François Norbert Blanchet (September 30, 1795 – June 18, 1883) was a

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

-born

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

and

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

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who was instrumental in establishing the Catholic Church presence in the

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. He was one of the first Catholic priests to arrive in what was then known as the

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long Oregon boundary dispute, dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been demarcat ...

and subsequently became the first

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

and

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of the Archdiocese of Oregon City (now known as the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon).

Early life and priesthood

François Norbert Blanchet was born near Saint-Pierre-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

(present-day

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

). Along with his younger brother Augustin-Magloire Blanchet, he entered the Seminary of Quebec and was ordained a

in 1819. Blanchet spent a year working at the

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

in Quebec before being sent to do missionary work with the Micmac and

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people in present-day

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. To be able to preach to the local Irish, Blanchet became fluent in English.Catholic History''
O'Hara, Edwin V. Portland, Oregon.: Glass & Prudhomme Co., 1911 In 1827 he was summoned back to

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and became a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

Missionary work and episcopal career

In the 1830s, John McLoughlin sent letters from

Catholic employees of the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

requesting from

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Provencher of the

Red River colony The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement), also known as Assiniboia, was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, on of land in British North America. This land was granted to Douglas by the Hudson's Bay ...

to send

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, ...

to what was then known as the

.Blanchet, Francis Norbert, and Edward J. Kowrach. Historical sketches of the Catholic Church in Oregon. Fairfield, Wash.: Ye Galleon Press, 1983 Bishop Provencher originally suggested that priests be sent to the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, the ...

but the Hudson's Bay Company pressed for the considered mission to be on the Cowlitz River, north of the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

. Blanchet was appointed the Vicar General of the Oregon Country, with fellow priest Modeste Demers to aid in the missionary efforts. The missionaries were instructed by Archbishop Joseph Signay of Quebec: "In order to make yourselves sooner useful to the natives... you will apply yourselves... to the study of the Indian languages... so as to be able to publish a grammar after some of your residence there." The two priests along with

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

s and lay people departed from Quebec on May 3, 1838, and traveled along the

York Factory Express The York Factory Express, usually called "the Express" and also the Columbia Express and the Communication, was a 19th-century fur brigade operated by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Roughly in length, it was the main overland connection betwee ...

. Arriving on 18 November at

Fort Nez Percés Fort Nez Percés (or Fort Nez Percé, with or without the acute accent), later known as (Old) Fort Walla Walla, was a fortified fur trading post on the Columbia River on the territory of modern-day Wallula, Washington. Despite being named after ...

, a Hudson's Bay Company fur trade outpost located in the present state of

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, Blanchet celebrated Masses and baptized three Roman Catholic converts. In November of that year, they arrived at

Fort Vancouver Fort Vancouver was a 19th-century fur trading post built in the winter of 1824–1825. It was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was ...

in present-day

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver ( ) is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, Vancouver had a population of 190, ...

. A delegation composed of French-Canadians from the Willamette Valley composed of Pierre Belleque, Joseph Gervais and Étienne Lucier were present to greet them. During their winter stay at the Fort, the priests held services in

Chinook Jargon Chinook Jargon (' or ', also known simply as ''Chinook'' or ''Jargon'') is a language originating as a pidgin language, pidgin trade language in the Pacific Northwest. It spread during the 19th century from the lower Columbia River, first to othe ...

with Klickitats in attendance. Blanchet and Demers held Masses in various buildings within the fort, and Catholics often had to share worship space with

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

s, an arrangement that did not please either group. Beginning on January 3, 1839, Blanchet, with Belleque and Lucier, went to the

French Prairie French Prairie is located in Marion County, Oregon, United States, in the Willamette Valley between the Willamette River and the Pudding River, north of Salem. The prairie area roughly corresponds to the traditional land of the Kalapuya peopl ...

farms maintained by the French-Canadians. The first Catholic Mass south of the Columbia river (in the Oregon Country) was celebrated at the St. Paul church on January 6, where Blanchet remained for five weeks. During his second visit in March 1839 to Cowlitz to visually explain basic Catholic religious concepts, Blanchet created the "Sahale stick" or stick from God in

