Si>xm §i <•}; L I E) R.AR.Y OF THE U N IVERSITY or ILLINOIS B V.4 iLin^MSiflsiiK^^tt Vil'r^i?!-.;?;^ :;.v.U;i Life, Letters and Travels of Father De Smet among the North American Indians. »*> ^ 9mniu:^ um REV. PIERRE-JEAN DE SMET, S. J. LIFE, LETTERS AND TRAVELS OF Father Pierre-Jean De Smet, S. J. 1801-1873 Missionary Labors and Adventures among the Wild Tribes of the North American Indians, Embracing Minute Description of Their Manners, Customs, Games, Modes of Warfare and Torture, Legends, Tradition, etc., All from Personal Observations Made during Many Thousand Miles of Travel, with Sketches of the Country from St. Louis to Puget Sound and the Altrabasca Edited from the original unpublished manuscript Journals and Letter Books and from his Printed Works with Historical, Geographical, Ethnological and other Notes; Also a Life of Father De Smet MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS HIRAM MARTIN CHITTENDEN Major, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A. AND ALFRED TALBOT RICHARDSON FOUR VOLUMES VOL. IV NEW YORK .'W*» FRANCIS P. HARPER i^^' 1905 •if* O^*^^ t^ J Copyright, 1904, BY FRANCIS P. HARPER All rights reserved CONTENTS OF VOLUME IV. CHAPTER XIV. PACE. Miscellaneous Letters Relating to the Indians . 1213-1227 PART VIII. MISSIONARY WORK AMONG THE INDIANS. CHAPTER I. The Flathead and other Missions 1228-1249 CHAPTER II. Letters from the Resident Missionaries .... 1250-1261 CHAPTER IIL Tributes to the Flatheads and other Tribes . 1262-1278 CHAPTER IV. Plans for a Sioux Mission 1279-1304 CHAPTER V. Miscellaneous Missionary Notes 1305-1344 PART IX. MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS. CHAPTER I. Notes on the Western Country i345-i354 CHAPTER n. The Missouri River 1355-1387 51 "^"^^r^ VI CONTENTS, CHAPTER III. PAGE. Fauna and Flora 1388-1401 CHAPTER IV. The Mormons 1402-1415 CHAPTER V. Indian Anecdotes 1416-1420 CHAPTER VI. Observations upon America 1421-1450 CHAPTER VII. Religious Persecution 1451-1462 CHAPTER VIII. Unclassified Letters, Largely Personal .... 1463-1548 CHAPTER IX. Selected Letters Received 1549-1591 CHAPTER X. Funeral Oration on Father De Smet .... 1592-1600 CHAPTER XIV. MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS RELATING TO THE INDIANS. Difficulties in the way of missionary work — Deaths of baptized chil- dren — Polygamy and drink — Thanks an informant — The Grattan Massacre — Indians must be industrious and rely on Providence — Testimonials to the mountain tribes. SEE more plainly every day that a good store of virtue is required, and the assistance of many prayers, to over- come the difficulties and obstacles which seem to multiply with our efforts to advance the greater glory of God. The demon does not sleep, and seeing that some portion of his prey is escaping him, " tanquam leo rugiens circuit, qiiarcns qiicm devoret." He employs all his snares and ruses to at- tach his devotees to their infamous debauches, and to the grossest superstitions. If a baptized child dies, the medi- cine men, true ministers of Satan, put the whole village in uproar to make us the cause of its death. " It is the medi- cine (the water of baptism) that they poured on his fore- it head ; is the medal or cross that they have hung around his neck, and nothing else, that have caused his death." By such speeches they increase the fears of these poor people. Marriage also, which hampers them, and the prevalent practice of polygamy, form pov/erful obstacles to their con- version. The Indian is naturally light and inconstant ; con- sequently to attach himself for life to a woman, and have but the one, seems to him impossible and insupportable. I should explain further that marriage is a species of specu- lation with them; a father who has several daughters is rich among the Indians, for he can sell them for one, two 1 Extract from a letter (in French) to the Father-General (in 1839?). [1213] :;! LIQUOR. 12 14 VAGABOND AMERICANS AND or three horses each. Frequently, after they have followed and relished our instructions for a long time, as soon as we touch upon this article they go away, like the disciples of the Lord, saying, '' Diirus est hie sermo, et quis potest emn audiref " and we have the grief of seeing persons escape us, who, in all other respects, were giving us great hopes. A still greater obstacle, and one which will, I fear, end in the total ruin of the nation, is drink; which brings in its train war, famine and pestilence, all together. The country is overrun by vagabond Americans; and the Government, which alone could put a stop to this abominable traffic, in spite of the severity of its laws, pays no attention to the matter. The Potawatomies, by their treaty with the Gov- ernment, receive $50,000 per annum; this