Hunters at the Buffalo Feast
Hunters at the Buffalo Feast
I here beg the favor of a short digression from mysubject. Coal abounds east of the Rocky {160} Mountains, on the borders of the Missouri and Yellow Rock, on the Sascatshawin and Athabaska. Saltpetre is found in abundance, and iron is not scarce in many parts of the mountains. I have already spoken of lead in the country of the “Koetenays,” the name of the river at the copper mine in the north, indicates its riches; bars of this precious metal are discovered among the rocks bordering the river. Rock salt is found in powder, and very plentiful in the Pays Serpent.[232]
The valley is picturesque and variegated; flocks of sheep and goats contribute to beautify the scenery. We find many tracks of the bears and buffaloes; on seeing the latter my party became animated; for the buffaloes’ flesh is, without contradiction, the most delicate of these regions. One is never tired of it. Hitherto, the animals of the mountains had abundantly satisfied our necessities, for the huntsmen killed no less than eighteen pieces, without counting the fowl and fish which are so plentiful in this country. The same evening the remainder of our provisions was consumed, and a buffalo chase was proposed for the following day. One of the sportsmen set out early, and at breakfast time we perceived him coming, with a round {161} fat cow; immediately the ribs, tripes, etc., honored the fire with their presence. The rest of the day was spent in seeking fresh provisions.
The 30th, we continued our route through the valley, where a rivulet of clear water meanders. It is similar to all the other valleys west of the mountains, agreeably diversified with meadows, lakes, and forests—the valley widens in proportion as one descends—the rocky banksdisappear—the mountains decrease, and appear insensibly to commingle with one another. Some are covered with forests even to their tops, others present cones, elevated ramparts, covered with rich verdure.
The 4th October, after having traversed the great chain of mountains nineteen days in pursuit of the Black-Feet, we entered the vast plain, this ocean of prairies, inhabited by a multitude of roving savages, buried in the deepest superstition. The Black-Feet, Crows, Serpents, Arikaras, Assiniboins of the plains, the Sheyennes, Camanches, Sioux, Omahas, Ottos, Pawnees, Kants, Saucs, Ajouas,[233]etc., etc., are without pastors! We hope that Divine Providence has not deferred the epoch when the darkness now overwhelming these immense regions will give place to the beneficial light of {162} the gospel;—that worthy and zealous pastors will come to guide in the way of salvation these poor and unhappy children of the desert, who, during so many ages, have groaned under the dominion of the devil, and among whom the war-song and the cry of carnage never ceased to resound. There, we hope, will reign in their turn, peace and Christian charity, and the fragrance of divine love and praise ascend to the only true God.
The worthy Bishop of Juliopolis has established his See on the Red river, a tributary of the Winnepeg, amidst the possessions of the Anglo-Indians.[234]Already two of his zealous missionaries, Rev. Messrs. Thibault and Bourassa, have penetrated to the very foot of the Rocky Mountains, whilst other indefatigable priests have been employed, for many years, in extending the kingdom of God in this immense diocess. The population of RedRiver is about 5,500 souls, of whom 3,175 are Catholics. There are 730 houses inhabited. I had the honor of receiving a letter from the Rev. Mr. Thibault on my arrival in this latitude. He says:
“From the month of March to September last, I have labored among the mountain nations; they are well disposed to embrace the {163} faith. I cannot give you a better idea of these people than by comparing them to the Flatheads. I have baptized more than five hundred children and adults in the course of this mission. As soon as I find the opportunity of a water conveyance, I shall continue my labors among these good savages, and extend my route as far as McKenzie’s river. A rich harvest would be there found for many laborers in the sacred ministry, for this nation is populous and occupies a vast extent of country, without including several other nations I visited this summer. ‘Come, then, to us,’ said they, ‘we, also, shall be happy to learn the joyful news you have brought our brethren of the mountains; we are to be pitied, not knowing the word of the Great Spirit; be, therefore, charitable to us—come, teachusthe way of salvation—we will listen to it.’
“My fellow-laborer, Bourassa, set out in September, to announce the Gospel to the Indians residing near the river de la Paix.”[235]
From Lake St. Anne, or Manitou, the ordinary residence of these two gentlemen, they extend their apostolic course to the different tribes on the rivers Athabaska and McKenzie, Peace river, and Slave lake.[236]
{164} Within the limits, as far as they have travelled, are found the Black-Feet, Crees, Assiniboins of the forest, of the mountains, Beaver Hunters, Flat-side Dogs, Slaves, and Deer-Skins.[237](It is by these names that the different Indians are known among the whites and travellers.)
The great Indian district of the United States is (if I may say so) the only one deprived of spiritual succor and the means of salvation. It contains several hundred thousand savages. This vast territory is bounded on the north-west by the Anglo-Indian possessions—east by the Western States—south by Texas and Mexico—west by the Rocky Mountains. It contains many forts or trading houses, in which the greater number of persons employed are Canadian Catholics or French creoles. The principal of these forts are, Fort des Corbeaux, or Alexander, on the Yellow Stone, Fort la Ramee, on a branch of the river Platte, Fort Osage, on the river of the same name—Fort Pied-noir, or Lewis, at the mouth of the river Maria, Fort Union near the mouth of the Yellow Rock, Fort Berthold, Fort Mandan or Clark, near the mouth of the Little Missouri, Fort Pierre, Fort Look-out and Fort Vermillion at the mouth of this river, the other trading {165} houses among the Pottowatomies of Council Bluffs and of Belle-vue for the Ottos and Pawnees. The great depository which furnishes these Forts andreceives all the peltry and buffalo hides, is kept at St. Louis.[238]
Monseigneur Loras, Bishop of Dubuque, has sent two priests among the Sioux, on the river St. Pierre, a tributary of the Mississippi.[239]
The Society of Jesus has a mission among the Pottowatomies on Sugar Creek, a tributary of the Osage river.[240]The Ladies of the Sacred Heart have an establishment here. During the summer of 1841, the late distinguished Madame de Galitzin, provincial of the Order in America, visited this section of the country for the purpose of founding, among these rude savages, a house of education, in which the hapless children of the desert now enjoy the benefit of being instructed in the Christian faith, of being formed to habits of industry and cleanliness, and acquiring a knowledge of those branches of education suited to their condition.—These two missions are located near the frontiers of the States, and are the only ones in this immense territory.
The upper Missouri, and all its branches as far as the Rocky Mountains, are without spiritual assistance {166}. Whereverthe priesthas passed in traversing the desert, he has been received with open arms among the tribes that rove over this country—alas! so long a time forgotten and neglected!
