The Alaska daily empire., 1914-08-13
JUNEAU KNIGHTS HONOR
 ARCHBISHOP SEGHERS

eau:
 "The Knights of Columbus of Alas ka have appropriately chosen the name of Archbishop Seghers, truly zealous Alaskan missionary, who though wearing the purple of prince of the church five times visited this great Northern Empire and finally laid down his life on the shores of the Yukon,
 Bishop Demers, of Vancouver Is- land, in May, 1863, called for yolun. teers from European seminaries for his vast diocese which included Alas i ka, and Father Seghers. just ordained priest in the American college of Louyain, begged to be allowed to so. He arrived in Victoria via the 18th. mus of Panama November 19, 1863. ' "Rss twenty.three years in the North is a long story of arduous labors and missionary journeys, by land and sea, through wintry storms and trying experiences. and show his in. domitable zeal and devotion to the salvation of souls. Though he suffer ed frequently from hemorrhage of the lungs and the doctors in 1870 all agreed he had but short time to live, God spared him for yet more apostolic work, and to our surprise we see him consecrated Bishop of Vancouver Is- land June 29, 1873. One month after this he visited Alaska on board a rev enue cutter. While at Sitka, on this occasion as all others, he stopped with the family of Nicholas Haley. He also went as far as Kodiak and Unalaska.
 Tn June, 1877, his second voyage to Alaska took place, accompanied by Father Mandart They went by steamer to the mouth of the Yukon river, and from there, now on foot, then in canoe, they went up the river a distance of 1900 miles. The Bishops tace had been so badly frozen and disflgured that on his return to Nulato Father Mandart could hardly recognize him. He got back to St. Michael at the end of the summer of 1878 having been away from ciyiliza- tion for more than twelve months. He returned to Victoria September 20, 1878, via San Francisco, having visit ed 3O,OOO Indians.
 'In July, 1879, he was appointed coadjutor to the Archbishop of Ore gon, but before leaving for Portland he again came up to Sitka and Wran- gell. The first entry in the church records of Wrangell is in his own handwriting as follows: Tn the year of our Lord, 1879, on the 4th day of May, the feast of the Patronage of St. Joseph and the third Sunday after Easter, we, Charles John Seghers, Archbishop of Portland, constitute Reverend John Althoff, missionary priest of this center, which, in the presence of many Catholics from afar and not few natives, we place under the invocation and patronage of Saint Rose of Lima The Republican, a non.C Catholic journal thus refers to him on his arrival in Portland: The Archbishop is gentleman oi high culture and distinction. His eminent qualities of heart and mind have call ed him to the high position of Arch bishop. He is especially beloved by the clergy and the faithful of the Catholic Church.
 "In March, 1885, at his earnest pleading he was permitted to go back to Vancouver Island for the express purpose of taking care of Alaska, that seemed quite a problem to supply with missionaries; and we find him again immediately departing for the North and establishing missions at Sitka and Juneau.
 Tn July, 1886, for the fifth time he set out for Alaska and six days after they left Victoria they arrived in Juneau. July 19, 1886. and were heart fly welcomed by Father Althoff. The jealous Archbishop with his little band pushed on Northward on the journey that was to be his 'ast Where the Stewart River flows into the Yu- kon he left his two companions, the Jesuit missionaries, Father Tosi and Father Robaut, to cover this large field for spiritual work, and continued on alone toward Nulato accompanied only by Q man named Fuller. The Fathers begged the Archbishop not to take him; but he was not to be changed, as Fuller had on various oc- casions shown great attachment and devotedness to him. On separating Fuller said to Father Tosi: Father, there is no other man alive for whom I have greater respect than for Arch bishop Seghers. If I could shed my blood to save his life, willingly would give the last drop During the eight weeks on their way to Nulato the man had threatened the Arch bishops life on various occasions, as can be seen from his diary but the lack of fear in the saintly look of the Archbishop forced the man to take down the gun he aimed at him.
 within days journey from Nulato the fatal deed was committed. The Indians having seen for some time the actions of Fuller, accompanied the Archbishop and constituted them selves his protector The two Indians who slept at the side of the Arch bishop were aroused in the morning by Fuller and told to make the fire and get some ice. Fuller then called to the Archbishop to get up. He sat up and seeing the gun levelled at him, realized it was the end. He bowed his head in prayer, crossed his arms on his breast and then in perfect resig- nation received the fatal bullet, This was the tragical and heoric end of a