I THE ROBERT E. COWAN COLLECTION PRESKNTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CflLIFORNIR i;v C, p. HUNTINGTON cJUNE, 1897, Recession No 7<^ /^/ ^^^^^ ^^• )^^t^' >'\CL-htCT^€{ fr•<^•v»c{b | lov-fcr^vT" Historical Sketches of —THE— OatlioliG GtilircH ill Oregoq, DURING THE PAST FORTY YEARS PORTLAND, OREGON: 18 7 8. -jo/ij .HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF- THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ffl OREGON, DIRINC; THE PAST FOKTY YEARS. The history of the Catholic Church — even in the most remote regions where its benign influence is felt — possesses great interest not only for those who belong to *^the household of faith'' but, moreover, to every one interested in the history of civilization and Christianity. Nations have their religious historical aspect as well as those better known and more studied chapters pertaining to secular advancement, yet, whilst historians love to record the triumphs which mark the pathway of the pioneers of the forest, they are very reticent regarding the labor, the trials and the heroism displayed by the pioneers of the cross. Yet these heroes of heaven-born Faith — armed with no weapon save the sign of man's redemption, and bearing aloft the oriflamme of Christianity — penetrate into the remotest recesses of the earth, guided by the unerring voice of God who calls them to take up their Cross, and follow Him, until His precepts be- 6 SKETCHES OF THE come known throughout the world even '^from the rising of the sun until the going down of the same/' It is our pleasant duty, then, to place before our readers a few glimpses of the toils and trials which the pioneers of the Cross endured in their early struggles to plant the seed of Christianity in the great Northwest, and in doing so we feel that eveiy Catholic who peruses these sketches will treasure in his heart a grateful remembrance for those whose names will be inscribed in the niche of immortality so deservedly accorded by faithful Catholics to the apostles of the Cross. The world has its heroes, but to the missionaries of the everlasting gospel must be assigned a far high- er glory, because they aie the heralds of a King whose footstool is the universe ! It is in His service that deeds of heroism are performed which make all worldly actions pale into utter insignificance. The reason is obvious : the hero of the world displays his valor for earthly glory alone, whilst the missionary of the Cross is animated by the highest and holiest aspirations that can illumine the soul — the hope of enjoying with God the eternal reward promised to those who scatter the seeds of Faith among the tribes and people who are without the knowledge of the true God. This, then, was the high and ennobling mission in which the pioneers of the Cross in Oregon engaged when they undertook to cross the almost trackless plains which then Separated the Atlantic from the Pacific, and, as we follow them through their long and arduous journey, let us not forget to chant a CATHOLIC CHURCH IN OREGON. 7 requiem over the graves of those who have passed to their reward, whilst we accord to those who are still engaged in God's service that homage so justly ac- corded to venerable age, holiness of office, and sanctity of life. The First Catholics in Oregon. When the renowned Jesuit missionary and subse- quent martyr to the Faith — Father Isaac Jogues — first planted the seeds of faith among the Iroquois Indians on the banks of the Mohawk, in 1642, he little thought that the grain of mustard-seed thus sown would eventually grow up into a great tree whose branches would reach from the Atlantic to the Pacific. But, when we reflect that ''the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,'' we need not w^on- der at such a miraculous manifestation of God's will, and the mutilated hands and tortured limbs of that suffering missionary were accepted by Heaven as so many holocausts offered up for the propagation of the Faith throughout eveiy portion of the American continent. Another element of population through whose pre- sence in Oregon the Catholic creed was propagated, was the Canadian voyageurs, large numbers of whom were engaged to accompany the several expeditions of Lewis and Clark in 1805, John Jacob Astor in 1810, and that of Capt. Hunt in 1811. In Astor's expedition there were thirteen Canadians nearly all of whom were Catholics, and many of these pioneers afterwards settled in the Willamette valley where in 1838, still resided Michel La Fromboise, Ettienne 8 SKETCHES OF THE Lucier, Louis Labonte and Joseph Gervais. Capt. Hunt's expedition having encountered great hard- ship on the route across the plains, many of the members deserted from its ranks and remained among the Indians, and this fact will also serve to account for the presence of a number of Iroquois Indians who were found among the Flatheads in 1816. Large numbers of Canadians and Iroquois were also engaged in the service of both the North West Com- pany and the Hudson Bay Company as' traders and trappers at their different stations west of the Rocky Mountains. These hardy pioneers led a roaming life, but, true to their early education, amidst all the scenes of savage life through which they passed, they never forgot their faith, but on every occasion when danger threatened them they sought the God of sal- vation in prayer. In this manner the Indians, by whom they were surrounded, received the first know- ledge of ''the white man's God," and through these Catholics they also learned of the Blackgown long years before they were visited by a priest. To the Canadians and Iriquois, therefore, is the honor due of opening the way for the Catholic missionary in Oregon. The First Colonists in Oregon. In 1824, Dr. John McLaughlin, chief Factor of the Hudson Bay Co., was appointed Governor of the Hudson Bay Co's. posts, with head-quarters at Van- couver, Washington Territory, where a Fort was erected that year. He was one of ''nature's noble- men" in every sphere of life. Of commanding pres- ence, strict integrity, sound judgment, and correct CATHOLIC CHURCH IN OREGON. V principles of justice, no man was better qualified for the position he occupied as the father and friend of both the Indians and the whites who then jointly occupied the Pacific northwest. Dr. McLaughlin was the arbiter to whom both whites and Indians looked for the settlement of their differences, and the friend from whom they sought relief in all their dif- ficulties. His ashes rest beneath the shadow of the Cathedral cross in Oregon City, where he died in 1857. He was originally a member of the Anglican ' Church, but was converted by Archbishop Blanchet in 1841, and was ever afterwards a most exemplary Catholic — May his soul rest in peace. Under the impartial supervision of this good and great man the business of the Hudson Bay Company prospered amazingly ; he perpetuated