"A number of new posts were established during this period, including Fort Boise ... and Fort Nisqually and Cowlitz Farm, the latter two principally as agricultural centers. ...

Cowlitz portage was the termination point of river travel from the Columbia, and the embarkation stage for the overland route north to Puget Sound. A large prairie was located about a mile from the landing, and from the mid-1830s on, cattle from Fort Vancouver were driven to the site to graze. In the summer of 1838, while Chief Factor McLoughlin was on furlough, James Douglas sent a herd of cattle to the Cowlitz from Fort Vancouver, with "Mr. Ross & eight men with a number of agricultural implements." Farming at the new establishment was already underway when Chief Factor McLoughlin returned to the Columbia from England in 1839, with the instructions to begin intensive farming operations at the Cowlitz, which the Hudson's Bay Company sold to the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company. ...

The soil at Cowlitz was rich, and far better suited than that of Nisqually's for crop production. Over the years, the Cowlitz farm became the chief grain producer for the P.S.A.C. Land was rapidly put into production: by the spring of 1840, six hundred acres had been ploughed, and by the fall of 1841 one thousand acres were under cultivation. At the time of the 1846-47 inventory, 1,432 1/2 acres were under cultivation. Crops included wheat, oats, barley, peas, turnips, beans, cole seed and potatoes. ..."

By the spring of 1840, some houses had been built, and by the spring of 1841, when Charles Wilkes visited the site, a dairy was in operation, and both a gristmill and sawmill were under construction. In 1845-46 a dwelling, granaries and outbuildings were erected at the mouth of the Cowlitz River to store the farm's produce until Company vessels could pick it up. ..."


Source:    Fort Vancouver Cultural Landscape Report, 1992, U.S. National Park Service.

"In December of 1846, George Roberts, who had served as a Hudson's Bay Company clerk for a number of years at Fort Vancouver, was placed in charge of Cowlitz Farm by Chief Factor Peter Skene Ogden, succeeding Charles Forrest. At that time, production at the Cowlitz Farm was near its peak, with over fourteen hundred acres of land under cultivation, piggeries, stables, two large granaries, several store buildings, houses for the superintendent and employees, over a dozen barns, and an incomplete sawmill. The Puget's Sound Agricultural Company later claimed the Cowlitz Farm included 3,572 acres in total. As at Fort Vancouver, the 1849 gold rush took its toll on the labor force; by 1850-51, the number of employees at Cowlitz had been reduced from nineteen in 1847-48 to six. In 1851 Roberts resigned from the Company and was replaced by Henry Peers, another alumnus of Fort Vancouver. By this time, the bulk of the Cowlitz livestock had been transferred to Forts Nisqually and Victoria, and agricultural operations at the farm had been sharply reduced. ...

Until 1856, minor operations of the company continued to be conducted at the farm, although encroachments by Americans had significantly reduced its holdings. In 1859, Roberts made arrangements to occupy the reamining Cowlitz Farm lands and buildings for the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company to maintain its claim to the property until settlement of the company's claim with the United States; his obligation was to keep the buildings in good repair. From that time until 1871, when Roberts left for Cathlamet, Washington, he was embroiled in a number of disputes with Americans who refused to recognize the company's claims to the land.

The granaries built at the mouth of the Cowlitz were, by 1854 in poor condition. In 1857, according to Dugald Mactavish, the buildings - but not the land - were sold to an American."


Source:    Fort Vancouver Cultural Landscape Report, 1992, U.S. National Park Service.

"Just east of the historic Pacific Highway north of Toledo lies one of the most important pieces of cultural history in the Pacific Northwest.

St. Francis Xavier Mission, more commonly known locally as the Cowlitz Mission, is the oldest operating Catholic church in Washington. Constructed in 1838, the mission was built more than a half-century before Washington became a state and 15 years before the formation of Washington Territory.

An article in the Chehalis Bee-Nugget in the 1910s describes the importance of Simon Plamondon, a retired employee of the Hudson’s Bay Company, to the Cowlitz region. Plamondon is locally regarded as a pioneer of the area as he took a land claim on the prairie; he would later set aside a room in his home for a ceremony to establish the St. Francis Xavier Mission, according to the Catholic Parishes of Lewis & East Pacific Counties.

The mission essentially played a huge role in merging the two cultures, as Father Francois Norbert Blanchet used a device known as the “Catholic Ladder” to relay the stories of the Bible and modern history to members of tribes who wished to hear of the Great Spirit. That ladder was copied and replicated by many other missions throughout Washington, Oregon and even British Columbia.

A replica of that ladder exists on the property today, with a guide that explains the symbols on the ladder from the account of the crucifixion to the establishment of the church. The ladder that exists on site today was carved by Fred Echenberg, a member of the Cowlitz Tribe and master woodworker.

As for the history of the early days of the church, not much exists as its early records were destroyed in a fire in 1901. Another fire in later years resulted in needing to rebuild the church into the structure that stands today.

A cemetery on the property is about 7 years older than the actual church itself, having been maintained at first by the Hudsons Bay Company in the early 1830s. Early records of the cemetery don’t exist, but several early settlers in the area are buried there in a beautiful piece of land that overlooks the prairie below and Mount St. Helens in the distance.

Several important names in Lewis County history are buried here, including Simon Plamondon himself. Church members take care of the grounds and maintain the cemetery and its headstones very well.

Today the church’s name still reflects its origins as the St. Francis Xavier Mission, and its congregation proudly celebrates its 177th year of operation."


Source:    "DiscoverLewisCounty.com" website, 2018.

"With an elaborate program, a beautiful tablet was erected on Cowlitz Prairie on May 11, 1926, to mark the site of the Cowlitz Mission of 1838 and the first Catholic Church in what is now the State of Washington. The tablet was erected by the Washington State Historical Society and the Knights of Columbus."


Source:    Washington Historical Quarterly, July 1926, Vol.17, No.3.

The first mass on the Cowlitz Prairie was held at the home of pioneer Simon Plamondon, and the mission was assigned a priest in 1839. There has been a Catholic congregation at this spot ever since!

A replica of the Catholic Ladder, which served as a visual teaching aid for Native Americans in the area, stands on the southeast side of the church. A cemetery that is the final resting place for many of the area's pioneers, including some who emigrated from Ireland and Scotland, adjoins the church."


Source:    "DiscoverLewisCounty.com" website, 2018.