Evan JonesI wouldn’t call it a town, or even a village at this point. Slickpoo Idaho is more of a group of a few houses along Mission Creek just out of Culdesac Idaho. With that being said, it was at one time a much larger village. In 1874 the chief of the Nez Perce Indians who were living in the area invited Father Joseph M. Cataldo to start a Catholic Mission there. In my research, I have found different names for who gave the land. In a usgwarchives.net paper it states the following :
“This was the first Roman Catholic mission among the Nez Perce Tribe. Built by Father Joseph M. Cataldo, S. J., it was dedicated on September 8, 1874. Father Cataldo was invited by Chief Weeptes Sumpq`in (Eagle Shirt) to locate the Mission on his land at present day Slickpoo, Idaho. By 1910, St. Joseph’s Mission grounds included a convent, children’s home, and a church building. Fires destroyed the children’s dorms in 1916 and again in 1925. Father Cataldo died in 1928.”
In an article on history.Idaho.gov it states this:
“Josiah Slickpoo provided a Mission Creek site somewhat isolated from Presbyterian missionary activities, and construction was completed by September 8, 1874. ”
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It would make sense that the name of this place was derived from the Family name of Slickpoo, obviously.
As I turned up Mission Creek road I was pleased to discover a beautiful drive with green pastures and a curvy country road lined with trees in many spots and along the creek. It’s worth the visit just to drive to the historic mission. The mission is now private though and not open to the public. The mission looks to be holding together pretty well for a wooden building that is 142 years old.
Here is a closer shot of the statue in front of the mission.
Across the street there’s an old building with a couple of outhouses in front of it. The sign on the building says it’s a museum, but I’m not sure if it’s ever open anymore. I was not able to find much info about it on the internet besides that John and Joetta Pfeifer started the museum in 1989. I plan on trying to find out more about the museum because I would love to see whats still there. In back of the museum are some old agricultural implements that are being covered with the overgrowth. Also back there is this cool old caboose.
I love old rustic buildings and this caboose fit the part pretty well. I also wonder whats inside of it. I processed this next picture to show all of the awesome textures in the metal with moss on it and the wood grain.
If anyone reading this has any further info on the mission or the museum, please leave me a comment below.
Joetta Pfeifer has taken care of this church for many years. On the first Sunday in June, there is a mass held in the church and Joetta has always attended for as long as i’ve know about it. I was raised in the Mission in the mid 1940’s and attend the mission mass every year. Joetta’s health is not very good but has lived next to the church for many years. I think of this place, the mission, as the place my life started, and try to be there the first Sunday of June every year.
Thanks for commenting and for the information!
Can you provide any information on the children’s home/orphanage located here?
My Mother, formerly Teresa Feucht lived there as a child. She stated that there were not enough seats for native and non native people to be seated in school. Therefore they took turns, Part of the day native children sat and part of the day non native children sat. Her Father had homesteaded there however the depression ended that and they moved to Cottonwood. Also if you remeber the Pueblo incident where the US spy ship was captured and taken to North Korea, was commanded by Capt Lloyd Bucher, he also grew up there. The Native people could not pronounce the Name Feucht, so they called my Mom’s family Fife.
Wow! Thank you for commenting and sharing your story! That’s so interesting to get the personal insight into it’s history.
My husband’s mother was a Feucht and I asked her why it was pronounced fife. I like your answer better than hers. We visited the graves and took pictures there about the same time it seems this post was made.
This place was a nightmare for my Grandmothers and other Natives who were taken here and made to become Catholic. It was not a happy place for Native children to be in the Mission school taken from their parents , cut their hair and not able to speak their Native tongue without being beat for doing so. It may look like a nice quaint church but holds a lot of secrets nobody wants to talk about. Today when we try to go over to see this building we are looked at and told to leave the area. Our Land has been taken from us and we still are alienated from areas and are always harassed by the name of Religion. I recommend you watch a movie called Indian Horse.
I agree. Its quite tragic the true story that most Americas don’t want to talk about regarding Indigenous peoples. Thank you for sharing Tina Holt!
My mother too was raised here, due to the fact that her Mother (Nez Perce) Elizabeth Bybee had contracted a bad disease and some of her children were sent here. I
I’ve done some work in the Sisters of St. Joseph nuns’ archives and have seen many photos of Slickpoo and other Indian mission schools in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Nightmare is certainly overstating the case, if you look at the actual evidence. Native children were not integrated with white and Latinx kids (depending on where in the West they were) which tended to reinforce native culture than would have been the case otherwise. These schools were not run by the government after about 1900, so attendance was voluntary insofar as there were no other educational options for these communities. Yes, the children were raised Catholic, but that is certainly not a bad thing in and of itself. Finally, I’ve known dozens of Sisters of St. Joseph, including a few who actually served in Slickpoo. To a woman they are funny, kind and compassionate. The photos show children who look happy, are well fed, carefully dressed and clean. I’m sure many kids were homesick and unhappy but don’t turn all of them into victims without more evidence.
I went to school at the mission school 5th and 6th grade 1960-61 it was a school that the locals went to then moved on to the public school for 7th grade. most of the students were white. I live in the area and built a airport on my place named Slickpoo ID45 on the sectional. I don’t have any fond memories of school there and spent many days fishing and roaming the hills. Teachers were nuns and I didn’t think much of them.
Hello Victoria,
My grandfather and his brother were here in the mid-1880s. Harvey and Frank Williams. Can you tell me where the orphanage archives wound up? I would love to learn more details. Thank you!!
