Jesuit missionary’s chalice traveled miles
As chalices go, this one is rather plain. It has none of the polish and ornamentation of some of the others in the small group of chalices owned by the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus and held in Special Collections at Gonzaga University’s Foley Library.
But what makes this particular one stand out is that it was once used by the Rev. Pierre-Jean DeSmet, the Jesuit priest who served a 40-year mission among Native American tribes in the 1800s. He established mission buildings as he went, serving as a peacemaker and earning the unofficial title of Apostle of the Rockies.
Born in Belgium in 1801, he came to the United States in 1821 and was ordained a priest in 1827. First ministering in Missouri, where he began his work with tribal members, he would eventually travel more than 180,000 miles and make 16 passages back to Europe seeking funding to bring Catholicism to American Indians. He established the first Catholic mission among tribes in the Rockies in 1841 at what is now Missoula, and worked with the military in tribal negotiations (with historical records noting his disappointment at how Native Americans were treated).
His list of accomplishments is long, including preaching to many tribes as he traveled across the country on his way to Fort Vancouver and along the way becoming the first of the Catholic “black robes” to reach the Spokanes in 1836. But he may be best known in history for persuading Chief Sitting Bull to accept the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868.
As these early priests traveled to remote areas, it was common for them to bring a chalice for use during communion services, said David Kingma, archivist with the Jesuit Oregon Province Archives at Gonzaga. The journeys were arduous and the chalices were protected in some sort of box or container. Even better was when they could be dismantled, as is true for the one believed to have been DeSmet’s.
Kingma explained that this particular chalice has a stem threaded on both ends that can be screwed into the base and to the bowl for reassembly. Its carrying case appears to have a strip of fir veneer wrapped by some sort of textured fabric, and the lining is a kind of padded leather. At the top of the case is a metal plate and handle. The name DeSmet is on the plate, and that is the only way they have concluded that it indeed belonged to the priest.
The chalice itself appears to be made of different metals, Kingma said, possibly silver with a brass base. Its composition has not been analyzed.
How the chalice and its custom-made carrying case came to be in the collection isn’t known for sure, Kingma said, but he does have a theory.
“It is speculation, of course, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Father Schoenberg brought it here,” he said.
The Rev. Wilfred Schoenberg, author of “Paths to the Northwest: A Jesuit History of the Oregon Province,” was acknowledged as the dean of Northwest Catholic history and was well-known in Spokane for establishing a Native American museum at Gonzaga. He died in 2003.
“Back in the 1950s Father Schoenberg traveled to many of the missions back in Montana and elsewhere bringing back photos, administrative records, sacramental records and other items,” Kingma said. “He was a genius at collecting, but not so much at recording where everything came from. I really do think this is the most likely scenario.”
Nothing particular is planned for the chalice. It is a reminder from another time that remains in its case tucked away in Special Collections, occasionally to be taken out and assembled for someone to take a look at.