. Simpson, An Overland Journey, 1:142-43.

12. Wilkes, Narrative, 4:331.

13. Lowe, "Private Journal," pp. 1A, 18, 24, 26, 27, 28, 30, and 31.

14. Pipes, "Extract from Exploration," p. 153.

15. Beaver, Reports and Letters, p. 55.

16. Emmons, "Journal," 3: entry for August 1, 1841.

17. Lowe, "Private Journal," p. 10. It is of interest that Dr. John McLoughlin's profession of faith was made in the Old Catholic Church at Fort Vancouver on November 18, 1842. He made his first communion at midnight High Mass on that date, at the head of thirty-eight communicants. "The office had never been so solemn as to chant, music and decoration, as on that night," later wrote Father Blanchet. Blanchet, Historical Sketches, p. 51.

18. Notices & Voyages, p. 234; Warre, "Travel and Sport in North America, 1839-1846"; For an early expression of the desire of the priests for a new chapel, see Notices & Voyages, p. 27.

19. This date is sometimes given as May 30, 1846, but original documentary evidence proves that the ceremony took place on the thirty first. See, for only one example, Lowe, "Private Journal," p. 40.

20. Ibid., p. 42.

21. Notices & Voyages, p. 54.

22. Ibid., p. 58.

23. H.B.C., Account Book, Fort Vancouver, 1844, H.B.C.A., B.223/d/155, MS, fol. 75d. The 1845 inventory referred to in the bracketed material above is in H.B.C.A., B.223/d/160, MS, p. 132.