Chapter 23

[244]This was the half-breed known as Bird, whose treachery toward Antoine Godin at Fort Hall, Idaho, is narrated by Townsend in our volume xxi, pp. 353, 354; see also our volume xxiii, pp. 135, 145, 153.—Ed.[245]This band of Blackfeet, which took its name from an important chief, was mentioned by George Catlin in 1832, being said to consist of two hundred and fifty lodges. Father de Smet says that they were almost entirely destroyed. Charles Larpenteur, however, mentions this band as on the war path against the Flatheads in 1848; see hisForty Years a Fur Trader(New York, 1898), ii, pp. 259-261.—Ed.[246]John Rowand was born at Montreal and entered the North West Company as a clerk in 1800. He was in charge at Fort Augustus for many years and there was born his son who became widely known in Northwest annals. Educated at Montreal and Edinburgh, he travelled abroad before returning to the Northwest, where he was for many years a chief factor of the company. He accompanied Sir George Simpson on his journey of 1841, and in 1848 retired from active service, settling in Quebec, where he died in 1889. SeeHenry-Thompson Journals, ii, pp. 602, 603; and Chittenden and Richardson,De Smet, iv. pp. 1559-1561.—Ed.[247]For Fort Edmonton (or Fort Augustus) see our volume vi, p. 364, note 177. A nearly contemporary description may be found in Simpson,Narrative, i, pp. 101, 102.—Ed.[248]For Fort Jasper see our volume vi, p. 357, note 167.Assiniboine House was built in 1825 on the north side of Athabasca River, in northern Alberta; the place is now abandoned and ruined. See Alexander Ross,Fur Hunters of the Far West(London, 1855), ii, p. 204.Lesser Slave Lake House, at the western end of the lake, was built by Alexander Stuart of the North West Company early in the nineteenth century.—Ed.[249]For Fort des Montagnes seeante, p. 234, note 128.Fort Pitt was established in 1831, not far below old Fort Vermillion, about half way between Carlton and Edmonton, on the south bank of the Saskatchewan, about a hundred yards from the river. See description of its appearance in 1859, in Earl of Southesk,Saskatchewan and the Rocky Mountains(Edinburgh, 1875), pp. 139-142, 285-292.Fort Carlton (Carrollton) was the Hudson’s Bay post replacing the old Fort de la Montée, for which see our volume vi, p. 374, note 185. Sir George Simpson well describes its appearance in 1841 in hisNarrative, i, p. 84. For Cumberland House see our volume vi, p. 376, note 188.—Ed.[250]The Lake of the Black Eagle does not appear to be charted, but the entire country between Forts Edmonton and Assiniboine abounds in lakes. This route was followed by Ross in 1825; see hisFur Hunters, ii, pp. 205, 209.—Ed.[251]For the Pembina see our volume vi, p. 364, note 177. It is not feasible to identify all these affluents of the upper Athabasca. Next to Pembina, the largest of those mentioned is McLeod (McCloud) River, a southern branch coming in some fifty miles above old Fort Assiniboine. The Baptiste (the additional word Berland has been dropped) flows from the west, entering the Athabasca where it bends to the east.—Ed.[252]Of the two lakes at the headwaters of the Athabasca, both are sometimes called Jasper, but the lower one was more frequently known as Burnt (or Brulé) Lake. For these and Jasper House see our volume vi, p. 357, note 167.—Ed.[253]The names of these streams appear to change frequently. The Violin is now known as Fiddle River; it debouches from the south, near the upper end of Brulé Lake. Medicine appears to be identical with the stream called Rocky River, coming from very near the source of the North Saskatchewan. The Assiniboine is now usually called Snake Indian River; it takes its name from a small tribe that frequented its banks, who were totally exterminated early in the nineteenth century by a fierce band of Assiniboin.—Ed.[254]The Maligne is a large stream coming from the south, not far from the source of the Brazeau. Gens de Colets is now known as Snaring River; it enters the Athabasca some miles above Jasper Lake. The Miette comes from the west and joins the Athabasca at its abrupt turn from north to east. The trail to Yellowhead Pass follows up the Miette, while that to Athabasca Pass follows the main Athabasca River, to the Trou (or Hole), more frequently Whirlpool River.—Ed.[255]The Boucane is now Smoky River, the largest southwest affluent of Peace (a la Paix) River.—Ed.[256]For Fraser River see Farnham’sTravels,ante, p. 43, note 52.A small branch of the Miette approaches within a few rods, on the summit of Yellowhead Pass of the upper source of the Fraser, running thence into Yellowhead, and sixteen miles lower down Moose Lake, whence issues the main Fraser.—Ed.[257]For the Carrier Indians, see our volume xxvii, p. 307, note 160. They are the main branch of the Déné (Tinneh) stock, in British Columbia. See Rev. A. G. Morice, “Are the Carrier Sociology and Mythology exotic?” in Canadian Royal SocietyTransactions, x, part ii, pp. 109-120, with map giving location of the tribes of New Caledonia.By the Achiganes, De Smet probably intends the Sekanais (Tsekenné), who inhabit the western slopes of the Rockies from latitude 54° to 60°. They are a nomadic people of the Déné stock, lacking houses, villages, or social organization. Despising fish, they subsist on game and roots. Numbering about two hundred souls, they now exist in two wandering bands in the Babine and Upper Skeena River agency, Hoquelget division, British Columbia.—Ed.[258]The Montagnais are a branch of the great Athapascan (or Déné) stock of northern Indians. By some authorities they are identified with the Chippewyan; others consider them the western branch of the Chippewyan tribe—De Smet uses the term in the first sense. The Chippewyan still rove in their ancient habitat on Athabasca lake and river. The majority of the tribe has been christianized by Catholic missionaries.—Ed.[259]Lake Athabasca, in the northern portion of the territory of that name, is the outlet of Athabasca River, and extends 190 miles in length and from five to fifty-five in width. It discharges by Slave River into Great Slave Lake, thence through the Mackenzie into the Arctic Ocean. Fort Chippewyan, upon the shore of Lake Athabasca, was one of the earliest trading posts erected by the English in the Northwest. Thence Sir Alexander Mackenzie made his famous explorations (1789-93).—Ed.[260]The Oblate monk was Alexandre Antoine Taché, later archbishop of St. Boniface on the Red River, and the priest Father L. Laflèche. Father Thibault had visited all the Athabascan district in the summer of 1844, preparing the way for permanent mission stations. Reporting to Bishop Provencher at Winnipeg, the latter sent the two missionaries to found a central station at Ile à la Crosse (largely frequented by Crees), whence stations were later established at Cariboo Lake and Lake Athabasca.Father Laflèche came to the Red River country in 1844, remaining at Ile à la Crosse until 1849, when infirmities led him to retire. Elected coadjutor for Bishop Provencher, he declined the responsibility, but served as vicar general until 1856.Taché was Canadian born (1823); educated at Montreal, he joined the Oblate order, and (1845) volunteered for mission service on the frontier. Arrived at Red River, he was ordained priest, and sent (July, 1846) to found the mission at Ile à la Crosse, whence he made journeys to the distant tribes of the Northwest. Elected coadjutor bishop in 1849, he visited Europe, being two years later consecrated in France. Returning to Canada, he went back to his mission, whence he was summoned to Winnipeg by the death of Bishop Provencher (1853). Taché was an important figure in the Canadian Northwest, being profoundly interested for the material and spiritual welfare of the Indians and half-breeds. He interceded with the Dominion government for the latter’s grievances in 1869, and after the Riel rebellion was useful in restoring harmony. Raised to an archbishopric in 1871, he ably administered his diocese until his death in 1894.See his own account of his early missionary experiences inVingt Années de Missions dans le Nord-Ouest de l’Amérique.—Ed.[261]Paul, son of Simon Fraser the explorer (for whom see Farnham’sTravels,ante, p. 43, note 52), was born in Glengarry, Ontario, in 1799. He entered the Hudson’s Bay Company as early as 1827, or before, and in the following year was chief clerk in charge at Fort Vermillion, when Sir George Simpson passed that way. In 1833 he was a senior clerk at Fort McLeod, giving his principal attention to New Caledonia where he was a chief trader before 1844. He built Fort Umpqua in Oregon, and was stationed there for some time. In 1850 he resigned from the Northern department and was sent to Fort Kamloops, where not long afterwards he was killed by the fall of a tree.—Ed.[262]There is an Island Lake on the Sturgeon River chain, not far from Lake Ann, but De Smet’s topography is too indefinite to insure identification.—Ed.[263]La Fourche du Trou (Fork of the Hole), better known as Whirlpool River, is that branch of the Athabasca that descends from the Committee’s Punch Bowl on the summit of Athabasca Pass. The first appellation is given because of a peculiar rock formation by which it enters the other branch of the Athabasca through a rocky channel or hole. See our volume vi, p. 353.—Ed.[264]By reference to Letter iii,ante, pp. 170-172, it will be seen that all the succeeding letters to this point were enclosed with that accompanying them, and forwarded by the usual Columbia brigade, which De Smet met at this point of his journey.—Ed.[265]For a brief sketch of York Factory see our volume vi, p. 377, note 191.—Ed.[266]For Francis Ermatinger see our volume xxvii, p. 235, note 108.—Ed.[267]This river has various names, by some called Portage, and by others Little Canoe, since it enters the Columbia at its great northern bend, just where the Canoe River coming from the north also joins it. This westward-flowing mountain torrent—first discovered by David Thompson in 1810-11—issues from a small lake at the summit of the pass, within a few rods of the Committee’s Punch Bowl.