Jean-Baptiste-Zacharie Bolduc

Jean-Baptiste-Zacharie Bolduc (30 November 1818 – 8 May 1889) was a French Canadian Jesuit. His career started as a missionary in the Pacific Northwest, where he resided for eight years. Later he worked in the Catholic medical efforts in Québec.

Early life Jean-Baptiste Bolduc was born in Saint-Joachim, Lower Canada and ordained as a priest on 22 August 1841.

Polynesia Along with Antoine Langlois, another Catholic priest, Bolduc was sent to aid Catholic conversion efforts in the Pacific Northwest, with the two priests sailing from Boston on 14 September 1841. Their vessel visited the port of Valparaíso at the end of December, where they waited for 63 days for another ship to continue ferrying them. A tour of the Polynesian Triangle commenced, with the Gambier Islands visited first. The Kingdom of Tahiti was reached on 5 May 1842. The two priests had a meeting with Queen Pōmare IV to explain their status as British subjects rather than French.

Next their ship sailed for the Kingdom of Hawaii, the voyage ending on 21 June. The priests were greeted by fellow Catholic Louis Désiré Maigret, who informed them that they had to wait several days for the next ship to visit Honolulu, the Hudson's Bay Company barge Cowlitz.

Pacific Northwest The priests disembarked at Fort George on 19 September, where they met priests from the Methodist Mission departing for the United States of America. Traveling through the Willamette Valley and Oregon City, the two Jesuits reached St. Paul on 17 October. Waiting for them was their superior, Vicar general François Blanchet, who, after having the men join him in performing religious services, gave them their appointments. Bolduc was to winter at the St. Francis Xavier Mission while Langlois was to remain at St. Paul. Bolduc was eager to explore the northern Puget Sound, along with Vancouver Island, to locate the site of a permanent missionary station. He joined James Douglas and a detachment of HBC employees at Fort Nisqually on 10 March 1843. Douglas was leading the party to Vancouver Island to establish Fort Victoria. Departing on the Beaver on the 13th, the party reached Whidbey Island the next day. A temporary chapel was constructed out of sailing canvas and pine by several HBC employees. Bolduc estimated that a gathering of 1,200 Klallams, Cowichans and Songhees was convened on the 19th, a Sunday, to hear his sermon.

After the sermon he prepared to visit islands within the Puget Sound. As his expected vessel was delayed, Bolduc hired the services of several new converts to escort him to Whidbey Island. Manned by a Cowichan noble and ten of his servants, Bolduc's rented canoe sailed south on 24 March and reached the island the next day. After returning to his residency, Netlam promised to order the construction of a house for Bolduc. Over 200 men created a dwelling with the dimensions of 28 by 25 feet in two days. Bolduc was pleased with the gesture, reporting that "Certainly the timbers were round; but the roof was covered with cedar bark and interior covered in rush matting."

Quebec Departing from the Pacific Northwest in 1850, Bolduc attended the Séminaire de Québec for a year. He acted as Vicar of Saint-Roch, along with serving as chaplain of the naval hospital in Québec City from 1851 to 1867. From 1851 to his death, Bolduc was chaplain of an asylum. Additional he served as Prosecutor of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec from 1867 until 1899.