SHELDON JACKSON

Samuel Clinton Jackson and Family. 1858.
Sheldon. Louise. Mrs. Sheldon Jackson.

Sheldon Jackson

Pathfinder and Prospector of
the Missionary Vanguard in the
Rocky Mountains and Alaska

By
ROBERT LAIRD STEWART, D.D.
Professor in the Theological Seminary of Lincoln
University, Pa. Author of" The Land of
Israel " and " Memorable Places Among
the Holy Hills"

ILLUSTRATED

New York Chicago Toronto
Fleming H. Revell Company
London and Edinburgh

Copyright, 1908, by
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY

SECOND EDITION

New York: 158 Fifth Avenue
Chicago: 80 Wabash Avenue
Toronto : 25 Richmond Street, W.
London: 21 Paternoster Square
Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street

' When the future historian writes the
religious annals of this backbone of our
continent (the Rocky Mountains J he
will give the foremost place to Sheldon
Jackson, the pioneer of the cross.
' I had rather have his record than that
of the most brilliant scholar in our
great pulpits of the East."
— Theodore L. Cuyler.

CONTENTS
Introductory  n
I. Ancestry — Birthplace — Early Days . 17
II. Preparation Days — Academy — College
— Seminary ..... 27
III. The Choctaw Mission .... 40
IV. La Crescent and the Regions Around . 51
V. Rochester and the Regions Around . 74
VI. The Iowa Forward Movement . . 92
VII. The Beginnings of a Great Midland
Synod ...... 123
VIII. Pioneer Work in Colorado . . . 141
IX. Pioneer Work in Wyoming and Mon
tana  171
X. Pioneer Work in the Territory of
Utah  193
XI. Pioneer Work in New Mexico and
Arizona ...... 219
XII. The Beginnings of the Woman's Board
of Home Missions .... 256
XIII. Pioneer Work Outside the Synod of
Colorado  283
XIV: A Summer Vacation and Its Outcome . 308
XV. Extension and Development of the
Work Among the Exceptional Popu
lation (1882-1885) .... 326
7

8 CONTENTS
XVI. The Formative Period of Educational
Work in Alaska .... 346
XVII. Daybreak in Northern Alaska . . 374
XVIII. The Introduction of Siberian Rein
deer into the Land of the Eskimos . 386
XIX. Strenuous Labours and Memorable
Events (1895-1898) .... 415
XX. Educational and Missionary Work
(1898-1908)  452
XXI. Summary of Labours and Results
(1858-1908)  465
Appendix  479
Index ....... 483

ILLUSTRATIONS
Facing Page
Samuel Clinton Jackson and Family . . Title
Sheldon Jackson's Birthplace .... 20
Presbyterian Church of Esperance ... 20
Home of His Childhood and Youth ... 20
Associates and Helpers  28
Filling a Midwinter Appointment ... 56
Presbyterian Church, La Crescent, Minn. . 56
Presbyterian Church, Rochester, Minn. . . 56
Pioneer Presbyterian Missionaries in Western
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and
Wyoming ....... 85
Map of Frontier Line of Presbyterian Churches
in 1858  92
Emigrants Crossing the Platte in Overland
Days  94
Site of Hill-top Prayer-Meeting, Sioux City,
Iowa  100
Missouri River  100
Trio of Presbyters  100
First Presbyterian Church .... 100
An Indian Attack on a Frontier Stage-Coach . 1 14
Pioneer Missionaries in Colorado . . .126
Facsimile of Stage-Coach Pass . . . .134
Dr. and Mrs. Sheldon Jackson .... 148
9

