The Catholic Ladder was invented in the spring of 1839 by Father F. N. Blanchet. It was used as a tool to explain the history of the Catholic faith to Native Americans and settlers who were not familiar with the story of salvation history. It begins at the bottom with six circles representing the days of creation, continues through the Old Testament patriarchs and prophets, through the Passion and Resurrection, the establishment of the Church, and ending with Father Blanchet and the present day. The Native Americans called the Ladder "Sahale stick", meaning "stick from heaven". Father Blanchet’s fellow missionaries adopted the ladder to clarify some difficult concepts for the Native Americans, and to provide a link between the traditions and history of the church, and the present.
After the wooden church was vacated (it was later destroyed by a fire in 1889), the Gothic-style cathedral was built under the direction of the Aegidius Junger, the second Bishop of Nesqually. Construction was spearheaded by the Rev. Louis Schram, pastor and vicar general; Mother Joseph, superior of the Sisters of Providence; and by J.B. Blanchet, nephew of the two Bishops Blanchet. The cornerstone of the new structure was laid in 1884, and the St. James Cathedral in Vancouver was dedicated in 1885.
The immense cathedral of brick and stone—its main altar and Stations of the Cross all carved in oak from Belgium—had a seating capacity of 900. In 1907, Bishop Edward J. O’Dea moved the See of the Diocese of Nesqually from Vancouver to Seattle. The cathedral in Vancouver became the parish church of St. James.
The St. James Mission was originally part of Fort Vancouver, a permanent trading post of the Hudson’s Bay Company. A census taken in 1838—seven years before the first church was built at the fort—counted 76 Catholics, including French-Canadians and Iroquois, some of whom had not celebrated Mass for many years. A simple wooden church was built and dedicated in 1846, and beginning in 1850 Bishop A. M. A. Blanchet used the small St. James church as his residence upon the establishment of the Diocese of Nesqually.
Translation of the handwritten Latin:
"Ad Futuram Rei Memoriam..." In Everlasting Memory.
Inasmuch as we have erected by letters given the 24th day of July, 1846, the Archepiscopal See of Oregon City for the convenience and increase of the Catholic religion, we also provide that the Region subject to the Bishop of the same church of Nesqually should exist in the manner intended, because it must be erected into a Diocese properly so called, so we establish the same from the areas of Colville and Fort Hall, into episcopal regions of the Church provided that provisions for the ruling be handed over reasonably to the Bishop of Walla Walla in the same province.
So inasmuch as there are grave reasons for which it would seem that the Episcopal Church of Nesqually should be established we, with the advice of the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith, resolve to come to the designated erection of the same Episcopal Church.
And so with certain knowledge and our mature deliberation, and from the fullness of the Apostolic power, we separate the aforementioned region of Nesqually from the Archdiocese of Oregon City, and we divide it up and we erect it into an Episcopal Church and establish that it be ruled and directed by its own Bishop.
Given in Rome at St. Peter’s under the ring of the Fisherman May 31, 1850, in the fourth year of our pontificate.
By His Lordship Cardinal Lambruschinias signed by A. Picchioni
In the midst of the tension that followed the Whitman Massacre, Bishop Blanchet ordained Chirouse to the priesthood, along with his fellow Oblate, Charles Pandosy. Theirs were the first ordinations in present-day Washington State. Chirouse spent much of his life working with the Native American peoples of Southeastern Washington and the Puget Sound area. Fr. Chirouse also established a mission on the Tulalip Indian Reservation, and another mission at Priests' Point near Marysville.
In 1857, the Rev. Eugene Casimir Chirouse, O.M.I. established the Tulalip Indian Reservation Mission, one of several Indian Missions he helped to found. Well-loved and respected by the people he served, Fr. Chirouse was known as a truly selfless minister of the Gospel. This first Tulalip mission was abandoned and replaced in 1860 by a new mission at Priest Point near Marysville, but the apple tree that Fr. Chirouse had planted still bears fruit, representing the seeds of faith that he had sown as an early Missionary.
