Mount Saint Michael - Early History

Early History

St. Michael's was founded by Father Joseph Caruana as a Jesuit mission just north of Spokane in the mid-19th century to serve the Native Americans in the area. In 1878, Caruana's successor, Father Joseph Cataldo, moved the mission to its current location with a purchase of almost 1,000 acres (4 km2) of land at the price of $2 per acre. From 1881 until 1915, Mount St. Michael was used primarily as a farm, supplying now-Gonzaga University with fresh produce and dairy products.

In the spring of 1915 construction began on a scholasticate to accommodate the rising number of vocations to the Jesuit order at the cost of $400,000. Father Arthuis, who had just completed St. Aloysius Gonzaga Church at Gonzaga University, was placed in charge of construction. He built a railroad 1100 feet (340 m) in length to convey building materials up the 320 foot (98 m) bluff. The four story Tudor-Gothic building was built in the shape of a “T” and contained a chapel, dining room, kitchen, gymnasium, physics and chemistry labs, lecture halls and residences for the scholastics.

In the 1920s a grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes was built by one of the Jesuit brothers in fulfillment of a vow. Mass is offered at the outdoor chapel and faithful often gather here to pray the Rosary.

In 1929 work began on the three-story west wing. The new wing housed another 100 students and contained the new library. In 1930 a seismometer from Gonzaga University was moved to a basement laboratory at Mount St. Michael, where seismologists kept careful records of seismic activity. Mount St. Michael soon gained international acknowledgement as an important seismographic center.

At this time the 700 acre (2.8 km2) farm provided all the food needed for the seminary. Jesuit brothers, farmers, tailors, bakers, cobblers, bee keepers and horticulturists, saw to the material needs of the community and the formation of the candidates placed in their charge. It was said to be one of the finest Jesuit houses of study in the world.

In the 1960s the Jesuit order experienced a drastic drop in the number of vocations and Mount St. Michael closed its doors as a scholasticate in 1968. For the next ten years, Mount St. Michael served as a residence for retired Jesuit priests and as an ecumenical prayer and retreat center.