peace be- tween the Indians and the employes of the Company, and established twenty-eight trading posts during the fourteen years he presided over the destinies of the Corporation he so ably represented. Under Dr. McLaughlin's direction a number of the employes of the Company whose term of service had expired w^ere supplied with provisions and farming utensils to enable them to settle in that portion of the Wil- lamette valley which has since been known as the French Prairie, and which afterwards became the nu- cleus of a large and prosperous Catholic settlement. He also extended assistance to every immigrant whose necessities required it, and his good deeds have enshrined his name amidst the most honored of the pioneers of the Pacific coast. In 1834 the first wave of immiofration reached the OF THE lO SKETHCES OF THE ^ shores of Oregon. These comprised a number of Methodist ministers sent out by the Board of Foreign Missions. In 1836 a number of Presbyterian mis- sionaries arrived, and the following year a second installment of Methodist preachers were sent thither in order to help the first under the ostensible pur- pose of securing souls for the Lord's vineyard, but in reality to secure large tracts of land, large bands of cattle, and to enlarge their numerous commercial speculations. Again in 1838 the Presbyterian mis- sionaries were re-inforced, so that, prior to the arrival of a Catholic missionary in Oregon, the sects were represented by twenty-nine regular preachers besides a numerous retinue of agents, colporteurs, and other members — male and female. These forces were pretty well scattered over the country, the Me- thodists having establishments south of the French Prairie, in Marion County, and also at the Dalles in Wasco County. The Presbyterians were located at Wailatpu, on the Walla Walla river, among a poif- tion of the Cayuse Indians, and also at Lapwai, on the Clearwater. Besides these, Mr. Beaver repre- sented the Anglican Church at Vancouver, as chap- lain of the Hudson Bay Company, so that the missionary field was well occupied prior to the ad- vent of a Catholic priest, and it is well to understand the situation so that the reader may better realize the amount of opposition which the pioneer mission- aries of the Catholic Church had to encounter in their efforts to plant the Cross in Oregon. Let us now pause for awhile in our career after the cross-bearers of the west, whilst we learn from con- CA.THOLIC CHURCH m OREGON. 11 temporary evidence the manner in which the sectarian missionaries preached the gospel to the Indians whom they came to convert. The first Protestant missionaries left the Eastern states amidst great eclat, under the impression that they were going to the Flathead Indians for the purpose of having them and all adjacent tribes take up the bible as their rule of faith. But, after a very brief trial, these gentlemen found the situation not so con- genial as they anticipated, and they abandoned the Flatheads to their perfidious fate. Mr. Townshend, whose work on the Eocky Mountains is our authority on this point, says that when he travelled a few days in the company of these ' 'missionaries'' he soon dis- covered that their object in going west was not so much for the purpose of spreading Christianity among the Indians as it was ''for the gratification of seeing a new country and participating in strange adventures." They candidly admitted to Mr. Town- shend that the means of subsistence in a region so remote and so difficult of access, were, to say the least, very doubtful. Hence, as these propagan- dists of Protestant error could not be assured of a well-stocked larder, they quietly "folded their tents'' and left the Flatheads in the mist of that pagan darkness in which tl)ey found them enshrouded. Little did these tourists think when they forsook the poor Flathead Indians that there were those coming after them who would never forsake the mission given them from on high, but who could say with St. Paul: "Even unto this hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buifeted, and have no 12 SKETCHES OF THE fixed abode." These are the Catholic missionaries whose labors once begun were never abandoned, and whose efforts we shall find crowned with success so that the whole FMhead tribe of Indians embraced ihe Catholic faith and are to-day among the most happy and prosperous communities in the entire re- public. No * 'missionaries" were ever despatched to repre- sent the various sects in any land under more favor- able auspices than were those ladies and gentlemen belonging to the Methodist Episcopal Church who proffered their services to leave their eastern homes for the purpose of evangelizing the savage Indians amidst the ' 'wilds" of Oregon. The history of that memorable band has been written by two of these missionaries in language more truthful than com- plimentary to their companions. Daniel Lee and J. H. Frost were two of the evan- gelical eleet who were sent out to ''bring the Indians to grace', and in their work entitled "Ten years in Oregon" they give us an unbiassed insight into the manner in which the Master's service was abandoned by these "missionaries," in order that they might enter into the slavery of Mammon. These gentle- men tell us that the Oregon mission involved an expenditure of forty-two thousand dollars in a single year, and no wonder, when there were sixty-eight j)ersons connected with the "mission" each of them represented by a respectable array of figures on the yearly pay-roll. catholic church in oregon. 13 Protestant Missionary Labors in Oregon. The Methodists, Presbyterians, and other sects, as we have already seen, were represented in Oregon as early as 1834 by a corps of missionaries sufficient in number — if they only had a divine mission to sustain them throughout their labors — to con- vert all the Indians from Arizona to Alaska, but Dr, Stephen Olin, L. L. D., a Methodist bishop, tells u& that ''very few of the Indians came under the influ- ence of their labor,'' and adds this rather damaging declaration : — '*The missionaries were, in fact, most- ly engaged in secular affairs — concerned in claims to large tracts of land, claims to city lots, farming, merchandizing, blacksmithing, grazing, horse-keep- ing, lumbering and flouring. We do not believe'^ continues Dr. Stephen Olin, L. L. D. ''that the history of Christian missions exhibits another such spectacle.'' The good Doctor was evidently amazed at the transformation from missionaries of the gos- pel into land-sharks and horse-jockeys. It is no wonder, then, that he tells us "the mission became odious to the growing population," and he concludes his evidence by asserting that "of all the Indians who had ever held relations of any kind with these men, none no%o remain.'' This is not very flattering' testimony for the success of Protestant propagandists coming fiom a