10 ILLUSTEATIONS
The Bearer of " Good Tidings " to the Miners
on the Mountains of Colorado . . .164
Pioneer Presbyterian Missionaries in Arizona,
Utah, and Montana ..... 193
Pioneer Missionaries in Colorado, New Mexico,
Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Cal
ifornia ....... 222
Pueblo of Zuni, New Mexico .... 236
A Trip by Ox Cart  236
The Woman's Executive Committee and Board
of Home Missions  256
Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian
Church, and Notable Superintendents of
Missions ......
Pioneer Presbyterian Missionaries in Alaska
Facsimile of the Heading of " The Rocky
Mountain Presbyterian " .
Canoe Trip Along the Coast of Alaska .
Ice-bound in the Arctic Ocean .
Map of Alaska ......
Presbyterian Mission Farthest West
Presbyterian Mission at Point Barrow

322 322322346378
38i
Landing the First Herd of Reindeer in America 393
A Reindeer Herd .....
The Family Team .....
Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah
Sheldon Jackson's Fur Suit for Summer Use in
Alaska ......
Sheldon Jackson .....
Mary Voorhees Jackson ....
Presbyterian Mission and Industrial Training
School, Sitka .....
Map Showing the Fields of Sheldon Jackson's
Labours, 1858-1908 ....

283
3*5

393393
4i7422
452452463 466

INTRODUCTORY
THE latter half of the nineteenth century was
preeminently the golden age of opportunity and
achievement in the "winning of the West."
During the half-century which preceded this period, the
United States, by purchase, by conquest and by diplomacy,
had acquired a magnificent domain of virgin territory,
which extended from the Mississippi and the Gulf of
Mexico to the Pacific Ocean and the shores of Puget Sound.
Into this " New West," then an unknown and almost un
inhabited land, — a land of mystery and desert solitudes
and deadly perils — a few resolute settlers had gone, fol
lowing the trail of the hunters and trappers, in the stir
ring days of " the forties." Up to the middle of the cen
tury, however, there were very few, even of the most ad
venturous of these forerunners of civilization, who had
any adequate realization of the vast extent and boundless
possibilities of this princely heritage.
The discovery of gold on the Pacific coast in 1848 was
a divinely ordained event which directed the attention
of the whole nation to the Far West, and suggested to the
men of action and intelligence, whose faces were stead
fastly set towards it, the possibility of an overland route
to the goal of their ambition on the Pacific slope.
Such a way, blazed for them in part by the expedition
of Fremont, was made over plain and mountain and des
ert : and although beset with hardships, difficulties, and
perils, which to us seem almost incredible, it was followed
by eager prospectors for almost a decade, with scarcely a
11

12 INTRODUCTOEY
thought concerning the boundless wealth and resources
of the vast stretches of uninhabited land through which
they were so laboriously journeying. In the year 1859, a
few grains of glittering gold were found in the bed of a
stream near Denver : and, as the news of the discovery
spread abroad, there was a wild rush of adventurers to
this new El Dorado, whose only designation for a time
was the indefinite term Pike's Peak. Towards this ob
jective point they struggled and fought their way, and
then scattering to right and left explored every valley and
canyon and mountain peak, near and far, in their eager
search for gold.
When at length the varied resources and boundless pos
sibilities of mountain and plain throughout this immense
and singularly diversified land began to be known and
developed, the restless explorers and prospectors were
quickly followed by a resolute, ever-growing host of hardy
pioneers who came with their wives and little ones to oc
cupy and possess it. It has been said with truth that
"nothing is more sublime in history or more divine in
Providence than the movements and migrations of men
that have made or do make up the nations of the earth."
Granting to each of these great historic migrations its
full measure of influence and importance, it may be con
fidently asserted that the greatest and most significant of
all was the resistless tide of immigration which swept
across the Mississippi Eiver, and thence onward in ever-
increasing volume, for more than a generation, until it
had reached as its utmost bounds the border of "the Great
Sea." This was the last migration of its kind as well as
the greatest, for here the farthest limit of "the westward
course of empire " on the habitable portion of the globe
was reached.
View it from whatever standpoint we may, there is
something indescribably grand in this steady and long-