The evening of 4th October, I arrived at the Fort des Montagnes, belonging to the Hon. Hudson Bay Company, without having accomplished the object of my travels and my desires, namely, meeting theBlack-feet.[241]Therespectable and worthy commander of the Fort, Mr. Harriot, an Englishman by birth, is among the most amiable gentlemen I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. He invited, and received into his hospitable Fort the poor missionary, a Catholic and stranger, with politeness and cordiality truly fraternal. These qualities characterize all the gentlemen of the Hudson Bay Company, and although Mr. Harriot is a Protestant, he encouraged me to visit theBlack-feet, who would soon arrive at the Fort, promising me to use all his influence with these barbarians to obtain me a friendly reception. He has resided many years among them, nevertheless he did not conceal from me that I should soon be exposed to great dangers. “We are in the hands of God—may His holy will be done.”
{167} I am, with the most profound respect and esteem, monseigneur, your very humble and obedient servant in Jesus Christ,
P. J. De Smet, S. J.
Fort of the Mountains, October 30th, 1845.
Monseigneur,—A band of about twenty Crees, encamped near the Fort, came to shake hands cordially with me on my arrival. The joy my presence seemed to occasion them, proved that I was not the first priest they had seen. Moreover, the greater number wore medals and crosses.They informed me that they too had been so fortunate as to have aBlack-Gown, (Rev. Mr. Thibault,) who taught them to know and serve the Great Spirit—and baptized all their little children, with the exception of three, who were absent on the occasion. These children were brought to me—I administered baptism to them, and at the same time to one of my guides, a Koetenay. During their stay at the Fort, I gave them instructions every evening.
Two Crees, of the same band and family, father and son, had been killed in a quarrel two {169} years since. The presence of the offending party for the first time since the perpetration of the murder, rekindled in the others that spirit of rancor and revenge so natural to an Indian’s breast, and there was every reason to apprehend fatal consequences from the old feud.
With the approbation of Mr. Harriot, I assembled them all in the Fort; the governor himself had the kindness to be my interpreter. He made a long discourse on the obligation and necessity of their coming to a sincere reconciliation; the matter was discussed in form, each Indian giving his opinion in turn, with a good sense and moderation that surprised me. I had the pleasure and satisfaction of seeing the calumet passed around the assembly. This is the solemn pledge of peace—the token of Indian brotherhood—the most formal declaration of the entire forgetfulness and sincere pardon of an injury.
The Cree nation is considered very powerful, and numbers more than six hundred wigwams. This tribe is one of the most formidable enemies of the Black-Feet, and continually encroaches upon the territory of its adversaries. The preceding year they carried off more than six hundred horses. The actual limit of the country {170} they traverse extends from the bases of the Rocky Mountains, betweenthe two forks of the Sascatshawin, some distance beyond the Red River. Their turbulent and warlike spirit, and rapacity for plunder, especially for horses, are among the great obstacles which retard the conversion of the larger portion of this tribe.
The example of their brethren, who listen with docility to the exhortations of their zealous and indefatigable missionary will, we trust, produce fruit in due time, and be imitated by the entire nation.
To give you an idea of their military discipline, and of the profound superstition in which these unfortunate people are still immersed, I will relate to you some of their proceedings.
The Crees were meditating a deadly stroke upon the Black-Feet, and for this purpose they collected all their ready forces, amounting to more than eight hundred warriors. Before setting out in quest of the enemy, every species of juggling and witchcraft imaginable was resorted to, in order to secure the success of the expedition. It was decided that a young girl, with a bandage over her eyes, should be placed at the head of the Indian army, and thus blindfold, serve as a guide to the combatants. In case {171} of success, the heroine was destined to become the bride of the most valiant. According to the Oracle, none but the greatchiefhimself had the privilege of shoeing or unshoeing her.
This concluded, they began their march, intoxicated with confidence and presumption, following this extraordinary guide over the hills and valleys, ravines, marshes, and swamps. One day she would direct her steps towards the north, the next to the south or west—the point of the compass mattered naught—the Manitou of war was supposed to guide her, and day after day the infatuated Crees continued to follow the steps of the blindfoldedIndian. They had already penetrated far into the plain, when they were discovered by a party of seven Black-feet. The latter might easily have escaped under favor of the night, but the Partisan, or Black-foot Chieftain, a man of undaunted courage, determined to oppose this formidable force. With the aid of their poniards they made themselves a hollow, in which they took shelter.
The following morning, at day-break, the eight hundred champions surrounded their feeble prey. The first who pressed forward to dislodge them were driven back several times, with the loss of seven men and fifteen wounded. The failure of {172} ammunition at length put the Black-feet at the mercy of the Crees, by whom they were cut into pieces. The first engagement threw the victorious party into consternation, for they too numbered seven killed and fifteen wounded. They removed the bandage from the young heroine’s eyes, and theManitouswhom they had thought so propitious, being now judged unfavorable to their warlike projects, the warriors hastily dispersed, taking the nearest road back to their respective homes.
The Crees have rather a singular custom among them, and one contrary to the practice of other nations. They stain the faces of the warriors who fall in combat, clothe them in their richest ornaments, and thus expose them in places conspicuous to their enemies. They place near them their guns, bows and arrows, to show that in their death there was no cause for compassion; and this they do purposely that they may be cut into pieces—an opportunity which an enemy never suffers to escape, and which a Cree warrior regards as the height of his wishes. Other nations, on the contrary, carry off and conceal their dead, to save them from the rapacity and insults of their enemies, and to be cut into pieces, even after death, is {173} considered a great dishonor among them.—The Crees andSauteuxare allies, and considerably intermixed by reciprocal marriages. The latter form the most numerous and widely-diffused nation of these parts.—They are to be met with from the confines of Lower Canada even to the foot of the Rocky Mountains.[242]
This is also the nation of medicine,par excellence:—for all pretend to be jugglers, and sell their medicines and quackery at a high price. In consequence of this attachment to their old, superstitious practices, and the great profits they derive from them, the seed of the Divine Word has hitherto fallen upon an unprofitable soil. An adroit impostor who has been baptized, and who is, moreover, a great medicine man among them, has contributed not a little to keep his nation in an obstinate ignorance, which makes them prefer the shades of paganism to the beneficial light of the gospel. Falling one day into a species of lethargy, it was thought that he had expired—but recovering after a short time, he assembled his band, and told them the following story:
“Immediately after my death I repaired to the heaven of the white man, or Christians, where the Great Spirit and Jesus Christ dwell, {174} but they refused to admit me on account of my red skin. I then went to the country where the souls of my ancestors are, and there, too, I was refused admittance on account of my baptism. I am, therefore, come back to this earth, to renounce the promises I made in baptism and resume my medicine bag, hoping to expiate my former error by my sincere attachment tojugglery, and thus render myself once more worthy of the beautiful and spacious plains of that happy and delightful abode, where reigns everlasting spring, and numberless flocks and herds afford an abundant and everlasting subsistence to all the inhabitants of the Indian Elysium.”
