The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1883-08-30
EAIHER snnnENnaKER.


The death OF the Rev. Fathes John
Sehcenmake. at Usage Mission, re-
moves from Kansas one who was truly
q historical character. His name de-
serves q better fate than being augli-
eised into shoemaker" a. was gen.
orally the case during his life, and
even in the telegraphie dispatch
which announced hls death. But we
are free Ia our treatment Of foreign
names; IS for instance, the Rev. Jo-
seph Van Lengenhage, In early CATH
ollie missionary. came % be univens-
ally known as Father Logan"
10 the Rev. John Schoenmaker
belongs the honor OF being one Of the
first TO set up the standard Of eivila.
ton within the limits Of what Il now
Knusas.
The Osages first heard Of the Chris
tian religion from The great explorer
and Missionary, James Marquette, in
the year 1850. From that time. tile
eve Of the white man seems not TO
have rested ON the Osages until 1915,
when the Franciseans came aerOss
these Indians during their wanderings
la Texas. In lS2O, again Catholic
missionaries visited the Osages on the
Missouri River, and from this on the
Jesuits followed the Osages as they re-
tired 10 the westward, and Il vas In
1917 that Father SchOenmaker and
a few associates took possession OF two
log houses on the NeOshO. where
stands the present city Of Usage Mis-
sion. Six Sisters OF IlOrettO followed,
aud these good men and women COM
menced the lallOr Of endeavOring to
Christianize and ciyilize the Osages,
with Father SchOennaker at the head
OF the little community. They built
a church, perhaps the first in Kansas,
aud dedicated Il TO 81. Francis, and
started schools for girls aud boys
Here, till the day Of his death Faith
er SehOenmaker labOred, la perIls.
especially during the rebellion, when
his loyalty drsW upon the Mission
the wrath Of the guerillas, who
swaImedsover the near Missouri boil
der. Here he lived 60 see a fourth
ing town grow upon or near lands be-
longing 20 tie Mission, and see the
H. st rude church Of -. Francis sue
eteded by q modern aud stately edifiee.
Everything has changed. But four
teen years agO, a visit tO Usage Mis-
sion aud a talk with venerable Father
SchOenmakeF WAS something 10 he en-
loved aud remembered The original
buildings, or perhaps their SUCCESSORS
the second generations ~ structures
were standing, though the logs hal
bee n covered by elaphOards. There was
a church, very long, low and dark the
jOists showing overhead, as In the
Mexican churches, and In the rude
gallery. iusky Indian girls gathered
in the evenings 10 sing. Thtr; was a
great garden where the Fathers
walked aud meditated but the pres
enee Of a visitor usually led TO a
gathering Of the priests, and group
of half a dozen Of them frequently rep
resented as many natiOnalities. The
most communicative, and always the
leader Of the conversation, was Father
SchOenmaker. who was In every way
the head a man Of stout flame, at
that time, AMI not much broken hy
age, and with rough but kindly fea-
tures. He was full Of "Reminiscences;
he had seen everything from the be-
ginning.
II was a strange lifethat now ended.
He came from the Low Countries in
Europe, the seat OF an ancient civil
iznti0n, with a swarming population,
aud crowded with old cities 20 Amer
lea, and buried himself among the
woods and prairies of Kansas. For
months together, he heard aud saw
few besides Indians. Hundred and
Thousands Of them came, stayed
awhile and went their ways. He told
the writer that three thousand Indian
children had been baptized By himself
4 IL Nu..nf.r. nr.1
girls cane were taught reading,
writing, arithmetic, and the doctrines
aud ceremonies Of the church, and
then disappeared In the distant prai-
RE. Every year fewer returned
Kansas was opened for settlement 1.-THE
white people came thicker and faster,
and the lonely missionaries were
Overlaken 10y LIBERALIZATION they had
left.
II Ia 10 be feared that, religiOusly
speaking, Father SchOennaker and
his CO labOTeTs reaped scanty har-
vest The Usage Is a wild man. All
that he can be taught in his youth Of
the white mans ways, disappears
from his idle mind. In the pursuit Of
the buffalo; Ia the smoke Of the
lodge; I'm the whOOD of the fOray, he
f0rgels the book and the rosary, and
so Il was that Father SehOenmaker
said in his latter years that he
doubted if an adult Christian
Usage Indian existed. Still we know
not and Il Ia certainly a consolation
to believe that the old man who tOiled
so long aud faithfully here. was greet
ell on the farther bank Of that mystic
riOus stream nc which the footsteps Of
this life are stayed by the outstretched
hands OF the wild people, whose way
wardness so tired him here, and
whom he loved SO well.-AtehisOn
Champion