THEY CAME TO IDAHO.

THEY WEREN'T LOOKING FOR GOLD OR SILVER.

THEIRS WAS AN ACT OF FAITH.

AND THEY CHANGED THE STATE FOREVER.

COME, LEARN ABOUT IDAHO'S RELIGIOUS SETTLERS.

THIS IS IDAHO'S OLDEST BUILDING.

HI, I'M PHYLLIS EDMUNDSON.

THIS IS THE OLD MISSION CHURCH AT CATALDO.

RELIGION PLAYED A BIG PART IN IDAHO'S HISTORY.

RELIGION WAS A BIG PART OF NATIVE AMERICANS' LIVES.

LONG BEFORE WHITES CAME TO IDAHO, CIRCLING RAVEN HAD A VISION.

HE WAS A CHIEF OF THE COEUR D'ALENE TRIBE.

HE SAW PEOPLE DRESSED IN BLACK ROBES, CARRYING CROSSED STICKS.

WHEN WHITES CAME TO IDAHO YEARS LATER, NATIVE AMERICANS NOTICED THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

THE NEZ PERCE AND FLATHEAD TRIBES TRIED TO LEARN ABOUT THE BIBLE.

THE FIRST CHURCH SERVICE IN IDAHO WAS AT FORT HALL.

JASON LEE, A METHODIST MINISTER, CONDUCTED THE SERVICE.

ABOUT THAT TIME, DIFFERENT CHURCHES SET UP MISSIONARY PROGRAMS.

A MISSIONARY IS A PERSON WHOSE JOB IT IS TO TEACH RELIGIOUS BELIEFS, USUALLY IN A FOREIGN LAND.

ONE OF IDAHO'S FIRST PROTESTANT MISSIONS WAS BUILT BY HENRY AND ELIZA SPALDING.

HENRY AND NARCISSA WHITMAN, FOUNDED A MISSION NEARBY.

FEW WOMEN LIVED IN THE WEST BACK THEN.

BUT SINCE ELIZA AND NARCISSA MADE THE TRIP, OTHER FAMILIES DECIDED IT WAS OKAY.

THE SPALDINGS DID A LOT IN IDAHO.

THEY PRINTED THE BIBLE IN NEZ PERCE.

UNTIL THEN, THE NEZ PERCE LANGUAGE HAD NEVER BEEN WRITTEN DOWN.

CAN YOU IMAGINE NEVER BEING ABLE TO WRITE ANYTHING DOWN?

THE SPALDINGS TAUGHT THE NEZ PERCE HOW TO FARM.

THAT WAS A BIG CHANGE.

NATIVE AMERICANS FACED OTHER CHANGES.

HOMESTEADERS WERE NOW COMING TO IDAHO AND TAKING LAND.

THE TRIBES DIDN'T LIKE ALL THE CHANGES.

IN ANGER, A FEW NATIVE AMERICANS KILLED THE WHITMANS AND DESTROYED THE SPALDINGS' MISSION.

ELIZA AND HENRY ESCAPED AND THEIR MISSION WAS CLOSED.

AT THAT TIME, FATHER DE SMET WAS ALREADY IN IDAHO.

FATHER DE SMET WORE THE BLACK ROBES OF A CATHOLIC PRIEST.

IN THIS RE-ENACTMENT OF DE SMET'S ARRIVAL, THE BLACK ROBE WAS PLAYED BY FATHER CONNOLLY.

Father Connolly: "IN EARLY TIMES, THE MISSIONARIES LEARNED TO EAT INDIAN FOODS."

Phyllis: THE FATHERS BUILT A MISSION NEAR THE ST.

JOE RIVER.

BUT THE AREA FLOODED, SO THEY MOVED THE MISSION TO CATALDO.

THEY BUILT THE SACRED HEART CHURCH, IT STILL STANDS TODAY.

Father Connolly: "FATHER RAVALLI DESIGNED THIS CHURCH.

HE WAS A GREAT DOCTOR.

THE FATHERS SAVED A LOT OF PEOPLE."

Phyllis: THE OLD MISSION IS STILL USED TODAY.

HERE, THEY PRACTICE NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGION AND THE WORDS OF THE BLACK ROBES.

THE FIRST CATHOLIC SERVICE IN THE BOISE BASIN WAS HELD AT THE O'FARRELL'S HOME.

YEARS LATER, THE OLD SAINT ALPHONSUS HOSPITAL WAS BUILT THERE.

IT TOOK 15 YEARS TO BUILD THIS CHURCH.

LOCAL NATIVE AMERICANS HELPED.

AT THE SAME TIME, ANOTHER GROUP WAS SEARCHING FOR A LAND OF THEIR VERY OWN... THE STATE OF DESERET.

MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS OR THE MORMONS.

CAME WEST IN THE LATE 1840S.