This extravagant report which has been circulated throughout the whole tribe and among the neighboring people, has greatly contributed to attach them to their old customs and superstitions,—and make them turn a deaf ear to the instructions of their worthy missionary.
The Rev. Mr. Belcourt has, notwithstanding, succeeded in converting a considerable number, whom he has persuaded to renounce the illusions of their brethren, and united in a village at St. Paul des Sauteux, where they persevere fervently in all the practices of religion. The {175} number of faithful, in this spot, increases every year.[243]
At length, on the 25th October, thirteen Black-Feet arrived at the Fort. They saluted me with a politeness trulyà la sauvage, rough and cordial, at the same time. The old chief embraced me quite tenderly when he learned the object of my journey. He was distinguished from his companions by his dress—being decorated from head to foot with eagles’ plumes, and wearing a large breast-plate in form of medallion,figured with blue, as a mark of distinction. He was profuse in attention to me, making me sit beside him whenever I went to visit them in their apartment—shaking me affectionately by thehand and amicably rubbing my cheeks with his scarlet-painted nose. He cordially invited me to his country, offering to be my guide and to introduce me to his people. The difference of physiognomy existing between the Indians inhabiting the plains east of the mountains and those near the upper waters of the Columbia, is as great as the stupendous rocks that separate them. The latter are remarkable for their mildness, serenity and affability, while cruelty, craft—the wordblood, in fine, may be read in every feature of the Black-Foot Indian. {176} Scarcely could an innocent hand be found in the whole nation. The Lord, however, is all powerful—“from stones he can raise up children unto Abraham,” and, full of confidence in the treasures of His holy grace and mercies, I purpose to visit them. The essential point and my greatest perplexity is, to find a good and faithful interpreter; the only one now at the Fort is a suspicious and dangerous man:[244]all his employers speak ill of him—he makes fine promises. In the alternative of either renouncing my project or being of some utility to those poor, unfortunate Indians, I accept his services. May he be faithful to his engagement!
I have the honor to be, monseigneur, your very humble and very obedient servant in Jesus Christ,
P. J. De Smet, S. J.
Fort of the Mountains, October 30th, 1845.
The year 1845 will be a memorable epoch in the sadannals of the Black-Feet nation. It has been a year of disasters. In two skirmishes with the Flat-heads and Kalispels, they lost twenty-one warriors. The Crees have carried off a great number of their horses, and twenty-seven scalps. The Crows have struck them a mortal blow—fifty families, the entire band of thepetite Robe, were lately massacred, and one hundred and sixty women and children have been led into captivity.[245]
What a dreadful state for these unfortunate beings. In the first excitement, numbers of the captives were sacrificed by the Crow squaws to the manes of their husbands, brothers, fathers, or children. The survivors were condemned to slavery. The smallpox shortly after made its appearance in the conquerors’ camp, and spread {178} rapidly from lodge to lodge. The Black-Feet had suffered from this scourge a few years previous, and thousands had fallen victims to it.
The Crows, therefore, interrogated their captives to know by what means they had escaped death. A dark spirit of vengeance seized the latter; they counselled cold baths as the only efficacious remedy, to stop the progress of the disease. The sick immediately plunged into the water, and mothers went to the river to bathe their little children. Some plunged into their graves; others gave up their last sigh while endeavoring to reach the shore—and disconsolate mothers returned to their cabins with dead or expiring infants in their arms. Cries of despair succeeded to the shouts of victory—desolation and mourning replaced the fanatic, barbarous joy ofthe Crows. Death visited every tent of the victorious camp!
The tradition of man’s creation and future immortality exists among most of the Indian tribes; I have had the opportunity of visiting and questioning them on the subject. Those who live by fishery, suppose their Heaven to be full of lakes and rivers, abounding in fish, whose enchanted shores and verdant islands produce fruits of every kind.
{179} I encamped on the banks of two lakes to the east of the Rocky Mountains, which the Black-Feet call thelake of menand thelake of women. According to their traditions, from the first of these issued a band of young men, handsome and vigorous, but poor and naked. From the second an equal number of ingenious and industrious young women, who constructed and made themselves clothing. They lived a long time separate and unknown to each other, until the great Manitou Wizakeschak, or the old man, (still invoked by the Black-Feet,) visited them; he taught them to slay animals in the chase, but they were yet ignorant of the art of dressing skins. Wizakeschak conducted them to the dwelling of the young women, who received their guests with dances and cries of joy. Shoes, leggins, shirts, and robes, garnished with porcupine quills, were presented them. Each young woman selected her guest, and presented him with a dish of seeds and roots; the men, desiring to contribute to the entertainment, sought the chase, and returned loaded with game. The women liked the meat, and admired the strength, skill, and bravery of the hunters. The men were equally delighted with the beauty of their trappings, and admired the industry of the women. {180} Both parties began to think they were necessary to each other, and Wizakeschak presided at the solemn compactin which it was agreed that the men should become the protectors of the women, and provide all necessaries for their support: whilst all other family cares should devolve upon the women.
The Black-Feet squaws often bitterly complain of the astonishing folly of their mothers in accepting such a proposition; declaring, if the compact were yet to be made, they would arrange it in a very different manner.
The Black-Foot heaven is a country composed ofsandy hills, which they callEspatchekie, whither the soul goes after death, and where they will find again all the animals they have killed, and all the horses they have stolen. The buffalo, hind, and stag, abound there. In speaking of the departed, a Black-Foot never says, such a one is dead, butEspatchekie etape—to theSand hillshe is gone.
Fort Auguste, on the Saschatshawin, December 31st, 1846.
Monseigneur,—I arranged with the thirteen Black-Feet of whom I spoke in my last, that {181} they should precede me among their people, to pave the way, as it were, and prepare their minds to receive me.—Everything seemed propitious, and accordingly, on the 31st of October, I took leave of the friendly Mr. Harriot. I was accompanied by my interpreter, a young Metif of the Cree nation, who had charge of the horses. Notwithstanding his good resolutions, my interpreter did not long leave me in doubt of his true character. The wolf cannot remain concealed beneath the sheep’s clothing. He became sullen and peevish, always choosing to halt in those places where the poor beasts of burden could find nothing to eat, after their long day’s journey. The farther we penetrated into the desert, the more and more sulky he became. Itwas impossible to draw from him a single pleasant word, and his incoherent mutterings and allusions became subjects of serious apprehension. Thus passed ten sorrowful days; my last two nights had been nights of anxiety and watching; when fortunately, I encountered a Canadian, on whom I prevailed to remain with me some time. The following day my interpreter disappeared. Although my situation was extremely precarious in this dangerous desert, without interpreter, without guide, {182} yet I could not but feel relieved of a heavy burden by the departure of this sullen and gloomy fellow. Had it not been for my opportune meeting with the Canadian, it is probable I should not have escaped his deep laid scheme against me.
