In the fall of 1885, Fr. Etienne de Rouge, S.J., recently ordained, found a small primitive cabin left by his predecessor, Fr. Urban Grassi, S.J., at a favorite meeting place of the Okanogans called Schall-Kees, meaning “Bend in the River.” This site was an Indian burial ground as early as the 1880's. Fr. Etienne de Rouge, S.J., built a log chapel and later a church and school completed in 1888, the first school in Okanogan County. Fire destroyed this complex in 1910, and in 1913 only the church was rebuilt on the site. The mission chapel stood as a landmark and as a symbol of the Christian faith of the early Indian inhabitants of the Okanagan country, and its spire remained a sentry in the Okanogan Valley for more than sixty years until fire destroyed it on May 7, 1971. The mission bell survived both fires.