Chapter XV: Preface (11)

[180] This letter enclosed those following, numbered iv-xv, in the last of which De Smet says that he is sending a packet of letters by the Hudson’s Bay brigade from Columbia, which he has just encountered.—ED.

[181] Addressed to Bishop (later Archbishop) John Hughes of New York. From the time of the descriptive letter number ii, written from Willamette valley October 9, 1844, to the beginning of this letter in February, 1845, Father de Smet had made a journey to his previously-founded missions in the interior. Leaving Vancouver, he ascended the river to Fort Walla Walla, thence crossed Spokane plains and the mountains to the camp of the Pend d’Oreille on Clark’s Fork, where he met Father Adrian Hoeken. There a deputation from the Cœur d’Alènes waited on the father to persuade him to visit their mission of Sacred Heart, where he was received November 11 by Father Nicolas Point. Setting forth thence, eight days later he found the road to the Flatheads impracticable because of floods and ice, so that he was obliged to pass the winter (1844-45) with the Pend d’Oreille in their winter quarters on Clark’s Fork.—ED.

[182] For the location of Horse Plain see De Smet’s _Letters_ in our volume xxvii, p. 337, note 172. The location of the Bay of the Pend d’Oreille (Kalispels) is given _post_, note 73.—ED.

[183] For these tribes and the former visit of De Smet, see his _Letters_ in our volume xxvii, especially p. 141, note 8.—ED.

[184] This stream, now known as St. Regis Borgia, is a tributary of the Missoula from the west. Rising in Bitterroot Mountains it flows slightly south of east through a fertile valley, which forms the present route of the Northern Pacific Railway. See De Smet’s _Letters_, in our volume xxvii, p. 362, note 183.—ED.

[185] Stiettiedloodsho was surnamed “Bravest of the Brave;” for an account of his fight with the Crows, see _post_, letter xxiii. His baptismal name was Moses, and he was an adopted brother of Father de Smet, who relates several anecdotes of his piety; see Chittenden and Richardson, _De Smet_, iv, pp. 1225, 1226. He was known to be living in 1857. Possibly Selpisto was the great chief baptized in 1840 as Peter. For Chalax see our volume xxvii, p. 284, note 148.—ED.

[186] The site of the first mission of St. Ignatius, called by De Smet the Bay of the Kalispels, was on the east bank of Clark’s Fork, in latitude about 48° 20′ north, longitude 117° 10′ west, in the present Stevens County, Washington, not far from the town of Usk. The mission was maintained at this point until 1854, when, the spot proving unsuitable from frequent overflows, a site was chosen in western Montana on the present Flathead Reservation, whence the mission was transferred and where it has since been maintained. See L. B. Palladino, _Indian and White in the Northwest_, pp. 68-79.—ED.

[187] Manresa is a town in the northeastern part of Spain, where Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order, spent a year dwelling in a cave, and subjecting himself to severe austerities. It is now a place of pilgrimage for the pious followers of the saint.—ED.

[188] Champoeg—an Indian name, signifying a kind of edible root—was an Indian camping and council ground, lying on the borders of Kalapuya territory. Among the earliest settlements in the Willamette valley were those made near this place.—ED.

[189] Oregon City was laid out in lots (1843) by Dr. John McLoughlin, who had taken up the site as early as 1829 and by 1837 had made improvements there. The Methodist mission had built a store and a mill on the same site and later there was a prolonged dispute over the title. Meanwhile Oregon City (or Willamette Falls) grew, and was made the seat of the provisional government (1845-49). McLoughlin gave the site for the building of the church here mentioned, which was dedicated February 8, 1846.—ED.

[190] The Kamloop and Atnah are Shushwap (Shoowhapamooh) clans of the great Salishan stock of Indians, inhabiting the region between the Rocky Mountains and Fraser River, north of the British American boundary line. The Kamloop lived in the Thompson River district, near a fort of that name (see Ross’s _Oregon Settlers_ in our volume vii, p. 199, note 64). For the term “Atnah” see our volume vii, p. 159, note 52.

