St. Ignatius Mission

The St. Ignatius Mission is a landmark Catholic mission located in St. Ignatius, Montana. It was founded in 1854 by Jesuit priests Pierre-Jean De Smet and Adrian Hoecken. The current mission church was built between 1891 and 1893, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

The mission church serves the St. Ignatius parish within the Missoula Deanery of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena.

Architecture
The mission church is a simplified, vernacular example of Gothic revival architecture constructed of bricks made from native clay. The most exceptional feature of the interior are the 58 murals painted by Brother Joseph Carignano, an untrained artist who worked as a cook in the mission. The murals include depictions of Christian imagery mixed with representations of the Salish belief system. The church is 120x60 ft in plan and its belfry is nearly 100 ft high.