And thank you, Evan Jones for this post that has provided a lead!
My mother-in-law and her sister lived here for a few years. They were Helen and Rose Borky, 5 and 4 years old. Their father was from South Dakota and going through a divorce and had no place to put them. The children there, told Helen and Rose their parents were dead and you’re and Orphan, and that’s why you are here. They were so surprise when one day their father came to pick them up. Helen and Rose had a long and happy life after that. Helen remembers this until the day she died at age 101. It’s a sad thing for kids to go through. I don’t think they called it an Orphanage but it was a Children’s home.
Wow, that’s an amazing story. It is also so sad that the kids told them that. Thanks for sharing this.
There was an orphanage fire in 1925 that killed 6 native children. One of my relatives was among the dead. Is this the same place? I will add articles below.
FIRE KILLS 6 INDIAN ORPHANS AT MISSION
Lewiston, Idaho-Fire visited the little Catholic mission settlement lying in the Nez Perce Indian reservation 25 miles east of here at midnight Saturday and took a toll of six orphan dead. Located five miles from a railroad in a sparsely settled section, the boys’ dormitory at the mission where 31 youngsters lay asleep was wiped out by the flames while volunteer fighters fought valiantly to rescue the entrapped youth.
Nuns of the mission heroically worked to arouse the sleeping youths half dragging them from their beds to safety. The sisters were believed to have escorted all the boys from the building when five of the lads-one only 5 years old-dashed back into the blazing building to rescue some companion they thought was facing death.
The bodies of six were found closely huddled together by the rescue workers who raked through the ruins. The victims ranged in age from 5 to 14 years.
Source: Appleton Post Crescent, Appleton, WI – October 5, 1925
Submitted by Shauna Williams
Lewiston, Idaho-
Six children lost their lives in a fire that swept the boys’ dormitory at the Catholic mission on the Nez Perce Indian reservation, twenty-five miles east of here last Saturday night. The fire was believed caused by explosion of a lamp. There were thirty-one boys asleep in the dormitory and the heroic efforts of the Sisters of St. Joseph and others at the institution saved many of the boys’ lives. The building, an isolated one-story temporary structure, was of flimsy construction and burned rapidly. All the occupants were believed to have escaped after the fire broke out, but five boys re-entered in an attempt to rescue others they thought were still in the dormitory or to recover personal effects.
BODIES HUDDLED TOGETHER
Their bodies were found huddled near one of the entrances. The identified dead: Anthony Soyda, 7; Simon Broncheau, 6; Andrew Fogarty, 10; Edward Switzler, 5 Indian; Max Ostenberg, 14. The sixth victim was found in the ruins by searchers Saturday night. He was identified as Lawrence Henry, 9. His body was found in the south end of the building near the spot where his five companions met their death.
SISTER SAVES MANY
Had it not been that Sister Angela, in charge of the mission, remained up later than usual Saturday night to mend clothing, the loss of life would have been far greater. The sister discovered the flames raging in the center of the building, with sleeping apartments on both sides. She at once entered the place and forced the boys from their beds, in several instances being compelled to drag them outside. Edward Jackson, severely burned, is in a critical condition in a hospital.
I think it probably is. It is 25 miles away and was an orphanage.
My Grandmother and her siblings were sent here by their Step-Father after their mother died. I believe she was about 6 years old at the time. Her older sister became a Nun and taught at the school for 4 years from 1934-1938. According to my Mother, my Grandmother never talked about her childhood.
Thank you for the info! I love to hear about the personal connections and it helps this post to be more historically informative.
My mother and her 5 siblings lived at the Slickpoo mission in the 1950s. She has many memories of her time there. She would enjoy sharing what she remembers of that time and place.
My father and his sisters Rose and Sue were boarding students for 2 years during the depression (probably 1937 and 1938) because the county was unable to pay for a teacher at the local school.
They missed their family, but appreciated the much easier chores at the school. Food was basic, with tapioca pudding and coarse corn bread being his least favorite-to the point that he avoided both for years.
His parents paid with cash and food from the farm. Unfortunately we never discussed the Nez Perce students, so I lack any insight into their experience.
My mother’s family homesteaded nearby the mission and the children attended the school and church which was a Jesuit institution. There were not enough seats for all of the children so the Native children sat in them for 1/2 of the day and the non native students sat for the other half of the day. The Huron and iroquois and other North Eastern tribes who had converted to Catholicism were driven from there lands and trekked westward and settled in Western Montana and Northern Idaho and Eastern Washington. They told of the black robes who had taught them about Christianity. The Tribes organized 6 delegations to travel to Saint Louis to bring the Black Robes to tell them of Christianity. Eventually the one priest that could be spared traveled to them and he wrote quite happily about seeing the bright feathers and clothing flashing through the trees and brush as paced along with him. He remarked.in his journal about the Flathead Natives that he saw. Eventually he arrived and was made welcome and at some point the Chief told him that he wanted the church built in front of his lodge. And so it was. You can find out a great deal more if you enquire at Gonzaga university in Spokane which was also begun by Fr Cataldo. You could also stop in Lapwai Idaho at the tribal headquarters and see what they can offer. There is a wealth of information. My mother’s maiden name was Feucht. If you explore some of the roads around the mission you will eventually discover Feucht road. Ask some of the residents there on the farms for pictures and memorabilia and they can explain a great deal.