The Porteurs (Carriers) are described in De Smet’s _Letters_ in our volume xxvii, p. 307, note 160. Consult G. M. Dawson “The Shuswap People,” in Royal Society of Canada _Transactions_, ix, part ii, pp. 3-44; A. G. Morice, “The Western Dénés” in Canadian Institute _Proceedings_, 3d series, vol. 7, pp. 109-120; and Franz Boas, in _Report_ of British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1890, pp. 642-647.—ED.

[191] The Stelatin dwelt on the western end of Fraser Lake; the Nashkutin (Nashkoten) on and about Blackwater River; the Chilcotin (Tchilkoten) on a river of that name [see note 102 (Farnham), _ante_, p. 81,] and the Nakasletin (Nazeteoten) on Stuart Lake.—ED.

[192] Brother J. B. McGean (McGill) was an Irishman, who went to the mission field with Fathers Peter De Vos and Adrian Hoeken in 1843. In 1854 he was at St. Ignatius mission where he was farm superintendent.—ED.

[193] Father de Smet and his Indians followed the aboriginal trail across the Cascades, which afterwards became the foundation of the Barlow Road. See “History of the Barlow Road,” in Oregon Historical Society _Quarterly_, iii, pp. 71-81. For Mount Hood see our volume vi, p. 248, note 54.—ED.

[194] For Captain Nathaniel Wyeth and his expeditions to Oregon, see our volume xxi, preface, and p. 23, note 3. This quotation, which is not verbatim, is taken from Wyeth’s _Memoir_, published in _Reports of Committees_, 25 Cong., 3 sess., no. 101, p. 11.—ED.

[195] For the Nez Percé Indians see our volume vi, p. 340, note 145. While closely related the Cayuse are thought by modern ethnologists to be a separate language stock, although they also spoke the Nez Percé tongue. See our volume vii, p. 137, note 37.—ED.

[196] Now known as Kettle Falls; see our volume vi, p. 346, note 153.—ED.

[197] For the first two tribes see De Smet’s _Letters_ in our volume xxvii, p. 319, notes 161, 162. The Zingomenes are the Spokan (see Father de Smet’s letter in Chittenden and Richardson, _De Smet_, iii, p. 801), for whom see our volume vi, p. 341, note 146. Kalispel is an alternative for the Pend d’Oreille, noted in our volume xxvii, p. 141, note 8 (De Smet).—ED.

[198] The salmon of the Pacific coast rivers comprises five species of one genus, _Oncorhyncus_: _O. chavicha_, the quinnat or King salmon; _O. nerke_, the blue-backed salmon; _O. kisutch_, the silver salmon; _O. keta_, the dog salmon; and _O. gorbusha_, the hump-backed salmon. The sixth variety noted may be the _Salmo gairdneri_, or steelhead salmon trout.—ED.

[199] The residence or mission of St. Francis Regis is in the Colville valley, about seven and a half miles from the present town of Colville. On his next visit De Smet found settled in the vicinity about seventy Canadian métis, or half breeds. The station does not appear to have been continuous, but to have been re-established after the Indian wars (1847-56). Later it became a flourishing mission, with schools for boys and girls, and was frequently visited by Spokan and Colville Indians from the neighboring reservations. For the Cree see J. Long’s _Voyages_ in our volume ii, p. 168, note 75.—ED.

[200] The Flatbows (Arcs à plats), in the use made of the term by De Smet, signify that branch of the Kutenai stock that is now known as the Lower Kutenai; by “Kootenay” the author designates the Upper branch of the tribal stock. They differ slightly in customs and dialects, as well as in habitat, the Lower Kutenai being partly in the United States; the Upper almost wholly in British Columbia. For a scientific study of this stock see Dr. A. F. Chamberlain in _Report_ of British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1892, pp. 549-614; see also De Smet’s _Letters_ in our volume xxvii, p. 357, note 180.—ED.