—Ed.[268]So named from Thompson’s camp, where he stopped to build canoes to descend the Columbia. It became a noted site on the upper Columbia, where horses or snow-shoes were exchanged for canoes or vice versa.—Ed.[269]For the two peaks here mentioned, see Farnham’sTravels,ante, pp. 29, 30, notes 22, 23.—Ed.[270]The Dalles of the Dead was an especially dangerous place on the upper Columbia. Probably they took their name from the sad fate of a party who turned back from Boat Encampment in 1817. See Ross Cox,Adventures on the Columbia River(New York, 1832), p. 245.—Ed.[271]Alexander Ross in hisFur Hunters, ii, pp. 165-175, speaks of paintings in red ochre upon a rock on Lower Arrow Lake, against which the passing Indians shot their arrows in defiance of the tribes beyond. By examining these arrows, the natives could tell what tribes have lately passed. Doubtless from this custom the lakes have received their name. They are wide spreads of the river, beautifully located, amid high cliffs and peaks. Upper Arrow Lake is about thirty-three miles long and three broad; the Lower is more tortuous, and slightly longer and narrower. The distance between them is more nearly sixteen than six miles.—Ed.[272]For these two lakes see our volume xxvii, pp. 339, 359, notes 175, 181, respectively.—Ed.[273]Roothan was at that time father general of the Jesuit order; see our volume xxvii, p. 155, note 25 (De Smet). The lake is now known as Priest Lake, and Blackrobe River as Priest River, occupying a forest reserve of that name in northwestern Idaho, with a like strip in northeastern Washington.—Ed.[274]This portion of the river is fifteen miles south of the international boundary line, and twenty-six above Kettle Falls. It is known as the Little Dalles, the cañon being deep and narrow, without bottom lands. See Thomas W. Symons,Report of an Examination of the Upper Columbia River(Washington, 1882), pp. 11-13.—Ed.[275]Lewes (according to H. H. Bancroft, John Lee; according to Father Morice, Thomas) was an old North West Company man, who was now chief factor in the Hudson’s Bay Company. He had been stationed both on Mackenzie River and in New Caledonia, and came to Colville about 1845. Offered chief command of the latter district the following year, he declined because of ill-health. Soon afterwards resigning, he retired to Australia, but ultimately returned and settled in the Red River country.—Ed.[276]For Commodore Wilkes see Farnham’sTravels,ante, p. 72, note 88.—Ed.[277]For Fort Okanagan see our volume vi, p. 260, note 71.—Ed.[278]De Smet proceeded with his Indian guides up the valley of Okanagan River and lake, crossed to the upper waters of the South Thompson, and came out on Shuswap Lake, a large irregularly-formed body of water, a gathering place for the tribes of that stock. See our volume vii, p. 159, notes 51, 52.—Ed.[279]“Fort of the Sioushwaps” is Fort Kamloops, for which see our volume vii, p. 199, note 64.—Ed.[280]See Farnham’sTravels,ante, p. 44, note 53.—Ed.[281]Fort George, situated at the confluence of the Nechaco with the Fraser, was built by Simon Fraser in the autumn of 1807, and named in honor of the reigning English monarch. Hugh Faries was the first officer in charge. The fort stood in the midst of a hunting country, and was noted for its fine furs. A Hudson’s Bay Company post is still maintained at this place.—Ed.[282]Father de Smet ascended first the Nechaco to the embouchment of Stuart River, then up that stream—whose native name is Nakasley or Na’kaztle—to Stuart Lake, where is situated the capital of New Caledonia, Fort St. James. See Farnham’sTravels,ante, p. 58, note 77.—Ed.[283]The mission at Fort St. James received no further visit after that of Father de Smet’s successor, Father Nobili (1847), for twenty-one years. In 1868 the order of Oblates sent two missioners thither who were at the fort in the early summer, and soon after founded a permanent mission thereat, of which Father Adrian G. Morice was for many years the head. See hisHistory of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, pp. 326-336.—Ed.[284]The Chilcotin are one of the four tribes of Western Déné, occupying the valley of the river bearing their name. They are nearly related to the Carrier in their customs and modes of life; but have always been more turbulent, and difficult to control. The Hudson’s Bay Company built a fort among them which was later abandoned because of the untrustworthy character of the native population; see Farnham’sTravels,ante, p. 58, note 77. In 1864 they attacked the miners of the region, and the consequent punitive expedition cost the Dominion government over $60,000. They are now on reservations in their valley, being Roman Catholic communicants and gradually becoming civilized.—Ed.[285]For the forts upon these lakes and their location, see Farnham’sTravels,ante, pp. 56, 58, notes 68, 77.Fort Babine—during the first years called Fort Kilmaurs—was built in 1822 on the north bank of the lake of that name. Pierre C. Pambrum and William Connolly were the first traders in charge. The Babine Indians, so named from the plug of wood worn by the women to enlarge the lower lip, were loyal Hudson’s Bay people, and good hunters. There are still three bands of this tribe dwelling near Babine Lake—one known as the Old Fort Babines have a village in the vicinity of the first post, fourteen miles from the foot of the lake, and accessible only by canoes.The fort on Bear Lake was named Connolly, and established in 1826 for the benefit of the northern Sekanais. The earliest post was built on an island in the lake, and was the most northerly of the interior stations of New Caledonia.—Ed.[286]The Shushwap (Atnahs) proper live on both branches of Thompson River; the Okanagan, on the lake and river of that name. Lake Superior (or the “Upper” Lake) is probably Upper Arrow Lake of the Columbia. The Fountain of Fraser River (not Lake) is an Indian village known as Hulilp, near the site of the modern Lillooet; probably the author intends by this the whole tribe of Lillooets, a western branch of the Shushwap. The Knife Indians are probably the Thompson (or Similkameen) branch of the Shushwap stock, inhabiting the valley of Similkameen River and ranging thence to the Thompson and Fraser. The six bands of Shushwap here named correspond in part with the divisions given by G. M. Dawson in “The Shuswaps of British Columbia,” in Canadian Royal SocietyTransactions, ix, part 2, pp. 3-43.—Ed.[287]Peter H. Burnett was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1807. While still young he moved with his parents to Missouri, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits and began legal studies. Upon the introduction of Senator Linn’s bill in Congress providing land for bona fide Oregon settlers, Burnett determined to emigrate thither, and was chosen captain of a large company, which set forth in 1843. Arrived in Oregon, he settled first at Linnville, then at Tualatin Plains, where he took much interest in the provisional government and was a member of its first legislative committee (1844). The following year he was chosen judge of the supreme court, and upon the establishment of territorial government was appointed justice of the United States court. In 1848 he went to California, where in 1850 he was elected first governor of the new state, and later (1857-58) served as justice of the California supreme court. Embarking in the banking business in San Francisco, he won eminence as a financier, dying in his adopted home in 1894. He has related his experiences inRecollections and Opinions of an Old Pioneer(New York, 1880). He therein details his conversion to Catholicism, due chiefly to conviction following the reading of controversial works. Going to Oregon City, he was received into the church by Father Devos (June, 1846).Dr. John E. Long was a native of England, being educated for a physician. Emigrating to the United States in 1833, and to Oregon ten years later, he acted as recorder of the first legislature of the provisional government, but in 1846 was killed by an accident.—Ed.[288]Donald Manson, born in Scotland in 1800, entered the Hudson’s Bay Company at the age of seventeen, and was sent out to York Factory. Three years later, at Winnipeg, he met Dr. McLoughlin and in 1823 accompanied him to the Pacific department. At first assigned to an exploring expedition under charge of Samuel Black, he reached Vancouver January 6, 1825, and aided in completing its works. Two years later he accompanied the expedition that founded Fort Langley, and was afterwards sent to restore the trading post of old Fort George, at the mouth of the Columbia. In 1829 Manson was placed in charge of Fort McLoughlin, on Millbank Sound, and there remained for ten years, after which a well-deserved furlough gave him the opportunity to revisit Scotland. Returning to the Pacific, he was sent (1841) to succeed Samuel Black at Kamloops, and to punish the latter’s murderers; the following year a like task was assigned him at Stikeen. In 1844 Manson was placed in command of New Caledonia, with headquarters at Fort St. James, a position ably filled for fourteen years, when he retired from the service and settled near Champoeg, in the Willamette valley, where he died January 7, 1880. He married (1828) the daughter of Etienne Lucier, first settler of French Prairie, and had a large family of children. See interview with his daughter in Oregon HistoricalQuarterly, iv, p. 263; also Oregon Pioneer AssociationTransactions, 1879, p. 56.—Ed.