Background
Ravalli, Antonio was born on May 16, 1811 in Ferrara, Italy.
Ravalli, Antonio was born on May 16, 1811 in Ferrara, Italy.
In 1893 Ravalli County, Montana was named after him. After some time he was transferred to the Flathead Mission of Saint Mary"s on Bitterroot River, western Montana, where he remained until the mission was temporarily abandoned on account of the hostile Blackfoot Indians in 1850. In 1854, he assumed charge of the Sacred Heart Mission established by Father Nicholas Point among the Coeur d"Alenes (Skitswish) of Northern Idaho.
Here he designed and supervised the building of a church.
With its altar and beautiful statues, carved by himself, it was described by a traveller as "a cr to any civilized country". In the general outbreak led by Yakima in 1856-1867 his influence was largely instrumental in holding the northern tribes quiet.
In 1866 Nicholas Congiato, superior of the Rocky Mountain missions, established the old Mission of Saint Mary"s on the Bitter Root, among the Flathead Indians, and among those appointed to the station was Father Ravalli, who had been with it at its abandonment sixteen years before. Here he remained until his death.