[201] Lake Pend d’Oreille, in northern Idaho; for which see De Smet’s _Letters_ in our volume xxvii, p. 339, note 175.—ED.

[202] For a brief biographical sketch of Peter Skeen Ogden see Townsend’s _Narrative_ in our volume xxi, p. 314, note 99. For an account of De Smet’s journey with Ogden in 1842, see the former’s _Letters_ in our volume xxvii, pp. 373-377.—ED.

[203] These officers were Captain Henry J. Warre, nephew and aide-de-camp of Sir R. Downer Jackson, commandant of British forces in North America, and Lieutenant M. Vavasour of the Royal Engineers. They had a commission from the government, perhaps not as extensive as is reported by De Smet, but doubtless ample in case of war. They were also secretly commissioned by the Hudson’s Bay Company to report on Dr. McLoughlin’s attitude in regard to the American settlers, and their adverse account was answered by him in detail, after his resignation (1846). The two officers left Montreal May 5, 1845, reporting at Fort Garry, whence they took the overland route followed by Sir George Simpson in 1841, arriving at Fort Colville August 12, three days after the meeting with De Smet in the Idaho forests. Their appearance at Fort Vancouver nearly coincided with that of the naval officers Park and Peel from the Pacific squadron. Warre and Vavasour examined the country thoroughly, and made estimates of the Indian tribes. See Robert M. Martin, _Hudson’s Bay Territories_ (London, 1849), p. 80. They visited Vancouver Island and Puget Sound, the settlements on the Willamette and the mouth of the Columbia, making drawings and sketches of several places visited. They remained at Fort Vancouver during the winter of 1845-46 assisting at the festivities inaugurated by the officers of the “Modeste” (see Palmer’s _Journal_ in our volume xxx, note 189), and left for England via the spring brigade. They mention meeting Father de Smet seven days from Boat Encampment on the return journey. Arriving in Liverpool August 12, 1846, Captain Warre prepared for the press _Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory_ (London, 1849), a copy of which is in the Portland public library. Captain Warre had been in Canada since 1839; on his return to England he received the thanks of the colonial secretary, Earl Grey, for his arduous services during his journey to the West on “special duty.” Later he commanded the 57th regiment in the Crimean War and in New Zealand, 1861-66, becoming lieutenant general in 1877, and dying in 1898. He is the author of _Sketches in the Crimea_ (London, 1856); he also wrote _Historical Records of the 57 regiment of foot_ (London, 1878.)—ED.

[204] Doubtless De Smet followed the well-known Indian trail which David Thompson called the “Great Road of the Flatheads,” reaching Kootenai River about on the border between Idaho and Montana, where was built a North West Company house, later abandoned. See Thompson’s description of the road in Elliott Coues (ed.) _New Light on the Early History of the Greater Northwest_ (New York, 1897), ii, p. 673; also the accompanying map by Thompson.—ED.

[205] The wappato (_sagittaria latifolia_) was an important article of food for the Northwest Indians. See descriptions of its gathering and preparation in _Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition_, index. The flower of the bitterroot (_Lewisia rediviva_) has been chosen as the Montana state flower; it gives name both to the river and to a range of mountains in that state. The biscuit root was probably what is known as the white-apple or prairie potato (_Psoralea esculenta_), a food-root widely spread in North America. See our volume xxi, p. 248, note 62.—ED.

[206] On the camas see our volume xxi, p. 247, note 61.—ED.

[207] _Evernia vulpina_, still used for food by the Kutenai.—ED.

[208] Kootenai Lake, in eastern British Columbia, is an enlargement of the river of the same name, seventy-five miles in length and with a width of from two to five miles. The river enters at the southern end, and leaves the lake about midway of its length opposite Pilot Bay.—ED.

