First Mass

St. Mary's Mission, Bitterroot Valley (near present-day Stevensville), Montana †inferred

September 24, 1841

LocationSt. Mary's Mission, Bitterroot Valley (near present-day Stevensville)
State/TerritoryMontana
CountyRavalli County
Modern DioceseDiocese of Helena
Historical DioceseDiocese of Quebec(?)
DateSeptember 24, 1841 †
PriestFr. Pierre-Jean De Smet
Religious OrderSociety of Jesus (Jesuits)
RiteRoman (Latin) Rite
ExpeditionFounding of St. Mary's Mission, in response to repeated Salish (Flathead) delegations to St. Louis requesting a Black Robe
Confidenceinferred

Photos

HMDB Sign
HMDB Sign

Documentation

Notes

St. Mary's Mission was founded on September 24, 1841 which established the first church and pioneer settlement. Traveling with De Smet: Frs. Gregory Mengarini and Nicolas Point, S.J., and lay brothers Joseph Specht, William Claessens, and Charles Huett. Caveat: sources document the mission's founding on this date, not an explicit a-Mass-was-said claim -- this is a reasonable inference (three Jesuit priests founding a mission would say Mass immediately) rather than a directly quoted fact. Corroborated by a University of Montana-affiliated historic sites database (historicmt.org/items/show/17) and HMDB lookup https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=123447

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