L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 9 I n 1881, a stash of silver dol- lars, 936 of them to be exact, b o u g h t 3 2 0 a c r e s o f l a n d overlooking the Spokane River in eastern Washington. At the time of the sale, the property was described as "the old piece of gravel near the falls." S i x y e a r s l a t e r , G o n z a g a College opened its doors to a s m a l l g r o u p o f b o y s a n d a slightly larger group of Jesuit faculty. On opening day, the school had seven students; by the end of the first year, that number had increased to 20. The land purchase and the founding of Gonzaga College w e r e t h e w o r k o f F a t h e r Giuseppe Maria Cataldo, a pio- n e e r m i s s i o n a r y s e r v i n g t h e Pacific Northwest. For 60 years, Cataldo established or served at missions and churches in Idaho, Washington, Montana, Oregon, Alaska and California. His long career of missionary service helped inspire his nickname, "Last of the Black Robes." C a t a l d o w a s b o r n i n Terrasini, Sicily on March 17, 1837. As a child, he was very sickly and on death's doorstep several times. At age 15, he entered the Jesuit Society in Palermo and was ordained a priest a decade later. Known for his proficiency w i t h l a n g u a g e s , C a t a l d o r e q u e s t e d a n a s s i g n m e n t t o America to improve his English. At first, he served in Boston but the harsh winters were difficult for him, and he transferred to California where he completed his Jesuit training. He later lived among several Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest, becoming an accomplished linguist. In all, he mastered some 20 European and Native American languages, and wrote one of the first books ever published in the Nez Perce lan- guage. His linguistic facility allowed him to assist in peacekeeping activities both during and after the Nez Perce uprising in 1877, w h i c h p i t t e d C h i e f J o s e p h against U.S. soldiers and was t h e f i n a l I n d i a n w a r i n t h e region. During the uprising, Cataldo became so involved with Indian affairs that a federal Indian agent accused him being an accomplice to Chief Joseph. S o i n f l u e n t i a l w a s h i s t i m e among the tribe that when the Nez Perce were asked their reli- gion, they reportedly responded, "We believe in Cataldo's teach- ing and that is the only teaching we wish to have." C a t a l d o o p e n e d a s m a l l schoolhouse at St. Michael's Mission near Spokane, Wash., w h i c h s e r v e d b o t h N a t i v e American and white students. To expand the mission, he pur- chased two parcels of nearby land. The larger parcel, north of S p o k a n e , s e r v e d a s t h e n e w home of St. Michael's Mission, a n d t h e s e c o n d p a r c e l o f 4 0 a c r e s c l o s e r t o d o w n t o w n S p o k a n e b e c a m e t h e s i t e o f Gonzaga College. C a t a l d o s e l e c t e d t h e s i t e because it was central to the J e s u i t m i s s i o n s s c a t t e r e d throughout Washington, Idaho and Montana. When his Jesuit superiors in Rome questioned RITA CIPALLA h i s p l a n s t o b u i l d a c o l l e g e there, Cataldo defended himself by saying, "I acted hastily but not impulsively." Cataldo proved to be a terrif- ic fundraiser. He encouraged prominent Spokane businessmen to donate money to the school by promising that the faculty would include "an able teacher of physics and chemistry and someone well qualified to teach English literature." A decision was made to name the school in h o n o r o f S a i n t A l o y s i u s Gonzaga, a northern Italian who died in 1591 at the age of 23 and is the patron saint of young stu- dents. In May 1885, the Spokane Evening Review called the con- struction a "new ornament to our lovely town," adding that t h e s t r u c t u r e w o u l d a t t r a c t "many new families who have delayed their coming here on a c c o u n t o f t h e a b s e n c e o f a Catholic church and college." Several months after the school o p e n e d i n 1 8 8 7 , t h e t o w n ' s Morning Review wrote: "The building is unquestionably the most commanding and imposing one in the Northwest." Although C a t a l d o i n t e n d e d t o e d u c a t e I n d i a n b o y s a t G o n z a g a , h i s plans were overturned and the school's inaugural class con- tained only white students. Today, Gonzaga University has grown far beyond the initial 40 acres, with more than 105 buildings dotting the 131-acre campus. In 2013, its diverse stu- dent body included nearly 7,700 young men and women. Some of its more celebrated graduates are singer Bing Crosby, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Tom Foley, and former Washington governor Christine Gregoire. E a c h f a l l , t h e u n i v e r s i t y remembers the spirit and fore- sight of Father Cataldo with a 10.5-mile pilgrimage to the his- t o r i c M i s s i o n o f t h e S a c r e d H e a r t , k n o w n a s C a t a l d o M i s s i o n , i n n o r t h e r n I d a h o . Some 200 students, faculty and others make the wilderness trek. Upon their arrival, the pilgrims are joined by members of the Coeur d'Alene tribe. Despite battling poor health t h r o u g h o u t h i s l i f e , C a t a l d o served the Northwest's Native A m e r i c a n s u n t i l h i s 9 0 s . Nearing the end of his life, he w a s a s k e d t o n a m e t h e b e s t piece of advice he had received d u r i n g h i s l o n g c a r e e r . H e replied: "I have met only one good prophet, the missionary w h o t o l d m e i n 1 8 6 5 t h a t I might not live long elsewhere, b u t … a m o n g t h e I n d i a n s a n d with a Cayuse pony beneath me, I would reach old age." Cataldo died in 1928 at the age of 91 on the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Pendleton, Ore., a n d i s b u r i e d i n S p o k a n e . A town in Idaho and a dining hall o n t h e G o n z a g a c a m p u s a r e named after him. Giuseppe Cataldo: Pioneer Missionary and the Last of the Black Robes Father Giuseppe Cataldo, a pioneering missionary in the Pacific Northwest, founded Gonzaga University in Spokane in 1887 to serve the growing Catholic population in the area. (Gonzaga University Archives) For 47 years, Gonzaga students have made a 10.5-mile wilderness trek to Cataldo Mission in northern Idaho to remember university founder Giuseppe Cataldo. This photo shows the 1973 retreat. (Gonzaga University Archives) SEATTLE ITALIAN COMMUNITY

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