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{{short description|Jesuit priest}}
'''Antonio Ravalli''' (b. in [[Ferrara]], Italy, 1812; d. at [[Stevensville, Montana|St. Mary's, Montana]], USA, 2 October 1884) was an Italian [[Jesuit]] missionary, active in the western United States. In 1893 [[Ravalli County, Montana]] was named after him.<ref>[http://www.ravallicounty.mt.gov/ Ravalli County - Montana<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080416052236/http://www.ravallicounty.mt.gov/ |date=April 16, 2008 }}</ref>
{{Infobox clergy
| name = Fr. Antonio Ravalli
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1812|05|16}}
| birth_place = [[Ferrara]], [[Italy]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1884|10|02|1812|05|16}}
| death_place = [[Stevensville, Montana]]
| church = [[Catholic Church|Catholic]]
| other_names = Anthony Ravalli
| education = [[Roman College]]
| ordained = 1843
| writings =
| congregations =
| offices_held =
| title =
| spouse =
| children =
| parents =
| footnotes =
}}
'''Antonio''' or '''Anthony Ravalli''' (b. in [[Ferrara]], [[Italy]], 16 May 1812; d. at [[Stevensville, Montana|St. Mary's, Montana]], USA, 2 October 1884) was an Italian [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] missionary, artist, and doctor active in the western United States. In 1893 [[Ravalli County, Montana]] was named after him.<ref>[http://www.ravallicounty.mt.gov/ Ravalli County - Montana<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080416052236/http://www.ravallicounty.mt.gov/ |date=April 16, 2008 }}</ref>


== Early life and education ==
==Life==
Anthony Ravalli was born 16 May 1812 to wealthy parents in Ferrara, Italy.{{sfn|Evans|1981|p=6}} When he was fifteen, Ravalli entered the Society of Jesus. He attended medical school at the [[Roman College]]. In 1843, he was ordained a priest, and he responded to [[Pierre-Jean De Smet]]'s appeal for missionaries to the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] in the [[Pacific Northwest]].{{sfn|Baumler|2016|p=25}}


== Career ==
He entered the Society of Jesus about 1833. With Fathers [[Louis Vercruyesse]], [[Michael Accolti]], and [[John Nobili]], Brother [[Francis Huybrechts]], and six sisters of the [[Congregation of Notre Dame de Namur]], he responded to [[Pierre-Jean De Smet]]'s appeal for the American mission in 1843, arriving at [[Fort Vancouver]], 5 August 1844, after a voyage of eight months. Having made a short stay at the mission of St. Paul on the [[Willamette River]] ([[Champoeg, Oregon]]), where he made a study of the English language and gave attention to the sick (being skilled in medicine), he joined Father [[Adrian Hoeck]] in the spring of 1845 at the mission of St. Ignatius among the [[Kalispel]] (Pend d'Oreille), on the upper [[Columbia River]], Washington.
Ravalli traveled with Fathers [[Louis Vercruyesse]], [[Michael Accolti]], and [[John Nobili]], Brother [[Francis Huybrechts]], and six sisters of the [[Congregation of Notre Dame de Namur]], arriving at [[Fort Vancouver]], 5 August 1844, after a voyage of eight months. He brought medical supplies, carpentry tools, and two mill stones to stock the Jesuit missions. He spent a few months at the mission of St. Paul on the [[Willamette River]] ([[Champoeg, Oregon]]), where he studied English and ministered to the sick (being skilled in medicine). In the spring of 1845, he joined Father [[Adrian Hoeck]] at the mission of St. Ignatius among the [[Kalispel]] (Pend d'Oreille), on the upper [[Columbia River]] in what is now Washington.


In 1845, Ravalli was transferred to [[St. Mary's Mission (Montana)|St. Mary's Mission]] on the [[Bitterroot River]] in what is now western [[Montana]]. On his way there, he stopped at [[Colville, Washington]], where he resuscitated a young Indian woman who had tried to hang herself. From then on, he had a reputation as a healer wherever he went. Upon his arrival at St. Mary's Mission, Ravalli inoculated the [[Bitterroot Salish]] people against [[smallpox]]. When he used up all the pharmaceuticals he had brought from Italy, he learned remedies from the Indians and made his own medicines.{{sfn|Baumler|2016|p=25}} He built a grist mill and sawmill at the mission.
After some time he was transferred to the Flathead Mission of St. Mary's on [[Bitterroot River]], western [[Montana]], where he remained until the mission was temporarily abandoned on account of the hostile [[Blackfoot Indians]] in 1850. In 1854, he assumed charge of the Sacred Heart Mission established by Father [[Nicholas Point]] among the Coeur d'Alenes ([[Skitswish]]) of Northern [[Idaho]]. Here he designed and supervised the building of a church. With its altar and beautiful statues, carved by himself, it was described by a traveller as "a credit to any civilized country". [[Isaac Stevens]], Governor of [[Washington Territory]], who saw it in 1855, says in his official report: "The church was designed by the superior of the mission, Father Ravalli, a man of skill as an architect and, undoubtedly, judging from his well-thumbed books, of various accomplishments". In the general outbreak led by [[Yakima]] in 1856-67 his influence was largely instrumental in holding the northern tribes quiet.