[209] Edward Berland, a Hudson’s Bay Company employe, aided Sir George Simpson on his voyage around the world in 1841. See his curious autograph reproduced in Simpson, _Narrative_, i, p. 125.—ED.

[210] Known as Kootenai River Traverse, located in the neighborhood of the present Fort Steele. See Simpson’s description of its passage in his _Narrative_, pp. 137, 138.—ED.

[211] De Smet is passing up the Kootenai River in its course through Montana, following the line of the present Great Northern Railway, which leaves Kootenai valley at Jennings, where the river coming from the north makes an abrupt turn to the west. A recently-built branch of this railway extends from Jennings along the upper Kootenai into British Columbia.—ED.

[212] Probably the Yaac River, a considerable mountain tributary of the Kootenai, in northwestern Montana. De Smet may, however, refer to some small stream that enters the main river near Kootenai Falls, some ten or twelve miles above the embouchment of the Yaac. David Thompson called the Kootenai, McGillivray River, in honor of the Hon. William McGillivray, one of the North West Company partners.—ED.

[213] De Smet was an observant traveller. The mineral wealth of Flathead County, Montana (through which he was passing), has not yet been developed; but galena ore bearing both lead and silver has been found, and considerable quantities of coal and oil are known to exist in that district. See _Report_ of Great Northern Railway, 1902.—ED.

[214] Tobacco Plains are situated on both sides of the international boundary, taking their name from Tobacco River, a Montana affluent of the Kootenai. This has for many years been the habitat of one division of the Upper Kutenai, known as Agkanegunik (people of the Tobacco Plains). David Thompson visited and traded there in 1808. A British Columbia branch of this tribe still has a reservation of 2,560 acres just north of the international boundary, where a band of fifty-seven was in 1902 employed in farming and cattle-raising. The Kutenai of to-day are all Roman Catholics.—ED.

[215] For Flathead (Tête plat) Lake see De Smet’s _Letters_ in our volume xxvii, p. 359, note 181.—ED.

[216] From Tobacco Plains De Smet advanced up the valley of the upper Kootenai, towards the portage near the headwaters of the Columbia. This valley runs between the main range of the Rockies and the Selkirks, among some of the most majestic scenery on the North American continent.—ED.

[217] Taken from a composition of De Smet’s on his second journey to the Rocky Mountains (1841), and then applied to the heights around the sources of the Platte. See Chittenden and Richardson, _De Smet_, iv, pp. 1353, 1354.—ED.

[218] These are Upper Columbia and Windermere lakes, the former 2,700 feet above sea level, and the ultimate source of the Columbia River. The river is navigable from Lake Windermere as far as Golden, where the Canadian Pacific Railway crosses, and steamers ply the course of about 160 miles. The passage from one lake to the other is possible only for canoes. This region was first explored by David Thompson in 1807.—ED.

[219] These are composed of gravelly flats, the great spawning beds of the Columbia salmon. At times steamboat navigation is impeded by the immense number of the fish.—ED.

[220] The Hot Springs—one of a temperature of 120°, the other of 90° Fahrenheit—issue from natural basins of their own formation, on the side of a cliff just below Upper Columbia Lake.—ED.

[221] Richard Chandler (1738-1810), an English antiquary, undertook an exploring expedition to Asia Minor and Greece (1765) under the auspices of the English Dilettanti Society. The results were published as _Travels in Asia Minor_ (London, 1775), both sufficiently popular to run through several editions. The author particularly mentions the famous Hot Springs of the ancient Hierapolis, whose site is now known as Kambuk Kalessi, on the Mæander River in Phrygia, and describes their incrustations and stalactites. For the famous geographer Conrad Malte-Brun see our volume xviii, p. 345, note 136.—ED.

[222] The portage from Kootenai River (Arcs-à-plats) to Upper Columbia Lake is but a mile and a half in length, over a level trail of rich black soil now known as Kootenai Flat. There is little doubt that the upper Columbia once drained this way into the Kootenai River, which now, however, is slightly higher than the source of the Columbia. A canal has been projected across the portage, but it is not yet completed.—ED.

