Built by Jesuit priests from St. Ignatius, the church initially stood in Hell Gate village, about 4 miles west of present day Missoula. The old Hell Gate Village no longer exists and the church, not long after it opened, became possibly the most travelled church in the west.
In 1860, C.P. Higgins and F.L. Worden opened a trading market that they called the Hellgate Village. (Today you can buy wine, espresso and huge deli sandwiches at Wordens Market on Higgins Street downtown). The name
hellgate came from French trappers, who found carnage from warfare, including bones and bodies, in the canyon on the east edge of town. The Blackfeet and Flathead used the close confines of the canyon to battle one another. The canyon is still called Hellgate today, but only winter winds are a threat now.
From Missoula History
With the opening of a church in nearby Frenchtown in 1864, this church diminished in importance and Hellgate Village diminished nearly to nothing. In 1874 the log church was dismantled and hauled by horse and wagon to the Sisters of Providence’s new mission site at Missoula Mills (now Missoula) and reconstructed. Used for various purposes there, it was eventually vacated, then was again on the move.
The building was dedicated as a historic landmark on October 21, 1962. In that same year, the Sisters of Providence had the building moved back to a site just north of the old Hell Gate Village. In 1981 the church was once again moved, this time to its present resting place at Fort Missoula.
This church was constructed at the original Hell Gate village, about 4 miles west of Missoula, by Jesuits from the St. Ignatius Mission. It was later moved to the grounds of St. Patrick Hospital and used by the Sisters of Providence. It was returned to the site of Hell Gate village in 1962. In 1981, the Friends of the Historical Museum moved the church to the Museum grounds to interpret the history of the region’s religious development.
From the Fort Missoula Museum