Protestant source, but "let truth be told though the heavens fall" was evidently a prac- tical maxim in the mind of the Methodist Episcopal Bishop we have quoted. Nor need we wonder that missionaries who traded in horse flesh and town lots and who had "cattle on a thousand hills" should 14 SKETCHES OF THE become '' odious" to the settlers around tliem, whilst the Indians instead of s.eeking the light of the gospel as enunciated by these holy horse-traders, sought rather to retire to their primitive wigwams amidst the solitude of the woods ''where rolls the Oregon And hears no sound save its own dashing/' than to encounter a civilization the very preachers of which sought first the kingdom of this world, and took the chances of ''all things else" being added thereto. Bev. G. C. Nicolay, a minister of the Church of England, visited this country in 1843 and has left his impressions of what he saw among the mission- aries of the Willamette valley in a work entitled **The Oregon Territory" which we have before us. He was evidently unbiassed in his judgment and speaks his mind only because his experience had re- ceived a severe shock in the manner in which he found the so-called ''missionaries" comporting them- selves. Under the chapter devoted to "settlers in Oregon" this authority says with truth : — ''It seems but the right and proper order of things that the missionary in uncivilized lands should be the harbinger not only of the blessings of the Christian religion, but of civilization also, and therefore that he should be followed in his track by the settler and farmer, the mechanic and artisan, who obtain as the reward of their superior intelli- gence and knowledge the wealth and independence which in their own country their simple equality with others could not expect ; and this is just, the benefit they confer is in- calculable : it does not decrease its value that others in distant lands possess the same, but rather increases it a CATHOLIC CHURCH IN OREGON. 15 I* he means whereby they may be raised to the same emin- ence. Now though this is to be expected and desired, it has ever been thought a just ground of complaint against men whose lives are devoted to the service of God and the spread of his Gospel, if they let other occupations interfere with that which ought to be their primary one, or seek to make *a gain of godhness ;' and still more if the influence accorded to them, in consequence of their important duty and sacred office, be converted into an engine for political purposes, or they teach other doctrine with respect to our neighbours than the words of the Apostle — ^Follow peace with all men.' In reviewing the history of the settlers in Oregon, all this will appear by their own showing to lie at the door of the American missionaries who have established themselves there ; and the necessity for drawing attention to it is this, that no satisfactory account of Oregon could be given with- out some notice of the Wallamette Settlement, and certainly no true statement of affairs there can be given without these facts being referred to. In their settlements at Okanagan, Walla - walla, Cowehtz, and Nisqually this charge is so far true, that their principal attention, as Lieut. Wilkes testifies, is devoted to agriculture, but on the Wal- lamette they sink into political agents and wouldbe legisla- tors. This the history of that settlement will sufficiently evidence." ^^^^^-^^^^^ ^Trom this beginning the colony increased, till, when Lieutenant Wilkes visited it in 1841, it counted sixty fam- ilies,- who, he says, consisted of American missionaries, trappers, and Canadians, who were formerly servants of the Hudson's Bay Company ; and that the orgin of the settlement has been fairly stated, may be gathered from the conclusion he arrived at concerning it. All of them ap- peared to be doiag well ; but he was, he says, 'on the whole disappointed, from the reports which had been made tome, 16 SKETCHES OF THE 3iot to find the settlement in a greater state of forwardness, considering the advantages the missionaries have had ;' — thus making the prosperity and advancement of the settle- ment depend in a great measure, if not entirely, upon them : but that their missionary intentions have merged in ^ great measure in others more closely connected with ease And comfort, is still more plainly evidenced by the following account given by him of the Wesleyan Mission there : The lands of the Methodist Mission are situated on the banks of the Wallamette river, on a rich plain adjacent to fine forests of oak and pine. They are about eight miles beyond the Catholic Mission, in a southern direction. Their fields are well enclosed, and we passed a large one of wheat which we understood was half sown by the last year's crop which had been lost through neglect. . The crop so lost amounted to nearl3^ a thousand bushels, and it is supposed that this year's crop will yield twenty-five bushels to the acre. About all the premises of this mission there was an evident want of the attention required to keep things in re- pair, and an absence of neatness that I regretted much to witness. We had the expectation of getting a sight of the Indians, on whom they were inculcating good habits and teaching the word of God, but, with the exception of four Indian servants, we saw none since leaving the Catholic Mission. On inquiring I was informed that they had a school of twenty pupils some ten miles distant at the mill, that there were but few adult Indians in the neighbourhood and that their intention and principal hope was to establish a colony, and by their example to induce white settlers to locate near them, over whom they trusted to exercise a moral and religious influence.' " At the mills, which were badly situated and managed, he saw twenty lay members of the Mission under the charge of a principal, and about twenty-five Indian boys, who, he was told, were not in a condition to be visited or inspected. They were nearly grown up, ragged, and half clothed, and CATHOLIC CHURCH IN OEEOON. 