Fort Vancouver Historic Structures Report

1. For an example of the use of the term "old Church" see Lowe, "Private Journal," p. 42. For a statement that the Catholic chapel originally was an "old store," see deposition of F. N. Blanchet, in Claim of the Mission of St. James, Vancouver, Washington Territory, to 640 Acres of Land ([Washington, D.C.?:] W. H. Moore, Printer, [1863 ] ), p. 24.

2. Caywood, Final Report, pp. 7, 13.

3. See Hussey, History of Fort Vancouver, pp. 173-80, 208-13.

4. George Simpson to [Bishop of Quebec], London, February 17, 1838, MS, G.L.O., Old Townsites, Docket I (165), Box No. 31, in National Archives .

5. A detailed description of the types of instruction given and the types of services held is to be found in Blanchet, Historical Sketches, pp. 24-26; See also Notices & Voyages, pp. 14, 27, 87.

6. For a colorful description of this service, see Blanchet, Historical Sketches, p. 23.

7. Affidavit of Joseph Petrain, October 25, 1873, G.L.O., Old Townsites, Docket I (165), Box No. 31, in National Archives; Deposition of F. N. Blanchet, in Claim of the Mission of St. James, p. 24.

8. Blanchet, Historical Sketches, p. 27; In 1841 Assistant Surgeon Silas Holmes said that the "little chapel was always full upon the Sabbath." Holmes, "Journal," 3:4.

9. Claim of the Mission of St. James, p. 24.

10. Emmons, "Journal," 3: entry for July 25, 1841.

11. Simpson, An Overland Journey, 1:142-43.

12. Wilkes, Narrative, 4:331.

13. Lowe, "Private Journal," pp. 1A, 18, 24, 26, 27, 28, 30, and 31.

14. Pipes, "Extract from Exploration," p. 153.

15. Beaver, Reports and Letters, p. 55.

16. Emmons, "Journal," 3: entry for August 1, 1841.

17. Lowe, "Private Journal," p. 10. It is of interest that Dr. John McLoughlin's profession of faith was made in the Old Catholic Church at Fort Vancouver on November 18, 1842. He made his first communion at midnight High Mass on that date, at the head of thirty-eight communicants. "The office had never been so solemn as to chant, music and decoration, as on that night," later wrote Father Blanchet. Blanchet, Historical Sketches, p. 51.

18. Notices & Voyages, p. 234; Warre, "Travel and Sport in North America, 1839-1846"; For an early expression of the desire of the priests for a new chapel, see Notices & Voyages, p. 27.

19. This date is sometimes given as May 30, 1846, but original documentary evidence proves that the ceremony took place on the thirty first. See, for only one example, Lowe, "Private Journal," p. 40.

20. Ibid., p. 42.

21. Notices & Voyages, p. 54.

22. Ibid., p. 58.

23. H.B.C., Account Book, Fort Vancouver, 1844, H.B.C.A., B.223/d/155, MS, fol. 75d. The 1845 inventory referred to in the bracketed material above is in H.B.C.A., B.223/d/160, MS, p. 132.