Lake Roosevelt Administrative History

St. Paul's Mission

St. Paul's Mission at Kettle Falls served as a place of worship from 1847 until 1885. By 1901, only the walls, rafters, and less than half the roof remained. When the nearby bridge across the Columbia River was constructed, the bridge crew removed timbers from the building for campfires. In the late 1930s, money was raised in Spokane and Colville to restore/rebuild the mission as a part of the celebration of the 100^th year of Catholicism in the Pacific Northwest. Because of the creation of Lake Roosevelt, the historic monument marking the site of Fort Colvile was relocated to the grounds of the mission. As early as 1941, the state of Washington recommended that the state legislature make St. Paul's Mission part of the state parks system. [94]

The Catholic Bishop of Spokane donated St. Paul's Mission and 2.9 acres of land to the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission in 1951. For the next two decades, local community groups helped administer the site because the nearest state employees were located ninety miles away. In 1973, LARO agreed to administer the site through an informal arrangement. Recreation area staff recommended that the state make this official by transferring the title to the land to the federal government. [95]

The state did donate the mission and 3.25 acres of land to Reclamation for administration by the Park Service in 1974. Park staff almost immediately prepared two new mimeographed booklets telling the stories of St. Paul's Mission and the Kettle Falls fishery to supplement the folder on Fort Colvile and the fur trade. In the 1970s, archaeologist David Chance did field archaeology at Kettle Falls, and the information he uncovered helped LARO improve public relations by increasing local awareness of the story to be told there. The Park Service also sponsored a historic resources study of the area that provided a narrative of the pre-reservoir history of the Upper Columbia River to aid in the interpretation of the resources, but specific information on the mission was still needed to help in planning interior and exterior restoration of the building. The Kettle Falls Archaeological District was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974; the district includes federal land both above and below the waters of Lake Roosevelt and some private land. The district encompasses the mission and associated cemetery, an aboriginal village and burial ground, and many other features. The great number of archaeological sites made extensive development of the terrace north of Highway 395 undesirable. [96]

St. Paul's Mission soon after restoration, 1941. Photo courtesy of National Park Service, Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area (LARO 2788).

LARO's 1975 Interpretive Prospectus discussed plans for the building, including doing a furnishing study, restoring the interior and exterior and grounds, and playing taped church music (in fact, worship services were held in the mission as a living history program during the Bicentennial). In the late 1970s, a film from the 1930s was shown at St. Paul's Mission. The film, made by Marcus resident Eric Harding, highlighted Kettle Falls prior to the construction of Grand Coulee Dam. By 1980, LARO personnel were leading tours of the mission. A half-mile self-guided trail installed in the 1970s included three routed-cedar wayside exhibits on the mission, Fort Colvile, and the Kettle Falls fishing grounds. These were upgraded in 1984, adding a sign at the cemetery, and the interpretive emphasis was placed near the original fishery rather than at the mission. One of the new exhibits was a grooved boulder used by Indians camping at the fishery, which was moved to the Mission Point overlook from its earlier location next to the Kettle Falls information station. The stone originally came from an area near Hays Island that is now inundated by Lake Roosevelt. Additional waysides and perhaps "sighting rings" may be placed along the Mission Point Trail and at the overlook to interpret the area's ecology, the importance of Kettle Falls to regional American Indian tribes, the significance of Fort Colvile, the cemetery, and the historic road cut from the bench to the site of Fort Colvile. [97]

The visitor contact station near the Kettle Falls campground has long suffered from its off-highway location and poor signing. In 1995, LARO built an addition to house offices and workspace for the interpretive staff and park archaeologist. The visitor center has limited displays on the history of the Kettle Falls area. Films of Kettle Falls made in 1939 are shown to visitors on an informal basis. Expanded exhibits and even a window for the public to watch the activity in the archaeologist's lab are being considered. [98]

Interpretive planning for St. Paul's Mission and Kettle Falls has been complicated by the small amount of land administered by the Park Service in the area. About the time the Park Service assumed responsibility for the St. Paul's site in 1974, talks began concerning a potential visitor center at Kettle Falls. Initial ideas included space for Park Service facilities and a museum, but construction depended on the landowner, Washington Water Power Company, donating land for the project. The company deeded a parcel of land to the county in 1979, providing the impetus needed by the local committee to begin serious planning for an interpretive center. The newly formed Kettle Falls Historical Society, the Stevens County Historical Society, and the CCT were all active in planning for this facility. Park Service involvement was less certain at this point. One committee member opposed including a Park Service visitor center in the complex unless the group was assured that they could maintain strict local control over the facility; others wanted to include the Park Service but retain local ownership of the land. District ranger Donald Carney and LARO staff at Kettle Falls favored the center but had to work hard to convince both the recreation area's Superintendent and the Regional Office, who became "mildly supportive" of the idea by mid-1979. [99]

Planning and fund raising did not proceed as rapidly as hoped and the project stalled during the early 1980s. One stumbling block seemed to be the uncertain relationship between the Kettle Falls Historical Society and the Park Service. By 1982, the local group hoped to build the museum and feature a major display of artifacts from the excavations at the Kettle Falls sites. Since Park Service guidelines for storage and interpretation of such materials were quite strict, it was uncertain that this partnership would work. In addition, while emphasizing that the Park Service did not intend to take over operations, the Regional Office remained concerned about the quality of any museum developed by the local group. [100]

A study team composed of representatives of the Kettle Falls Historical Society, CCT, STI, and Park Service formed in 1985 to recommend a course of action for the St. Paul's Mission complex. Concerns included protecting cultural resources, maintenance, interpretation, and public access. The historical society began constructing its visitor center just east of the bridge approach that year. The Park Service Regional Chief of Interpretation and Visitor Services emphasized that the Park Service needed to assist the LARO Superintendent with this project as much as possible, noting that "otherwise, the historic interests of national visitors may become overshadowed or lost because of development controlled by local thinking and economics to the exclusion of national visitors." The Regional Office was still concerned that the public would not be able to differentiate between activities sponsored by the historical society and those sponsored by LARO; that loaning archaeological artifacts to the new visitor center might raise some difficult issues; and that proper roads and parking areas, with signs, needed to be designed. But, the Park Service could provide neither operational funds nor personnel for operating the visitor center. [101]

Another concern of the Park Service revolved around the artifacts to be displayed. Not only was security and display technique important, but also the question of ownership needed to be resolved. "This is both an emotional and political issue with the tribes that could get very sticky, very quickly," Regional Curator Kent Bush warned. Members of the Kettle Falls Historical Center group also wanted to clarify ownership of the artifacts and the agency's policy on loaning them. They realized that they needed Park Service help, but they still wanted to retain local control to prevent the federal agency from closing the center at its discretion. Currently the Park Service is not involved with the Kettle Falls Historical Center, but Reclamation has loaned some artifacts from the 1970s excavations for display. [102]