The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1927-04-19

Editors Note This is the
first of a series Of five articles
written by Miss Bertha r. Pal.
mer, state superintendent Of pub
lie instruction, in connection with
the memorial service and mis-.
sionary rally to be conducted at
Walhalla June 26 in commemora-
ton of the 18th anniversary Of
the death Of the first Protestant
missionary in North Dakota.)
Sunday, June &c, 1927, will be
Memorial Day Walhalla. North Da-
kota, to observe the 18th anniver-
sary Of the deaths Of three Christian
missionaries who gave their lives un-
der most dramatic circumstances in
the cause of bringing Christianity to
the Indians.
Circumstances which seem dramat-
ic to US in 1927 were, however, not
out-ofthe-ordinary happenings in the
matter of life and death in the early
SOS. These services are in charge of
the Prcsbyterians, the Congregation
alists, the Methodists, the Evangcli-
calls, and the Baptists Of the North
west in memory Of Elijah Terry, the
first Baptist missionary to come to
Dakota Territory, who was killed by
Sioux Indians June %, 1852; Mrs.
Alonzo Bernard, wife Of the earliest
Presbyterian missionary, who, while
serving with her husband, died from
exposure October %, 1853, and Mrs.
Cornelia Leonard Spencer. wife of an
early Congregational missionary, who
was shot by the Indians during the
night Of August 80, 1854.
For some 35 years the bodies Of
!! these martyrs Of the church remained
In the prairie graves where they
were first laid; but, through the eff
forts of Mrs. c. o. Van Glove Of
Walhalla, in June, 1883, the bodies
were removed to the beautiful spot
in the cemetery on the hillside back
of the village where granite shaft
| marks their resting place and tells
the story Of their great service for
God and country. Generally, speak
/ ing, we do not consc ously recognize
that the early Christian missionaries
have place side by side with early
| explorers to whom we do not hest
tate to give full credit for inesti-
mable service in opening up the coun-
try in the early days OF our history.
| Indeed we are slow to recognize or
at least to acknowledge that our
growth along religious lines has kept
pace with, if it has not been always
4 step in advance Of, our political
progress. Pioneers in both have
blazed the way and the coming men,
orial service at Walhalla is but a
delayed tribute.
Christian Influence
| In this connection a brief sketch
| of early Christian influence will be
timely and interesting.
Long before Dakota land was in
the distant future. the work of Chris
tian missionaries was helping to
make history in this new world, for
| it is now acknowledged that it was
the influence of these consecrated
workers that secured the neutrality
Of the Oneida and Onondaga tribes
of the Iroquois Confederacy, and of
the Moravian missions in Pennsyl-
vania and Ohio that restrained the
Delaware nation from hostility to-
ward the early white invaders Of the
Indian territory in those far-off early
days of our beginning before we
became united in our interests. The
residence of the missionaries, Whit
man and Parker and others in the
columbia River country, was a very
material influence in the early rec
ognition of that territory now
Oregon and Washington as divi-
sion Of the United States.
The immense district northwest OF
the Great Lakes contained permanent
missions before 1920 at Mackinac by
Presbyterians. at st.. Boniface by
Roman Catholics, and at st. John
(now Winnipeg) by the Church of
England, all Of which points had far
reaching influence.
In car own territory the names IT
Morse, Terry, Aver, Hall, Riggs
Stevens, Barnard, Sloan and others
are contemporary with Smelling
Sibley, Kittson. Sully, Rice, and Gus
ter. 1t was largely through the mis-
sionaries that the peaceful and bene-
ficial fur trade was organized and
| administered, and many times 1t was
a man of God who made possible
the treaties during the early years.
/ Two Stories
] Our history would be pleasanter
reading in many places had the spirit
Of these unsclfish and self-denying
missionaries been maintained in deal
inps with the Indians instead of Civ.
ing way to the selfishness and greed
| Of the adventurer. Indeed, all
through these years of exploration
there are two stories running side
by side, and often interesting-the
dark one of treaty breaking, bad
1 faith and corruption, the exploiting
and defrauding of the Indian by the
white man, 1.-THE blacklist page In our
| history some writers call it; and the
| other story-bright and glorious with
all the best that man is capable OF.
the self-sacrifice, courage, and sew
ice of those who sought not their
own but another's good, who dedicat-
ed their life work to the spiritual
and TEN poral welfare Of the Indian.
who endured trials, hardships, priva-
| tions, and perils to carry on, In the
midst Of q century Of dishonor, the
appeal Of the neglected and defraud-
ed Redman for q share of the light
that had been shining through many
centuries in the white mans path.
If there is anything in our early
history that we can revere, it is the
life and work of these pioneer mis-
| si0naries.
Perhaps one Of the most distin-
guished and most influential. and the
one whose influence is most far
reaching of all Dakota's missionaries
was Father De Smet, born and
educated IN Belgium but giving his
life to the Indians Of the Dakotas,
Montana and Wyoming.
So great was the confidence and
trust Of the Indians in him that the
government repeatedly besought his
aid in paving the way for negotia-
tions with them. In 1864 and again
l 4 In Hr N
and he alone in 1868 induced the
Sioux to meet the government COM
missioncrs and arrange treaty. At
this time, though 6S years old, he
travelled $50 miles through the rough
unknown country Of the upper Mis-
souri, and Yellowstone to reach Fl.
Berthold. His name is today on the
maps Of three states, South Dakota,
Wyoming and Montana.
Catholic Missions !,
Missionaries of the Roman Cath,