[223] For the Shushwap see our volume vii, p. 159, note 52.—ED.

[224] Vermillion River, one of the headstreams of the Kootenai, rises in the great group of the Rockies, near the foot of Mount Biddle, west of Laggan, on the Canadian Pacific Railway, and flows southeasterly until uniting with the Beaverfoot to form the Kootenai. See “Sketch map of the Canadian Rocky Mountains” in James Outram, _In the Heart of the Canadian Rockies_ (New York, 1905).—ED.

[225] De Smet is not sufficiently precise in his topography to make it certain by which pass he crossed the Rocky Mountain divide. Probably it was that over which Sir George Simpson made his way to the westward in 1841, now known as Simpson Pass (elevation 6,884 feet). It comes out in the neighborhood of Banff on the Canadian Pacific Railway, in the valley of Bow River, a tributary of the South Saskatchewan. See Simpson, _Narrative_, i, pp. 118-121.—ED.

[226] The Saskatchewan, with its two great branches, North and South, drains a large portion of the vast plain lying between the Rocky Mountains and the lake region of Manitoba, and enters Lake Winnipeg in latitude 53° 10′, longitude 99° 20′ west. Nelson River enters Hudson Bay near the fifty-seventh parallel of north latitude.—ED.

[227] Bow River (des Arcs) is the northern branch of the South Saskatchewan. It rises in the Rocky Mountains above Laggan, flowing east and southeast until its junction with Belly River near longitude 111° 30′; these two then form the great South Saskatchewan. The name Rivière des Arcs is thought to have been given from its course, as it was first applied to the entire South Saskatchewan which takes a crescent course. More probably it arose from its frequent curves or “ox-bows,” especially in the upper reaches, above Banff. The earliest explorers of this stream were the French, who under Lieutenant de Niverville, sent out by Legardeur de St. Pierre (1752), erected Fort La Jonquière not far from the modern town of Calgary. David Thompson explored Bow River valley for the North West Company in 1800. The upper Bow is now the route of the Canadian Pacific Railway.—ED.

[228] The Blackfeet are noted in our volume v, p. 225, note 120, and described in more detail by Maximilian in his _Travels_, our volume xxiii, pp. 95-122. They range into the northern part of Montana in the United States, but their usual habitat is the great plain of the Saskatchewan in the provinces of Alberta and Assiniboia.—ED.

[229] For the Assiniboin see our volume ii, p. 168, note 75. The Assiniboin were wandering Indians grouped into many bands under separate chiefs. Early in the nineteenth century those of the woods and foothills of the Rockies became differentiated from the Assiniboin of the Plains, and were usually denominated Stoney Indians. These latter were in two bands, the Thickwood and Mountain Stoney, with dialects differing considerably from the Assiniboin of the Plains. Their characteristics were also different, they being more peaceable and inoffensive than their Eastern relatives. They were very poor, nevertheless were good hunters and energetic workers, many of them acting as guides especially in the explorations connected with the Canadian Pacific Railway surveys. First visited by Wesleyan missionaries as early as 1840, they now are largely members of that denomination. A band of about six hundred live on a reservation on Bow River near Morley, forty miles west of Calgary, not far from the region in which they were encountered by De Smet.—ED.

[230] The Assiniboin of the Plains had been decimated by small-pox in 1838; while still a numerous tribe, they were reduced from 1,000 to 400 thinly-populated lodges. They had somewhat recovered, doubtless, before Father de Smet’s journey.—ED.

[231] Red Deer River rises in the Sawback Range, nearly east of Laggan, and flowing east and southeast through the plains of Alberta empties into the South Saskatchewan in Assiniboia, just east of the hundred and tenth meridian.—ED.