.White, Kris A. White, and Janice St. Laurent. "Mysterious Journey: The Catholic Ladder of 1840." Oregon Historical Quarterly 97, no. 1 (1996): 70-88. This was later made more complex with the use of cloth, to allow for additional representations. The use of the Sahale stick was later adopted by Methodists and Presbyterians like Daniel Lee and Henry H. Spalding. Blanchet was the first non-Native American to make an overnight stay on

Whidbey Island Whidbey Island (historical spellings Whidby, Whitbey, or Whitby) is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, Island County, Washington (state), Washington, in the United States, and the largest island in Washington stat ...

in May 1840, where he offered Mass for several tribes at an outdoor altar; he had been invited by Chief Tslalakum. The chief presented him with a huge wooden cross ( long) and by 1841 the inhabitants were building a log church in the same area. Blanchet stayed on the island for nearly a year. In February 1841 several gatherings were convened to determine the fate of recently deceased Ewing Young's estate, the first of the

Champoeg Meetings The Champoeg Meetings were the first attempts at formal governance by European-American and French Canadian pioneers in the Oregon Country on the Pacific Northwest coast of North America. Between 1841 and 1843, a series of public councils was he ...

which two years later saw formation of the

Provisional Government of Oregon The Provisional Government of Oregon was a popularly elected settler government created in the Oregon Country (1818-1846), in the Pacific Northwest region of the western portion of the continent of North America. Its formation had been advanced ...

. Jason Lee as chairman of the first meeting on the 17th proposed that a Willamette Valley-based settler government be formed. Included in the considered government was the position of governor, which led Blanchet to counter propose a political system with a judge as the highest authority.Creating a Provisional Government in Oregon: A Revision, Loewenberg, Robert J., Seattle: The Pacific Northwest Quarterly, Vol. 68, No. 1 (Jan., 1977), pp. 19-20 During the subsequent meeting held at David Leslie's home near Champoeg on the next day Blanchet was selected to chair a committee to draft the laws of government.Grover, La Fayette
''The Oregon Archives''
Salem: A. Bush, 1853 Blanchet was still opposed to the contemplated political structure, and six months later asked for a reprieve of his duties. On December 1, 1843, the

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under

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI (; ; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in June 1846. He had adopted the name Mauro upon enteri ...

established the

Vicariate Apostolic An apostolic vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church under a titular bishop centered in missionary regions and countries where dioceses or parishes have not yet been established. The status of apostolic vicariate is often ...

of the Oregon Territory, and named Blanchet its vicar apostolic. With no bishops out west to consecrate him, Blanchet had to journey home to Quebec to be consecrated a bishop. He began his journey for Canada in December 1844, boarded a steamer on the Columbia River, touched at

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

doubled

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, landed at

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, went by rail to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, took a vessel to

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, and finally proceeded by rail to Montréal, a journey of . Blanchet was consecrated a bishop on July 25, 1845, by Archbishop

Ignace Bourget Ignace Bourget (; October 30, 1799 – June 8, 1885) was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest who held the title of Bishop of Montreal from 1840 to 1876. Born in Lévis, Quebec, in 1799, Bourget entered the clergy at an early age, undertook several ...

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in Montréal. Then on July 24, 1846, the Vatican under

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

divided the vicariate apostolic into three dioceses: Oregon City,

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

, and Walla Walla. Blanchet was named Bishop of Oregon City, while Demers was named Bishop of Vancouver Island and Augustin Blanchet Bishop of Walla Walla. The Diocese of Oregon City was elevated to an

archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

on July 29, 1850, and François Blanchet was elevated to archbishop. He retired in 1880; retaining the title of archbishop, he was named to a titular see, in the practice of that time. He died in 1883 and is interred at St. Paul Cemetery in St. Paul, Oregon. François's brother was Augustin-Magloire Blanchet, who was the Bishop of Walla Walla until 1850 and then the Bishop of the Diocese of Nesqually, which later became the Diocese of Seattle.

References

External links

François Norbert Blanchet: ''Catholic Encyclopedia''

Missionaries Blanchet and Demers reach Oregon
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blanchet, Francois Norbert 1795 births 1883 deaths Champoeg Meetings Roman Catholic archbishops of Oregon City 19th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States Emigrants from pre-Confederation Quebec to the United States American people of French-Canadian descent Oregon Country Oregon pioneers Canadian Roman Catholic missionaries Participants in the First Vatican Council Roman Catholic missionaries in the United States

Early life and priesthood

Missionary work and episcopal career

See also

References

External links