Ravalli named for a Jesuit missionary to the Indians, Fr. Anthony Ravalli, who arrived in the Bitterroot Valley in 1845. Northwest of Ravalli is the National Bison Range. It was established in 1908 to support a population of American bison and is one of the oldest wildlife refuges in the nation. Ravalli is also near the St. Ignatius Mission, built in the early 1890s, this Catholic Church is unique because its walls and ceilings have 61 original paintings by Brother Joseph Carignano, S.J. on them.