[232] Snake Country (Pays Serpent) was the term applied by the Hudson’s Bay Company to the area drained by Snake (or Lewis) River, the home of the Shoshoni (or Snake) Indians.—ED.

[233] These tribes have all been previously noted—by “Kants” being meant the Kansa; by “Saucs” the Sac; and by “Ajouas” the Iowa.—ED.

[234] See De Smet’s _Letters_ in our volume xxvii, p. 391, note 213.—ED.

[235] Jean Baptiste Thibault went as a missionary to the Red River country in 1833, and travelled widely in the great Northwest, visiting the Hudson’s Bay posts and founding missions for both half-breeds and Indians from Manitoba to New Caledonia. His colleague, Joseph Bourassa, was engaged in the same work from 1844 to 1856.—ED.

[236] For these rivers see our volume vi, p. 354, with accompanying note. The mission at St. Ann, in Alberta about fifty miles west of Fort Edmonton, was later in charge of the Oblate Fathers, headed by Father La Combe.—ED.

[237] The last four tribes belong to the great Athapascan, Déné, or Tinneh stock, whose northern division occupies the northernmost interior of the American continent. The names here given (probably translated from French) are intended for the Beaver, Dogrib, Slave and Hare (or Hare-skin) tribes. In general terms their habitat may be described as follows: the Beaver upon Peace River; the Dogrib between Great Slave and Great Bear lakes; the Slaves west of Great Slave Lake, upon Mackenzie and Liard rivers; the Hares on the Mackenzie, Hare, Indian, and Anderson rivers. See A. G. Morice, in Canadian Institute _Proceedings_, 1889, pp. 109-174. These Indians still rove the great northern lands, little affected by contact with whites.—ED.

[238] These are all fur-trading posts, most of which De Smet had visited. They have been described in previous volumes of our series, as follows: Fort Corbeaux (Crow), or Alexander, our volume xxvii, p. 146, note 12 (De Smet); Laramie (La Ramee), xxi, p. 181, note 30; Union, xxii, p. 373, note 349; Mandan, or Clark (near Big Knife, not Little Missouri), xxii, p. 344, note 317; Pierre, xxii, p. 315, note 277; Lookout, xxii, p. 304, note 261; Vermillion, xxvii, p. 153, note 22 (De Smet); fort at Council Bluffs, xxii, p. 275, note 231; and Bellevue, xxii, p. 267, note 221. Fort Osage, originally a government post on the Missouri (not the Osage), was abandoned in 1827; see our volume v, p. 60, note 31. Probably De Smet here refers to the trading post at the Osage villages on Osage River, in what is now Kansas. Fort Pied-Noir (Blackfoot), or Lewis, was the successor of Fort Mackenzie (for which see our volume xxiii, p. 87, note 75), destroyed in 1844. Fort Lewis was built (1845) by Alexander Culbertson some distance above the old fort at the mouth of Maria’s River, on the south bank of the Missouri, eighteen miles above the present city of Fort Benton, Montana; see account of founding in Montana Historical Society _Contributions_, iii, pp. 241-243 (note, however, that the dates in these reminiscences are quite unreliable). Fort Lewis, named for the explorer, Captain Meriwether Lewis, was abandoned in 1846 for the site of Fort Benton—the new post, however, retaining the name Lewis until about 1850. Fort Berthold, in McLean County, North Dakota, on the Indian reservation of that name, one hundred and twenty-five miles above Bismarck, was built as an American Fur Company post in 1845, and named for Bartholomew Berthold, one of the partners of that corporation. An opposition post (erected in 1859) was bought out in 1862, and the effects and name transferred thither. This new stockade was nearly captured by the Sioux in December, 1862. Two years later it was converted into a military post, but the soldiers being withdrawn (1867) the fort was thereafter maintained as an Indian agency, until accidentally burned in 1874; all vestiges have now disappeared. See engraving of its former appearance in O. D. Wheeler, _Trail of Lewis and Clark_ (New York, 1904), i, p. 276.—ED.

