The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-09-23

gan one Of the most heroic struggles of
modern times. What was The outcome?
hundred mics to the west, to the shores
of Bac-qui-parle. the Lake which-speaks.
Twenty eight years since The coming of
the Pond brothers to Fort Smelling All
these years the work had been pressed
with yigor. Great progress had been
made The rude dialect of the savage
Sioux had been reduced to a written
language, the word of God had Leen trans
lated into that wild barbaric tongue,
hymn-books had been prepared, a ntera-
.ture for a nation had been created Com
Portable missions had been erected Sew
enfy-five converts had been gathered in
| to the church. The faithful missionaries
! who had lahoTed so long in. their lowly
| log cabins on the banks of Lac-qui- parle
with but little encouragement, now look
ed forward hopefully into the futura
Suddenly. however, all their high hopes
were rudely blasted. It was August IS.
! a lovely Sabbath of the Lord AS the
sun sank that day into the bosom of the
prairie, a fearful storm Of fire and blood
! burst upon the, defencelesss settlers and
missionaries. Like the eyc.one it came
inheralded, and like that dread mon-
/ ster of the prairies, it lett devastation
and death in its pathway The Sioux
/ rose and, in their savage wrath, swept
| the prairies of western Minnesota as with
bosom of destruction. A thousand
/ settlers perished hundreds of happy
! homes were made desoiate. All the mis-
| sions property was destroyed Cod
! however, led all His missionaries and
! their households in perfect safety, out
] Of the fiery furnace of savage fury to
j st. Paul and Minneapolis, There was
not even the smell of lire Ipon their gar
! ments. All else seemed lost beyond all
/ hopes of recovery. Then followed weeks
| of bloody conflict. The whites rose and
! gave battle to their savage foes. The
/ Sioux were defeated large numbers fed
! TO the then uninhabited regions beyond
the Red River of the North Many of
| these found refuge under the British iiag
/ in Prince Rupert's land. But now oc.
/ Cured the strangest part of this won-
/ drously strange story.
Three hundred Indian braves, mainly
chiefs, We're confined in prison pens at
Mankato, Mimi. While free on the
prairies these warriors had hated the
missionaries with all the intensity of
their savage natures. They had bitterly
! opposed every effort of the missionaries.
| They had scornfufly rejected the invita-
tons of the gospel But now, in their
bonds, they were led to turn towards the
Great eDeliverer. They desired to hear
the gospel which they had formerly
t scorned. They sent for the missionaries
to visit them in prison, and the mission
saries came with joy, and the Holy Spirit
! came with them. The savage caDtiyes
| weleonaed- these ministers of God and lis
tened eagerly to the glad tidings of His
! salvation. And all that long winter of
'62-3 there was in progress within the
rude willis of those terrible prison pens
/ al Mankato one of the most wonderful
i revivals since the days of Pentecost. And
enc bright May day those three hundred
4 Indian captives We're all baptized re-
eeived into the communion of the church.
and organized into asPresbyterian, church
| within the walls of the stockade called
/ 'The Church of the Scouts Three years
they were confined in prison at Daven-
4 port, Ia. Then they We're released by
the.government and returned to their ma
tive. prairies,. There they formed the
nucleus of other churches and Sabbat tn
schools, and so the Sioux became a ben
ediction rather than a terror to their
lneighbors on the prairies of the Dakotas
The Church of the Scouts became the
mother of many other churches.
It was in 1884, Fifty years had roll
ed away since the coming of the Pond
/ brothers to Fort Smelling Twenty-one
/ years since the organization of the
Church of the Scouts. One bright Sep
! TENDER day from the heights of Sisseton,
Dakota, a strangely beautiful scene was
spread out before the eye In the dis
| lance the waters of Lake Traverse
Source of the Red River of the North
and Big Stone lake (headwaters of the
i Minnesota) glistened in the bright sun.
! shine, their waters almost commingIing
ere they began their diverse journeyings,
! the former to the Hudson bay, the lat
terato the Gulf of Mexico. At our feet
were Fprairies rich as the garden of the
LORD. The spot was Iyakaptapte, that
is, The Ascension. Half way up was a
1 large wooden building, nesting in a
/ grassy cove. Round about on the hill
I sides were white tepees. Dusky forms
We're passing to and fro and pressing
around the doors and windows. We de-
/ scended and found ourselves in the midst
of throng OF Sioux Indians. Instinc-
I lively we asked ourselves: WHY are
! they gathered, here? Is this one of their
! old pagan festivals? or is it a council of
war; We entered. The spacious house
was ti4ilsely packed; we pressed our way
/ TO the front Hark, they are si1ig ne:
we could not catch the words, but the air
1 was familiar it was Bishop Hebers