THEIR LEADER, BRIGHAM YOUNG, WAS LOOKING FOR A LAND THEY COULD RULE THEMSELVES.

THEY FIRST SETTLED IN SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.

FRANKLIN WAS IDAHO'S FIRST WHITE SETTLEMENT.

MORMON SETTLERS LEARNED TO IRRIGATE THE LAND.

THE CHURCH HELPED BUILD THE RAILROAD.

MORE NON-MORMONS MOVED INTO THE AREA.

THAT'S WHEN FIGHTS STARTED.

IN MORMON TOWNS, THE CHURCH AND THE GOVERNMENT WERE OFTEN THE SAME.

NON-MORMONS DIDN'T LIKE THAT.

NON-MORMONS ALSO DIDN'T APPROVE OF MORMON POLYGAMY.

POLYGAMY IS WHEN A MAN IS ALLOWED TO HAVE MORE THAN ONE WIFE.

AFTER IDAHO BECAME A TERRITORY, NON-MORMONS TRIED TO KEEP MORMONS FROM VOTING.

AND POLYGAMY WAS MADE ILLEGAL.

U.S.

MARSHALL FRED T. DUBOIS ARRESTED POLYGAMISTS.

QUINCY JENSEN'S GRANDFATHER DAVID MARRIED TWO SISTERS, SARINA AND JULIA.

AFTER THE SECOND MARRIAGE, SARINA DIED.

Quincy Jensen: "MY GRANDFATHER WAS ARRESTED FOR HAVING TWO WIVES.

HE WENT TO COURT.

THERE, THREE MEN TESTIFIED AGAINST HIM.

THE FAMILY SAYS THAT MY GRANDFATHER DIDN'T KNOW ANY OF THEM."

Phyllis: DAVID JENSEN WAS SENTENCED TO PRISON.

SOON, MORMON LEADERS URGED THEIR MEMBERS TO MARRY ONLY ONE WIFE.

STILL, IDAHO'S FIRST LAWMAKERS TRIED TO KEEP MORMONS FROM VOTING.

TODAY, LEADERS OF ALL FAITHS TRY TO WORK TOGETHER.

THEY'RE TRYING FOR BETTER UNDERSTANDING.

DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS FAITHS HAVE SHAPED IDAHO.

MOSES ALEXANDER, THE FIRST JEWISH GOVERNOR ELECTED IN THE UNITED STATES, CAME FROM IDAHO.

TODAY, VARIOUS FAITHS TRY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE REST OF THE WORLD.

THE MEMBERS OF THE CAMERON EMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH GATHER TO MAKE SOAP.

Thelma Meyer: "MIX 6 POUNDS OF FAT TO EACH CAN OF LYE, 2 1/2 PINTS OF WATER, 1/3 CUP OF AMMONIA AND 1 SPOON OF BORAX.

MIX TOGETHER INTO THE VAT AND STIR UNTIL IT'S THICK."

Phyllis: AFTER DRYING FOR SIX WEEKS, THE SOAP IS SENT TO SEATTLE.

FROM THERE, THE SOAP GOES WHERE IT'S NEEDED.

THIS SMALL GROUP WILL MAKE MORE THAN 700 POUNDS OF SOAP.

BISHOP SYLVESTER TREINEN IS VISITING A PATIENT IN A HOSPITAL IN ARCO.

Bishop Treinen: "HELLO MORRIS.

HOW ARE YOU?"

Phyllis: BISHOP TREINEN KNOWS RELIGION DOESN'T PLAY THE SAME ROLE IN TODAY'S IDAHO.

Bishop Treinen: "I READ THAT ABOUT 44 PERCENT OF IDAHO'S PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE A CHURCH.

I THINK IT IS BECAUSE A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE TO GO FAR TO GET TO CHURCH.

SO THEY DEVELOP THEIR OWN RELIGION."

Phyllis: TREINEN CALLS THIS "THE CHURCH OF NATURE."

Bishop Treinen: "IT'S EASY FOR THEM TO BE IN CONTACT WITH A SUPREME BEING.

IN A WAY, IT'S A LOT LIKE THE RELIGION OF IDAHO'S NATIVE AMERICANS."

RELIGIOUS SETTLERS HAVE SHAPED IDAHO'S HISTORY, MISSIONARIES LIKE THE SPALDINGS, THE BLACK ROBES AT CATALDO, THE MORMONS WHO USED IRRIGATION, AND RELIGIOUS SETTLERS ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE.

FATHER RAVALLI USED A PEN KNIFE TO CARVE THESE STATUES.

HE MADE CANDLE HOLDERS FROM TIN CANS.

MANY PEOPLE CAME TO LOOK AT THE BUILDING.

IT WAS SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF.

AND IT STILL IS TODAY.

I'LL SEE YOU NEXT TIME.

CLOSED CAPTION TRANSCRIPTION BY SARA J. HANSEN