blackfoot-valley

From the beginning, spiritual needs were also on the settlers minds. In the Nevada Valley, the greater number of people were Catholic, but in the early days, Montana had no resident bishop. At first the region was officially under the jurisdiction of the diocese of Nesqually, Washington, with which Nevada Valley residents had no practical contact. This was because of the distance and the intervening territory being potentially hostile Indian country. But there was a priest in Deer Lodge: Father Remigius DeRyckere, a Flemish Belgian* who had been living and practicing in Deer Lodge since 1866. In response to an appeal from the Nevada Valley people, DeRyckere set up a schedule starting in 1872 for visits to hold services in the valley at fixed times, this in addition to his missions in other areas surrounding Deer Lodge. He held his first Nevada Valley services in the home of a friend, Thomas Cole- man. Thoroughly dedicated, DeRyckere traveled from Deer Lodge for years on horseback, even during the harsh winter months. After the schoolhouse near the Coughlin Ranch was built in 1876, services were held there until 1889. By that time, the need for a larger and more centralized place of wor- ship for the area’s expanding population became obvious. In 1887, John Geary donated an acre of land for a church on Helmville’s main street. When he was asked to give it a name, he said, “name it after my father who is in Ireland.” Thus the church was named St. Thomas, the Apostle. Funds for the construction were raised by a voluntary subscription coordinated by Timothy Mannix. The people of the area, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, donated money for the church’s construction and furnishings. The church’s foundation was excavated by William O’Neil. Thaddeus (“Tim”) Lynch supplied the wall rock, and Hugh Wales brought in the lumber. The work progressed rapidly enough to allow the first St. Patrick’s Day to be celebrated there in March 1888, for which occasion an organ was purchased in Helena and installed. The building was completed and sufficiently fur- nished for full regular services the next year. It was dedicated by the bishop, then residing in Helena. Father DeRyckere traveled to hold services for many years. During the mission years, extending from 1872 to 1911, services averaged once a month, * DeRyckere was not the first Belgian cleric to be active in Montana. Another Flemish priest, the Jesuit Pierre-Jean deSmet, had founded St. Mary’s in 1841, the first mission in Montana, in response to appeals from the Flathead Indians, near present Stevensville in the Bitteroot Valley south of Missoula. 140