17 lounging about under the trees. He might well add, ^ 'Their appearance was anything but satisfactory, and I must own I was greatly disappointed, for I had been led to expect that order and neatness at least (he could scarce have expected less) would have been found among them, considering the strong force of missionaries engaged here. From tbe number of persons about the premises this little spot w^ore the air and stir of a new secular settlement. It was intended to be the home and location of the mission, and the missionaries had made individual selections of lands to the amount of one thousand acres each, in pros- pect of the whole country falling under the American dominion. Holding these views, and with such interests to incite them, it is not surprising to find these missionaries among the first to excite political changes, and to introduce the consequent discussions and dissensions.' ' Such is the character of the work inaugurated by missionaries who left the Atlantic slope under the hallucination that they w^ere called to preach salva- tion to those that sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, but whose trading prepensities overcame their religious zeal, until finally the cause of Chris- tianity was wrecked on the shoals of aggrandisement. The foregoing extracts, taken entirely from im- partial Protestant sources, will give the general read- er a very lucid view of the ' 'severe trials" which the early Protestant missionaries underwent in their so-called "missionary labor" in Oregon, but we have by no means exhausted the evidence extant on that score, as Hon. Alexander Simpson, in his' work entitled ''The Oregon Territory" tells us, in allusion to the Methodist and Catholic missions in the Willamette valley, that "the latter consisted of 18 SKETCHES OF THE about one hundred families, a very regular congrega- tion, ministered to by Mgr. Blancliet, a most estimable and indefatigable priest of the Koman Catholic faith/' whilst the Methodist Mission, he adds, ^'consisted of four families : a clergyman, a surgeon, a school-master and an agricultural overseer/' Evidently the temporal welfare of the well-fed Protestant missionaries was far more important in their own estimation than any spiritual comforts which they pretended to extend to the Indians. First Indian Missions in Oregon. Let us now turn from scenes where the temxDoral overshadows the spiritual interests to such an extent, and learn how eager the Indians were to behold the long-expected Black-Gowns. This interesting his- torical fact is elaborately set forth in the following historical document : — I^etter of the Itiglit Rev. Joscpli Ro.sati, Bigliop of >S1. Louis, Co the Rig,2it Rev. Father iieueral of the Society of Jesus, at Rome. St. Louis, October 20th, 1839. My Eight Rev. Father : Twenty-three^ years ago, two Indians of the Iroquois mission, left their native country, Canada, with twenty- two other warriors, and went to settle in a country situated be- tween the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific sea. That country is inhabited by infidel nations, and especially by those the French call Tetes Plattes. They married there and were incorporated into the Indian nation. As they were well instructed in the Catholic religion, professed by the Iroquois — converted by the ancient Fathers of your "^'It was actually twenty-seven yeais. — Ed. £ OF THE ^ fi TTNIVERSITY \ ,^ CITHOLIC CHURCH ^N OREOQX. J 19 Society— they have continued to practice^ it as^much as it was in their power, and have taught it to their wives and children. Their zeal went even further ; becoming Ap(»s- tles, they have sown the first seeds of Catholicity in the midst of the infidel nations among whom they live. These precious gems begin already to bring forth fruit, for they have caused to spring in the hearts of the Indians the desire of having Missionaries who would teach them the divine law. Eight or nine years ago (about 1830), some of the Flat- head nation came to St. Louis. The object of their journey was to ascertain if the religion spoken of with so much praise by the Iroquois warriors was in reality such as rep- resented, and above all, if the nations that have white skin, (name they give to Europeans) had adopted and practiced it. Soon after their arrival in St. Louis, they fell sick, called for the priest and earnestly asked by signs to be bap- tized. Their request was eagerly granted and they received the holy baptism with great devotion : then holding the crucifix, they covered it with affectionate kisses and expired. Some years after (about 1832); the Flathead nation sent again one of the Iroquios to St. Louis. There he came with two of his children, who were instructed and baptized by the Fathers of the college. He asked Missionaries for his countrymen, and started with the hope that one day, the desire of the nation would be at last accomplished. But, on his journey, he was killed by the infidel Indians of the Sioux nation. At last, a third deputation of Indians arrived at St. Louis (1839) after a long voyage of three months. It is composed of two Christian Iroquois. These Indians who talk French have edified us by their truly exemplary conduct and inter- ested us by their discourses. The Fathers of the college have heard their confessions, and to-day they approached the holy table at my Mass, in the Cathedral church. After- wards I administered them the sacrament of Confirmation ; and in an allocution delivered after the cere^aiony, I rejoiced 20 SKETCHES OF THE with them at their happiness and gave them the hope to have soon a priest. They will leave to-morrow for their home ; a priest will follow them next Spring. Out of the twenty- four Iroquois who formerly immigrated from Canada, four only are still living. 'Not content with planting the Faith in these sav- age countries, they have also defended it against the preju- dices of the Protestant ministers. When these pretended missionaries presented themselves, our good Catholics re- fused to receive them. * 'These are not the priests we have spoken of to you,'' they said to the Flatheads, ''they are not the priests with long black gowns, who have no wives, who say Mass, and carry a crucifix with them, ' ' etc. For God's sake, my Eight Rev. Father, forsake not their souls. Accept, etc., etc. f Joseph, Bishop of St. Louis. Establishment of the First Catholic Mission. The letter which we^ publish above from the Bishop of St. Louis, Mo., to the Jesuit Fathers, produced at once the result anticipated. No sooner had these courageous soldiers of the cross learned that there were thousands of souls pining for the presence of the true disciples of God, than they set to w^ork at once perfecting their plans so that the bread of life might be broken to the Indians in the far west. Father Peter John De Smet, was se- lected as the apostle to carry the cross to the Flat- head nation, and, after making a few necessary pre- parations, he set out in the spring of 1840 on his long and arduous journey. Of the trials which be- set him on his trip he has left a full account in his sketches of the Western Missions, which are read at this distant day with the same interest that sur- CATHOLIC CHURCH IN OREGON. 