In 1867, the Reverend Francis Xavier Prefontaine rented a cabin in Seattle and converted it into a small chapel to perform Mass while he worked to raise sufficient funds to build Our Lady of Good Help Church. Despite Bishop A.M.A. Blanchet's warning that Seattle had little potential as a mission, Fr. Prefontaine gained the Bishop's permission to establish a permanent parish. The building was constructed starting in 1869, and became the first Catholic Church in Seattle. By 1882, the church had become too small to accommodate the nearly 300 parishioners. Fr. Prefontaine remodeled the church, which continued to serve as a central base for the priests traveling to missions in the Puget Sound area.
In 1903, Father Prefontaine's faith in Seattle bore fruit as Bishop Edward J. O'Dea moved the See of the diocese from Vancouver to Seattle. Fr. Prefontaine entered a well-deserved retirement in 1903, and was further honored by being named Monsignor in 1908. He died in 1909 in his home, having faithfully served the diocese for 42 years.
Our Lady of Good Help was used by Bishop O'Dea as a pro-cathedral in 1903. As Seattle's downtown became more crowded, in 1905 the church was demolished and rebuilt on a new site. In 1912 it was closed as a parish church because of its close proximity to the new St. James Cathedral, and was instead included as part of the Cathedral parish. Although the original building is gone, Our Lady of Good Help is still remembered as the first Catholic Church in Seattle.
The Catholic Church in the Pacific Northwest had only been established for 34 years when the first missionaries began ministering in the coal mining towns of the Black Diamond area. The opening of the Northern Pacific Railway in 1884 paved the way for increasing visits by priests to minister to the Catholics of Enumclaw.
The first Mass celebrated in Enumclaw was officiated by the Rev. John Baptist Boulet in the O’Neil family home. In addition to Father Boulet, priests from St. George Indian Mission in Milton attended to the spiritual needs of the predominantly Irish-born community. In nearby Krain, a group of Slavic homesteaders established a church and cemetery in 1887. In that same year, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Stevenson donated a city block where the first Sacred Heart Church would be built, and five acres for a cemetery. Construction of the mission church was completed in 1889.
It was not until 1895 that the Rev. Michael Fafara was appointed the first resident pastor, although Fr. Fafara had been traveling the area’s back roads in his horse and buggy since 1891. Sacred Heart was elevated to parish standing in 1898. The parish proceeded to take on missions in the towns of Franklin and Black Diamond as well as property for a cemetery.
After Fr. Fafara, Father Metz became pastor for a mere three months in 1908. He was succeeded by the Rev. Aloysius Mlinar under whom Black Diamond’s St. Barbara Church was erected in 1910. Father Mlinar would move to Black Diamond in 1911 to become the church’s first pastor. It was also in the beginning of this year that Sacred Heart Church burned to the ground. Father Mlinar’s successor, the Rev. John Tscholl, labored diligently to rebuild the church. It was during the brief term of the Rev. L. Rozanski from 1912 to 1913 that the new building was completed. A rectory stood at the site next to the new church under the pastorate of the Rev. E. T. McCarthy (1913-1915).
Immediately after moving from Vancouver to Seattle in 1903, Bishop Edward J. O'Dea began plans for the construction of a suitable new Cathedral in Seattle. Bishop O’Dea was determined that it be the grandest Cathedral in the West, an idea that seemed extravagant for the financially distressed diocese. While waiting for the Cathedral, a temporary chapel, St. Edward's, was built near the Cathedral site. The Cathedral became a reality thanks to many generous donations and supporters, and was dedicated on December 22, 1907, at which time the Diocese of Nesqually was renamed the Diocese of Seattle. Seated atop First Hill, the Cathedral commanded a broad view of the waterfront and of the city in all directions. Its two 175 foot towers drew the attention of all down the hill. Noted for its choir loft and fully electric organ, the St. James Cathedral is indeed the jewel of the diocese as Bishop O’Dea had desired.
The Diocese of Yakima was formally established on June 23, 1951, in conjunction with Seattle’s establishment as an Archdiocese. On September 6, 1951, Archbishop Connolly consecrated the Reverend Joseph Dougherty, former chancellor of the Archdiocese of Seattle, as the first bishop of Yakima. The creation of the Yakima diocese was prompted by the post-World War II population growth in the state, and responded to the growing needs of Catholics in central and western Washington.