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Show TdtberDeSmefsiDpnti'nd. Mission Rev. Victor Day of Helena Gives a Brief but Entertaining Account of the Labors of this Jesuit "Black Gown" Among the Children of the Forest in Montana Along With Some Mention of Utah. -l-Fs-iMoW Wi''' '-aStB alllsc ' ; , j 1 4. r FATHER DE SJIET FREACHTNG TO MONTANA, INDIANS. t" -t- -t- -t- -t- -t- -t- -t- t- f-T- f f f f f f f f Catholic Iroquois had taught the Flathead Indians the first rudiments of the Christian religion and aroused in them an intense desire to have some blackrobes in their midst to lead them on in the knowledge and service of the Great Spirit. From -1831 to 1S39 four expeditions went forth from Bitter Root valley to St. Louis, Mo., to secure the men of prayer. In 1839 their request re-quest was granted. Father De Smet, Jesuit priest, born in Belgium in 1S01, of profoundly religious and wealthy parents, presented his services to his superior. The superior felt embarrassed. embar-rassed. He found it hard to refuse the twofold request of the Indians and Father De Smet, nor had he the. means to grant their earnest petition. With one sentence the great-hearted missionary mis-sionary . brushed aside the apparently insurmountable obstacle. "If you cannot can-not afford to send two of us, let me go alone. I'll get the means from my home and friends in Europe." His wish was granted. On April 5, 1840, he set out for the wild far west, escorted by Ignace, one of the Flathead Indian delegates. At Westport. near Kansas City, they joined the annual expedition of the American Fur company and-traveled and-traveled with them as far as Green river. Here they were met by a delegation dele-gation of Flathead warriors; further on, at Pierre Hole valley, a distance of 800 miles, by the bulk of tne tnoe. Upon his entrance into the camp he was met by men, women and children and conducted in triumph to the lodge of the great chief, who formally welcomed wel-comed him with these words: "This day the Great Spirit has accomplished our wishes, and our hearts are swelled with joy. Our desire to be instructed was so great that three times we had deputed our people to the great black robe in St. Louis to obtain priests. Now, father, speak and we will comply with all that you will tell us, show us the way we have to take to go to the home of the Great Spirit." Father De Smet's missionary labors began with the day of his arrival. He was wont to give three, four, five instructions in-structions daily. Within two months he had prepared several hundred of his Indians for baptism and instructed about 1,000 others. On the 27th of August he left the Flathead tribeyvith the promise to come back to thein in the spring with other black robes. Whilst on their return to St. Louis he and his escort were surrounded by a war party of Blackfeet. The meeting meet-ing of the representatives of these two hostile tribes would "have meant a bloody fight under ( ordinary circumstances. circum-stances. But the chief of the' Black-feet Black-feet was struck by the cassock and glittering crucifix of the man of peace. "Who are you?" he asked. "He is the black robe," said one of the Flathead party, "the man who speaks to the Great Spirit." And those savages, the terror of the wilderness, carried him in triumph to their village. Father De Smet arrived in St. Louis on the eve of new year. During this short stay among the Indians In-dians he had already established that personal ascendancy over the dusky roamers of the west, which he retained throughout his long, missionary life. And yet his pathway was not invariably invaria-bly roses. His was a hard, up-hill walk all the way, and his road was strewn with stumbling blocks. To his career we may well apply these words 1 of the apostle of the Gentiles: "In j journeying often, in perils of waters, in j perils in the wjlderness, in perils on the sea ' in labor and painful- ness, in much watchings. in hunger and thirst, in .fastings often, in cold and j nakedness." II Cor. xi, 26, etc. He returned in the spring of 1S41, with two other Jesuit priests and three lay brothers of the same- society: On the 24th of September they reached the site of Montana's first mission. St. Mary's in the Bitter Root valley. On the day of their arrival a huge cross was erected to commemorate the event. On the first Sunday of October the mission was formally inaugurated. A log chapel and residence were built within a few weeks' time, and before the end of October the missionaries could record that one single day had brought to their instructions representatives repre-sentatives of twenty-four different tribes. On the third day of December Decem-ber one-third of the tribe were admitr ted to the sacrament of baptism; on Dec. 25, besides some Nez Perces and Blackfeet, 115 more Flatheads received the sacrament of regeneration ; But the missionaries had come to teach the Indians not only to prepare for the life to come, but also to eke out regular living in this world. That same tall or 1S41, a piece 01 lann was iencen in and worked for seed. Seed, consisting consist-ing of a few bushels of oats, wheat and potatoes, was secured at Fort. Colville, Washington, -over 300 miles distant! by Father De Smet. escorted by ten Flathead Flat-head warriors. The following summer a bounteous crop was raised to the amazement and delight of the children of the forest. But what could three priests accomplish accom-plish among so many tribes? The harvest har-vest was great indeed, and ripe for the sickle, but how could they gather it in? Father De Smet set about at once to supply this deficiency. Through his letr ters he made it known to the Christian world that willing and devoted hands were much in need to work in this promising portion of the Lord's vineyard. vine-yard. Besides, leaving his young flock in the care of his fellow shepherds, in 1842, the intrepid missionary plodded his way back to St. Louis, over treeless plains, through dense forests, over trackless mountains, abrupt ricks, through "torrential, treacherous rivers, without other - defense against the brandished tomahawk of the roving ' Indian than" the dignity of his' pres-j ence. He had not exerted himself in 1 vain. On his arrival in