[289]For Fort Walla Walla see our volume xxi, p. 278, note 73. The clerk in charge was William B. McBean (not McBride), an educated half-breed born in 1790 on the eastern side of the Rockies. In 1825 he was a subordinate at Fort Alexandria; from 1836 to 1842 in charge at Fort Babine. Thence he was sent to Fort Connolly (1842), and next (1845) succeeded Archibald McKinley at Walla Walla. He attained an unpleasant notoriety in connection with the Whitman massacre, because of his Catholic proclivities, and his tardiness in aiding the survivors; but most of the charges against him were unfounded. In New Caledonia he had a reputation for being despotic and wily, also somewhat fanatical in religious matters.—Ed.[290]For the Lewis River see our volume vi, p. 277, note 86. The crossing must have been made not far from the boundary line between Walla Walla and Columbia counties on the south side of the river, and that between Franklin and Whitman counties on the northern bank.—Ed.[291]The Paloos were a Shahaptian tribe, nearly related, as De Smet says, to the Nez Percés. Their habitat was the north bank of Lewis River, from the mouth of Palouse River to that of the Lewis. Lewis and Clark called them “Palleotepellows,” and credited them with 1,600 souls. In 1854 there were five hundred extant in three bands. They took part in the wars of 1855-58, but were thoroughly cowed by Colonel George Wright’s invasion of their territory. In 1860 their agent reported that the remnant of the tribe had intermarried and settled among the Nez Percés, on the Lapwai reservation in Idaho, and after that their separate tribal existence lapsed.—Ed.[292]Now known as Palouse River, the largest northern tributary of the Lewis, below the Clearwater. Rising in eastern Idaho, it flows west and then south—through a considerable cañon in its lower course, forming falls over a hundred feet in height, about seven miles above its confluence with the Lewis.—Ed.[293]For Spokane River, see our volume xxvii, p. 366, note 185. De Smet probably crossed the river not far from the present city of Spokane.—Ed.[294]Of these two upper branches of the Cœur d’Alène, St. Joseph’s has retained its name. Rising in the Bitter Root (not now called Pointed Heart) Mountains it flows northwest into the southern arm of Cœur d’Alène Lake. The St. Ignatius is now known as the Cœur d’Alène River; and through its valley runs the Northern Pacific Railway. See our volume xxvii, p. 365, note 184.—Ed.[295]Mrs. S. Parmentier of Brooklyn, a liberal donor to Father de Smet’s missions, to whom the following letter is addressed.—Ed.[296]Apparently this was the present Blake’s Lake, in northern Spokane County, which discharges by the West Branch into Little Spokane River. No other lake north of Spokane River appears to answer to De Smet’s description. Blake’s is about three miles long and a half mile wide, and is in the forest region.—Ed.[297]Probably Spokane Falls, the site of the modern city of that name.—Ed.[298]For the mission of Sacred Heart see our volume xxvii, p. 365, note 184. A sketch of Father Point is given in the same volume, p. 192, note 67; those of Father Joset and Brother Magri,ante, p. 139, note 42. For a description and engraving of this mission as it appeared in 1853 see 35 Cong., 2 sess.,Senate Docs., vol. 18, pp. 112-114.—Ed.[299]The Bitterroot Mountains, which the travellers were approaching by way of Cœur d’Alène River, along which passed the Mullens road, and now the Northern Pacific Railway.—Ed.[300]The river here called St. Francis Regis is the same as St. Regis Borgia, for which see note 71,ante, p. 174. De Smet advanced down that stream to its junction with the Missoula, up the Missoula to St. Mary’s (or Bitterroot) River thence to the mission, for which see our volume xxvii, p. 282, note 145.—Ed.[301]For this Iroquois Indian see our volume xxvii, p. 230, note 104.—Ed.[302]The erection of the flour mill—the first in Montana—was due to the mechanical skill of Father Antonio Ravalli, who arrived at St. Mary’s mission in the autumn of 1845. The grinding stones, fifteen inches in diameter, were brought from Europe, and are still preserved as curiosities in the museum of the present St. Ignatius mission on the Flathead reservation. See Palladino,Indian and White in the Northwest, p. 46. The sawmill was made from wagon-tires, hammered and filed into a saw and a crank.—Ed.[303]For the Snake (Shoshoni) Indians see our volume v, p 227, note 122; the Bannock, xxi, p. 192, note 41; the Nez Percés, vi, p. 340, note 145; the Blackfeet, v, p. 225, note 120; also our volume xxiii, pp. 95-122.—Ed.[304]For the Crows see our volume v., p. 226, note 121.—Ed.[305]For Victor see our volume xxvii, p. 251, note 126. Governor Isaac Stevens said of him in 1853: “We have to-day seen a good deal of Victor in our camp, the Flathead chief, celebrated in the book of De Smet. He appears to be simple-minded, but rather wanting in energy, which might, however, be developed in an emergency.”—35 Cong., 2 sess.,Senate Docs., vol. 18, p. 109.—Ed.[306]The party were marching up the Yellowstone along its southern bank, to their left being the Snow Mountains, which extend just north of Yellowstone National Park.—Ed.[307]For Hell Gate (Devil’s Gate) see our volume xxvii, p. 269, note 139.—Ed.[308]The foot of the Blackfoot forks is the mouth of Big Blackfoot River, which rises in the main range of the Rockies and flows west for about seventy-five miles into Hellgate River, about five miles above the gorge called by that name. Up this stream is the “road that leads to the buffalo,” going over Lewis and Clark Pass—the route which Captain Lewis took on his return journey in 1806.—Ed.[309]Leaving to the left the Big Blackfoot River, and its easy pass across the mountains, De Smet continued up Hellgate River and its upper waters, Deer Lodge River (called by him Cart River). See our volume xxvii, p. 253, note 130, which describes the journey made by De Smet in 1841.—Ed.[310]No stream named “Arrowstone” is now charted. De Smet passed from the waters of the Columbia to those of the Missouri, by one of the numerous low and easy gaps between Mullen’s on the north and Deer Lodge on the south. Probably the party went over Cottonwood (or Peterson) Pass, leading from Deer Lodge County into Jefferson, coming out upon Boulder River, which empties into the Jefferson at Jefferson Island; or else they followed the Silverbow route past the present Butte, and proceeded by Big Pipestone Creek to the Jefferson—a route now used by the Montana railways. All these were well-worn Indian trails.—Ed.[311]For a brief description of the Three Forks of the Missouri see our volume xxiii, p. 138, note 114.—Ed.[312]See De Smet’s description of this route on his previous journey (1841), in hisLetters, our volume xxvii, p. 177, note 50.—Ed.[313]For the Wind River Mountains see our volume xxi, p. 134, note 35.—Ed.[314]The route lay almost directly north from the Yellowstone, along the valley of what is now Shield’s River (named by Lewis and Clark for one of their party), toward the sources of the Musselshell, the largest—with the exception of the Yellowstone—southern tributary of the Missouri. See our volume xxiii, p. 58, note 33.—Ed.[315]Probably the Elk Mountains, lying between the two forks of the Musselshell in Meagher County, Montana.—Ed.[316]For the previous relations of De Smet with this chief see hisLettersin our volume xxvii, pp. 317, 352.—Ed.[317]For the Piegan, one division of the Blackfeet, see Maximilian’sTravelsin our volume xxiii, pp. 95-97.—Ed.[318]For this stream see our volume xxiii, p. 70, note 51. The camp was probably upon one of the western affluents of the Judith, on the eastern edge of the Little Belt Mountains.—Ed.[319]For the Blood Indians, a branch of the Blackfoot tribe, consult our volume xxiii, pp. 95-97, especially note 84. The Grosventres of the Prairie, likewise called Fall Indians, are noted in our volume vi, p. 371, note 183; also our volume xxiii, pp. 75, 76. By the Blackfeet—his final category—De Smet intends that branch of the tribe known as Siksekai, or Blackfeet proper. See Maximilian’s description in our volume xxiii, pp 95, 96.—Ed.[320]Probably the missionary here mentioned was J. B. Thibault from Red River, who travelled extensively in the Saskatchewan territory; see note 122,ante, p. 231.—Ed.[321]The trader was Charles Larpenteur, then in the employ of the American Fur Company. He left Fort Union July 8, with one keel-boat and later made a Mackinac boat en route. See his journal in Elliott Coues,Forty Years a Fur-Trader on the Upper Missouri, ii, pp. 237-242.—Ed.[322]These tribes formed the Blackfoot confederacy, but the Sarcee (Surcees) and Grosventres belonged to different stocks. For the former see our volume xxiii, p. 90, note 77.—Ed.[323]Sata was at Fort Benton in 1847, and acted as guide to Larpenteur in the latter’s effort to reach the Flathead country. Larpenteur calls him a half-breed Blackfoot and Flathead; evidently his mother was of the latter tribe. SeeForty Years a Fur-Trader, pp. 272, 274.—Ed.[324]For the term “bourgeois” see our volume xxi, p. 183, note 33. Larpenteur’s journal inForty Years a Fur-Trader, ii, pp. 236-243, explains why neither he nor Malcolm Clarke was at the fort when the missionary arrived.—Ed.[325]For Maria’s River see our volume xxiii, p. 84, note 73. Little Sandy Creek, twenty-three miles below Maria’s, rises on the western slope of Bearpaw Mountain, and flows west and then south into the Missouri. For Maximilian’s description of the natural stone walls see our volume xxiii, pp. 71-83; also the representations in our atlas, volume xxv, Plates 18, 61, 68, and 74.—Ed.[326]For Porcupine River see our volume xxiii, p. 33, note 19. The pyramid of elks’ horns is described inibid., pp. 34, 35; and pictured in our atlas, volume xxv, Plate 21. De Smet describes its later destruction by a modern vandal, in Chittenden and Richardson,De Smet, iv, p. 1372.—Ed.[327]For Fort Union see our volume xxii, pp. 373-383. James Kipp, who had been at Fort Clark during Maximilian’s visit, was at this time in charge of Fort Union. See biographical sketch in our volume xxii, p. 345, note 319.—Ed.