21 rounded them nearly forty years ago. His mission lasted two months and resulted in the conversion of six hundred Flatheads, and finding the Indians so well disposed to receive the Word of Life, he re- turned to St. Louis for the purpose of securing ad- ditional Fathers, as he saw the work before them was one of great magnitude. Father De Smet accompanied by two other Jesuit Fathers, accordingly returned to the Flathead In- ^ dians in 1841, bringing with them many articles necessary for the establishment of a permanent mis- sion, and in a short time he had the holy satisfaction of beholding the emblem of Christianityjarising over the little church which marked the foundation of the Mission of St. Mary's of the Eocky Mountains. In the mean time the Canadians who had settled in what was then known as the Wullamette valley (but which has since become recognized as the Willamette) began to pine for the presence of a priest in their midst. The nearest bishop to whom they could apply was the venerable prelate of Red Eiver; they sent him two petitions, one dated July 3rd, 1834 and the other Feb. 23rd, 1835, earnestly praying for some priests. In answering them, July 8th, 1835, the Bishop, addressing the Governor, , requests him to deliver them his letter. Those documents are too precious and too interesting to be omitted, therefore we insert them. TlieBii^Iiop of Jiiliopoli^ to Dr. Joliu UlcLaiiglilin. Eed Eiver, June 6th 1835. To Dr. J. McLaughlin. Sir : I have received last winter and this spring a pe- tition from certain free families settled on the Wallamette 22 " SKETCHES OF THE river, requesting that missionaries be sent to instruct their children and themselves. My intention is to do all I can to grant them their request as soon as possible, I have no priest disposable at Red Eiver, but I am going this year to Europe, and I will endeavor to procure those free people and the Indians afterwards the means of knowing God. I send together with this letter an answer to the petition which I have received ; I request you to deliver it to them ; I add some catechisms which might be useful to those people, if there is any one among them that can read. Those people say they are protected by you. Please in- duce them to do their best, and to deserve by good beha- viour, to derive benefit for the favor they implore. I have the honor to be. Sir, Your most humble servant, fJ. N. Provencher, Bishop of Juliopolis. The Bigliop of Juliopolis to all the fainUaes setileec. Hudson's Bay House, London, 17th Feb. 1838. ' 'My Lord : I yesterday had the honor of receiving fi letter from the Bishop of Juliopolis, dated Red River, 13th October, 1837, wherein I am requested to communicate with your Lordship, on the subject of sending two priests to the Columbia river for the purpose of establishing a Catholic Mission in that part of the country. ''When the Bishop first mentioned this subject, his view was to form the Mission on the banks of Wallamette, a river falling into the Columbia from the south. To the establishing of a mission there, the Governor and Committee in London, and the Council's in Hudson's Bay, had a decided objection, as the sovereignty of that countiy is still undecided; CATHOLIC CHURCH IN OREGON. 25 but I last fiummer, intimated to the Bishop that if he would establish the mission on the banks of the Cowlitz river or on the Cowlitz Portage, falling into the Columbia from the northward, and give his as- surance that the missionaries would not locate them- selves on the south side of the Columbia river, but would form their establishment where the Co's rep- resentatives might point out as the most eligible situation on the north side, I should recommend the Governor and Committee to afford a passage to the priests aud such facilities towards the successful ac- complisnment of the object in view as would not in- volve any great inconvenience or expense to the Co's service. ''By the letter received yesterday, already alluded to, the Bishop enters fully into my views, and ex- presses his willingness to fall in with my suggestions. That letter I have laid before the Governor and Committee, and am now instructed to intimate to your Lordship that if the priests will be ready at Lachine to embark for the interior about the 25th of April, a passage will be afforded them, and on arrival at Fort Vancouver measures will be taken by the Co's representative there to facilitate the es- tablishing of the Mission, and the carrying into effect the objects thereof generally. I have the honor to be, My Lord. Your Lordship's most obedient servant, . Geo. Simpson. Appointment of Missionaries. The Archbishop of Quebec had no sooner received 26 SKETCHES OF THE tlie foregoing letter than he immediately gave the charge of the Mission of Oregon to Rev. Fbancis NoRBERT Blanchet, then Cure des Cedres, district of Montreal, by sending him letters of Vicar General under the date of April 17th 1838, and instructions bearing the same date. His companion, Rev. Modeste Demers, who was already at Red River, was to be named by the Right Rev. Bishop of Juliopolis. These instructions were as follows : In<^triiction.s given to Tery Rev. Francis Norbert Blanchet and Rev. Modeste Demers, appointed Missionaries for tliat part of tlie Diocese of Quebec wlilcli is situated between tlie Pacific Ocean and tlie Rocky Mountains. April 17th 1838. My Rev. Fathers. You must consider as the first object of your Mission to withdraw from barbarity and the disorders which it produces, the Indians scattered in that country. Your second object is, to tender your services to the wicked Christians who have adopted there the vices of Indians, and live in licentiousness and the forge tfulness of their duties. Persuaded that the preaching of the Gospel is the surest means of obtaining these happy results, you will lose no opportunity of inculcating its principles and maxims, either in your private ^conversations or public instructions. In order to make yourselves sooner useful to the natives of the country where you are sent, you will apply yourselves, as soon as you arrive, to the study of the Indian languages, and will endeavor to reduce them to regular principles, so as to be able to publish a grammar after some years of residence there. CATHOLIC CHURCH IN OREGON. 27 You will prepare for baptism, with all possible expedition, the infidel women who live in concubinage with Christians, in order to substitute lawful mar- riages for these irregular unions. You will take a particular care of the Christian education of children, establishing for that purpose, as much as your means will allow, schools and cate- chism classes in all the villages which you will have occasion to visit. In all the places remarkable either for their position or the passage of the voyagers, or the gathering of Indians, you will plant more crosses, so as to take possession of those various places in the name of the Catholic religion. ^^ * * * jk Given at Quebec on the 17th day of April, 1838, fJOSEPH SIGNAY, Bishop of Quebec. Journey of the Missionaries from Lachine to Fort Vancouver. Accompanied by chief trader Hargrave, Vicar General F. N. Blanchet embarked in one of the light bark canoes carrying the express of the Hudson Bay Company, leaving Montreal on Thursday, May 3rd 1838, reaching Fort Vancouver on the 24th of the following November. The journey from Lachine to Red River (2,100 miles) was made in canoes, with