St. Louis in the latter part of October, he secured the services of two more'' priests and a lay brother of the Society of j Jesus. He escorted the missionaries I some distance, and upon his return! home,' to his great delight, he met an- j other missionary band, just arrived j from Europe in answer to his call for laborers. Hq then journeyed to Europe, where he fanned the enthusiasm for his work into a blazing flame Of fire. He gathered abundant means, secured four new priests, among whom was the now famous Father Ravalli, a lay brother and a colony of Sisters. They sailed from Antwerp in December, 1843, doubled ' Cape Horn, and reached Fort I Vancouver in August, 1844. It was dur- ' ing this European trip that Father De Smet had an audience with Pope Gregory Greg-ory XVI, by whom he was offered the episcopal dignity, which the humble missionary declined. By various and persistent efforts, Father De Smet had. within four years, enlisted in the service serv-ice of the Rocky mountain Indians eleven priests, six lay brothers and a colony of Sisters. He distributed them j among different tribes and reserved to himself the general superintendence of the work and the unpleasant task of providing funds for the ever-increasing needs of the apostolic work. Since then, we mighTsay. he was here, there and everywhere. Now he would help the Fathers in establishing a new mission, then he would revisit an old one, at another time he would explore unknown un-known parts of the country and prepare new fields for labor. Again, he would ride or row back to St. Louis, cross ! the Atlantic., secure new men. more means in Europe, and while he journeyed jour-neyed and labored, he did not cease by fervent prayer to implore upon the work the blessings of the Almighty. I In the first fifteen years of his mis- j sionary.life he estimated he had tra.v-eled. tra.v-eled. by land and sea. 120,000 miles, about five times the circumference of l the globe. "The ability and influence of Father De' Smet were cordially acknowledged ac-knowledged by the government of the j United States, and his aid was often 'ugm. in ii e v culms muiciii nais. xiiun he put an end to the Sioux war and in Oregon he induced the Takimas and other tribes, under Kamiakim, to cease hostilities. He was chaplain in the expedition ex-pedition to Utah, and opened new missions mis-sions among tribes in that territory." Encyclopedia of American Biography. On the 15th of May, 1843. the secretary of war wrote to him as follows: "The president is desirous to engage you to attend the army for Utah, to officiate of-ficiate as chaplain. In his opinion your services would be important, in many respects, to the public interest, particularly partic-ularly in the present condition of our affairs in Utah. Having sought information infor-mation as to the proper person to be thus employed, his attention has been directed to you, and he has instructed me to address you on the subject in the hope that you may consider it not incompatible in-compatible with your clerical duties or your personal feelings to yield to his request," etc. As a patriotic citizen Father De Smet accepted. At the conclusion! of peace his little diplomatic mission to the Indian tribes of Utah being ended, as he wrote, in one of his letters, -he j tendered to the secretary of war his resignation of the office of chaplain. It -"Was, however, not accepted because a new war had just broken out against the government among the tribes of the Rocky mountains. He was notified by telegraph to proceed to New York and embark there with General Har ney and his staff. By the time these re-enforcements reached Vancouver the news of the cessation of hostilities and of the submission of the tribes had been received. The task remained of removing the Indian prejudices and correcting false rumors which might have brought on another war. This mission the general entrusted to Father De Smet. Within twro months the man of peace was back at Vancouver, accompanied 1 by ail the chiefs of the different moun- tain tribes. The object of the journey was to have them renew the treaty of peace with the general and with the superintendent of Indian affairs. The interview took place a few da"ys later and produced most happy results on both sides. "As for me," writes Father De Smet in a letter dated St. Louis, Nov. 10, 1859, "I had accomplished among the Indians the task which the government had imposed upon me. I explained to the general my motives for desiring to return to St. Louis, by way of the interior. He acceded to my j desire with the greatest affability, and in the answer he addressed to me on 1 this matter he bore honorable testimony testi-mony to my services. However," he writes further in the same letter, "I was obliged to renounce this project (viz. of riding to St. Louis), for my six horses were entirely worn out and unfit for making so long a journey; they were all more or less saddle-galled, saddle-galled, and not being shod, their hoofs were worn in 'crossing the rocky bottoms of the rivers and the rough mountain roads. In this difficulty I ordered a little skiff to be made at Fort Benton. On the way, along the Misosuri, I met thousands of In- idians of different tribes. I always stopped a day or two with them. I received the greatest marks of respect and affection from these hitherto untutored children of th plains and mountains, and they listened lis-tened to my words with the utmost attention." at-tention." In 1S71 Father De Smet sailed again for Europe. In his native land he was made a knight of the Order of Leopold, an honor which few attain, and one which he held in common with Marshal McMahon, former president of the French republic. During this, his last journey, he met with an unfortunate accident. This, together with years of exposure, had shattered his iron constitution. con-stitution. After his return he wasted slowly away, and died in St. Louis in 1872. His best known works are "The Oregon Mission and Travels Over the Rocky Mountains," "Indian Letters and Sketches." His native city, Ter-monde, Ter-monde, erected an imposing statue to his memor, and American history acknowledges ac-knowledges him as the pioneer of I Christianity and civilization in the northwest. , - |