[245]This band of Blackfeet, which took its name from an important chief, was mentioned by George Catlin in 1832, being said to consist of two hundred and fifty lodges. Father de Smet says that they were almost entirely destroyed. Charles Larpenteur, however, mentions this band as on the war path against the Flatheads in 1848; see hisForty Years a Fur Trader(New York, 1898), ii, pp. 259-261.—Ed.

[246]John Rowand was born at Montreal and entered the North West Company as a clerk in 1800. He was in charge at Fort Augustus for many years and there was born his son who became widely known in Northwest annals. Educated at Montreal and Edinburgh, he travelled abroad before returning to the Northwest, where he was for many years a chief factor of the company. He accompanied Sir George Simpson on his journey of 1841, and in 1848 retired from active service, settling in Quebec, where he died in 1889. SeeHenry-Thompson Journals, ii, pp. 602, 603; and Chittenden and Richardson,De Smet, iv. pp. 1559-1561.—Ed.

[247]For Fort Edmonton (or Fort Augustus) see our volume vi, p. 364, note 177. A nearly contemporary description may be found in Simpson,Narrative, i, pp. 101, 102.—Ed.

[248]For Fort Jasper see our volume vi, p. 357, note 167.Assiniboine House was built in 1825 on the north side of Athabasca River, in northern Alberta; the place is now abandoned and ruined. See Alexander Ross,Fur Hunters of the Far West(London, 1855), ii, p. 204.Lesser Slave Lake House, at the western end of the lake, was built by Alexander Stuart of the North West Company early in the nineteenth century.—Ed.

[248]For Fort Jasper see our volume vi, p. 357, note 167.

Assiniboine House was built in 1825 on the north side of Athabasca River, in northern Alberta; the place is now abandoned and ruined. See Alexander Ross,Fur Hunters of the Far West(London, 1855), ii, p. 204.

Lesser Slave Lake House, at the western end of the lake, was built by Alexander Stuart of the North West Company early in the nineteenth century.—Ed.