[239] Right Reverend Mathias Loras was born in Lyons, France, in 1792. At the age of twenty-six he was ordained priest, and in 1829 came to the United States with Bishop Portier of Mobile. He served in the latter city until chosen (1839) first bishop of the newly-created see of Dubuque. Two years later he visited Europe for recruits, returning with two priests and four deacons. Bishop Loras died at Dubuque in 1858. In 1841 he sent Augustine Ravoux, one of the deacons who had reinforced his mission (ordained priest in 1840), to visit the traders in what is now Minnesota, and attempt the founding there of a Sioux mission; he was accompanied by Father Lucien Galtier. The latter built a chapel on the site of St. Paul, and gave the infant settlement its name, but in 1844 he was removed, dying in 1866 at Prairie du Chien. Father Ravoux made many missionary journeys over his wide territory—in 1845 to Fort Vermillion, in 1847 to Fort Pierre—and established an incipient Sioux mission. The withdrawal of Galtier made it imperative for Ravoux to devote himself to the care of the Catholic communicants of his wide diocese. See his _Reminiscences and Memoirs_ (St. Paul, 1890). He was still living in 1904.—ED.

[240] For the Potawatomi mission see De Smet’s _Letters_ in our volume xxvii, p. 156, note 26. Its first site in Kansas was as here stated; later (1848) it was removed to Kansas River, and during the early settlement was well known as St. Mary’s Mission—afterwards, simply St. Mary’s. The mission school was continued until 1869. A town of this name is in the southeastern corner of Pottawatomie County.—ED.

[241] Several posts of the Hudson’s Bay Company were known as the Rocky Mountain House; but this one, upon the North Saskatchewan, had no other name. It was founded in 1802 by the North West Company, and David Thompson was in charge 1806-07, making thence his first expedition west of the mountains. It was located about a mile and a half above the mouth of the Clearwater, on the south bank of the Saskatchewan. See _Explorations by Captain John Palliser_ (London, 1863), pp. 74-77, descriptive of the expedition sent by the government in 1857-59.—ED.

[242] For the Sauteux see J. Long’s _Voyages_, in our volume ii, p. 79, note 38. The Chippewa are the most numerous tribe of the Algonquian stock, large numbers being still found in both Canada and the United States, with a range nearly as wide as De Smet here gives them. In the United States, however, their habitat never extended much beyond Minnesota, where they were met by their hereditary enemies, the Dakota (or Sioux). In Canada, their alliance with the Cree gave them a farther westward range, and they occasionally traded at Fort Edmonton on the upper Saskatchewan.—ED.

[243] George A. de Belcourt arrived in the Red River country in 1831, and spent twenty-eight years as a missionary in this territory, officiating also at Pembina under commission from Bishop Loras of Dubuque. The Chippewa mission here mentioned was situated on Winnipeg River, at a place whose native name was Wabassimong. In 1846, the Oblate Father Aubert was placed in charge; but lack of success rendered it necessary to abandon the mission the following year. The log church which had been erected was used some years later by Protestant missionaries. See Alexandre Taché, _Vingt Années de Missions dans le Nord-Ouest de l’Amérique_ (Montreal, 1866).—ED.

[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 his _Forty 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. See _Henry-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 see _ante_, 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 his _Narrative_, 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 his _Fur 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’s _Travels_, _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 Society _Transactions_, 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 in _Vingt Années de Missions dans le Nord-Ouest de l’Amérique_.—ED.

[261] Paul, son of Simon Fraser the explorer (for whom see Farnham’s _Travels_, _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’s _Travels_, _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 his _Fur 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’s _Travels_, _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’s _Travels_, _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’s _Travels_, _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 his _History 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’s _Travels_, _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’s _Travels_, _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 Society _Transactions_, 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 in _Recollections 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 Historical _Quarterly_, iv, p. 263; also Oregon Pioneer Association _Transactions_, 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.