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February 3, 2011 in City, Idaho
Historic school building burns in DeSmet
The Sisters of Charity of Providence school in DeSmet, Idaho, is shown in 1909.
(Full-size photo)(All photos)
A historic brick building once used as a boarding school on the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation was destroyed by fire early today in DeSmet.
The three-story building was a total loss, said Bob Sobotta, superintendent of the Coeur d’Alene Tribal School, which is adjacent to the fire scene.
News files at The Spokesman-Review indicate that the building was constructed starting in 1908 and initially housed the girls school of the Sisters of Charity of Providence until 1974.
It was known as the Mary Immaculate School.
Sobotta said he was alerted to the fire about 3 a.m., and that firefighters from surrounding communities responded to the blaze.
Sister Dolores Ellwart of the Sacred Heart Mission at DeSmet said the fire was under investigation by the Coeur d’Alene tribal police. She said the fire apparently started in a basement laundry room.
The building had been used for storage by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. Because of its height and location on a hill, the building also held telecommunications equipment.
The Mission of the Sacred Heart was established initially on the St. Joe River and then moved to DeSmet in 1870s.
In 1878, the sisters started their mission school after being invited to the reservation by Chief Saltese in an 1870 letter. Tribal chiefs also traveled to Vancouver, Wash., to ask for the school.
Two earlier school buildings were destroyed by fire in 1881 and in the early 1900s. A tribal history gives 1905 as the date of the second fire. News files indicated that the second fire was in 1907.
The boarding school building came to be known as the sisters school or sisters building.
The mission school closed in 1974, in part because of a dwindling number of sisters.
The school building later housed the tribal education department and a tribal cutting and sewing industry, Ellwart said.
Today’s tribal school was established in place of the mission school, and the school building was turned over to tribal ownership.
Authorities do not believe anyone was inside the building.
“This is a big loss,” said Coeur d’Alene Tribe Chairman Chief Allan. “Part of our history is gone. The memories will always be with our people, but it is a sad day for the tribe.”
The Tensed Fire Protection District and Plummer Gateway Fire Protection District responded to blaze, said Marc Stewart, tribe spokesman, in a press release.
The mission is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
MLK Jr. Way opens Thursday 
MaggieTrudeau on February 03 at 10:48 a.m.
This is a sad day for the Reservation community.
Just to clarify, the Mission was indeed first on the St. Joe River. Next it moved to Cataldo Idaho in the building which still stands and is on the National Historic Register.
When the reservation boundaries were reduced in a way that excluded Cataldo, the Mission was moved again to Desmet Idaho. The buildings at Cataldo continued to be used as a seminary and Tribal members and others still participate in an annual pilgrimmage to that site each year.
eagleproducer on February 03 at 1:08 p.m.
Boarding school, concentration camp, what’s the difference?
I like the language our own genocide is couched in.
Thank God for the good ‘ol U.S. of A. If we are good at one thing, it’s creating euphemisms.