The Blackfoot optimist. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1907-1918, 1914-07-16

ADOULs
he prescribed, price set upon his
head"
She paused, and sank into a chair,
bowling her face upon the table. I
stood silent, unable to speak, the
sound of her voice still in my ears.
She looked up again, dashing her hand
across her eyes.
Il must be far more French than
Indian to become so weak" she ex.
planned, ashamed of the emotion. "'T
is the memory of him lying yonder,
monsieur, with no word-no last word
for me. So 1t was he came to Amer
lea, but they would not let him rest
in either Quebec or Montreal. They
drove him forth into the woods, into
the camps of Indians. He told me
once about those days; of how he
traversed the black waters of the Otta-
wa and met hardships on the great
lakes, his companions voyageurs and
couriers des bois, his only means Of
support the furs he could send back
to Montreal. But he might not ven-
ture there himself, but was doomed
forever to a life beyond civilization.
His associations would have brutalized
him. made him a fit denizen of those
wilds, turned him also into a savage,
but for one thilg-he was a fervent
Catholic. 1t was this which kept him
ever gentle. sweet and strong. He
possessed the passion to save souls;
he became an evangel to the Indians
among whom he lived. He was at
Mackinac and Green Bay; he told the
Pottawattomies of Christ, but they
cast him out; he travelled to the viii
lagos of the Illinois, but the Jesuits
were already there. and gave him no
welcome. At last he found a home
with the Wyandots. At first the task
was not easy, for they were a savage
people. They had tortured Jesuit
priests to the stake, and fogged the
Recollets who came also. But my ia
Their won their confidence; he went
forth with them to battle; he went
with them against their enemies. and
80 they finally listened to what he
said. He became Wa-pa-tee-tah, the
white chief, and taught them of Christ
Jesus. They became Christians be-
cause they were proud of him. He &C
complished what the priests could not
do, and kept the tribe at peace with
the whites. The English came, and
hated him, for he would not enter into
their schemes, nor permit his people
to. Only once did he lead them to
war. against your General Clark at
Vincennes.
"Exiled and lonely, abandoning all
hope Of ever returning to France, or
even civilization, my father finally, to
increase his influence with the tribe,
took for wife a woman of the Wyan-
dots. Although l was born of that
union, yet l never saw my mother,
who died when l was but babe. am
told she was of fair complexion, but
Jet black hair and eyes, the daughter
of French trader and Indian mother,
able to read and write. My father
loved her, and taught her much that
he had learned in early life. When
she died he seemed to change, to lose
interest in the past, to cease to dream
longer Of Europe. He became more
fully a Wyandot. l was brought up in
the camps Of the tribe, living in their
! wigwams, sharing in their prosperity
and adversely. l played with Indian
children, and was cared for by Indian
women. l must have been ten years
old, monsieur, before I first realized
that l was mainly of white blood, of
| another race. Yet when this knowl.
edge came it brought with it sudden
ambition"
Her eyes were upon the fire now,
and her voice had lost its harshness,
Il remember when / went to my ia,
ther|t was in . camp on the shores