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The History of Catholic Education in British Columbia, 1847-1900

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The History of Catholic Education in British Columbia, 1847-1900 CCHA, Study Sessions, 50 (1983), 569-90 The History of Catholic Education in British Columbia, 1847-1900 by Edith E. DOWN, S.S.A. University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta. The development of Catholic education in what is now British Columbia, can be divided into three time periods: 1847-1900 the pioneer period. 1900-1970 the expanding years as a result of a large volunteer service of clergy, brothers, and sisters. 1970- the present structure now being formulated as a result of: • the established roots. • the desire of Catholic parents to continue this form of education. • the financial assistance of the British Columbia govern- ment which, at the present, is lessening the burden and which is helping to assure the future of Catholic education in this province. • the Church’s persistent stance on its being an essential part of the Christian education of youth. It is interesting to note that the early missionaries had a sense of purpose, that we may not be aware of in our present society. In going into underdeveloped countries for the purpose of raising the standard of living and improving a way of life for the inhabitants, government officials and missionaries had to consider the immediate needs of the people. In order of priority, these were water, nutrition, and then education. In the — 569 — establishment of an area like British Columbia neither the government nor the church had any concerns about water. This land overflowed with rivers and lakes. For nutritional needs, our waterways and our forests abounded with fish and wildlife. The missionary, therefore, was not concerned with a “hungry” population. The adventurers who came West were drawn by the lure of wealth and pleasure. They were desirous of making money from the vast resources; they wanted to spend money under a climate that promised ease and enjoyment. The demands, therefore, of the early population was for education. This immediate need was for schools for children of the Hudson’s Bay Officers, naval officers, and coureurs de bois. From this influx of settlers, the native people experienced changes too great to comprehend. They, too, sought help to education their children.1 To His Excellency, Bishop Modeste Demers, belongs the credit of establishing the foundation of Catholic Education in this province. He also carries the distinction of being the first priest to celebrate Mass on the mainland of British Columbia, on October 14, 1838, at the Big Bend in the Upper Columbia River.2 Previous to Modeste Demers’ appointment as first Roman Catholic Bishop to the See of Victoria, on November 30, 1847, Vancouver Island had heard of the faith through the other zealous sons of the Church. When Spain set out on her explorations of the Pacific Coast, she was wont to carry on her vessels one or more Franciscan monks who looked after the ships’ crews. The monks also sought to evangelize the natives who dwelt in the vicinity of the various settlements and trading posts which the Spaniards founded at different points. Thus, in 1789, the Franciscan missionaries reached Nootka. The two Chaplains, Don Jose Lopez de Nova and Don Jose Maria Dios, together with four Franciscan Brothers, and the members of the crew, planted a cross and named the land for Spain.3 1 Theodore, Sister Mary Theodore, S.S.A., Heralds of Christ the King. Kennedy and Sons, N.Y., 1939, pp. vii-viii. 2 Morice, A.G. C.M. L, History of the Catholic Church in Western Canada. Volume II. Toronto, Musson Book Co. Ltd., 1910, p. 297. 3 Schoefield, E.O.S., British Columbia, Volume I. S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., Vancouver, B.C., 1914, pp. 135-145. — 570 — Another Spanish Franciscan, Padre Magin Catala, spent over a year in Nootka. The Island at the mount of Nootka Sound perpetuates the name and it was mentioned in 1792 in Galiano’s chart.4 The occupation of Nootka by the Spaniards lasted only six years. Padre Gomez, who succeeded Magin Catala, left after the British claim was settled in 1795, when Spain withdrew. One hundred years elapsed before a second Catholic Church was erected on the Pacific Coast. No signs remain of the fort and buildings erected in 1789 by the Spanish at Nootka. Nevertheless, Reverend J.A. Brabant, who was named in charge of this area seventy-five years later, has left us an account of his findings. He claimed that Spanish numbers could be counted and Roman Catholic forms of worship and Christmastide customs such as the procession to the crib were still carried out. The Indians could point out the position of the Government house, the Chapel, and the burial grounds.5 There is no authentic record of the Franciscans’ work in Nootka nor of any Catholic priest