Around 1829, discharged servants of the Hudsons Bay Company settled on the Cowlitz Prairie and in the Willamette Valley.  The majority of them were French Canadian Catholics.  The people began writing petitions to Canada in 1834 asking for priests. They wrote again in 1835 and in the spring of 1838

In November 1838, two priests arrived from Canada and Mass was celebrated for the first time in the region then known as “lower Oregon.”  This began the Quebec Mission to Oregon country.  On November 25th they celebrated Mass in the Fort Vancouver school house.  Fathers Blanchet and Demers made the fort their home base and eventually set up a chapel in an old store.

On May 31, 1846, the first church outside the fort was dedicated. The first St. James measured 83 feet long by 36 feet wide and 20 feet high. The brick, stone, and mortar church could accommodate about 500 people (see image). St. James church became a cathedral, in 1850 when the diocese of Nesqually was formed. Most Rev. Augustine Blanchet was named Bishop of Nesqually with residence in Vancouver, Washington Territory.
 

 

The First St. James Church
Dedicated in 1846
Cathedral for the Diocese of Nesqualy
Measured 83 by 36 feet

1890

St.James Cathedral in the 1890s
(Photo was taken from the west, looking donw on what is now 12th Street

Signicant Events
November 1838 - Fathers Blachet and Demers arrive at Fort Vancouver
May 31, 1846 - First church outside the Fort was dedicated
1850 - St. James became a cathedral when the diocese of Nesqually was formed.
1856 - Mother Joseph and the Providence Sisters from Montreal arrived in Vancouver
1871 - Bishop Blanchet purchased 4 acres of land for a cemetery.
September 1907 - The diocese of Nesqually became the diocese of Seattle. St. James Vancouver became a parish church.
1926 - Present rectory was built
1951 - The parish hall / gymnasium was built