INTRODUCTOEY 13
continued march of civilization. It is a matter of record
that immediately following the completion of the first
transcontinental railway, the national advance on our
western frontier, along the whole line from British America
to the Gulf of Mexico, was not far short of sixteen miles
a year. Some conception of the significance of this ad
vance may be obtained from the records of the Land
Office in Washington City for that period. During one
of these memorable years (1874^1875) over 10,700,000
acres passed from the possession of the government into
private hands. In this allotment, averaging 160 acres to
each settler, nearly 70,000 farms — the equivalent in ex
tent of three states the size of Massachusetts — became in
a single year the property of the men who had seen a vi
sion of the coming days and linked their destinies with the
discoveries and developments of the regions beyond.
To meet the spiritual wants of these rapidly forming
settlements, and to anticipate the evil influences which
were ever present in force, and ever active in their midst,
was the work of the home missionary, — the evangelist
of the frontier — and never, perhaps, in the history of the
Christian Church, was an emergency so pregnant with
influences for good or evil, more promptly and cour
ageously met.
Much has been written in praise of the pathfinders, the
pioneers, the prospectors and preemptors of the New
West, who, with compass and pick, axe and rifle, pre
pared the way for the coming hosts, and laid the founda
tions of a great and ever-growing material civilization :
but, as yet, scant justice has been done to the work and
memory of the "pioneers of the cross," who, unmindful
of the glamour of the gold which glittered beneath their
feet, or the wild rush for sites of untold prospective value
in rapidly growing towns or mining camps — held steadily
to their purpose to win this magnificent empire to Christ;

14 INTEODUCTOEY
and so to make it the home of a free, God-fearing, intel
ligent and law-abiding people.
The annals of the home mission work of the Presby
terian Church during this eventful period are full of
thrilling incidents of sublime faith, unswerving fidelity,
and heroic achievement. Among the leaders of this mis
sionary vanguard were "men of renown" such as Marcus
Whitman, George F. Whitworth and A. L. Lindsley of
Oregon, Lewis Hamilton, the pioneer preacher of Colo
rado, David Lyon of Minnesota, Lancet G. Bell and A. K.
Baird of Iowa, John W. Allen of Missouri, Henry S. Lit
tle of Texas, Thomas Frazer of the Pacific coast, Timothy
Hill of Kansas and the Indian Territory, and Sheldon
Jackson of the Eocky Mountains and Alaska. To these
men of rare ability and discernment, who by a Divine
selection and ordination came to the front, as occasion
demanded ; and to others of their kind, who afterwards
stood in their lot and completed their work, the Presby
terian Church is largely indebted for the prominent place
it holds to-day in the vast and rapidly developing region
west of the Mississippi River. In the face of difficulties
and discouragements, which to men of weaker faith seemed
to be insurmountable, they " carved presbyteries out of
the wilderness and erected synods before the foundations
of civil governments were laid." They went out with
the hardy self-reliant pioneers in the forefront of the
"far flung battle line " of the great army of occupation ;
and not infrequently some of them were found a long way
in advance of it, with the scouts and adventurers, the
prospectors and miners, on the outmost verge of civiliza
tion, amid the rough, incongruous element of the trading-
post, the cowboy town, or the mining camp.
In the preparation of this work, which deals with the
life and eminent service of the most widely known and
highly honoured of these frontier apostles, no pains have

INTEODUCTOEY 15
been spared to make it a complete and accurate history
of the man and his times. It is the story of a busy, ad
venturous, and singularly romantic life, more wonderful
in its details and actual experiences than any of the fan
cies which give life and colouring to the works of fiction.
In this undertaking the writer has had the cooperation
and hearty approval of Dr. Jackson and his family, who
have placed at his disposal all the data in their posses
ion, including official records of his work, journals, and
memoranda of daily events, and the voluminous corre
spondence of nearly fifty years. He has also gathered
from the personal statements of more than one hundred of
his former associates and fellow labourers who are still
living, much valuable material which has been woven into
the body of the work. To all these stores of helpful in
formation may be added the personal impressions which
have come through comradeship, for a time, at the front,
as well as through an unbroken interchange of friendship
and sympathetic interest for a period of more than thirty
years. An earnest effort has been made to secure photographs
of the men associated with Sheldon Jackson in the " Acts
of the Pioneers" and the author takes pleasure in pre
senting to his readers so large a number of those who
were at the front in the sixties and seventies. There are
many more, however, whose photographs could not be
secured, who are equally worthy of recognition and
honour. To guard against a wrong impression atten
tion is called to the fact that many of the photographs
secured for this work give the likeness of men much
farther advanced in years than those who laboured with
Dr. Jackson during the period above mentioned.