Friends and travellers in the desert, beware of choosing for your guide, or placing your dependence on a morose Metif, especially if he has been for some time a resident among the savages; for such men usually possess all the faults of the white man joined to the cunning of the Indian. I determined to continue my route in search of a Canadian interpreter, whom we understood was some distance in advance of us on the same road. For eight successive days we wandered on in that labyrinth of valleys, but in vain; although in the heart of their territory, neither the Canadian nor the Black-Feet were to be found. Large marauding parties of the Crees were beating the country at that time, and it appeared evident from the tracks, that they had carried everything before them. It snowed without intermission during four days;—our poor horses were nearly exhausted—my wallet contained nothing but crumbs—the passage from the east to the western {183} side of the mountains was become impracticable, and I had no alternative, but to repair to one of the forts of the Hudson Bay Company, and beg hospitality during the inclement season.
The entire region in the vicinity of the first eastern chain of the Rocky Mountains, serving as their base for thirty or sixty miles, is extremely fertile, abounding in forests, plains, prairies, lakes, streams, and mineral springs. The rivers and streams are innumerable, and on every side offer situations favorable for the construction of mills. The northern and southern branches of the Sascatshawin water the district I have traversed, for a distance of about three hundred miles. Forests of pine, cypress, thorn, poplar and aspen trees, as well as others of different kinds, occupy a large portion of it, covering the declivities of the mountains, and banks of the rivers.
These, ordinarily, take their rise in the highest chains, whence they issue in every direction like so many veins. The beds and sides of these rivers are pebbly, and their courses rapid, but as they recede from the mountains they widen, and the currents lose something of their impetuosity. Their waters are usually very clear. In this climate wens are not unfrequent. {184} The country would be capable of supporting a large population, and the soil is favorable for the produce of barley, corn, potatoes, and beans, which grow here as well as in the more southern countries.
Are these vast and innumerable fields of hay forever destined to be consumed by fire, or perish in the autumnal snows? How long shall these superb forests be the haunts of wild beasts? And these inexhaustible quarries, these abundant mines of coal, lead, sulphur, iron, copper, and saltpetre—can it be that they are doomed to remain for ever inactive? Not so—the day will come when some laboring hand will give them value: a strong, active, and enterprising people are destined to fill this spacious void.—The wild beasts will, ere long, give place to our domestic animals; flocks and herds will graze in thebeautiful meadows that border the numberless mountains, hills, valleys, and plains of this extensive region. A large portion of the surface of the country is covered with artificial lakes, formed by the beavers. On our way, we had frequently occasion to remark, with wonder and admiration, the extent and height of their ingeniously constructed dams and solid lodges. These are remains of the admirable {185} little republics, concerning which so many wonders have justly been recorded. Not more than half a century ago, such was the number of beavers in this region, that a good hunter could kill a hundred in a month’s space.
I reached Fort Augustus or Edmondton towards the close of the year. Its respectable Commandant, the worthy Mr. Rowan, received me with all the tenderness of a father, and together with his inestimable family, showed me every kindness and attention.[246]Never shall I have it in my power to cancel the debt of gratitude I owe them.—May heaven protect and repay them with its choice blessings; such is the most sincere prayer of a poor priest, who will ever remember them.
I must await a more favorable moment for visiting the Black-Feet. The skirmishing parties appear to be still scouring the country. The tidings which reach us concerning them tell only of plunder and bloodshed. Meanwhile, I have the honor of being, with profound respect and esteem, Monseigneur, your very humble and obedient servant in Jesus Christ,
P. J. [De] Smet, S. J.
Fort Jasper, April 16th, 1846.
Monseigneur,—Fort Edmondton or Auguste is the great emporium of the Hudson Bay Company in the districts of Upper Sascatshawin and Athabasca:[247]Forts Jasper, Assiniboine, Little Slave Lake, on the river Athabasca,[248]Forts des Montagnes, Pitt, Carrollton, Cumberland, on the Sascatshawin, depend on it.[249]The respectable and worthy Mr. Rowan, Governor of this immense district, unites, to all the amiable and polite qualities of a perfect gentleman, those of a sincere and hospitable friend; his goodness and paternal tenderness render him a true patriarch amidst his charming and numerous family. He is esteemed and venerated by all the surrounding tribes, and though advanced in age, he possesses extraordinary activity.
The number of servants at Edmondton, including children, is about eighty. They form a {187} well-regulated family. Besides a large garden, a field of potatoes and wheat, belonging to the establishment, the lakes, forests, and plains of the neighborhood furnish provisions in abundance. On my arrival at the Fort, the ice-house contained thirty thousand white fish, each weighing four pounds, and five hundred buffaloes, the ordinary amount of the winter provisions. Such is the quantity of aquatic birds in the season, that sportsmen often send to the Fort carts full of fowls. Eggs are picked up by thousands in the straw and reeds of the marshes.
The greater number of those employed being Catholics, I found sufficient occupation. Every morning I catechized the children, and gave an instruction; in the evening, after the labors of the day, I recited the prayers for the honorable Commander and his servants. I must acknowledge, to the credit of the inhabitants of Edmondton, that their assiduity and attention to religious duties, and the kindness and respectful regard evinced for me, were a source of great consolation during my sojourn of two months among them. May God, who has granted them so liberally and plentifully the dews of the earth, enrich them likewise with those of Heaven; {188} such is the most sincere wish and prayer of a friend who will never forget them.
I visited Lake St. Anne, the ordinary residence of Messrs. Thibault and Bourassa; the latter gentleman was absent. The distance from the fort to the lake is about fifty miles. I mentioned this interesting mission in my preceding letters, and I will now say a word relative to the country.—The surface of this region is flat for the most part, undulating in some places—diversified with forests and meadows, and lakes teeming with fish. In Lake St. Annealone were caught, last autumn, more than seventy thousand white fish, the most delicious of the kind; they are taken with the line at every season of the year.
Notwithstanding the rigor and duration of the winter in this northern region, the earth in general appears fertile; vegetation is so forward in the spring and summer, that potatoes, wheat and barley, together with other vegetables of Canada, come to maturity. Lake Saint Anne forms one of a chain of lakes; I counted eleven of them, which flow into the Sascatshawin by the small river Esturgeons, orSturgeon. Innumerable republics of beavers formerly existed there; each lake, each marsh, each river, {189} bears, even to this day, proofs of their labors. What I here say of beavers is applicable to almost all the Hudson territory. When the reindeer, buffalo, and moose abounded, the Crees were then peaceful possessors;—animals have disappeared, and with them the ancient lords of the country. Scarcely do we meet with a solitary hut—but now and then the tracks of some large animal. Seventeen families of Metifs, descendants of English Canadians and savages, have assembled and settled around their missionaries. The Crees have gained the buffalo plains, and they contend for them with the Black-Feet, whose mortal foes they have become.
