Saint Paul weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1858-1859, 1858-09-18

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lished not long afterwards among the Ojibwas,
near Crow Wing, and Sandy Lake, not few
of our Methodist brethren and sisters labored
and suffered-not in vain, for they made
some converts, both whites and Indians. a
history of their labors, sutferings, and their
fruits, would be both interesting and instruc-
| tive, but cannot give it.
1t was natural that the first Missionaries to
the Sioux should stop among the Mdewakan-
tonwan, who dwelt along the, Mississippi and
lower Minnesota They were far more acces-
| sibe. Even at that time two or three steam
boats came to Fort Smelling every year, by
which supplies might be Obtained while
| those going to other bands must be dependent
| for the transportation of their supplies on
traders, who might be expected to aid with
reluctance, if at all, those whose success
among the Indians, they could clearly toresee
would diminish their profits. The garrisons
at Fort Smelling and Prairie du Chen would
| afford protection and assistance in various
| ways to those among the Men of the Lakes,
which those among the more western bands
would have no right to expect. Besides the
| Sprightly, active, polite Mdewakantonwan
were said, by the commander at Fort Smelling,
to be remarkably docile and tractable, and
were thought to be the heads of the Sioux
nation. They seemed far preferable to the
poor, dull, ungrateful Warpeton, who were
charged with breaking up all their labors, not
without reason, and the Missionaries already
mentioned would all have chosen to stay with
them forever; but God in his providence,
sent some to the Warpeton at Lac qui Parle.
On the fifteenth of September, 1886, a
Presbyterian Church was organized at that
place consisting of seven members, six of
| whom had been members of the Church at
Fort Smelling and the other, Mr.. Joseph Rem
| vile, SEN, the trader there of mixed blood.
| Shortly after, his wife. full-blooded Dakota,
and three of his children, were, on profession
of their faith, received to the communion of
the same church This church has never
become extinct or disOrganized, though it has
! been removed to Lakewood. 1t is doubtless
| the Oldest existing Christian Church in Min
nesota. of those dwelling in that neighbor-
hood at the time the church was organized,
| and their children, more than seventy have
been received to the communion of the church
far more than from all the other DakOtas.
When the Mission was commenced there in
1885, they raised less corn, were poorer and
apparently more degraded and indolent than
the Sissiton to the northwest or the Mde-
wakantOnwan to the east of them. For two
years past they have furnished corn and pO-
tatOes for seed, and to some extent for food,
to these their neghbOrs, who twenty years
ago appeared more intelligent and industrious,
and were better fed and clothed than they
1t is not because they had better or wiser
men for teachers, for they had not such.
Much less was it owing to the missionaries at
Lac qui Parle beginning, as worldlywise
men tell us missionaries to savage people
y a..
the earth. The first missionary labor per-
formed at most. if not all the stations among
the Men Of the Lakes, was blowing land for
them to cultivate, and they have uniformly
received more assistance in agriculture than
the Leaf Dwellers. The first missionary labor
at the Lake which Speaks, was teaching the
alphabet and as soon as it was possible we
were determined to tell them of the love of
God in giving his son to die that we might
live.
Daniel was informed that the walls of Je-
rusalem should be built in troublous times,
and the New Testament abundantly teaches
that those who extend the Redeemer's king
dom and work on its walls, must toll and
suffer Missionary Societies do much to di-
minish this, but it may well be questioned
whether all the pecuniary aid they give is
equivalent to the gift of tongues divinely
bestowed on the Apostles, and their immedi-
ate successors Certain it is that acquiring
the Dakota language was no easy task to the
first missionaries. 1t had never been reduced
to writing, and the difficulty of doing this was
much increased by its having not less than half
a-dozen sounds, some of them very difficult to
utter, with which we were previously I'M
acquainted.
We could procure but little assistance from
| interpreters-the few who could have given
any considerable aid were indisposed to do so,
without a larger compensation than we could
give. This, though great hin trance and
Encouragement at first was probably an adj
vantage in the end, as it compelled us to have
| the language directly from the mouths of those
who know no other. In order to do this, it
was necessary to spend much time with them
| In some journeys undertaken for this purpose
| we were for days without tasting bread or
any vegetable food; and subsisted on food
which we could not have eaten at all but for
| voraciOus appetite. In one of these journeys
Mr. Samuel Pond was from Monday night till
| Saturday noon without tasting food of any
| kind; two days and nights were spent
| by fire. which only served to melt the
rapidly falling and drifting snow, so as to
| keep his clothes all wet; and more than two
in wading through a heavy snow up to his
knees. In such circumstances the billings of
| of hunger were doubtless keen, but he said he
| suffered more from thirst than hunger for,
| though he was often on or near the river, the
| ice was so thick that he could not procure
| water without great labor. On another Jour
ney as the ice was breaking up in the spring,
he came to a river which must be crossed
before food could be obtained. Seeing an old
canoe on the opposite side, he tried in vain to
hire some of his Indian companions to swim
for it, and then plunged into the icy water,
and swan for it himself. On other occasions
he has walked all day through snow and wa
ter often more than knee deep.
Early in April, 1897, his brother G. H.
Pond started from Lac qui Parle on an expe-
ditiOn of this kind. The snow was melting
and much of the prairie covered with water,
through which the party waded, sometimes
up to their necks. The weather was umusu-
ally cold for the season, and prevented the
return of the waterfowl, and they suffered
much for want of food. After fasting all day,
sometimes he got for supper small handful
of wild artichokcs, and sometimes part of
duck, or goose, and one evening the hunters
brought in some small fish which they had
found dead in lake, and gave him for his
supper one which they said Though he doubt
ed this,) was alive when they found it.
| But we had other difficulties to contend
with, besides those arising from learning a
difficult and unwritten language. Paul the
Apostle of the Gentiles had to labor, not
only in journcying, and preaching the Gospel,
but even in the rich city of Corinth, the labor
of his own hands provided for himself neces-
sary food and clothing; and those who are
like him, striving to preach Christ where he
| has not been much known, must not think it
strange if they have to initiate him, in labor
! ing with their hands. When the Dakota
Mission was commenced we were informed
that we must use the strictest economy in our
expenses.
About the close of the year 1887 or '3S, we