ANCESTRY— BIRTHPLACE— EARLY DAYS
" The history of a man's childhood is the description of his parents
and environment." — Carlyle.
SHELDON JACKSON was well-born and well-
reared. From his ancestors he inherited an ac
cumulated store of the "blessings of the right
eous," and throughout the formative period of his life he
enjoyed the inestimable advantages of a refined Christian
home, in the midst of a quiet, well-ordered, and intelli
gent community. His grandfathers were men of ability
and influence in the neighbourhood in which his youth
ful days were spent, and took a prominent part in the
affairs of Church and State.
His paternal grandfather, the Hon. Samuel Jackson,
was born in England and came over to the United States
in the last decade of the eighteenth century. He settled
in Montgomery County, N. Y., where he was married to
Miss Louise Heyer, an accomplished lady of American
birth. His business ventures proved to be very success
ful, and he was called to several offices of honour and
trust. He was a member of the state legislature for five
terms, a committeeman at the inaugural celebration of
the completion of the Erie Canal ; a lieutenant-colonel
during the War of 1812, and, later, a colonel of the 188th
Regiment of the State Infantry. In the neighbourhood
where he first cast his lot Samuel Jackson spent the whole
of his active business life, and was held in high esteem as
a trustworthy leader and wise counsellor. He died,
April 12th 1845, at the age of ninety years.
17

18 SHELDON JACKSON
Alexander Sheldon, M. D., his maternal grandfather,
was graduated from Yale University in 1787 and from the
New York College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1812.
He found a desirable place of settlement in or near the
village of Charlestown, Montgomery County. Here his
ability and worth as a skilled physician and a safe leader
in the local and political movements of the times were
quickly recognized. He was a member of the legislature
for eight terms, speaker of the Assembly for five sessions ;
a regent of the New York State University ; judge of
the county court, and a delegate to the Convention of
1821 for the revision of the State Constitution. He died
at Charlestown on the 10th of September, in the seventieth
year of his age. The Sheldons and the Jacksons, whose
homes were only a few miles apart, had many interests in
common, and the intimacy which had grown up between
them was strengthened and made more enduring by the
marriage of Dr. Sheldon's daughter, Delia Sheldon, to
Samuel Clinton Jackson, December 19, 1832. It seemed
fitting also that the first-born of this happily united pair,
should receive in baptism and by hereditary succession,
the name — Sheldon Jackson.
Samuel Clinton Jackson was born June 17, 1807. After
he had completed the ordinary course of studies in
the public school he was sent to the celebrated Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, at Troy, N. Y. His natural bent
was in the line of mechanical pursuits, but the business
which his father had carried on for many years required
his attention, and, eventually, at the completion of his
college course, he became his successor. After his mar
riage, Mr. Jackson lived in the house which his father
had occupied at Minaville, and here, on the 18th of May,
1834, Sheldon Jackson was born.
The village of Minaville, which for a time was not dis
tinguished by name from the township in which it is