When [[Blackfeet Nation|Blackfeet]] raids forced St. Mary's Mission to close in 1850, Ravalli continued his work at other missions. In 1854, he assumed charge of the [[Old Mission State Park|Sacred Heart Mission]] established by Father [[Nicholas Point]] among the Coeur d'Alenes ([[Skitswish]]) of Northern [[Idaho]]. He designed and supervised the building of a church. With its altar and beautiful statues, carved by himself, it was described by a traveler as "a credit to any civilized country." [[Isaac Stevens]], Governor of [[Washington Territory]], who saw it in 1855, said in his official report: "The church was designed by the superior of the mission, Father Ravalli, a man of skill as an architect and, undoubtedly, judging from his well-thumbed books, of various accomplishments." During the [[Yakima War]] from 1855 to 1857, Ravalli influenced the northern tribes to remain neutral.
In 1866 [[Nicholas Congiato]], superior of the Rocky Mountain missions, established the old Mission of St. Mary's on the Bitter Root, among the [[Flathead Indians]], and among those appointed to the station was Father Ravalli, who had been with it at its abandonment sixteen years before. Here he remained until his death.

In 1866, Ravalli and [[Joseph Giorda]], superior of the Rocky Mountain missions, reestablished St. Mary's Mission in the [[Bitterroot Valley]]. Ravalli designed the interior of the chapel, which was dedicated 28 October 1866. He made his house into a sort of pharmacy where he dispensed medicines, and his skill as a doctor made the mission a regional medical center for Indians and whites alike. He traveled a two-hundred-mile radius in all weather to minister to the sick. Near the end of his life, a [[stroke]] left him partially paralyzed, but he still visited the sick in a wagon fitted with a cot. He died at St. Mary's Mission on 2 October 1884 and is buried in the cemetery there.{{sfn|Baumler|2016|p=30}}


<blockquote>Fifty years a Jesuit and forty years a missionary, one of the noblest men that ever laboured in the ranks of the Church in Montana, his fame stands very high in Montana, where a later generation knows more of him than even of Father de Smet. (Chittenden).</blockquote>
<blockquote>Fifty years a Jesuit and forty years a missionary, one of the noblest men that ever laboured in the ranks of the Church in Montana, his fame stands very high in Montana, where a later generation knows more of him than even of Father de Smet. (Chittenden).</blockquote>


==See also==
== Legacy ==
[[Ravalli County, Montana]] is named for him, as is the town of [[Ravalli, Montana]]. In 2005, he was inducted into the Gallery of Outstanding Montanans at the [[Montana State Capitol]].{{sfn|Baumler|2010|p=126}}

== See also ==
* [[Cataldo Mission]], which he designed
* [[Cataldo Mission]], which he designed
* [[St. Mary's Mission (Montana)|St. Mary's Mission]], which he designed
* [[St. Mary's Mission (Montana)|St. Mary's Mission]], which he designed
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* [[History of Montana]]
* [[History of Montana]]


==References==
== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist|30em}}


=== Bibliography ===
*{{cite journal |last1=Baumler |first1=Ellen |title=A Cross in the Wilderness: St. Mary's Mission Celebrates 175 Years |journal=Montana The Magazine of Western History |date=Spring 2016 |volume=66 |issue=1 |pages=18-38 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26322905 |access-date=9 March 2021}}
*{{cite book |last1=Baumler |first1=Ellen |title=Montana Moments: History on the Go |date=2010 |publisher=Montana Historical Society Press |location=Helena |isbn=9780975919682 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Montana_Moments/uZ2DAxACpdoC?hl=en&gbpv=0}}
*Chittenden and Richardson, ''Life, Letters, and Trials of Father Pierre Jean de Smet'' (4 vols., 1905);
*Chittenden and Richardson, ''Life, Letters, and Trials of Father Pierre Jean de Smet'' (4 vols., 1905);
*{{cite book |last1=Evans |first1=Lucylle H. |title=Good Samaritan of the Northwest Anthony Ravalli, S.J., 1812-1884 |date=1981 |publisher=University of Wisconsin |location=Madison |isbn=9780967675329 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Good_Samaritan_of_the_Northwest/IoIIAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0}}
*Shea, ''Catholic Missions'' (New York, 1854);
*Shea, ''Catholic Missions'' (New York, 1854);
*Stevens Report in ''Rept. of the Commissioner on Indian Affairs for 1855''(Washington, 1856);
*Stevens Report in ''Rept. of the Commissioner on Indian Affairs for 1855''(Washington, 1856);
*Article ''Flathead'' in Clark, ''Indian Sign Language'' (Philadelphia, 1855).
*Article ''Flathead'' in Clark, ''Indian Sign Language'' (Philadelphia, 1855).

