In 1856 the Sisters of Providence were sent from Montreal to the Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory (1853) to serve a predominantly Roman Catholic group of French
Canadians and Indigenous populations, this then an abandoned North West Company and Hudson’s Bay Company site. These ladies have been a blessing to the Cascadia Floristic Region then and now – for many generations. This writer makes this judgement based on deeds, not smoothly crafted words by those who sway people via the fog of emotion. (Photo is from Yakima, treating an Indigenous, 1905.) They made “do” an action verb and “care” the object. Here is the list of a few early deeds, the last occurring 12 miles (Tulalip) from the Gardens and Farm:
- December 8, 1856 – Mother Joseph of the Sacred Heart and four Sisters of Providence arrive in Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory. They open their small home to orphans and the elderly.
- April 15, 1857 – Providence Academy, first permanent school in the Pacific Northwest, opens in Vancouver as a day school, boarding school, and orphanage.
- June 7, 1858 – The sisters open St. Joseph Hospital, Vancouver, the first permanent hospital in the Northwest (now Southwest Washington Medical Center).
- 1861-1867 – Sisters hold contract for care of the mentally ill, establishing a separate hospital in Vancouver.
- September 23, 1863 – Sisters extend their ministry beyond Vancouver, opening St. Joseph School in Steilacoom, then an “up and coming” town on Puget Sound at the south end of the Military Road (US-9).
- February 18, 1864 – St. Vincent Academy founded in Walla Walla, taking the Providence ministry into the interior of the Washington Territory, also supporting the Colville and Yakima Indigenous populations.
- August 11, 1868 – Providence of Our Lady of Seven Dolors School, sent to the Tulalip Reservation; the sisters create the first school for Indigenous Peoples in Washington that will in 21 years become a State.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisters_of_Providence
https://www.providence.org/about/our-heritage/washington https://savingplaces.org/stories/building-a-legacy-the-story-of-mother-joseph-and-the-providence-academy