In proportion as the rigors of winter began to give place to the cheering dawn of spring, simultaneously did my pulse beat to approach near the mountain, there to await a favorable opportunity to cross it, so that I might arrive as early as possible at the mission of St. Ignatius.
The 12th of March, I bade farewell to the respectable Rowan family, and to all the servants of the Fort. I was accompanied by three brave Metifs, whom Mr. Thibault was so kind as to procure me. At this season, the whole country lies buried in snow, and voyages are {190} madein sledges drawn by dogs. Our provisions and baggage were conveyed in two of these sledges; the third, drawn by four dogs, was reserved for me. I found this mode of travelling quite a novelty; and on the glittering ice of the rivers and lakes, it was particularly convenient and agreeable. The third day we encamped near Lake de l’Aigle Noir, which abounds in white fish; on the sixth, we arrived at Fort Assiniboine,[250]built in a meadow on the river Athabasca, where it is two hundred and thirty-three fathoms broad, which breadth it seems to preserve more or less until it leaves the Rocky Mountains, its current is extremely rapid. In the spring it can be descended in three days from Fort Jasper to Fort Assiniboine, a distance of more than three hundred miles. With our sledges we were nine days accomplishing the journey. The bed of the river is studded with islands, which, by their various positions and features, render the prospect very agreeable. Its shores are covered with thick forests of pine intersecting rocks and high hills which embellish and give a touch of the picturesque to the general monotony of the desert.
The principal branches are the Pembina, which measures four hundred and sixty-four {191} feet across—the river des Avirons, one hundred and twenty-eight feet; the river Des Gens Libres, the branch McCloud, and river Baptist Berland, are about eighty fathoms wide at their mouth. The rivers Du Vieux, du Milieu, des Prairies, and des Roches, form beautiful currents.[251]Lake Jasper,eight miles in length, is situated at the base of the first great mountain chain. The fort of the same name, and the second lake, are twenty miles higher, and in the heart of the mountains.[252]The rivers Violin and Medicine on the southern side, and the Assiniboine on the northern, must be crossed to arrive there,[253]and to reach the height of land at thedu Committees Punch Bowl, we crossed the rivers Maline, Gens de Colets, Miette and Trou, which we ascended to its source.[254]The river Medicine mingles its waters with those of the Sascatshawin; the Assiniboine and Gens de Lolets with those of the Boucane, a tributary of a la Paix.[255]The waters of the Miette, have their source at the same height, with some branches of the river Frazer, which crosses New Caledonia.[256]
Some years since, the valleys and high forests of Athabascawere exclusively appropriated to the chase by the Assiniboines of the forests: {192} the scarcity of game forced them to quit their land—since their departure the animals have increased in an astonishing manner. In various places on the river, we saw ravages of the beavers which I should have taken for recent encampments of savages, so great a quantity of felled trees was there. Many wandering families of the carrier tribe and Achiganes or Sock Indians of New Caledonia,[257]compelled by hunger, have quitted their country, traversed the last of the mountains, and now cross the valleys of this region in quest of food. They nourish themselves with roots, and whatever they can catch, many of them have their teeth worn to the gums by the earth and sand they swallow with their nourishment. In winter they fare well: for then the moose, elk and reindeer are plentiful. The reindeer feed on a kind of white moss, and the paunch is considered delicious when the food is half digested. By way of a dainty morsel, the Indians pluck out the eyes of fish with the end of the fingers and swallow them raw, likewise the tripes with their whole contents, without further ceremony than placing them an instant on the coals, from thence into the omnibus or general reservoir, without even undergoing the operation of the jaws.
{193} The Montagnees Indians[258]inhabit the lower partof Athabasca, also the great lake of this name.[259]The elk is very common, and the reindeer are found in large bands; the chase of the latter is both easy and singular. They regularly bend their course northward in autumn, and return towards the south in the spring. The Indians know their usual crossing-places over the lakes and rivers—and when the herd (often many hundreds in number) are in the water, and approach the opposite shore, the huntsmen leave their concealment, jump into their light canoes, and yell with all their strength to make them return to the centre; there they harass them, continually driving them from the shore, until the poor animals become exhausted; then begins the work of carnage; they are killed without difficulty by daggers and darts, and it rarely happens that one effects his escape. They cover their huts and dress themselves with the skins of the reindeer. Lakes and marshes being so numerous in this country, swans, geese, bustards, and ducks of various species, come hither in thousands during the spring and autumn. The savages travel over these marshy places inRacketsin quest of eggs, on which they mostly subsist during this season. Often squares of {194} several acres are found covered with nests. White fish, carp, trout, and unknown fish, abound in all these lakes and rivers.
Two missionaries, a Father of the order of Oblats ofMarseilles and a Canadian priest, are on the way, with the intention of penetrating into the interior of the country. The reception given to Mr. Thibault last summer by the Montagnees, leaves little doubt of the happy results of this praiseworthy and holy enterprise.[260]On the banks of the Jasper, we met an old Iroquois called Louis Kwaragkwante, or the travelling sun, accompanied by his family, thirty-six in number. He has been forty years absent from his country, during which he has never seen a priest—has dwelt in the forest of Athabasca on Peace river and subsisted by hunting and fishing. The good old man was overwhelmed with joy, and the children experienced a similar feeling with their father. I will give you the old man’s words in English, on learning that I was a priest: “How glad I am to have come here, for I have not seen a priest for many years. To-day Ibehold a priest, as I did in my own country-my heart rejoices—wherever you go I shall follow you with my children-all will hear the word of prayer-all will have the happiness {195} to receive baptism.—Therefore my heart rejoices and is happy.” The little Iroquois camp immediately set out to follow me to Fort Jasper. Most of them know their prayers in Iroquois. I remained fifteen days at the Fort, instructing them in the duties of religion—after Mass, on Sunday, all were regenerated in the waters of baptism, and seven marriages renewed and blessed. The number of baptized amounted to forty-four; among whom was the lady of Mr. Frazer, (Superintendent of the Fort), and four of his children and two servants.[261]
I have the honor to be, with the most profound respect and high regard, Monseigneur, your very humble and obedient servant in Jesus Christ,
P. J. De Smet, S. J.
Foot of the Great Glaciere, at the Source of the Athabasca, May 6th, 1846.
