Dinner: Early Evening Social; The program officially begins with a social at which soft drinks, beer, wine and hors d'oeuvres are available. The Hors d'oeuvres are followed by a banquet welcome dinner. All meals are prepared by our chef LuAnn Stites Kraft, who is beloved of all who visit the monastery for her wonderful cooking. If you let us know on the questionnaire we send, she will prepare special diets.

Evening: Orientation to the facility and its amenities, the program and the instructors and introductions of participants.

Lodging: Monastery of the Ascension

Meals Included: Dinner

The California Missions; The first Catholic missionaries and settlers in the Pacific Northwest; "The Catholic Ladder"; Classic film: "Brigham Young" (1940).

Breakfast: All meals are served in the dining room and are served buffet style. Chef LuAnn Kraft purchases much of the food locally, often from organic farmers. For example, milk comes in glass bottles from a small dairy whose small herd consists of registered Holsteins, which are fed on grass--a rare exception amid the large dairies of the area. At breakfast, on every day but Sunday (when there are cereals and rolls), there is a hot entrée, cold cereal and assorted fruit. Juice, coffee, tea, and snacks are available at all times.

Morning: Presentation: The purposes of the Spanish colonial government and of the missionaries in establishing the missions in Alta California. Fr. Junipero Serra and his companions. The Native Americans of Alta California. The first missions. Mission life.

Lunch: Lunch in the dining room. There are salads, vegetables, an entree and a desert, and usually fresh fruit, at each lunch and dinner.

Afternoon: 1:00-2:00: The Prophet Joseph Smith. Origin of Church. Establishment of communal ideal. Establishment of missionary system. Principle of gathering. Establishment of settlement model for communities. (Millennial governing model). Early conflict with non-Mormons. 2:15–3:15: The Catholic Missionary Enterprise in the Pacific Northwest: Diocesan Priests (Canadian and Belgian) and Religious Priests (OMI, SJ). John McLaughlin and the Hudson Bay Company. Priests with first Spanish explorers. First settlers in Oregon. Francis Norbert Blanchet and Modeste Demers, first Catholic Missionaries to the Oregon Territory. (1838-1842): The Catholic Ladder. 3:30–4:30 Fort Vancouver: The Unlikely Cradle of Protestantism in the Northwest.

Dinner: When asked to describe our food, Chef LuAnn said that as much as possible she wants it to be "fresh, local, healthy, simple and delicious."

Evening: Film: Brigham Young (with Tyrone Power; Vincent Price [1940]).

Lodging: Monastery of the Ascension

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Power point presentation on the individual Catholic missions; the Mormons move westward; the Hutterites in Montana.

Breakfast: In dining room. All meals are prepared in the monastery kitchen and served in the dining room. At breakfast, on every day but Sunday (when there are cereals and rolls), there is a hot entree, cold cereal and assorted fruit. Juice, coffee, tea, and snacks are available at all times.

Morning: The individual California Missions; their architecture and history. Presentation with powerpoint:

Lunch: Dining room. There are salads, vegetables, an entree and a desert, and usually fresh fruit, at each lunch and dinner.

Afternoon: 1:00–2:00: Expulsion from Missouri. Establishment of Nauvoo. Prophet's Death. Factionalism. Ascension of Brigham Young. Expulsion from Nauvoo. Trek across Iowa. Establishment of Winter Quarters. Mormon Battalion, Organization for Western Trek. Mormon Hymns. 2:15–3:15: Responding to a Call: The Mission to the Native Americans. 3:30–4:30: Catholics and the Settlement of the Pacific Northwest: DeSmet and the Flatheads (1833-1840); DeSmet and Blanchet cooperate (1840-1843); from Vicariate to the Second Archdiocese in the US (1843-1850); John McLouglin's Last Years

Dinner: Dinner in the dining room. There are salads, vegetables, an entree and a desert, and usually fresh fruit, at each lunch and dinner.

Evening: 7:00 –9:00: The Hutterites in Montana: the Anabaptists and their three major divisions:  the Mennonites, Hutterites and Amish; a brief history of the Hutterites -- their persecution and exile in Moravia and the Ukraine, and their migration to South Dakota; their split into three divisions and their migration to Canada and Montana; their settlement patterns and way of life in the latter 19th century; their emergence as a major contributor to agricultural production in the West.

Lodging: Monastery of the Ascension

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

The Jesuit Missions in the Pacific Northwest (1844-1876); Outing to Hagerman; Buhl, Centennial Park for a picnic and, if a boat is available, a boat ride on the Snake River.