[249]For Fort des Montagnes seeante, p. 234, note 128.Fort Pitt was established in 1831, not far below old Fort Vermillion, about half way between Carlton and Edmonton, on the south bank of the Saskatchewan, about a hundred yards from the river. See description of its appearance in 1859, in Earl of Southesk,Saskatchewan and the Rocky Mountains(Edinburgh, 1875), pp. 139-142, 285-292.Fort Carlton (Carrollton) was the Hudson’s Bay post replacing the old Fort de la Montée, for which see our volume vi, p. 374, note 185. Sir George Simpson well describes its appearance in 1841 in hisNarrative, i, p. 84. For Cumberland House see our volume vi, p. 376, note 188.—Ed.

[249]For Fort des Montagnes seeante, p. 234, note 128.

Fort Pitt was established in 1831, not far below old Fort Vermillion, about half way between Carlton and Edmonton, on the south bank of the Saskatchewan, about a hundred yards from the river. See description of its appearance in 1859, in Earl of Southesk,Saskatchewan and the Rocky Mountains(Edinburgh, 1875), pp. 139-142, 285-292.

Fort Carlton (Carrollton) was the Hudson’s Bay post replacing the old Fort de la Montée, for which see our volume vi, p. 374, note 185. Sir George Simpson well describes its appearance in 1841 in hisNarrative, i, p. 84. For Cumberland House see our volume vi, p. 376, note 188.—Ed.

[250]The Lake of the Black Eagle does not appear to be charted, but the entire country between Forts Edmonton and Assiniboine abounds in lakes. This route was followed by Ross in 1825; see hisFur Hunters, ii, pp. 205, 209.—Ed.

[251]For the Pembina see our volume vi, p. 364, note 177. It is not feasible to identify all these affluents of the upper Athabasca. Next to Pembina, the largest of those mentioned is McLeod (McCloud) River, a southern branch coming in some fifty miles above old Fort Assiniboine. The Baptiste (the additional word Berland has been dropped) flows from the west, entering the Athabasca where it bends to the east.—Ed.

[252]Of the two lakes at the headwaters of the Athabasca, both are sometimes called Jasper, but the lower one was more frequently known as Burnt (or Brulé) Lake. For these and Jasper House see our volume vi, p. 357, note 167.—Ed.

[253]The names of these streams appear to change frequently. The Violin is now known as Fiddle River; it debouches from the south, near the upper end of Brulé Lake. Medicine appears to be identical with the stream called Rocky River, coming from very near the source of the North Saskatchewan. The Assiniboine is now usually called Snake Indian River; it takes its name from a small tribe that frequented its banks, who were totally exterminated early in the nineteenth century by a fierce band of Assiniboin.—Ed.

[254]The Maligne is a large stream coming from the south, not far from the source of the Brazeau. Gens de Colets is now known as Snaring River; it enters the Athabasca some miles above Jasper Lake. The Miette comes from the west and joins the Athabasca at its abrupt turn from north to east. The trail to Yellowhead Pass follows up the Miette, while that to Athabasca Pass follows the main Athabasca River, to the Trou (or Hole), more frequently Whirlpool River.—Ed.

[255]The Boucane is now Smoky River, the largest southwest affluent of Peace (a la Paix) River.—Ed.

[256]For Fraser River see Farnham’sTravels,ante, p. 43, note 52.A small branch of the Miette approaches within a few rods, on the summit of Yellowhead Pass of the upper source of the Fraser, running thence into Yellowhead, and sixteen miles lower down Moose Lake, whence issues the main Fraser.—Ed.

[256]For Fraser River see Farnham’sTravels,ante, p. 43, note 52.

A small branch of the Miette approaches within a few rods, on the summit of Yellowhead Pass of the upper source of the Fraser, running thence into Yellowhead, and sixteen miles lower down Moose Lake, whence issues the main Fraser.—Ed.

[257]For the Carrier Indians, see our volume xxvii, p. 307, note 160. They are the main branch of the Déné (Tinneh) stock, in British Columbia. See Rev. A. G. Morice, “Are the Carrier Sociology and Mythology exotic?” in Canadian Royal SocietyTransactions, x, part ii, pp. 109-120, with map giving location of the tribes of New Caledonia.By the Achiganes, De Smet probably intends the Sekanais (Tsekenné), who inhabit the western slopes of the Rockies from latitude 54° to 60°. They are a nomadic people of the Déné stock, lacking houses, villages, or social organization. Despising fish, they subsist on game and roots. Numbering about two hundred souls, they now exist in two wandering bands in the Babine and Upper Skeena River agency, Hoquelget division, British Columbia.—Ed.

By the Achiganes, De Smet probably intends the Sekanais (Tsekenné), who inhabit the western slopes of the Rockies from latitude 54° to 60°. They are a nomadic people of the Déné stock, lacking houses, villages, or social organization. Despising fish, they subsist on game and roots. Numbering about two hundred souls, they now exist in two wandering bands in the Babine and Upper Skeena River agency, Hoquelget division, British Columbia.—Ed.

[258]The Montagnais are a branch of the great Athapascan (or Déné) stock of northern Indians. By some authorities they are identified with the Chippewyan; others consider them the western branch of the Chippewyan tribe—De Smet uses the term in the first sense. The Chippewyan still rove in their ancient habitat on Athabasca lake and river. The majority of the tribe has been christianized by Catholic missionaries.—Ed.

[259]Lake Athabasca, in the northern portion of the territory of that name, is the outlet of Athabasca River, and extends 190 miles in length and from five to fifty-five in width. It discharges by Slave River into Great Slave Lake, thence through the Mackenzie into the Arctic Ocean. Fort Chippewyan, upon the shore of Lake Athabasca, was one of the earliest trading posts erected by the English in the Northwest. Thence Sir Alexander Mackenzie made his famous explorations (1789-93).—Ed.

[260]The Oblate monk was Alexandre Antoine Taché, later archbishop of St. Boniface on the Red River, and the priest Father L. Laflèche. Father Thibault had visited all the Athabascan district in the summer of 1844, preparing the way for permanent mission stations. Reporting to Bishop Provencher at Winnipeg, the latter sent the two missionaries to found a central station at Ile à la Crosse (largely frequented by Crees), whence stations were later established at Cariboo Lake and Lake Athabasca.Father Laflèche came to the Red River country in 1844, remaining at Ile à la Crosse until 1849, when infirmities led him to retire. Elected coadjutor for Bishop Provencher, he declined the responsibility, but served as vicar general until 1856.Taché was Canadian born (1823); educated at Montreal, he joined the Oblate order, and (1845) volunteered for mission service on the frontier. Arrived at Red River, he was ordained priest, and sent (July, 1846) to found the mission at Ile à la Crosse, whence he made journeys to the distant tribes of the Northwest. Elected coadjutor bishop in 1849, he visited Europe, being two years later consecrated in France. Returning to Canada, he went back to his mission, whence he was summoned to Winnipeg by the death of Bishop Provencher (1853). Taché was an important figure in the Canadian Northwest, being profoundly interested for the material and spiritual welfare of the Indians and half-breeds. He interceded with the Dominion government for the latter’s grievances in 1869, and after the Riel rebellion was useful in restoring harmony. Raised to an archbishopric in 1871, he ably administered his diocese until his death in 1894.See his own account of his early missionary experiences inVingt Années de Missions dans le Nord-Ouest de l’Amérique.—Ed.

Father Laflèche came to the Red River country in 1844, remaining at Ile à la Crosse until 1849, when infirmities led him to retire. Elected coadjutor for Bishop Provencher, he declined the responsibility, but served as vicar general until 1856.

