, 1889-10-17
BELLS OF SIT. BONIFACE
or Which Whittier Sung So
Charmingly After Hearing
Their Chime.
A French Arrondissement Reached
by an English Bridge on
English Soil.
How a German Saint Gave a
Patronymic to a French
Catholic See.
NV. T. Thompson in tho Pioneer press.l

wv. t. Thompson In the Pioneer Press
Like the Tiber at Rome the Red River
of the North rolls rapidly in a turbid,
tawny flood. Starting from Red lake
In the northeastern part of Minnesota,
the meeting ground of the Chippewas
and Sioux, from whose bloody battles
on its shores the name Is said to be de-
rived, the Raging Red" flows I'm
northerly direction through long strip
of prairie land hidden almost from view
by the deep-cut banks of red and black
loan which rise percipitously from its
muddy bed, Crossing the International
boundary line, it passes in tortuous
fashion, winding through the tall prairie
grass of the French parishes of Manitoba,
until at Winnipeg its dark waters join
those of another stream, not so large but
equally muddy, upon which has been
bestowed the Indian name of AssDa.
boinc. 1t was assembled for the first
time by white men in 1887, when sew.
eral forts were erected by the adventur-
GUS Frenchmen, who penetrated even to
the Rockies on their expeditions, fraught
with danger and bold undertaking.
Later came the fur traders, and the
songs of the voyageurs as they rowed
down its rolled waters broke the deep
silence of the land where the redskin
and buffalo alone had held full sway.
Settlements came next, and civilization
began to spread its influence around and
change the character of the plain. The
missionaries of the church had preceded
the settlers and begun their work of hu;
manizing the savage natives, and soon
the humble basilica with its wooden
cross rose clearly against the sky. 1t
was then that one of Americas sweetest
and most beloved poets, in search of ad.
venture, hoated down the narrow stream
and listened TO the chimes of st. Boni-
| face.
Is 1t the clang of wild geese?
| Is IL the Indian yell
That lends to the voice of the north
wind
| The tones of far-otf bell?
And the Quaker poet, with his soul
filed with the rare beauty which the
fowor-bedccked bosom of the prairie
ocean presents when smiling summer
casts it, warmth around the home of
the north wind, answered his own ques-
tion In words that memory will always
cherish:
The voyageur smiles as he listens
10 the sound that grows apace
We'll he knows the vesper ringing
Of the bells OF st. Boniface.
The bells of the Roman mission,
That call from their turrets twain
To the boatman OH the river,
To the hunter OH the plain.
Here upon the eastern bank of the
river, opposite the m mecting point of these
two northern streams, the Roman Catho-
| lie missionaries established an early mis-
sion which has witnessed the rise and
progress of country rich in agricultural
wealth though crimsoned at times with
the blood of rival fur traders feuds and
rebellion's horrid strife. To-day the
humble log basiica has given place to
commodious cathedral, and converts and
other educational ins stitutions attest the
vigorous growth and prosperity which
has followed in the track Of these mis-
sionary pioneers. Brave, courageous,
sclf-sacriiicing priests were they, and il
is lifting that their labors and earnest
work should attain such glorious results
| The first representative of the Roman
Catholic church upon this ground was
Rev. Father ProvenCher. This worthy
priest went TO Red River in 1915 and
y
amiable bishop of Juliopolis, There he
remained until his death, when in June,
1883 the present distinguished Arch
bishop Tache succeeded him in the sec,
the title of which was changed to st.
Boniface.
BEYOND THE RED RIVER CURRENT.
Cross the Broadway bridge, which
stretches from Winnipeg over tho Red
river to its eastern bank almost to the
l Of hA la t.al
dence, and stranger would almost
imagine hc had reached another and
| foreign country. n different people
| traverse the streets of the hourishing
town, and II different language salutos
the ear Oh Every hand. The signs above
the doors of the well stocked stores bear
unfamiliar names, and on tho street
lamps "Rue Ste Hyacinthe" will meet
! the eye where OH the opposite side ofthc
river Queen street, or other decidedly
English name, would appear. And
when wandering toward the northern
outskirts OF the little town, She visitor
discovers narrow stream, even more
serpcntinc than the Red river and learns
that it bears the historic name of the
Seine, the impression is heightened that
he is in the center of n rural arrondise-
ment of old France. But listening
to the chatter of the people
upon the main thoroughfare which
Il
around the river bank, the ear perceives
that they have patois of their own un-
like any heard across the ocean. 1t is
the stamping ground of the Metis, the
native heath Of the French half.breeds
of the Northwest, though of late years
the population has been increased by
the arrival of many scions ofthe French
Canadian families of Quebec, who trace
their descent to the most ancient nobil.
ity of la Belle France" In the veins
of many of the Metis, also, flows the blu
names of some of the proudest families
of the old French empire. These Metis
are an athletic, rather good looking,
lively, excitable and easy-going people,
fond Of a fast pony, fond OF merry y-malS-
ing, free-hearted open-handed, yet in
dolent and improvident. Many of the
dark.eyed domoiselles of these Metis
families are really possessed of rare
beauty, which is not diminished In any
degree by the traces of their Indian
blood. Being excitable, the Metis
can can 90 be =, reused Ssnssrv to acts Of re-
As far back as Is43, when one of their
nationality named Sayers was arrested
and imprisoned in Winnipeg, the Metis
broke down the entrance to his place of
Imprisonment and rescued him. Among
their leaders was one of the name Of
Riel, the miller of the Seine, the father
OF Louis David Riel, who afterward led
his countrymen twice into rebellion,
paying the penalty with his head on the
last occasion. The older Riel was an
agitator of the first water, and his son
went him one better. Louis, junior, was
the spirit OF unrest and insubordination
| In his race whose chief feature for Sow