The mission was founded in 1854, ten years after Montana became a territory and 35 years before it attained statehood, by Father Peter DeSmet, S.J. As a response to repeated appeals from Indians who had visited St. Louis, Father DeSmet moved here after founding the St. Mary Mission in Stevensville to the south in the 1840s. That mission is also still standing. The Flathead, Kootenai and Kalispel (Upper Pend d’Oreille) tribes brought Father DeSmet and the Jesuits to this valley they called the “surrounded.” In time, the St. Ignatius Mission became one of the major missions of its day in the Northwest.

The massive church was built with local materials by the Indians and missionaries in 1891. One of the most striking characteristics of the building is the series of murals painted in only 14 months by the cook, Brother Joseph Carignano.

The complex of schools and hospitals that grew up around the church were lost to fires. Despite their absence, the Jesuit Fathers and the Dominican Sisters of Sparkhill, N.Y., continue the tradition of service to the current day reservation.

You can view the mission with its 58 murals, the museum and nun’s first residence, the original log-cabin residence and chapel daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is free, but contributions are welcome to help maintain the historic structure.