occasional portages, in thirty-three days. The jour- ney from Red River to the Rocky Mountains (2,025 miles) occupied eighty-four days, including deten- tions. The river route was ma3e in eleven light barges and the land trip — occupying five days — was 28 SKETCHES OF THE made on horseback. Horses were also used in ma- king the tedious trip across the Kocky Mountains, from Jasper's House to Boat Encampment or Big Bend on the Columbia river. This trip occupied nine days, a band of seventy-two horses being provided for the use of the company. It took six days to make the ascent on the Eastern slope, and three days to descend to the plains on the Pacific side, but the missionaries were well repaid for the toils they underwent in the grandeur of the scenery that sur- rounded them at every step. The remainder of the journey, from Big Bend to Fort Vancouver (about 1200 miles) was made in light boats down the Colum- bia river. Vicar General Blanchet having passed thirty-five days at Ked River, took his departure in company with Rev. Modeste Demers on July 10th., stopping en route at Norway House and Forts Constant, Cum- berland, Carleton, Pitt and Edmonton on the Sas- katchewan ; and Fort Assiniboine and Jasper's House on the Athabasca river. During this journey the missionaries baptized one hundred and twenty- two on the Eastern slope and fifty-three on the West- ern. After passing the summit of the Rocky Moun- tains the missionaries stopped at the House of the Lakes, and Forts Colville, O'Kanagan, and Walla Walla, at each of which immense crowds of Indians assembled in order to behold the Blackgmons whose presence they had so long waited for. During this long and tedious trip the missionaries had the happi- ness of celebrating Mass and delivering an instruc- tion every Sunday, and on every day at which they CATHOLIC CHURCH IN OREGON. 29 sojourned at the Forts on their route. By this means the consolations of our holy religion were bestowed on many Catholics who for years had been strangers to the presence of a priest. Consecration of the Rocky Mountains to God ; First Mass in Oregon. As the summit of the Rocky Mountains was to be reached and crossed on Wednesday the 10th of Oc- tober, the Missionaries thought it incumbent upon them to celebrate Mass and pronounce the glorious words which make the God-man descend upon earth, in thanksgiving for God's protection and favors, and to consecrate, in a special manner, to their Author these sublime Rocky Mountains which by their grandeur and sublimity seem anxious to cor- respond to the invitation of Holy Scripture : ^'0 ye mountains a7id hills ^ bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all for ever'' (Dan. III. 15.) The country abounding the Rocky Mountains appeared as. a vast sea of numberless isolated high mountains, and ab- rupt peaks of all shapes, where the eye of the trav- eller fancies seeing here and there perfect towers, beautiful turrets, strong castles, walls and fortifica- tions of all kinds ; as well as barren heights which form the base of higher hills and mountains raising majestically their lofty heads to heaven. Magnificent indeed is the spectacle displayed before the eyes of the voyagers in the greatness of the gigantic nature where the hand of the Eternal was pleased to retrace the image of His creative power. Early on that day so SKETCHES OF THR therefore at 3 a. m. the Yicar General celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to consecrate to their Creator these mountains and abrupt peaks whose prodigious height ascend towards heaven to celebrate in such beautiful language the praise of the Almighty. It was on Saturday, the 13th of October, a day dedicated to the Immaculate Mother of God, that, being at the western foot of the most lofty mountains, the two Missionaries began to tread beneath their feet the long-desired land of Oregon ; that portion of the vineyard alloted them for cultivation. Filled -with joy they retired a short distance from the place ^here the caravan was resting on the bosom of a beautiful prairie, and there fell on their knees, em- braced the soil, took possession of it, dedicated and- consecrated their persons, soul and body, to whatever God would be pleased to require of them for the glory of His holy Name, the propagation of His king- dom and the fulfillment of His will, The caravan Joyfully reached Big Bend towards the evening. The . fact of finding there but two boats instead of four re- •q.uired, greatly checked the joy of all. The Captain of the expedition decided that one third of the party should remain until the rest having reached the House of the Lakes one cf the boats would return to their relief. The following day (October 14th 1838) being Sun- day, it was on that day that the Holy Sacrifice of' Mass was offered for the first time in Oregon at Big jBend, on the banks of the dangerous and perilous Columbia. At this great act of religion, performed hj Rev. M. Demerg, the two Missionaries being much / CATHOLIC CHURCH IN OREGON. 31 moved, consecrated themselves to the Queen of Angels imploring her special protection for the rest of the voyage. The boats being laden and ready,, and the last prayer made on the shore, the two Mis»% ionaries shook hands with their dear companions whom, alas ! they were to see no more, and started at 1 p. m., on the turbulent waters, of the upper Columbia. The range of mountains lowering, as it -were, amphitbeatrically, continues from Big Bend to the lakes. The days are short in so deeply embanked a river w^hich runs fifteen miles an hour, in a success- ion of rapids or rather cascades. The distance fronx Big Bend to the House of the Lakes is 165 miles which were run in ten hours : two hours on the 14th^ six on the 15th, and two on the 16th of October. The rapid of the Dalles of the Dead is a narrow channel turning nearly at right angles on the left rocky high bank. The boats must keep close to the point of the left bank in order to avoid being rushed into the infuriate waves. That dangerous rapid was run down safely on the 15th, the boats being light with baggage and passengers and well managed by eight men, six at the oars, one at the stern, the other at the prow with long and large paddles used as rud-^ ders. Eighteen days at the House or the Lakes : First Miss- ionary Labors in Oregon. Loss of Twelve Lives. The boats were no sooner arrived at the House of the Lakes, that one of them was unloaded and sent back to the relief of the party left behind. The 32 SKETCHES OF THE House of the Lakes being still in construction, tlie Missionaries encamped as usual under their tents. The first week was spent in prayer, celebration of the Mass, teaching the Indians, singing canticles and evening exercises. The Indians of the Lakes soon came to visit the Priests, anxious as they were to see and hear the black gowns so often spoken of by the Canadians. They were found