payment having been omitted last year, they received double in 1839. Such a sum, well placed, would procure for the savages victuals and goods in abundance, and would render them happy in regard to temporal things. But alas! all this money goes for liquor. As long as it lasts they neither work nor hunt and they now have enough to keep them going from New- Year's day to the end of December. They quarrel and fight from morning to night ; their bodies become veritable furnaces, full of foul humors, which cause them all sorts of maladies. Their love for liquor is really inconceivable one must see it to be able to form any idea of the thing. It is a regular tarantula to them ; as soon as they are bitten by it, all their blood flames in their veins, and they are " " crazy for more. If they get it, More, more ! is their war-cry, until, as the flame consumes them, they fall over, drunk, like animals. And when the fumes of drink evapo- " rate from their brains, their first and only cry is Whisky " ! life death. whisky ! whisky as if it was a matter of and While they are drunk, their passions control them abso- lutely. At first they are moved to joyous songs, but these are soon succeeded by yells and roars. Disputes and quar- rels follow, and then the knives, lances and tomahawks come out, and murders finally crown their abominable or- 5 INDIANS DRUNK AND SOBER. 12 1 gies. A great many are dead already, and others are hor- ribly mutilated. The other day I counted nine bitten-off noses in a single group of Indians. In their rage, this little member is the principal object of their attack; and a drunken Indian who deprives a comrade of his nose, boasts of it as much as a brave soldier of having carried off a flag from the enemy. When they are sober, no one v^ould rec- ognize them; they are mild, civil, quiet and attentive; but there is no safety in the presence of a drunken savage. Several times already our lives have been in the greatest danger; but fortunately by gentle and moderate words we have managed to appease the rage of these barbarous drunkards, who were breathing only blood. Sept. 30, 1852. Mr. Denig, Fort Union: My Dear Friend.— At my return home this evening. I found a card in the parlor with the well-known name of our good friend Mr. Culbertson, and understood at the same time that he is to leave on to-morrow for the Upper Missouri. I cannot let him start without charging him with a few lines for you. I do not know how to express my gratitude for your very interesting series of narratives concerning the aborigines of the Far West. A thousand thanks are due to your precious and valuable labor and are hereby given, though language fails to express the feeling which a treasure like your pages has awakened within my breast. Nothing could be more gratifying to me than the beautiful and graphic details which you have given me of the religion, manners, customs and transactions of an unfortunate race of human beings, toward the amelioration of whose sad condition I have in some measure contributed and ant still anxious to contribute whatever I possibly can. Please read these sublined words to the Crazy Bear, whose speech has wonderfully pleased me and whose petition, were it to de- 6 12 1 A FIRST-HAND INVESTIGATOR. pend on me, I would most assuredly grant. Explain this well to him. By the next steamer he shall hear from me, and I shall send him the words of the big Black-robe (the Bishop), for I have forwarded a copy of his speech to him. The lot of the Indian; his severance from the hallowed influences of Christian civilization ; his profound ignorance, only exceeded by his grosser superstitions ; the deep and often unmerited contempt, into which prejudice has thrown him; all call upon the humane and philanthropic to do for him what ordinary charity requires of man. In telling his tale in unvarnished colors to the unknow- ing world by delineating his character and by painting the scenes with which he is habitually surrounded, you, dear friend, will soften into sympathy the public heart and stimu- late it to active exertion for bettering his future situation; and you will further awaken an interest in the circumstances and events which surround the posts, plains and wigwams of the Indians. Think that your researches can be spent most profitably to the Indian and most agreeably to me. Show me this acknowledgment, for your beautiful manuscript tells me that I may claim a large share in your friendship and re- membrance, and for which I feel truly grateful to you. You are filling up the broken, but important, history of a race of men whose career, I deem, is well nigh run on this conti- nent, but whose character, deeds and fate will increase in interest as generations descend the stream of time.