The Republican journal., 1869-01-07

hiIC bOltOlll VI tuG WdtcI. ClcuuCTS are
not to be allowed to use their own paddles
or engines for fear of damaging the soft
sloping banks of the canal by the 'swash"
thus created. The difficulty Of towing a
vessel Of 1000 tons in this manner when
the wind presses her to one side, is an OBJ
lection to the scheme which | have heard
no feasible answer to, and as | have been
towed III this way for hundreds Of miles in
my yaWl, and was compelled to tow my
canoe myself for whole day on this canal
l cannot help urging this point distinctly.
while carefully abstaining from expressing
opinions as to the probable return which
the outlay on the whole scheme may rea-
sonably expect to receive in the future.
q Talk with Father De Smet.
The Rev. Father De Smet, widely
known for his missionary labors among the
Indians, departed recently for Europe in
the steamer City of Baltimore. A Belgian
by birth, Father De Smet at an early age
entered the Jesuit Order, and after having
been ordained priest. was sent to the Rocky
Mountain region il 1912, to prosecute the
perilous and toilsome duties of Christian
izing and civiizing the savages of the
plains and mountains of the star West"
At various periods within the past twenty
years he has crossed the Atlantic for the
purpose both OF obtaining missionary help
and the means Of purchasing good for the
Indians. lie makes his present voyage for
the object OF bringing over dozen or more
of religious women and men who will estab-
llsh schools among the Ricarees, Crows,
and Sioux inhabiting the region through
which flow the main branches of the Up
per Missouri. The Sisters are expected to
teach the Indian children the rudiments of
an English education, and also instruct the
girls in sewing and embroidery. Father
DE Smet intends also to bring with him
few 5lacksmiths, tailors, and carpenters.
The backsmiths are wanted for wagon
work, horse-shoeing, and the requirements
OF the household the carpenters for church
and hut building, aud to instruct the male
youth in their craft, and the tailors to in
struct in the knowledge Of the manufacture
of comfortable garments.
The condition of the Indians on the west
ern side of the Rocky Mountains is, in the
opinion of the good Father, such as would
make good men rejoice, Nearly the whole
Of the Flatheads, Nezperces, Spokanes,
kalispels, Snakes and other tribes inhabt-
ing Oregon and Washington are, he says,
converted, and have laid aside their preda-
tory habits for the peaceful avocations of
agricultural life. The Catholic missionaries
have supplied them with seed and taught
them to raise abundant crops. The tribes
lnhabiting Montana, Dakota, and Wyoming
Territories, and all the region extending
from Northern Kansas to British America,
and from Minnesota to the Rocky Noun
tans, appear to cause Father De Smet
great anxiety as regards their present and
future condition. Although wishing to deal
charitably with all, and having no desire to
be censorious or condemnatory, he feels
that the treatment of the tribes by the gov
ernment agents has been far from what it
ought to be. The greatest number of the
latter have Id their treatment of the Indian
been influenced almost solely by an insati-
able desire for gain. The result has been
that not more than p per cent. of all the
tic boxes having Been Pre2&dhusay}s e2fh FopBeAhsed
and the greater part retained by the agents
or their subordluates. Last year matters
were better managed All the boxes re-
manned unopened until they were brought
into the presence of the various tribes for
whom they were intended. This fair and
open dealing had happy effect, and Father
DE Smet IS OF the opinion that should it be
continued there will be but little to fear
from the red men. The Father is desirous
that the government should exercise more
care in making out reservations for the In
dIlnS nOI in, r,lipfr tl,o lot+a,,
as possible from the corrupting habits and
fraudulent practices of traders and advent
urers. Most Of the Indians on this side Of
the mountains, he remarked, are at present
very poor; their chief support, the buffalo,
and nearly all other kinds of game, having
become very scarce Should the buffalo
continue to decrease in the same ratio as
during the last ten years, it viii! not be
long until they Will have almost disappeared
from the regions watered by the Upper
Missouri and its atiluents. The manners
and habits of the Indians are, as a general
thing, very little studied by the whites.
When one Of the former is killed, his re-
latives believe they are disgraced until his
death is avenged If a white person is
killed, it is not unusual for the whites to
~ tcCh dLu iuuIucl ali tllG luulduS ol Il
lodge. The butchery of some 600 Indians,
nearly all OF whom were women and child
rem, by the order OF Major Chiyingtou,
while under the latters protection, very
naturally aroused the spirit Of vengeance
among all the surrounding tribes. Helpless
old women and young girls were iiendishIy
murdered, and the dead bodies were in
some cases subjected to outrage. In his
journeyings among the various Sioux tribes,
Brules, Blacklect, Crows, Uckases, and
other tribes, many Of whom are at present
giving evidence of hostile feeling, Father
De Smet was everywhere received with
kindness. About a year ago he visited
hostile bands of the Sioux to the number
Of 5000, at the request Of the United
States officers, and was everywhere we'll
received and listened to with patient atten-
ton. Father De Smet says the Indians
will be kind and docile if treated kindly
During the whole Of 25 years residence
among them he never was addressed with