to be of a mild, peace- able character and well disposed to receive the words of salvation. They being the first sheep of the vast fold entrusted to their care, the Missionaries took pleasure in instructing them, speaking of God, of the Creation, of the fall of Angels and man, and of the Kedemption by the Son of God. The Indians listened with attention, assisting at Mass with awe r and before the return of the boat, they brought theii* children, (17) to be baptized, regretting not to have the same happiness to make their hearts good. It was painful to the Missionaries to leave them unbap- tized. When the day on which the boat was expected had passed without its arrival, a gloomy presentiment be- gan to seize the hearts of all. It increased in intens- ity the following day. At last, on the 24th at the conclusion of Mass, a boat appeared afar off, half broken, coming in mourning, without the usual joy- ful chant at arriving. The men were hardly able to move their oars. As the boat approached all ran to the shore. At the sight of so few men, women and children, a heart-rending spectacle took place ; an indescribable scene of desolation and shedding of tears began; cries and piercing lamentations were CATHOLIC CHURCH IN OREGON. 33 long heard and echoed by the neighboring moun- tains. For, alas ! the boat had capsized, and out of twenty-six souls, twelve had perished. At Big Bend, the boat was found too much embarrassed with bag- gage ; room was hardly left for passengers. At the dangerous Dalles, all went ashore with only a portion of the baggage. The boat started, struck a rock, filled, but was brought on shore. Having been emptied and reloaded, the fur packages left in the bottom having got wet, rendered the boat heavier. The passengers embarked with the greatest repugnance. On the next rapid the boat filled up again. Then commenced a scene of desolation and dread with cries and screaming of women and children. The pilot commanded all to remain still, as they were approach- ing the shore. But Mr. Wallace, an English botan- ist, pulled off his coat, stood up, put one foot on the side of the boat and leaped into the water with his young wife ; the boat lost its balance and upset, and of twenty-six persons struggling in the water, twelve lost their lives, Wallace and his wife in the number. Some reached the shore, others were saved on the keel of the boat which fortunately fastened itself on a rock three or four feet deep at the head of a rapid. This calamity happened in the dusk of the evening. The body of a child was found caught under the boat. Sad, long and excruciating was the night. The next day, the boat having been re paired, the survivors continued their sorrowful jour- ney. OP THE 34 sketches of the Missionary Labors at Colville, O'Kanagan and Walla Walla. As soon as the ill-fated boat had arrived,an Indian xjanoe was dispatched to Colville for a boat and pro- visions, which had become so scarce as to threaten starvation and oblige each to receive a daily allow- ance. The repaired boat was sent the following day to the scene of desolation, to look for, and bring down the dead bodies of the lost friends. It brought down but the bodies of three children to whom were rgiven a solemn Christian burial. Wooden crosses ^ere blessed and placed over their graves. The express boat which had left for Colville on the 16th had returned; the one sent for by an Indian express had also arrived with provisions : there were then two good boats. All being ready, and the mis- sionaries bidding adieu to the good Indians of the lakes, the caravan left on November 3d., the House of the Lakes where the last ten days of sojourning had been so soiTowful, and reached Colville on the 6th. The express boat had announced the coming of the JBlackgowns ; the news had spread like lightning, thence the gathering there of the Chiefs of five na- tions. As soon as they saw the boats coming they rushed to the shore and placing themselves in file, men, women and children, they begged to touch the liands of the priests, which ceremony took a long time. A large house having been placed at their disposal, they used it to assemble the Indians in, :and gave them all the instruction they could, du- ring the short time of four days they remained at this posfc. CATHOLIC CHURCH IN OREGON. 35 Having baptized nineteen persons and celebrated Mass before the Chiefs and their people, who assisted at the sacred mysteries as if already fervent chris- tians, the missionaries left Colville on November the 10th and reached Fort O'Kanagan on the 13th, after having passed through many dangerous rapids, daUes and portages. During the twenty-four hours they remained at this post, they had occasion to be con- vinced that the Indians who frequented it needed only to learn what is required in order to become good christians. Fourteen baptisms were made, and one Mass celebrated at this Fort. Leaving Fort O'Kana- gan on November 14th they reached Fort Walla Walla (now Wallula) on Sunday morning, the 18th. During the twenty-four hours they remained at this post they had three baptisms, celebrated one Mass, and were visited by the Walla Walla and Cayuse Indians, who, having heard by the express of the coming of the priests, had come to see and hear them on their passage, notwithstanding the contrary orders of the Head of the Wailatpu mission. Holy ^Mass was celebrated before the Indians who assisted at it struck with amazement. In so short a time the priests could give them but a short explanation of the most necessary truths for salvation. As this is the closing chapter descriptive of the trip of the missionaries across the plains, and as our reci- tal hereafter will be mainly devoted to events and incidents which transpired during the residence of the missionaries in the Northwest, we think it de- sirable to insert the following interesting letter of His 36 SKETCHES OF THE Grace Most Rev. Francis Norbert Blanchet, then Vicar General, to the Archbishop of Quebec, de- scribing in detail the daily incidents of the journey across the plains and the arrival of the missionaries at Vancouver. Letter of Yicar (General Blanchet to His liOr^lf^Siii) Joseplt Sig- nay, ArcliMshop of Quebec, giving an accoiint of the Jour- ney of the Missionaries to Oregon. Fort Vancouver, March 17th, 1839. My Lord: It is for me a very sweet and agreeable task, to send to your Lordship news from the two Missionaries whom, in your zeal for the ^alvation of the souls entrusted to your pastoral solicitude, you have sent to Oregon, to cultivate the vineyard of the Lord. After numerous hard- ships and fatigues, dangers by land and water, in our journey across the continent, we have the pleasure, Rev. Demers and I, to announce, with love and gratitude towards God and the Blessed Virgin Mary, that we have reached happily the end of our voyage, yet not without losing twelve of our companions, drowned