Standing behind, as in to the west of, the line of buildings to the west of the old chapel, the smokehouse is the only brick building on the grounds. This is likely because it was built to be a smokehouse, not a root cellar. Smokehouses use fire, not a good thing to be surrounded by wood, if it can be avoided. We have, however, seen a good many wood frame smokehouses which are still standing. The building is obviously quite old, as the bricks show quite a bit of wear and weathering. We assume that at least some of the wooden parts of the building are reconstuctions, as opposed to being original.
Today the original (contributing) components of the mission consist of the restored chapel/residence (Logs from the first mission were utilized to build the present church.), Father Ravalli's log house/pharmacy, Chief Victor's cabin, the smokehouse, the cemetery, including Father Ravalli's grave, the Indian Burial Plot, and two trees, Father Ravalli's Crabapple Tree and Wolf River Apple Tree, as well as a stone survey marker marking the cemetery’s east boundary.
In order to preserve the original chapel a new church was built on the site in 1954. Beside it is the church's bell, hung in a stand alone bell tower. Both contribute to the historic district.
Smokehouse
Smokehouse (one contributing building)
This small rectangular gabled outbuilding is constructed of soft brick consistent with that produced in the nineteenth century at the Fort Owen yard. Wood shingles cover the roof. The eaves overhang slightly. Wide plank siding covers the gable ends. The building rests on a concrete foundation and has a single, off-center entry opening on the east façade. The door is of three wood planks. Its height extends to the eaves. The door has wood surrounds and a concrete threshold and stoop.
The south elevation has one small centered window with wood surrounds. Modern glass seals the outer window. A board shutter closes the inner opening. A flat segmental arch above the window interrupts the regular brick coursing. An opening centered in the gable end with wood surrounds is covered by a board. A single narrow horizontal band of wood visually divides the brick courses and the wood siding of the gable end.
The east elevation has no openings on the façade. The narrow band of wood continues around the upper wall beneath the eaves.
The north elevation has no openings. An interior brick chimney rises from the upper gable wall, bisecting the gable end. The narrow band of wood continues around this portion beneath the eaves.
From the NRHP Nomination Form
The story of St. Mary's Mission begins in 1823, when twelve Iroquois, employed as trappers by the Hudson's Bay Company, remained with the Salish through the winter of 1823-24. Exposed to Christianity 200 years previous, they told the Salish stories of Christianity and of the "Black Robes", the missionaries who taught them. The Salish proved to be an interested audience and, between 1831 and 1839 they sent four delegations to St. Louis in an attempt to obtain a Black Robe of their own.
On September 24, 1841, Father Pierre Jean DeSmet, together with his fellow Jesuit missionaries, Fathers Gregory Mengarini and Nicolas Point, and three Lay Brothers arrived in the Bitterroot valley with their belongings and supplies in three carts and a wagon, the first vehicles to enter the area. They established the first white settlement in what was to become Montana, on the east bank of the Bitterroot river, immediately west of the present town of Stevensville.
The fathers built two chapels, residences and outbuildings, and began farming, planting wheat, oats, potatoes and garden crops. From Fort Vancouver they brought into Montana the first cattle, swine and poultry. A third chapel was under construction by 1846 but soon trouble with the Blackfeet forced the closure of the mission, the entirety being sold in November 1850 to John Owen, a former army sutler, for $250.00.
It was sixteen years later (1866) when Father Joseph Giorda, Superior for the Rocky Mountain area, called back Father Ravalli and Brother William Claessens and re-established St. Mary's Mission about a mile south of Fort Owen. Brother Claessens built a little chapel, the fourth he had built for St. Mary's, to which he attached a study, dining room, kitchen and a story and a half barn. Father Giorda made the "new" St. Mary's the Jesuit mission headquarters for the Rocky Mountain province. In 1879 an addition to the front of the building doubled the size of the chapel. (The entire Mission complex has been restored to that date - the peak of its beauty.)
The mission served the Salish people until their forced removal in 1891, during that time teaching them methods of farming and gardening to aid in their survival following the demise of the buffalo.
A Visitor's Center with gift shop, research library, art gallery and museum was built on the site in 1996.
Italicized sections above are from
St. Mary's Mission, Inc.