Monseigneur—Provisions becoming scarce at the Fort, at the moment when we had with us a considerable number of Iroquois from the surrounding country, who were resolvedto remain until my departure, in order to assist at the instructions, we should have found ourselves in an embarrassing situation had not Mr. Frazer come to our relief, by proposing that we should leave the Fort and accompany himself and family to the Lake of Islands, where we could subsist partly on fish.[262]As the distance was not great, we accepted this invitation, and set out to the number of fifty-four persons, and twenty dogs. I count the latter, because we were as much obliged to provide for them, as for ourselves. A little note of the game killed by our hunters during the twenty-six days of {197} our abode at this place, will perhaps afford you some interest; at least, it will make you acquainted with the animals of the country, and prove that the mountaineers of Athabasca are blessed with good appetites. Animals killed—twelve moose deer, two reindeer, thirty large mountain sheep or big horn, two porcupines, two hundred and ten hares, one beaver, two muskrats, twenty-four bustards, one hundred and fifteen ducks, twenty-one pheasants, one snipe, one eagle, one owl; add to this from thirty to fifty fine white fish every day and twenty trout, and then judge whether or not our people had reason to complain; yet we heard them constantly saying; “How hard living is here? The country is miserably poor—we are obliged to fast.”
As the time approached at which I was to leave my new children in Christ, they earnestly begged leave to honor me, before my departure, with a little ceremony to prove their attachment, and that their children might always remember him who had first put them in the way of life. Each one discharged his musket in the direction of the highest mountain, a large rock jutting out inthe form of a sugar loaf, and with three loud hurrahs gave it my name. {198} This mountain is more than 14,000 feet high, and is covered with perpetual snow.
On the 25th April, I bade farewell to my kind friend Mr. Frazer, and his amiable children, who had treated me with every mark of attention and kindness.
All the men in the camp insisted on honoring me with an escort, and accompanied me a distance of ten miles. Here we separated, each one affectionately pressed my hand—mutual good wishes were exchanged—tears flowed on both sides—and I was left with my companions in one of those wild ravines where nothing meets the eye, but ranges of gloomy mountains rising on all sides, like so many impassable barriers.
Upper Athabasca is, unquestionably, the most elevated part of North America. All its mountains are prodigious, and their rocky and snow-capt summits seem to lose themselves in the clouds. At this season, immense masses of snow often become loosened and roll down the mountains’ sides with a terrific noise, that resounds throughout these quiet solitudes like distant thunder—so irresistible is the velocity of their descent, that they frequently carry with them enormous fragments of rock, and force a {199} passage through the dense forests which cover the base of the mountain. At each hour, the noise of ten avalanches descending at once, breaks upon the ear; on every side we see them precipitated with a frightful rapidity.
From these mountains, the majestic river of the north, the upper branch of the Sascatshawin, the two great forks of the McKenzie, the Athabasca and Peace rivers, the Columbia, and Frazer at the west, derive the greater part of their waters.
In the neighborhood of the Miette river, we fell in with one of those poor families of Porteurs or “Itoaten,” ofNew Caledonia, of whom I spoke to you in a former letter; they saw us from the summit of the mountain that overlooks the valley through which we were passing, and perceiving we were whites, hastened down to meet us. They appeared overjoyed at seeing us, particularly when they discovered that I was a Black-gown; they crowded around me, and begged me to baptize them with an earnestness that affected me to tears, though I was able to grant this favor to only two of their smallest children, the others required instruction, but there was no interpreter. I exhorted them to return soon to their own country, where they {200} would find a Black-gown (Father Nobili) who would instruct them. They made the sign of the cross, recited some prayers in their own language, and sang several hymns with great apparent devotion. The condition of these people seemed very wretched; they had no clothes but a few rags and some pieces of skins, and yet, notwithstanding their extreme poverty, they laid at my feet the mountain sheep they had just killed.
The history of a poor young woman, one of their number, deserves to be recorded, as it affords a lively picture of the dangers and afflictions to which these unfortunate people are often exposed. When she was about fifteen years of age, her father, mother, and brothers, together with another family of her nation, were surprised in the wood by a party of Assiniboine warriors, and massacred without mercy. At the time of this horrid scene, the young girl was in another part of the forest with her two sisters, both younger than herself; they succeeded in concealing themselves, and thus escaped falling into the hands of the assassins. The hapless orphan wandered about the desert for two years, without meeting any human being, subsisting on roots, wild fruits, and porcupines.{201} In winter she sheltered herself in the abandoned den of a bear. The sisters left her at the end of the first year, since which they have never been heard of. At length, after three years, she was fortunately found by a good Canadian, who took her home, provided her with comfortable food and clothing, and six months after restored her to her tribe.
We resumed our journey the following day, and arrived about nightfall on the banks of the Athabaska, at the spot called the “Great Crossing.” Here we deviated from the course of that river, and entered the valley de la Fourche du Trou.[263]
As we approached the highlands the snow became much deeper. On the 1st of May, we reached the great Bature, which has all the appearance of a lake just drained of its waters. Here we pitched our tent to await the arrival of the people from Columbia, who always pass by this route on the way to Canada and York Factory. Not far from the place of our encampment, we found a new object of surprise and admiration. An immense mountain of pure ice, 1,500 feet high, enclosed between two enormous rocks. So great is the transparency of this beautiful ice, that we can easily distinguish {202} objects in it to the depth of more than six feet. One would say, by its appearance, that in some sudden and extraordinary swell of the river, immense icebergs had been forced between these rocks, and had there piled themselves on one another, so as to form this magnificent glacier. What gives some color of probability to this conjecture is, that on the other side of the glacier, there is a large lake ofconsiderable elevation. From the base of this gigantic iceberg, the river Trou takes its rise.
The people of Columbia have just arrived. I must therefore take this present opportunity, the only one I shall have for a long time, of sending you my letters, and before closing this, permit me again to recommend myself and all my missions to your holy sacrifices and fervent prayers.[264]
Meantime, I have the honor to be, with the most sincere respect and esteem, Monseigneur, your very humble and obedient servant in Jesus Christ,
P. J. De Smet, S. J.
Boat Encampment on the Columbia, May 10th, 1846.
Very Rev. and Dear Father Provincial:—By my last letter to the distinguished Prelate of New-York, in which I gave my different missionary excursions during 1845-46 among several tribes of the Rocky Mountains, you have learned that I had arrived at the base of the Great Glacier, the source of the riverdu Trou, which is a tributary of the Athabaska, or Elk river. I will now give to your reverence the continuation of my arduous and difficult journey across the main chain of the Rocky Mountains, and down the Columbia, on my return to my dear brethren in Oregon.