in the Columbia river. Please join in our thanksgivings to God for the protection and cares of his Divine Providence for us. As soon as we arrived, w^e went to work. The field is vast, our occupations are nu- merous, I have scarcely time to write. But I know with what anxiety and interest your Lordship is expecting some notes regarding our journey, the country, the labors besfun and the hopes given by the Oregon Mission. May the in- formation I am going to give, satisfy your expectation and fill the ardent desires which you incessantly feel for our flock. I will begin with an account of my trip from Lachine to Eed Piver (St. Bonifacius), where I had to stop to receive the orders of Mgr. Provencher, Bishop of Juliopolis, and to take along with me Pev. Demers, my travelling companion, already there since a year. I left Montreal, Thursday, May 3rd 1838. The 700 leagues from that city to Red river were traveled in 33 daj^s, having arrived there on the 6th day of June, on one of the Honorable Hudson Bay Go's canoes, commanded by Mr. Hargrave, chief trader. The loaded canons which* started some days after the light onQs, with a number of famiUes, arrived three weeks after. CATHOLIC CHURCH IN OREGON. 37 Ever^^one knows how dangerous this mode of travelling is. To spend days and often nights in an uncomfortable posi- tion; to undergo the inclemency of seasons, the gusts of wind and the torrential rains; to run dovvn numberless rapids at the peril of one's life; or to travel on foot long portages through forests, rocks and ponds; to camp out in cold and damp places; to devour in haste a scanty meal, badly prepared; to stop at the different posts, inhabited by white people and visited by Indians, but for the adminis- tration of the sacraments, the visitation of the sick and the exhortation of the poor sinners ; such is, my Lord, the life of the Missionaries on their way to the far West. For eight days w^e went up, Mr. Hargrave and I, the Ottawa river. We left it and went up another river to its source. That took us a whole day. After that came a portage, three miles in length, where is the heigth of the lands dividing the waters of the Ottawa from those flowing into lake Winnipeg. At the end of the portage, w^e came down a little river in one day. We were then on lake Win- nipeg, which we crossed in twenty-four hours. Walking next a little portage, we began to go down the French river, through w4iich lake Winnipeg discharges its waters into lake Huron ; that also took us a whole day. The crossing of lake Huron to Sault St. Marie, lasted three days. From thence to Fort William on lake Superior, six days and a half. Leaving lake Superior, w^e ascended for three days, the Taministigouia river, up to a portage nine miles long, which is the height of land and divides the waters running into lake Superior from those flowing into lake Winnipeg and thence into the Hudson bay. After that long march, we embarked, near its source, on the river Des Emharras which flows into the Mille Lacs. We crossed the latter and also Lake Lapluie before reaching the Fort of the same name. Our journey from the height of lands to this post had lasted five days. It took us three days to go down the river I^apluie, two days to cross the Lac des Bois, three days to go down the Winnipeg, one day to cross lake Winnipeg, and another day to ascend Red river up to St. Bonifacius, residence of the Bishop of Juliopolis. Our Canadian and Iroquois travelling companions were exhausted. Mr. Hargrave no less than I, and that for good reasons. For, very often, we would leave our camp at one in the morning and encamp only at about 7 or 8 in the evening. Many times we were exposed to great dangers. 38 SKETCHES OF THE in the middle of lakes, or in coming down or going up rapids. The current used to set adrift our canoe on hidden rocks, and once our small bark canoe was nearly dashed to pieces on one of these hidden rocks. The mournful crossefi to be seen above and below the rapids, are a sign of the dangers these places afford. According to' my calculation of the hours of travelling, I counted from Lachine to Matawan, 115 leagues on the Ottawa ; hence to Sault St. Marie, 134 ; on lake Superior 140 ; from Fort William to the height of lands, 56 ; hence to lake Lapluie fort, 98 ; thence to fort Alexander, down the Winnipeg river, 120; and at last, from that place to St. Bonifacius, between 35 and 37 ; total 700 leagues, traveled in four hundred and eighty-eight hours or 33 days of forced marches. At the extremity of Lake Lapluie^ I met the worthy mis- sionary of the Santeux, Rev. M. Belcourt, who was then visiting the camps of that nation. I crossed lake Winnipeg on the 5th of June, and on the 6th I arrived at St. Bonifacius where I met Bishop Provencher, Rev. Thibeault and Rev. Demers, appointed to the mission of Oregon. Rev. Poire, missionary in the White Horse Prairie^ came two days after. Rev. Belcourt returned from his mission on the 14th. The 18th Rev. Poire left to accompany a caravan of 800 or 900 w^agons going on a buffalo hunt. It w^as only after his return that this gentleman went to Canada with Mr. Belcourt. Rev. Mayrand arrived on the 22nd. It is easier to feel than to express the joys and emotions, the souvenirs and hopes caused by^ the meeting of those zealous laborers in the vineyard of the Lord. This w^as the most numerous gathering of priests ever witnessed by the inhabitants of these remote regions. The mustard-seed was beginning to appear as a vigorous tree, already shadowing a multitude of souls drawn from the darkness of idolatry and transplanted in the kingdom of God; precious fruits of the evangelical zeal animating these missionaries. Happy prognostics of a still richer harvest to be gathered. Having spent five weeks in visiting all the missions of Red river, we started, Rev. Demers and I, on the ]Oth of July for our destination, after having sang a High Mass in honor of St. Ann, to ask from God the benediction of heaven on our journey; for we had to penetrate into a country never yet visited by a Catholic priest. The rivers, lakes, mountains, prairies, forests and hills of Oregon would soon CATHOLIC CHURCH IN OREGON. 39 resound with the praises of the Holy Name of Jesus ; the cross would be planted from place to place, from shore to shore, on a space of one thousand leagues which we had yet to travel, and the w^ord of Him who said that that sign would attract all to Him in the person of these poor wan- dering sheep to which we were sent. What a joy ! What a tiweet consolation for missionaries ! Frorn St. Bonifacius we went, in seven days of dangerous navigation, to Norway House, a small fortress, 130 leagues distant from our starting point, and ten leagues from lake Winnipeg. The commanding chief Factor had the kindness to give us for lodging and chapel the apartments destined for the Governor of the company. We spent there eight