An Archbishop Blanchet pilgrimage route
Visit sites key for the founder of Oregon Catholicism, including those along his 1838 trek into the frontier French Canadian voyageurs transported two priest to the Oregon Country in 1838. 12/19/2020 2:45 PM
select Fr. Francis Blanchet trekked to Oregon in 1838 and became the region s first archbishop.
Archbishop Francois Norbert Blanchet, who came to Oregon as a middle-aged French Canadian missionary to establish Catholicism, arrived 182 years ago after an arduous trip.
Today, pilgrims can follow his intriguing journey more easily. Father Blanchet and his colleague Father Modeste Demers departed in canoes with a band of voyageurs from Lachine, Quebec, on May 3, 1838, and arrived at Fort Vancouver 4,500 miles later on Nov. 24 of the same year. In a way not dreamed of by the two 19th-century missionaries, modern motorists can make the journey with about 44 hours of driving. Or a