Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1869-07-10
BOOK .OfsTRAVEL SKETCHES
No NUMBER VII vzn Do
A Missionary for a Day. %
AITcH.

/ missionary ier LAY.
'qaG aasas iyasBY AITcH. ~ va
sWewere out with ajolly hunting party,
on the Upper Platte river, in the autumn
Pofs '66. The thirteen whites of the COM
lpany represented almost every nation
ality in the civilized world. And some
of them we're singular characters enough.
Tha jolly, social, rough-andready fear
naughts formed a large majority, though
there were those Of the opposite stripe
One of the latter class was quiet,
pious gentleman from one. of the Middle
,States-Mr.sJoh Matthias by name--one
Of the three Northern men of the party.
This gentleman was possessed of lively
sense of.the Importance Of Christianiz.
ing, at least, and civilizing, if possible,
the aboriginal tribes of the West. This
was the, prime motive that induced him
to accompany our hunting party on this
occasion. And during our three months
sojourn on the Plains he had ample oppor-
tunities of experimenting on the half
dozen Pawnees whom we had employed
as scouts and guides. - = -
Now, Mr.. Matthias, be it knswn, was,
to use borrowed phrase, 'just spreut-
ing into ministry fully fledged in years
and physical maturity, but not yet 50 in
theology. However, he went at this
business in the proper orthodox manner,
with hammer and tongs, handled with
unexceptiopable kids, on occasion.
AOn certain beautiful Sabbath day, it
chapceds that we were, encamped in q
lovely meadow at the mouth of Little
Crow creek, and were. observing the day
in accordance with statute, because the
boys were too lazy to travel, and the
horses needed rest. At the foot Of the
hill, on the opposite side of the creek,
there was an encampment of about 300
Pi-Ute Indians. The intervening distance
was not great, so that parties from each
encampment had crossed over TO the
other early, in the day. and exchanged
visits on very friendly and Intimate terms.
Here was q glorious opportunity for
Mr.. Matthias, the most favorable, indeed,
be had enjoyed on the tour. He would
therefore improve it in Imparting little
religious instruction to. these poor be-
nighted Children of the Plain. Walker,
the interpreter, was early appealed to, to
assist in rendering the truth Ineligible
to the simple minds of the savages. =.
But the, miserable sinner was off, he
said, in half an hour, for little sport at
stalking antelope, and m ogt likely would
not return until night, and more than
this, as he intimated to one of his com
psnions, he didn't want to "play second
fiddle to one who would preach to the
red skins, but who wouldn't fight for his
"pals, nor take social hand at euchre,
And he said something of this to Mat
thias--that he didn't like to interpret
white mans religion to the Indians, for
it never did 20 down with them. How
ever, be added, if Matthias would issue a
horn Of good whisky to himself and to
those who chose to listen to his Bible
palaver, he would promise TO return in
time to assist at evening service.
Matthias, very much shocked, ventured
to express a fear that Walk had sur
rendered his hope for eternity for the
trifes and vanities Of this world.
"Well, don't know" replied the in
terpreter, "but cant think of giving
up what little fun git here, when its so
id uncertain about my gittin' any in
the next place ! 60 TO-"
And thus negotiations ended. But
Matthias was determined to hold his
meeting, and do the best he could himself
to make the ssvages comprehend 81
Accordingly, toward noon, he sue
ceeded in inducing a certain number of
Pi-Ules, chiefs and warriors, to assemble
in q semi-circle, inside the battery "a
ring formed by saddles, panRiers, etc.
They squatted down, wondering very
much what it was 81 about, while the
self-sppointed missionary was confident
that be could soon give them clear un-
derstanding Of the object of the meeting. !
He had been told that be must Illus
trate his discourse by signs aud gestures,
and thus proftably employ feature
which entered largely into the eonstruc-
tion Of the Indian language. And indeed |
he had learned this important fact by
observation, and was prepared to profit
BY that knowledge. L .Fli .
He began to speak TO the assembled
braves of the Creator, and found them
attentive but not very sppreciatiye hear
ers, as they had thus far failed to under
stand more than few disjointed words
Of what he was saying. Finally, the
name Of the Indian deity, "Great Spirit"
occurred to his mind. and be knew their
idea Of the being 70 which it referred, IN
their belief When, therefore, he re-
peated the name Great Spirit" and be-
fore another word could be added,
burly, greasy Pi-Ute chief, frightening