Taché was Canadian born (1823); educated at Montreal, he joined the Oblate order, and (1845) volunteered for mission service on the frontier. Arrived at Red River, he was ordained priest, and sent (July, 1846) to found the mission at Ile à la Crosse, whence he made journeys to the distant tribes of the Northwest. Elected coadjutor bishop in 1849, he visited Europe, being two years later consecrated in France. Returning to Canada, he went back to his mission, whence he was summoned to Winnipeg by the death of Bishop Provencher (1853). Taché was an important figure in the Canadian Northwest, being profoundly interested for the material and spiritual welfare of the Indians and half-breeds. He interceded with the Dominion government for the latter’s grievances in 1869, and after the Riel rebellion was useful in restoring harmony. Raised to an archbishopric in 1871, he ably administered his diocese until his death in 1894.

See his own account of his early missionary experiences inVingt Années de Missions dans le Nord-Ouest de l’Amérique.—Ed.

[261]Paul, son of Simon Fraser the explorer (for whom see Farnham’sTravels,ante, p. 43, note 52), was born in Glengarry, Ontario, in 1799. He entered the Hudson’s Bay Company as early as 1827, or before, and in the following year was chief clerk in charge at Fort Vermillion, when Sir George Simpson passed that way. In 1833 he was a senior clerk at Fort McLeod, giving his principal attention to New Caledonia where he was a chief trader before 1844. He built Fort Umpqua in Oregon, and was stationed there for some time. In 1850 he resigned from the Northern department and was sent to Fort Kamloops, where not long afterwards he was killed by the fall of a tree.—Ed.

[262]There is an Island Lake on the Sturgeon River chain, not far from Lake Ann, but De Smet’s topography is too indefinite to insure identification.—Ed.

[263]La Fourche du Trou (Fork of the Hole), better known as Whirlpool River, is that branch of the Athabasca that descends from the Committee’s Punch Bowl on the summit of Athabasca Pass. The first appellation is given because of a peculiar rock formation by which it enters the other branch of the Athabasca through a rocky channel or hole. See our volume vi, p. 353.—Ed.

[264]By reference to Letter iii,ante, pp. 170-172, it will be seen that all the succeeding letters to this point were enclosed with that accompanying them, and forwarded by the usual Columbia brigade, which De Smet met at this point of his journey.—Ed.

[265]For a brief sketch of York Factory see our volume vi, p. 377, note 191.—Ed.

[266]For Francis Ermatinger see our volume xxvii, p. 235, note 108.—Ed.

[267]This river has various names, by some called Portage, and by others Little Canoe, since it enters the Columbia at its great northern bend, just where the Canoe River coming from the north also joins it. This westward-flowing mountain torrent—first discovered by David Thompson in 1810-11—issues from a small lake at the summit of the pass, within a few rods of the Committee’s Punch Bowl.—Ed.

[268]So named from Thompson’s camp, where he stopped to build canoes to descend the Columbia. It became a noted site on the upper Columbia, where horses or snow-shoes were exchanged for canoes or vice versa.—Ed.

[269]For the two peaks here mentioned, see Farnham’sTravels,ante, pp. 29, 30, notes 22, 23.—Ed.

[270]The Dalles of the Dead was an especially dangerous place on the upper Columbia. Probably they took their name from the sad fate of a party who turned back from Boat Encampment in 1817. See Ross Cox,Adventures on the Columbia River(New York, 1832), p. 245.—Ed.

[271]Alexander Ross in hisFur Hunters, ii, pp. 165-175, speaks of paintings in red ochre upon a rock on Lower Arrow Lake, against which the passing Indians shot their arrows in defiance of the tribes beyond. By examining these arrows, the natives could tell what tribes have lately passed. Doubtless from this custom the lakes have received their name. They are wide spreads of the river, beautifully located, amid high cliffs and peaks. Upper Arrow Lake is about thirty-three miles long and three broad; the Lower is more tortuous, and slightly longer and narrower. The distance between them is more nearly sixteen than six miles.—Ed.

[272]For these two lakes see our volume xxvii, pp. 339, 359, notes 175, 181, respectively.—Ed.

[273]Roothan was at that time father general of the Jesuit order; see our volume xxvii, p. 155, note 25 (De Smet). The lake is now known as Priest Lake, and Blackrobe River as Priest River, occupying a forest reserve of that name in northwestern Idaho, with a like strip in northeastern Washington.—Ed.

[274]This portion of the river is fifteen miles south of the international boundary line, and twenty-six above Kettle Falls. It is known as the Little Dalles, the cañon being deep and narrow, without bottom lands. See Thomas W. Symons,Report of an Examination of the Upper Columbia River(Washington, 1882), pp. 11-13.—Ed.

[275]Lewes (according to H. H. Bancroft, John Lee; according to Father Morice, Thomas) was an old North West Company man, who was now chief factor in the Hudson’s Bay Company. He had been stationed both on Mackenzie River and in New Caledonia, and came to Colville about 1845. Offered chief command of the latter district the following year, he declined because of ill-health. Soon afterwards resigning, he retired to Australia, but ultimately returned and settled in the Red River country.—Ed.

[276]For Commodore Wilkes see Farnham’sTravels,ante, p. 72, note 88.—Ed.

[277]For Fort Okanagan see our volume vi, p. 260, note 71.—Ed.

[278]De Smet proceeded with his Indian guides up the valley of Okanagan River and lake, crossed to the upper waters of the South Thompson, and came out on Shuswap Lake, a large irregularly-formed body of water, a gathering place for the tribes of that stock. See our volume vii, p. 159, notes 51, 52.—Ed.

[279]“Fort of the Sioushwaps” is Fort Kamloops, for which see our volume vii, p. 199, note 64.—Ed.

[280]See Farnham’sTravels,ante, p. 44, note 53.—Ed.

[281]Fort George, situated at the confluence of the Nechaco with the Fraser, was built by Simon Fraser in the autumn of 1807, and named in honor of the reigning English monarch. Hugh Faries was the first officer in charge. The fort stood in the midst of a hunting country, and was noted for its fine furs. A Hudson’s Bay Company post is still maintained at this place.—Ed.

[282]Father de Smet ascended first the Nechaco to the embouchment of Stuart River, then up that stream—whose native name is Nakasley or Na’kaztle—to Stuart Lake, where is situated the capital of New Caledonia, Fort St. James. See Farnham’sTravels,ante, p. 58, note 77.—Ed.

[283]The mission at Fort St. James received no further visit after that of Father de Smet’s successor, Father Nobili (1847), for twenty-one years. In 1868 the order of Oblates sent two missioners thither who were at the fort in the early summer, and soon after founded a permanent mission thereat, of which Father Adrian G. Morice was for many years the head. See hisHistory of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, pp. 326-336.—Ed.

[284]The Chilcotin are one of the four tribes of Western Déné, occupying the valley of the river bearing their name. They are nearly related to the Carrier in their customs and modes of life; but have always been more turbulent, and difficult to control. The Hudson’s Bay Company built a fort among them which was later abandoned because of the untrustworthy character of the native population; see Farnham’sTravels,ante, p. 58, note 77. In 1864 they attacked the miners of the region, and the consequent punitive expedition cost the Dominion government over $60,000. They are now on reservations in their valley, being Roman Catholic communicants and gradually becoming civilized.—Ed.

