Description:
In this photograph, the Okanogan Baseball Team is seen in action as it plays the Colville Indians living at the Mission, near Omak Lake. Run since 1886 by Catholic priest, Fr. Etienne DeRouge, the Mission operated a post office, church and a junior college--complete with a skilled baseball team. Some Catholic settlers around Okanogan also sent their children to the Mission for Jesuit based education. In 1902, Fr. DeRouge changed the settlement's post office name to Omak, but in 1907, with the incorporation of the town of Omak some miles north, DeRouge changed the name back to St. Mary's Mission. In 1915, fire destroyed the original college building, but the school continued on.