New-York tribune., 1905-02-11

vi. 7s5-l.211: Vi. i.2l3-l624. Francis p Harper
II the wears 1867 and 1865 Father De srnet
was the only white man in the United States who
possessed the absolute confidence OF the west
ern Indians. was able TO travel hundreds Of miles
through hostile territory unharmed, even well
coined and so was fitted to bring about the
famous peace conference at Fort Rice in 1868
To have retained this confidence and affection
when the hand OF the red man was raised
against every other white man, woman and
child in the region, indicates an intimate
knowledge OF the Indian and his ways. and
sympathy with his position. which must give
a unique value to anything Father De Smet
ever wrote on the subject of the native races IN
America AS matter of fact. he wrote great
deal and published a considerable portion or IT,
but hitherto his writings have not been In a
shape easily, even at all, accessible TO the
general reader and the student. Much is in
French, some in clumsy English translation
and most CT It has long been out of print.
Major Chittenden and Mr.. Richardson have
done q valuable service In collating. retransat-
ing where necessary, rearranging ana otherwlse
editing tie already published work OF Fathef
De Snet, and in rounding it out ana conpIet-
ing it from the mass Of unpublished material
discovered in the good priests letter DOCKS ano
journals AS result, we have now In the iour
volumes tust issued a complete record OF Ihe
thirty-odd years spent by Father De smet III
laboring among and for the Indians in the
course of which time he travelled over one nun
dred and eighty thousand miles. AT least nan
of what appears in these sixteen hundred pages
has never before been printed The editors also
contribute a complete biography Of their nero
running TO 146 pages, in which for the hrsI Ilile
are adequately summarized the remarKaole
achievements of this remarkable man.
Young Belgian Of good family. born IN
1901. he came TO this country twenty years
later and was one Of the little band OF Jesults
who founded on the banks of the missouri RIVER
the primitive novitiate that later developed
ito The university Of St Louis. In 1884 the
Indian Missions OF the Catholic Church IN lhe
1rnited States were confded to the Society OF
Jesus and in 1888 Father De Smet entered
definitely upon the iabors that were to occupy
him for the rest of his life. by founding the
Mission Of St Joseph among the PottawatoiIies
at Council Bluff. From there he EXTENDED MS
work all over the Northwest and among Inolahs
of almost every known tribe, his missionary en-
thusiasrn carrying him as far west as the
mouth Of the Columbia River ana as lar hoFlh
as Fort Assiniboin. on the Athabasca. There
was no place too far, no way too dlncuII no
weather too severe. no tribe too wild or too de-
Graded to daunt him. Wherever he went he
made friends and wherever he made friends
he made converts With some of the tribes he
tarried for protracted periods as with the
Pottawatonies and the F1atheads; to others ne
was frequent or maybe only an occasional VlS-
itor. but all of them gave him their commence.
They saw that he did not have 1orKeu
tongue" OF charming presence, cheerful as
position and a merry w.t. he was as much
at home In the tepee or around the council fire
as he was with Pope or President. He avoided
being made bishop by the one. when the honor
would have taken him from the work to which
he had devoted his life, but he accepted COM
mission as major from the other. when the in
congruous military rank would facilitate ms
efforts 10 bring peace TO his proteges.
Father De Snlet was a great letter writer and
naturally he wrote mostly about the subjects
that were nearest his heart-his Indians. and the
work he was doing for them. In MS correspond
ence he gives the most intimate details OF their
social and domestic life, their villages and
lodges. their games, their modes of hunting and
OF warfare. their treatment and torture Of cap
tives their superstitons and their religious
IDEAS. their legends and traditions. While, of
course the active evangelistic work in which
he was engaged prevented him from conduct
ing anything like scientific research into the
origin and meaning OF much of that which so
greatly interested him, the records OF his OBJ
servations must prove invaluable to the stu
dent Of American history ard ethnology from
the fact that they were made at a time pelore
the manners and customs Of the Indians and
their point Of view had become modified by con-
tact with the white men,
II was not only the Indian, however, that in
terested Father De Smet. The country and it's
scenery its fauna and fora. the Missouri and
its navigation, come in for their share of his de-
scriptions. And he with mingled feelings
the oncoming tide of immigration that was to
drive the native races from their hunting
grounds arousng their 1ercest passions, and
hamperirg his efforts TO convert them into peace
full law-abid!ng Christian citizens He met the
advance guard Of the Mornons encamped in the
land Of the Omahas, and believed that the de-
scription Of Salt Lake Valley he gave TO Brig
ham Young influenced that leader IN his choice
OF place of settlement
Father De Smet made many voyages to Europe
in the cause of Indian missions returning
one occasion by way Of Cape Horn and the Pa
cihc to the Columbia River with supplies for his
northern stations and thence overland TO st.
Louis. Twice ne crossed the Isthmus of PAN
anna while jou;neying between New-York and
Oregon. He suffered almost incredible hardships
yet preserved his cheerful good nature through
all What he might have accomplished in
Christianizing the Indians II the Western coun-
try had been more slowly settled can only be
guessed by the marvellous results he obtained In
his earlier missionary journeys. apd by the love
and veneration in which he was Held by chiefs
like Sitting Bull. -Four Horns and Black Moon
10 the end of his days.