[285]For the forts upon these lakes and their location, see Farnham’sTravels,ante, pp. 56, 58, notes 68, 77.Fort Babine—during the first years called Fort Kilmaurs—was built in 1822 on the north bank of the lake of that name. Pierre C. Pambrum and William Connolly were the first traders in charge. The Babine Indians, so named from the plug of wood worn by the women to enlarge the lower lip, were loyal Hudson’s Bay people, and good hunters. There are still three bands of this tribe dwelling near Babine Lake—one known as the Old Fort Babines have a village in the vicinity of the first post, fourteen miles from the foot of the lake, and accessible only by canoes.The fort on Bear Lake was named Connolly, and established in 1826 for the benefit of the northern Sekanais. The earliest post was built on an island in the lake, and was the most northerly of the interior stations of New Caledonia.—Ed.

[285]For the forts upon these lakes and their location, see Farnham’sTravels,ante, pp. 56, 58, notes 68, 77.

Fort Babine—during the first years called Fort Kilmaurs—was built in 1822 on the north bank of the lake of that name. Pierre C. Pambrum and William Connolly were the first traders in charge. The Babine Indians, so named from the plug of wood worn by the women to enlarge the lower lip, were loyal Hudson’s Bay people, and good hunters. There are still three bands of this tribe dwelling near Babine Lake—one known as the Old Fort Babines have a village in the vicinity of the first post, fourteen miles from the foot of the lake, and accessible only by canoes.

The fort on Bear Lake was named Connolly, and established in 1826 for the benefit of the northern Sekanais. The earliest post was built on an island in the lake, and was the most northerly of the interior stations of New Caledonia.—Ed.

[286]The Shushwap (Atnahs) proper live on both branches of Thompson River; the Okanagan, on the lake and river of that name. Lake Superior (or the “Upper” Lake) is probably Upper Arrow Lake of the Columbia. The Fountain of Fraser River (not Lake) is an Indian village known as Hulilp, near the site of the modern Lillooet; probably the author intends by this the whole tribe of Lillooets, a western branch of the Shushwap. The Knife Indians are probably the Thompson (or Similkameen) branch of the Shushwap stock, inhabiting the valley of Similkameen River and ranging thence to the Thompson and Fraser. The six bands of Shushwap here named correspond in part with the divisions given by G. M. Dawson in “The Shuswaps of British Columbia,” in Canadian Royal SocietyTransactions, ix, part 2, pp. 3-43.—Ed.

[287]Peter H. Burnett was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1807. While still young he moved with his parents to Missouri, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits and began legal studies. Upon the introduction of Senator Linn’s bill in Congress providing land for bona fide Oregon settlers, Burnett determined to emigrate thither, and was chosen captain of a large company, which set forth in 1843. Arrived in Oregon, he settled first at Linnville, then at Tualatin Plains, where he took much interest in the provisional government and was a member of its first legislative committee (1844). The following year he was chosen judge of the supreme court, and upon the establishment of territorial government was appointed justice of the United States court. In 1848 he went to California, where in 1850 he was elected first governor of the new state, and later (1857-58) served as justice of the California supreme court. Embarking in the banking business in San Francisco, he won eminence as a financier, dying in his adopted home in 1894. He has related his experiences inRecollections and Opinions of an Old Pioneer(New York, 1880). He therein details his conversion to Catholicism, due chiefly to conviction following the reading of controversial works. Going to Oregon City, he was received into the church by Father Devos (June, 1846).Dr. John E. Long was a native of England, being educated for a physician. Emigrating to the United States in 1833, and to Oregon ten years later, he acted as recorder of the first legislature of the provisional government, but in 1846 was killed by an accident.—Ed.

Dr. John E. Long was a native of England, being educated for a physician. Emigrating to the United States in 1833, and to Oregon ten years later, he acted as recorder of the first legislature of the provisional government, but in 1846 was killed by an accident.—Ed.

[288]Donald Manson, born in Scotland in 1800, entered the Hudson’s Bay Company at the age of seventeen, and was sent out to York Factory. Three years later, at Winnipeg, he met Dr. McLoughlin and in 1823 accompanied him to the Pacific department. At first assigned to an exploring expedition under charge of Samuel Black, he reached Vancouver January 6, 1825, and aided in completing its works. Two years later he accompanied the expedition that founded Fort Langley, and was afterwards sent to restore the trading post of old Fort George, at the mouth of the Columbia. In 1829 Manson was placed in charge of Fort McLoughlin, on Millbank Sound, and there remained for ten years, after which a well-deserved furlough gave him the opportunity to revisit Scotland. Returning to the Pacific, he was sent (1841) to succeed Samuel Black at Kamloops, and to punish the latter’s murderers; the following year a like task was assigned him at Stikeen. In 1844 Manson was placed in command of New Caledonia, with headquarters at Fort St. James, a position ably filled for fourteen years, when he retired from the service and settled near Champoeg, in the Willamette valley, where he died January 7, 1880. He married (1828) the daughter of Etienne Lucier, first settler of French Prairie, and had a large family of children. See interview with his daughter in Oregon HistoricalQuarterly, iv, p. 263; also Oregon Pioneer AssociationTransactions, 1879, p. 56.—Ed.

[289]For Fort Walla Walla see our volume xxi, p. 278, note 73. The clerk in charge was William B. McBean (not McBride), an educated half-breed born in 1790 on the eastern side of the Rockies. In 1825 he was a subordinate at Fort Alexandria; from 1836 to 1842 in charge at Fort Babine. Thence he was sent to Fort Connolly (1842), and next (1845) succeeded Archibald McKinley at Walla Walla. He attained an unpleasant notoriety in connection with the Whitman massacre, because of his Catholic proclivities, and his tardiness in aiding the survivors; but most of the charges against him were unfounded. In New Caledonia he had a reputation for being despotic and wily, also somewhat fanatical in religious matters.—Ed.

[290]For the Lewis River see our volume vi, p. 277, note 86. The crossing must have been made not far from the boundary line between Walla Walla and Columbia counties on the south side of the river, and that between Franklin and Whitman counties on the northern bank.—Ed.

[291]The Paloos were a Shahaptian tribe, nearly related, as De Smet says, to the Nez Percés. Their habitat was the north bank of Lewis River, from the mouth of Palouse River to that of the Lewis. Lewis and Clark called them “Palleotepellows,” and credited them with 1,600 souls. In 1854 there were five hundred extant in three bands. They took part in the wars of 1855-58, but were thoroughly cowed by Colonel George Wright’s invasion of their territory. In 1860 their agent reported that the remnant of the tribe had intermarried and settled among the Nez Percés, on the Lapwai reservation in Idaho, and after that their separate tribal existence lapsed.—Ed.

[292]Now known as Palouse River, the largest northern tributary of the Lewis, below the Clearwater. Rising in eastern Idaho, it flows west and then south—through a considerable cañon in its lower course, forming falls over a hundred feet in height, about seven miles above its confluence with the Lewis.—Ed.

[293]For Spokane River, see our volume xxvii, p. 366, note 185. De Smet probably crossed the river not far from the present city of Spokane.—Ed.

[294]Of these two upper branches of the Cœur d’Alène, St. Joseph’s has retained its name. Rising in the Bitter Root (not now called Pointed Heart) Mountains it flows northwest into the southern arm of Cœur d’Alène Lake. The St. Ignatius is now known as the Cœur d’Alène River; and through its valley runs the Northern Pacific Railway. See our volume xxvii, p. 365, note 184.—Ed.

[295]Mrs. S. Parmentier of Brooklyn, a liberal donor to Father de Smet’s missions, to whom the following letter is addressed.—Ed.

[296]Apparently this was the present Blake’s Lake, in northern Spokane County, which discharges by the West Branch into Little Spokane River. No other lake north of Spokane River appears to answer to De Smet’s description. Blake’s is about three miles long and a half mile wide, and is in the forest region.—Ed.