Towards the evening of the 6th of May, we discovered, at the distance of about three miles, the approach of twomen in snow shoes, who soon joined us. They proved to be the forerunners {204} of the English Company which, in the spring of each year, go from Fort Vancouver to York Factory, situated at the mouth of the river Nelson, near the fifty-eighth degree north latitude.[265]In the morning my little train was early ready; we proceeded, and after a march of eight miles we fell in with the gentlemen of the Hudson Bay Company. The time of our reunion was short, but interesting and joyful. The great melting of the snow had already begun, and we were obliged to be on the alert to cross in due time, the now swelling rapids and rivers. The news between travellers, who meet in the mountains is quickly conveyed to one another. The leaders of the company were my old friends, Mr. Ermatinger, of the Honorable Hudson Bay Company,[266]and two distinguished officers of the English army, Captains Ward and Vavasseur, whom I had the honor of entertaining last year at the Great Kalispel lake. Capt. Ward is the gentleman who had the kindness to take charge of my letters for the States and for Europe.
Fifteen Indians of the Kettle-Fall tribe accompanied him. Many of them had scaled the mountains with one hundred and fifty pounds weight upon their backs. The worthy Capt. {205} Ward spoke many things in praise of them. He admired their honesty and civility, and above all, their sincere piety and great regularity in their religious duties; every morning and evening, they were seen retiring a short distance from the camp, to sing one or two hymns, and join in common prayer. “I hope,” added the Captain, “I shall never forget the example, which these poor, but good savages, have given me. During the time that they were with me, I was much struck by their becoming deportment,and I have never seen more sincere piety than they exhibited.”
The gentlemen of the English Company were now at the end of their chief difficulties and troubles. They gladly threw away their snow shoes to take horses for four days; at Fort Jasper they were to enter skiffs, to go to Fort Assiniboine, on the river Athabasca. For myself, I had to try the snow shoes for the first time in my life; by means of them, I had to ascend those frightful ramparts, the barriers of snow, which separate the Atlantic world from the Pacific Ocean. I have, in my previous letters, already told you, that this is probably the most elevated point of the Rocky Mountains, where five great rivers derive their sources, {206} viz.: the north-branch of the Sascatshawin, flowing into Lake Winnepeg, the Athabasca and Peace rivers, uniting and flowing into Great Slave Lake, which is discharged into the Northern Ocean, by the Mackenzie, the most solitary of rivers. From the bosom of these mountains the Columbia and Frazer rivers derive water from a thousand fountains and streams.
We had now seventy miles to travel in snow shoes, in order to reach the boat encampment on the banks of the Columbia. We proposed to accomplish this in two days and a half. The most worthy and excellent Messrs. Rowan and Harriot, whose kindness at the Rocky Mountain House and Fort Augustus I shall ever acknowledge, were of opinion, that it was absolutely impossible for me to accomplish the journey, on account of my heavy mould, and they wished to dissuade me from attempting it. However, I thought I could remedy the inconvenience of my surplus stock, by a vigorous fast of thirty days, which I cheerfully underwent. I found myself much lighter indeed, and started off somewhat encouraged, over snow sixteen feet deep. We went in single file—alternatelyascending and descending—sometimes across plains piled up with avalanches—sometimes {207} over lakes and rapids buried deeply under the snow—now, on the side of a deep mountain—then across a forest of cypress trees, of which we could only see the tops. I cannot tell you the number of my summersets. I continually found myself embarrassed by my snow shoes, or entangled in some branch of a tree. When falling, I spread my arms before me, as one naturally would do, to break the violence of the fall; and upon deep snow the danger is not great,—though I was often half buried, when I required the assistance of my companions, which was always tendered with great kindness and good humor.
We made thirty miles the first day, and then made preparations to encamp. Some pine trees were cut down and stripped of their branches, and these being laid on the snow, furnished us with a bed, whilst a fire was lighted on a floor of green logs. To sleep thus—under the beautiful canopy of the starry heavens—in the midst of lofty and steep mountains—among sweet murmuring rills and roaring torrents—may appear strange to you, and to all lovers of rooms, rendered comfortable by stoves and feathers; but you may think differently after having come and breathed the pure air of the {208} mountains, where in return, coughs and colds are unknown. Come and make the trial, and you will say that it is easy to forget the fatigues of a long march, and find contentment and joy even upon the spread branches of pines, on which, after the Indian fashion, we extended ourselves and slept, wrapped up in buffalo robes.
The next morning we commenced the descent of what is called the Great Western Slope. This took us five hours. The whole slope is covered with gigantic cedars, and with pine trees of different species. Wo to the man,who happens to have a heavy body, or to make a false step. I say this from experience; for many times I found myself twenty or thirty feet from the point of my departure—happy indeed if, in the fall, I did not violently strike my head against the trunk of some great tree.
At the foot of the mountain an obstacle of a new kind presented itself. All the barriers of snow, the innumerable banks, which had stopped the water of the streams, lakes, and torrents, were broken up during the night, and swelled considerably the Great Portage river.[267]It meanders so remarkably in this straight valley, down which we travelled for a day and a half, {209} that we were compelled to cross the said river not less than forty times, with the water frequently up to our shoulders. So great is its impetuosity, that we were obliged mutually to support ourselves, to prevent being carried away by the current. We marched in our wet clothes during the rest of our sad route. The long soaking, joined to my great fatigue, swelled my limbs. All the nails of my feet came off, and the blood stained my moccasins or Indian shoes. Four times I found my strength gone, and I should certainly have perished in that frightful region, if the courage and strength of my companions had not roused and aided me in my distress.
We saw May-poles all along the old encampments of the Portage. Each traveller who passes there for the first time, selects his own. A young Canadian, with much kindness, dedicated one to me, which was at least one hundred and twenty feet in height, and which reared itslofty head above all the neighboring trees. Did I deserve it? He stripped it of all its branches, only leaving at the top a little crown; at the bottom my name and the date of the transit were written. Moose, reindeer, and mountain goats are frequently found in this region.
{210} We next passed through a thick and mountainous forest, where hoary pines lay prostrate by thousands—and where many a giant tree, in its full vigor, had been levelled to the ground by the raging tempest. On issuing from the forest, an extensive marsh presented itself, through which we had to plod, up to the knees in mud and water; this trouble was trifling compared to the past, and we were still more encouraged at the sight of a beautiful and verdant plain, where four reindeer were seen carousing, bouncing, and jumping in the midst of plenty. No doubt they, as well as ourselves, had issued forth from the snowy and icy cliffs, and felt light-hearted and joyful at the delightful prospect of mountain and plain at this season of the year. On approaching, a dozen guns were at once levelled against the innocent and timid creatures. I was pleased to observe, by the wonderful rapidity with which they used their legs, that no one had injured their noble and beautiful frames.
Towards the middle of the day we arrived at the Boat Encampment, on the bank of the Columbia, at the mouth of the Portage river.[268]Those who have passed the Rocky Mountains at fifty three degrees of north latitude, during {211} the great melting of the snows, know whether or not we merit the title of good travellers. It required all my strength to accomplish it, and I confess that I would not dare undertake it again.
