The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-10-05
|RST CATHOLIC MISSION
blsbration Of tho Golden Jubilee BY
Pontihcal High Mass and
Vespers.
ifty Years Ago the Blackrobes
Game Among the Flathead
Indians.
Il. u. PAlladino, q. j., Of Helons,
Sketches the Estabiishnsn of h
Catholic Missions.

The cathedral was crowded yesterday
,drninR at 1880 when RI. Rev. J. b. Bron-
81, bishop Of Helena, began the celebration
pontihcal high mass in oomemoration OF
be establishment of the Rrst Roman Cath
liz mission among the Indians Of Mon
ana, fifty years ago. Rev. Dolan, OF Min
ssota. acted a. deacon. and Rev. BouRis,
tho has recently returned from France,
az subdsscon. while Rev. i. B. Palladino.
( Helena, Was master Of c~srsmoAies.
bishop Brondsl preached q sermon in which
. reviewed the work of the missionaries IN
Montana, and paid tribute to those who
ave worked 80 faithfully in the vineyard.
n the evening at seven O'Clock vssper
ervices were held, at which the Te Deum
vas sung. Ssrviees were held yesterday in
very Catholic church in the state, IL being
Holy Rosary Sunday and the day set apart
or the celebration of the Golden Jubilee.
Father Palladino gives an interesting
lkstch OF the Catholic missions in Mon
n and the labors Of the mis-
Iionaries, while he modestly keeps
himself in the background. THE
rear of our Lord, 1910, will always
be q memorable one in the history OF tho
Catholic church in Montana. A young
priest Of remarkable energy and lndomlt-
abls courage, Father PeterJ. De Smet, b.
J.. whose name ia now famous throughout
Ill lands, planted in that year the standard
Of the cross in the very heart Of the Rocky
mountains. and thus became the pioneer OF
christianity and civilization. What Arst
a...-A. A. ekon. IF Tho vonkkfN1 INIT in.
trepid missionary to the wilds OF the Rocky
mountains sounds almost like = romance,
and will ever be one of the most interest
ing incidents in the carly history OF this
country. But il is impossible in q brief
historical sketch like this to enter into n
lengthy details. tho object of this paper be-
ing to present a hasty, vet accurate, ac-
count--a mere outline Of the past and OF
the present history of the Catholic
missions in Montana. That some OF
the Indian tribes west of the Rocky
mountains had at an early date SOME vague
knowledge of christianity no longer seems
to admit of any doubt. How that ray OF
light, faint and dim, broke first on the
minds of those untutored children OF the
forest is not known. Contact, however,
with the fur-traders Of the north and west,
AZ also Intercourse with other tribes in
their annual. hunts east OF the ROCKY
mountains. may sufficiently account for it.
However this, il 10 certain that the
Flatheads, ~inhabiting the Bitter Root val
ley and the adjacent country, had acquired,
long before the missionaries arrived among
them, somewhat clearer and more d1stlnct
knowledge of the faith. This was impaired
to them by some Christian Iroquois, who
had wandered to their land and whom the
Flathead nation had adopted into the
tribe. In the fall of 1889 there arrived in
ST. Louis a deputatiop of Indians who had
come all the way through from the western
slope of the Rocky mountains, q distance OF
some 5000 miles. They were Flatheads.
This famous nation, between the years 1850
and 1889, sent out three successive expect.
tions in search of a 'Black-robs.' Of the
braves sent out on the first and second e1-
petitions some, falling in with hostile
arduous journey Of sickness, hunger and
hardships, and only one or two survived to
carry home to their tribe the sad tale OF
death and disappointment.
"Undaunted by former failures and dis
asters, a third d reputation set out from the
safely reached st. Louis in the fall OF the
same year. On hearing the object of their
mission MonsiRnor Rosatl, then bishop OF
st. Louis, referred the brave fellows to the
Fathers Of the Society of Jesus, to whom
the bishops of the United States, assembled
in tho council Of Baltimore in 1886, had
consigned the Indian missions of the coun-
try. Young Father P. j. De Smet s. j. was
the one appointed to meet the wishes anc
earnest prsyers of those good people. III
loft st. Louis in the spring of 1910 and II
July, after a long and tedious journey, ar
rived among the Flathead tribs, who wer,
then dumped somewhere near the Three
Forks on the Missouri. His mission begar
the day of his arrival, and there never wa
a more docile people,. After two months o
constant missionary labor Father Do SINE
returned to ST. Louis, but not before he hat
given to his newly begotten children Of thu
mountains a solemn promise to return II
the following spring with other black robe
to establish permanently the mission O
which he had now laid the foundation
The little mustard seed was now planted.
and was soon developed into q good sized
and healthy tree. According to promise
in the spring OF 184l Father De Smet mad
his temperance, accompanied by tw'
youthful missionaries. as intrepit
s.Tini,, With n1tt. some Rd lay b S.'ti.' +. n
there, close to where 6tovensville nov
stands, established under tho name OF st
Mary the first Catholic Indian mission II
Montana, and the news soon spread anon
the n%eighboring tribes that Blaokrobss hae
come into the land, n tho ~missionarie
wrote as early as tho month of October o
the same year that one single day ha,
brought to their instructions the represent
atives of as many as twenty-four difisren
tribes and the demand was evidently greate
than the supply, and the labolers in tn
field needed considerable help to gather il
the abundant harvest lying ripe before
them. This help came to them by Install
ments, so to speak. in the successive years
in the persons of Fathers A. Hoecken,
Ravalli, L. Vercruissa, Accolti, Josef, Ter
binuti, Nobili, De Vos, Menetrey,. Gazzol
and Congiato, and brothers Joseph. Clas
sens, Francis and Magri. Later on Father
Giorda. Imoda, Caruana, Grassi, D'Aste
Kuppens, Van Carp, Cataldo and other
came SUCCESSFULLY to swell the ranks o
those who had already borne for u goo
whilo "the burden of the day and tn
heats" OF all these pioneers \ humble
have gone to receive the reward OF thsi
labors and the others are still working ava.
in the vineyard of the Lord with undim;n
ished courage. but greatly reduced in bodil.
strength by age, toll, haIdships and il
usage, some in our midst, some in othe
fields of labor. Among those who cam
earliest to The Rocky mountains Was Rev. A
Ravalli. an Italian by birth, whose name l
Il household word with every Montanian, a
once u zealous missioner and n perfcc
mechanic, q learned thcologian and \ skill
full phyRician, n true Samaritan OF tn