having visited British Columbia from 1795 until 1838 when Bishop Demers reached the Big Bend of the Columbia River. Father P.J. De Smet, s.j. came to the Rocky Mountain country in 1840 and 1841, where he visited and instructed the Kootenay Indians. At this period in history, the boundary between Canada and the United States had not been determined.6 The western territory was under the dominion of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and the western missions were under the jurisdiction of Joseph Signay, Bishop of Quebec. At the request of Canadians of the Wilamette Valley in the Oregon Country to have a priest in their midst, Bishop Signay appointed Francis Norbert Blanchet and Modeste Demers for that part of the diocese of Quebec which is situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. This appointment was accompanied by specific instructions to: – evangelize the natives. – bring Christians into line with Church teachings. – spread the gospel. 4 Walbran, Captain John T., British Columbia Place Names, 1592-1906. Government Printing Bureau, Ottawa, 1909, p. 85. 5 Ibid., p. 361 6 Morice, A.G. O.M.I., History of Northern British Columbia, Toronto, William Briggs, 1904, p. 224. — 571 — – study the Indian languages and prepare a grammar. – baptize and substitute lawful marriage for irregular unions. – establish schools and catechism classes to ensure the Christian education of youth. – plant crosses in all remarkable places.7 Father Norbert Blanchet left the Governor’s house in Lachine, Quebec, and met Father Modeste Demers at the Red River Settlement. They were in company with Chief Trader James Hargraves, whose canoes and packhorses carried the express of the Hudson’s Bay Company from Montreal to Fort Vancouver. In a letter to his brother, Father Demers describes part of his precarious journey through the mountains: For nine days the horses went through mire and bog, there they sank up to their sides in dreadful places, climbed 300 feet up the side of mountains, then down again, then up the slope of a mountain more than one thousand feet, perpendicular as the side of a house, everywhere trees down, that the horses had to jump over. Other than that all went well...8 Although they left Montreal on Thursday, May 3, 1838, they did not reach their destination at Fort Vancouver in the Oregon Country until the 24th of the following November. Immediately both priests set themselves to carry out the recommendations of Bishop Signay. In 1842 Father Demers accompanied a Hudson’s Bay caravan which took him from Fort Vancouver to Forts Stewart, Fraser and Babine in northern British Columbia. He became acquainted with various Indian tribes and learned their dialects. On his return trip, he visited the Indians at Fort George, Kamloops, and Fort Langley. In the meantime, with colonization to the west increasing, the fur trade in this sector of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s vast storehouse began to 7 Blanchet, Rev. F.N., Historical Sketches of the Catholic Church in Oregon, Catholic Sentinel, Oregon, 1978, pp. 7-8 8 Demers, Modeste, Letter to his brother St. Francis Xavier Mission, Cowlitz Prairie, Oregon, Provincial Archives, Victoria, B.C. — 572 — shift north of the mouth of the Columbia River and changes had to be made. Doctor John McLoughlin, Superintendent of the Columbia Fur Department, had as his able assistant, Chief Factor James Douglas. When this department was facing a period of reorganization and adjustment, Governor George Simpson named Douglas Chief Factor at the new post on Vancouver Island. In 1843, when the expedition of twenty-two men left Fort Vancouver for the new post, Reverend Father J.B.Z. Bolduc, a new arrival from Quebec, was invited to accompany them. Having the consent of the Vicar General, Reverend Father N. Blanchet, he left for Nisqually, where the steamer Beaver was waiting. Fortunately, the Reverend Father Bolduc left us the description of this event. It would seem that he was a man similar in temperament to Sir James Douglas. There was a kinship in their admiration of the vast, silent beauty of the Pacific shores; there was the same steel for adventure in the face of savage Indians. Father Bolduc tells us: ...the eighteenth was a Saturday. I consecrated it to the erecting of a temple for celebrating the day of our Lord. At sunset I possessed quite a vast edifice whose sides of fir branches rose majestically and whose roof was covered with awning from the steamboat. Some of the men of the expedition came to visit and compared it to the tabernacle that Israelites raised in the desert. Finally Sunday morning, an hour after sunrise, I prepared for Holy Mass. Already more than 1200 savages of three different nations were assembled around our modest temple. Our commander, a religious, man, although a Protestant, arrived on the spot, as well as some Canadian.
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