After so many labors and dangers, we deserved a repast. Happily, we found at the encampment all the ingredients that were necessary for a feast—a bag of flour, a large ham, part of a reindeer, cheese, sugar, and tea in abundance, which the gentlemen of the English Company had charitably left behind. While some were employed refitting the barge, others prepared the dinner; and in about an hour we found ourselves snugly seated and stretched out around the kettles and roasts, laughing and joking about the summersets on the mountains, and the accidents on the Portage. I need not tell you, that they described me as the most clumsy and awkward traveller in the band.
Three beautiful rivers unite at this place: the Columbia, coming from the south-east—the Portage river, from the north-east, and the Canoe river from the north-west. We were surrounded by a great number of magnificent mountains, covered with perpetual snow, and rising from twelve to sixteen thousand feet {212} above the level of the ocean. The Hooker and the Brown are the highest, the latter measuring sixteen thousand feet.[269]
Very Rev. and dear Father Provincial, your humble brother in Jesus Christ,
P. J. De Smet, S. J.
St. Paul’s Station, near Colville, May 29th, 1846.
Very Rev. and Dear Father Provincial—The Columbia at the Boat Encampment is 3,600 feet above the levelof the sea. Having finished our meal, we launched the barge and rapidly descended the river, which was now swollen many feet above its usual level. Did not more serious avocations call him away, an admirer of Nature would willingly linger in a region like this. The volcanic and basaltic islands—the range of picturesque mountains, whose bases came to bathe in the river, whilst their summits seemed to be struggling, in the giant efforts of the avalanche, to throw off the winding-sheet of winter, in order to give place to the new and beautiful verdure of the month of May, with its smiling and varied flowers—the thousand fountains which we could at one view behold, {214} leaping out with soothing music from the shelves of perpendicular rocks bordering the river—all lent their aid to increase the beauty of the scenery of Nature, which, in this region of the Columbia, seems to have put forth all her energy to display her grandeur and magnificence.
After some hours of descent we came to Martin’s rapid, where a Canadian, so called, together with his son, found a watery grave. Its roar is deafening, and the agitation of the water resembles that of a raging sea-storm. The whole bed of the river is here strewed with immense fragments of rocks. Guided by an expert Iroquois pilot, and aided with ten oars, the boat darted over its boisterous surface, dancing-like and leaping from wave to wave, with the rapidity of lightning.
At sunset we were at the Dalle of the Dead. (Dalleis an old French word, meaning a trough, and the name is given by the Canadian voyageurs to all contracted running waters, hemmed in by walls of rocks.) Here, in 1838, twelve unfortunate travellers were buried in the river.[270]The waters are compressed between a rangeof perpendicular rocks, presenting innumerable crags, fissures and cliffs, through which the Columbia leaps with irresistible impetuosity, {215} forming, as it dashes along, frightful whirlpools, where every passing object is swallowed and disappears. By means of two long ropes we dropped down our boat through the Dalle, and encamped for the night at its outlet.
On the 11th we continued our route at early dawn—the mountain scenery was hidden from our view wrapped up in dense mist and fog, which were seen ascending in dense pillars, adding to the forming clouds above, till the whole sky was overcast. Occasionally, as if to break upon the unusual monotony, would a fallow or reindeer be observed on the margin of the stream, or peeping with uplifted ears from a thicket, as the strange sound of oars, or the Canadian song, came stealing louder and louder upon them in their quiet abode:—off they bounded, affrighted at the sight of men, so hateful, it appears, to the wild and timid creatures of the forest. In the evening we encamped at the entrance of the Upper Lake.
This beautiful sheet of crystalline water, whilst the rising sun was tinting the tops of a thousand hills around, came most refreshing to the eye. It is about thirty miles long, by four or five wide. Its borders are embellished by overhanging precipices and majestic peaks, {216} which, rearing their white heads above the clouds, look down like venerable monarchs of the desert upon the great forests of pines and cedar surrounding the lake. The two highest peaks are called St. Peter and St. Paul.
Twenty Indian families, belonging to the station of St. Peter, were found encamped on the borders of the lake.I gladly accepted their invitation to visit them. It was the meeting of a father with his children, after ten months of absence and dangers. I dare say the joy was mutually sincere. The greater part of the tribe had been converted during the past year, at Kettle Falls. These families were absent at that time. I passed, therefore, several days among them, to instruct them in the duties and practices of religion. They then received baptism, with all the marks of sincere piety and gratitude. Gregory, the name of their chief, who had not ceased to exhort his people by word and example, had the happiness to receive baptism in 1838, from the hands of the Rev. Mr., now Archbishop, Blanchet. The worthy and respectable chief was now at the height of his joy, in seeing at last all his children brought under the standard of Jesus Christ. The tribe of these lake Indians are a part of the Kettle {217} Fall nation. They are very poor, and subsist principally on fish and wild roots. As soon as we shall have more means at our disposal, we will supply them with implements of husbandry and with various seeds and roots, which I have no doubt, will thrive well in their country; this will be a great assistance to these destitute people. The second lake is about six miles distant from the first. It is of about the same length, but less wide. We passed under a perpendicular rock, where we beheld an innumerable number of arrows sticking out of the fissures. The Indians, when they ascend the lake, have a custom of lodging each an arrow into these crevices. The origin and cause of the custom is unknown to me.[271]
The mouth of the river McGilvray or Flat-Bow, is near the outlet of the Lower Lakes. It presents a beautifulsituation for the establishment of a future Reduction or Mission, and I have already marked out a site for the construction of a church. About twenty miles lower, we passed the Flat-Head or Clark’s river, which contributes largely to the Columbia. These two beautiful rivers derive a great portion of their waters from the same chain of the Rocky Mountains, from which a great number of the {218} forks of the south branch of the Sascatshawin and of the Missouri are supplied. For a distance of about thirty miles from their junction with the Columbia, are they obstructed by insurmountable falls and rapids. Among the many lakes connected with the Flat-Head river, three are very conspicuous, and measure from thirty to forty miles in length, and from four to six in width. The Flat-Head lake receives a broad and beautiful stream, extending upwards of a hundred miles in a north-western direction, through a most delightful valley, and is supplied by considerable torrents, coming from a great cluster of mountains, connected immediately with the main chain, in which a great number of lakes lie imbedded. Clark’s fork passed through Lake Kalispel.[272]Lake Roothaan is situated in the Pend-d’oreille and Flat-Bow mountains, and discharges itself by the Black-gown river into the Clark, twenty miles below Kalispel Lake.[273]The St. Mary’s,or Bitter-root river, from the south-east, is the greatest tributary of Clark’s fork, and the chief residence of the Flat-Heads. All these waters contain an abundance of fish, especially trout. The geography of the head of Clark’s Fork, is little known, as appears from the maps, the south-east {219} branch or the Saint Mary’s river being only a small tributary compared to the main stream, coming from the north-west, and passing through the great Flat-Head lake.