Note: The man who has provided us with boat rides for many years is selling his business; so we are not sure that we will be able to rent a boat.

Breakfast: Dining room. At breakfast, on every day but Sunday (when there are cereals and rolls), there is a hot entree, cold cereal and assorted fruit. Juice, coffee, tea, and snacks are available at all times.

Morning: 9:00–10:00: Catholics and the Settlement of the Pacific Northwest: The Jesuits take root 1844-185) ; retrenchment and growth in the Archdiocese; difficult years for the Jesuits (1850-1858); The Jesuits flourish (1859-1876). 10:15–11:30: Profound Tragedy: The Life and Death of the Missions.

Lunch: Lunch. There are salads, vegetables, an entree and a desert, and usually fresh fruit, at each lunch and dinner.

Afternoon: Excursion by bus to visit (1) Malad Gorge State Park; (2) National Park Service Visitors' Center for Hagerman Fossil Beds and Minidoka Internment sites; (3) Oregon Trail overlook; (5) 1000 Springs; (6) Shoshone Falls.

Dinner: Picnic dinner at Centennial Park in the Snake River canyon.

Evening: Outing on a portion of the Snake River with experienced and knowledgeable guide on safe and peaceful pontoon boats. There is usually a chance to watch B.A.S.E. jumpers parachute off the 500 foot Perrine bridge.

Lodging: Monastery of the Ascension

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Mormon settlement in Utah; Outing to Minidoka Interment Camp National Monument; power point on the paintings of Nicholas Point, SJ

Breakfast: Dining room. At breakfast, on every day but Sunday (when there are cereals and rolls), there is a hot entree, cold cereal and assorted fruit. Juice, coffee, tea, and snacks are available at all times.

Morning: 9:00-10:15: Trek West and arrival in Great Basin. Layout of Salt Lake City and other communities. Brigham Young becomes President of Church. The State of Deseret, Brigham Young, Governor. Unique relations with Indians. Expansion of Settlement (California, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, Mexico, Canada.) Church land ownership. Polygamy. 10:30–11:30: A New Religious Reality: The Rise of a National Religion.

Lunch: Dining room. There are salads, vegetables, an entree and a desert, and usually fresh fruit, at each lunch and dinner.

Afternoon: 1:00-2:00: Establishing Catholic Institutions in the Archdiocese of Portland: Sisters of the Holy Names; Society of St. Vincent de Paul, etc.Struggle to retain the Catholic Indian Missions. Demographics. Clergy. 2:15 - 4:30: Outing to Minidoka.

Dinner: Dinner in the dining room. There are salads, vegetables, an entree and a desert, and usually fresh fruit, at each lunch and dinner.

Evening: Fr. Nicholas Point, SJ: Artist of the Missions to the Native Americans.

Lodging: Monastery of the Ascension

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

The Catholic Church in Idaho; the Mormons established in Utah; music of the settlers; concert.

Breakfast: Breakfast in dining room. At breakfast, on every day but Sunday (when there are cereals and rolls), there is a hot entree, cold cereal and assorted fruit. Juice, coffee, tea, and snacks are available at all times.

Morning: 11:00–11:30: The Catholic Church in Idaho: Five portraits; The End of An Era; Fr. Lambert Louis Conrardy; Archbishop Charles Seghers (1881-1883); Fr. Cataldo and the Jesuit Missions (1876-1884).

Lunch: Lunch in the dining room. There are salads, vegetables, an entree and a desert, and usually fresh fruit, at each lunch and dinner.

Afternoon: 1:00–2:00 Protestants: Northwest Christian Characteristics: Revivalism, Colleges, and Adaptation. 2:15–4:15: Mormon Reformation.  "Invasion" by U.S. Army.  Mountain Meadows.  Non-Mormon governor.  Ghost Government.  Departure of Army. Morrisite War.  California Volunteers. Conflicting economic models.  Attempts at self-sufficiency.  Orderville.  Railroad. Death of Brigham Young. Prosecution of Polygamists. Renouncing of Polygamy. Statehood. Economic model altered from communal to market economy. Land ownership from church to private property.

Dinner: Social, followed by a farewell banquet conjured up from wonderful local ingredients by Chef LuAnn Kraft.

Evening: Concert and/or sing-along.

Lodging: Monastery of the Ascension

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Early bird breakfast for those who wish it, for the rest, farewells and a leisurely exit.

Breakfast: Pick-up breakfast will be available from 6:00 AM.

Breakfast will be served at 7:40 AM. Sunday breakfast is cereals and rolls. The program concludes after breakfast on Sunday.

Lodging: Monastery of the Ascension

Meals Included: Breakfast