[297]Probably Spokane Falls, the site of the modern city of that name.—Ed.

[298]For the mission of Sacred Heart see our volume xxvii, p. 365, note 184. A sketch of Father Point is given in the same volume, p. 192, note 67; those of Father Joset and Brother Magri,ante, p. 139, note 42. For a description and engraving of this mission as it appeared in 1853 see 35 Cong., 2 sess.,Senate Docs., vol. 18, pp. 112-114.—Ed.

[299]The Bitterroot Mountains, which the travellers were approaching by way of Cœur d’Alène River, along which passed the Mullens road, and now the Northern Pacific Railway.—Ed.

[300]The river here called St. Francis Regis is the same as St. Regis Borgia, for which see note 71,ante, p. 174. De Smet advanced down that stream to its junction with the Missoula, up the Missoula to St. Mary’s (or Bitterroot) River thence to the mission, for which see our volume xxvii, p. 282, note 145.—Ed.

[301]For this Iroquois Indian see our volume xxvii, p. 230, note 104.—Ed.

[302]The erection of the flour mill—the first in Montana—was due to the mechanical skill of Father Antonio Ravalli, who arrived at St. Mary’s mission in the autumn of 1845. The grinding stones, fifteen inches in diameter, were brought from Europe, and are still preserved as curiosities in the museum of the present St. Ignatius mission on the Flathead reservation. See Palladino,Indian and White in the Northwest, p. 46. The sawmill was made from wagon-tires, hammered and filed into a saw and a crank.—Ed.

[303]For the Snake (Shoshoni) Indians see our volume v, p 227, note 122; the Bannock, xxi, p. 192, note 41; the Nez Percés, vi, p. 340, note 145; the Blackfeet, v, p. 225, note 120; also our volume xxiii, pp. 95-122.—Ed.

[304]For the Crows see our volume v., p. 226, note 121.—Ed.

[305]For Victor see our volume xxvii, p. 251, note 126. Governor Isaac Stevens said of him in 1853: “We have to-day seen a good deal of Victor in our camp, the Flathead chief, celebrated in the book of De Smet. He appears to be simple-minded, but rather wanting in energy, which might, however, be developed in an emergency.”—35 Cong., 2 sess.,Senate Docs., vol. 18, p. 109.—Ed.

[306]The party were marching up the Yellowstone along its southern bank, to their left being the Snow Mountains, which extend just north of Yellowstone National Park.—Ed.

[307]For Hell Gate (Devil’s Gate) see our volume xxvii, p. 269, note 139.—Ed.

[308]The foot of the Blackfoot forks is the mouth of Big Blackfoot River, which rises in the main range of the Rockies and flows west for about seventy-five miles into Hellgate River, about five miles above the gorge called by that name. Up this stream is the “road that leads to the buffalo,” going over Lewis and Clark Pass—the route which Captain Lewis took on his return journey in 1806.—Ed.

[309]Leaving to the left the Big Blackfoot River, and its easy pass across the mountains, De Smet continued up Hellgate River and its upper waters, Deer Lodge River (called by him Cart River). See our volume xxvii, p. 253, note 130, which describes the journey made by De Smet in 1841.—Ed.

[310]No stream named “Arrowstone” is now charted. De Smet passed from the waters of the Columbia to those of the Missouri, by one of the numerous low and easy gaps between Mullen’s on the north and Deer Lodge on the south. Probably the party went over Cottonwood (or Peterson) Pass, leading from Deer Lodge County into Jefferson, coming out upon Boulder River, which empties into the Jefferson at Jefferson Island; or else they followed the Silverbow route past the present Butte, and proceeded by Big Pipestone Creek to the Jefferson—a route now used by the Montana railways. All these were well-worn Indian trails.—Ed.

[311]For a brief description of the Three Forks of the Missouri see our volume xxiii, p. 138, note 114.—Ed.

[312]See De Smet’s description of this route on his previous journey (1841), in hisLetters, our volume xxvii, p. 177, note 50.—Ed.

[313]For the Wind River Mountains see our volume xxi, p. 134, note 35.—Ed.

[314]The route lay almost directly north from the Yellowstone, along the valley of what is now Shield’s River (named by Lewis and Clark for one of their party), toward the sources of the Musselshell, the largest—with the exception of the Yellowstone—southern tributary of the Missouri. See our volume xxiii, p. 58, note 33.—Ed.

[315]Probably the Elk Mountains, lying between the two forks of the Musselshell in Meagher County, Montana.—Ed.

[316]For the previous relations of De Smet with this chief see hisLettersin our volume xxvii, pp. 317, 352.—Ed.

[317]For the Piegan, one division of the Blackfeet, see Maximilian’sTravelsin our volume xxiii, pp. 95-97.—Ed.

[318]For this stream see our volume xxiii, p. 70, note 51. The camp was probably upon one of the western affluents of the Judith, on the eastern edge of the Little Belt Mountains.—Ed.

[319]For the Blood Indians, a branch of the Blackfoot tribe, consult our volume xxiii, pp. 95-97, especially note 84. The Grosventres of the Prairie, likewise called Fall Indians, are noted in our volume vi, p. 371, note 183; also our volume xxiii, pp. 75, 76. By the Blackfeet—his final category—De Smet intends that branch of the tribe known as Siksekai, or Blackfeet proper. See Maximilian’s description in our volume xxiii, pp 95, 96.—Ed.

[320]Probably the missionary here mentioned was J. B. Thibault from Red River, who travelled extensively in the Saskatchewan territory; see note 122,ante, p. 231.—Ed.

[321]The trader was Charles Larpenteur, then in the employ of the American Fur Company. He left Fort Union July 8, with one keel-boat and later made a Mackinac boat en route. See his journal in Elliott Coues,Forty Years a Fur-Trader on the Upper Missouri, ii, pp. 237-242.—Ed.

[322]These tribes formed the Blackfoot confederacy, but the Sarcee (Surcees) and Grosventres belonged to different stocks. For the former see our volume xxiii, p. 90, note 77.—Ed.

[323]Sata was at Fort Benton in 1847, and acted as guide to Larpenteur in the latter’s effort to reach the Flathead country. Larpenteur calls him a half-breed Blackfoot and Flathead; evidently his mother was of the latter tribe. SeeForty Years a Fur-Trader, pp. 272, 274.—Ed.

[324]For the term “bourgeois” see our volume xxi, p. 183, note 33. Larpenteur’s journal inForty Years a Fur-Trader, ii, pp. 236-243, explains why neither he nor Malcolm Clarke was at the fort when the missionary arrived.—Ed.

[325]For Maria’s River see our volume xxiii, p. 84, note 73. Little Sandy Creek, twenty-three miles below Maria’s, rises on the western slope of Bearpaw Mountain, and flows west and then south into the Missouri. For Maximilian’s description of the natural stone walls see our volume xxiii, pp. 71-83; also the representations in our atlas, volume xxv, Plates 18, 61, 68, and 74.—Ed.

[326]For Porcupine River see our volume xxiii, p. 33, note 19. The pyramid of elks’ horns is described inibid., pp. 34, 35; and pictured in our atlas, volume xxv, Plate 21. De Smet describes its later destruction by a modern vandal, in Chittenden and Richardson,De Smet, iv, p. 1372.—Ed.

[327]For Fort Union see our volume xxii, pp. 373-383. James Kipp, who had been at Fort Clark during Maximilian’s visit, was at this time in charge of Fort Union. See biographical sketch in our volume xxii, p. 345, note 319.—Ed.

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