==Notes==
<references/>


==External links==
==External links==

Revision as of 20:12, 9 March 2021

Fr. Antonio Ravalli
Born(1812-05-16)16 May 1812
Died2 October 1884(1884-10-02) (aged 72)
Other namesAnthony Ravalli
EducationRoman College
ChurchCatholic
Ordained1843

Antonio or Anthony Ravalli (b. in Ferrara, Italy, 16 May 1812; d. at St. Mary's, Montana, USA, 2 October 1884) was an Italian Jesuit missionary, artist, and doctor active in the western United States. In 1893 Ravalli County, Montana was named after him.[1]

Early life and education

Anthony Ravalli was born 16 May 1812 to wealthy parents in Ferrara, Italy.[2] When he was fifteen, Ravalli entered the Society of Jesus. He attended medical school at the Roman College. In 1843, he was ordained a priest, and he responded to Pierre-Jean De Smet's appeal for missionaries to the Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest.[3]

Career

Ravalli traveled with Fathers Louis Vercruyesse, Michael Accolti, and John Nobili, Brother Francis Huybrechts, and six sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame de Namur, arriving at Fort Vancouver, 5 August 1844, after a voyage of eight months. He brought medical supplies, carpentry tools, and two mill stones to stock the Jesuit missions. He spent a few months at the mission of St. Paul on the Willamette River (Champoeg, Oregon), where he studied English and ministered to the sick (being skilled in medicine). In the spring of 1845, he joined Father Adrian Hoeck at the mission of St. Ignatius among the Kalispel (Pend d'Oreille), on the upper Columbia River in what is now Washington.

In 1845, Ravalli was transferred to St. Mary's Mission on the Bitterroot River in what is now western Montana. On his way there, he stopped at Colville, Washington, where he resuscitated a young Indian woman who had tried to hang herself. From then on, he had a reputation as a healer wherever he went. Upon his arrival at St. Mary's Mission, Ravalli inoculated the Bitterroot Salish people against smallpox. When he used up all the pharmaceuticals he had brought from Italy, he learned remedies from the Indians and made his own medicines.[3] He built a grist mill and sawmill at the mission.

When Blackfeet raids forced St. Mary's Mission to close in 1850, Ravalli continued his work at other missions. In 1854, he assumed charge of the Sacred Heart Mission established by Father Nicholas Point among the Coeur d'Alenes (Skitswish) of Northern Idaho. He designed and supervised the building of a church. With its altar and beautiful statues, carved by himself, it was described by a traveler as "a credit to any civilized country." Isaac Stevens, Governor of Washington Territory, who saw it in 1855, said in his official report: "The church was designed by the superior of the mission, Father Ravalli, a man of skill as an architect and, undoubtedly, judging from his well-thumbed books, of various accomplishments." During the Yakima War from 1855 to 1857, Ravalli influenced the northern tribes to remain neutral.

In 1866, Ravalli and Joseph Giorda, superior of the Rocky Mountain missions, reestablished St. Mary's Mission in the Bitterroot Valley. Ravalli designed the interior of the chapel, which was dedicated 28 October 1866. He made his house into a sort of pharmacy where he dispensed medicines, and his skill as a doctor made the mission a regional medical center for Indians and whites alike. He traveled a two-hundred-mile radius in all weather to minister to the sick. Near the end of his life, a stroke left him partially paralyzed, but he still visited the sick in a wagon fitted with a cot. He died at St. Mary's Mission on 2 October 1884 and is buried in the cemetery there.[4]

Fifty years a Jesuit and forty years a missionary, one of the noblest men that ever laboured in the ranks of the Church in Montana, his fame stands very high in Montana, where a later generation knows more of him than even of Father de Smet. (Chittenden).

Legacy

Ravalli County, Montana is named for him, as is the town of Ravalli, Montana. In 2005, he was inducted into the Gallery of Outstanding Montanans at the Montana State Capitol.[5]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Ravalli County - Montana Archived April 16, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Evans 1981, p. 6.
  3. ^ a b Baumler 2016, p. 25.
  4. ^ Baumler 2016, p. 30.
  5. ^ Baumler 2010, p. 126.

Bibliography

  • Baumler, Ellen (Spring 2016). "A Cross in the Wilderness: St. Mary's Mission Celebrates 175 Years". Montana The Magazine of Western History. 66 (1): 18–38. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  • Baumler, Ellen (2010). Montana Moments: History on the Go. Helena: Montana Historical Society Press. ISBN 9780975919682.
  • Chittenden and Richardson, Life, Letters, and Trials of Father Pierre Jean de Smet (4 vols., 1905);
  • Evans, Lucylle H. (1981). Good Samaritan of the Northwest Anthony Ravalli, S.J., 1812-1884. Madison: University of Wisconsin. ISBN 9780967675329.
  • Shea, Catholic Missions (New York, 1854);
  • Stevens Report in Rept. of the Commissioner on Indian Affairs for 1855(Washington, 1856);
  • Article Flathead in Clark, Indian Sign Language (Philadelphia, 1855).

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainHerbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)