ANCESTRY— BIRTHPLACE— EARLY DAYS 19
situated, lies in a little green intervale on the southern
border of the Mohawk Valley. The " Chuctanunda," a
rippling stream from the adjacent hills, whose name re
calls the days of the Indiai> occupation, flows through the
town and contributes its quota to its picturesque setting.
A good macadam road connects it with Amsterdam on
the north side of the Mohawk River, some five miles dis
tant. This is its nearest outlet to the great thoroughfares
of travel and commerce, which in this vicinity keep close
to the banks of the stream. Isolated from the noise and
distractions of the busy outside world, Minaville has long
been a tranquil, restful retreat, where much of the simple
life and unconventional ways of the former generations
have been retained. A local chronicler has aptly
described it as " a place so quiet and peaceful that one
might easily imagine it the happy valley of Rasselas."
There is certainly but little in the place or its surround
ings to suggest the beginnings or after developments of a
notably strenuous life. For a century or more, the little
town, almost hidden from view by its overshadowing
trees, has held its own in the struggle for existence ; and
while its houses are still few in number they represent the
better class of village homes in an intelligent and pros
perous community.
The former home of the Jacksons, which belongs to the
business section of the place, is a well-preserved, substan
tial house, unpretentious in appearance, but evidently
one of the best of its class at the date of its erection.
From this building, which one day was found to be on fire,
Sheldon Jackson was carried out, while a babe in arms,
to a place of safety. Happily for all concerned, the fire
was extinguished before it had done much damage. Soon
after this event, Mr. Jackson removed his family to
Esperance, a prosperous village in the Schoharie Valley,
about ten miles south of Minaville. At that time,

20 SHELDON JACKSON
Esperance was favourably situated on the great thorough
fare, or toll road, between Albany and Buffalo ; and the
main object of the removal was to secure a better location
for the business in which Mr. Jackson was engaged. A
notable feature of the village, which at the present time
has a population of about six hundred, is the broad
avenue, flanked by a double row of elms and maples of
mature growth and magnificent proportions, on which
most of the buildings are located.
Esperance was originally a Huguenot settlement, and
from the first the leading church of the place was Presby
terian. The settlement dated from the year 1711. The
substantial stone church which occupies the site of the
older houses of worship was built in 1827. This building
is in a good state of preservation and its interior has re
cently been remodelled and beautified. It stands, almost
alone, upon a commanding eminence above the town.
From this standpoint the gleaming waters of the Schoharie
are visible for several miles up the beautiful valley.
Three important events, closely related to all that was
good in the after-life and development of the boy Sheldon,
took place during the residence of the Jackson family in
Esperance. One was the birth of his sister Louise, the
playmate, inseparable companion and clear-headed coun
sellor of his youthful days. Another was the public con
fession of faith in Christ made by his parents in connec
tion with the Presbyterian Church. The first to take this
step was Mrs. Jackson, who united with the church dur
ing the ministrations of the Rev. B. H. Pitman, Decem
ber 23, 1837. A few months later Mr. Jackson was re
ceived into the same communion. From this time onward
the word of the Lord was the law of the household, and
all its affairs were ordered in cheerful obedience to its re
quirements. The third event, which followed as a
natural sequence, was the public dedication of the chil-

I. Sheldon Jackson's birthplace. 2. Presbyterian Church of
Esperance. 3. Farmhouse. Home of his childhood and youth. 1840-58.

ANCESTRY— BIRTHPLACE— EARLY DAYS 21
dren of this household to the Lord and His service, in
the ordinance of Christian baptism, on the 11th of De
cember, 1838.
If this had been merely the formal service of " Christen
ing, ' ' with which some parents seem to be content, it would
not have been deemed worthy of notice in this connection.
To this young couple, however, who had first, and so
recently, given their own selves to the Lord, it meant a
virtual surrender of their offspring to His service, as real,
and sincere and unreserved as that which Hannah made
when she presented her first-born child before the Lord
at Shiloh. It was a dedication to service in the House of
the Lord, and in this thing, in after years, the desire of
their hearts was granted. At this time Sheldon Jackson
was four and a half years old ; and the fact is abundantly
attested that, in connection with this sacramental service,
he was solemnly dedicated by his parents to the office of
the gospel ministry. From that day until the day of
his ordination to this holy office by the presbytery of
Albany, in 1858, neither he nor his parents had any other
thought than that he was to be a minister of the Gospel.
With this was associated also the hope and expectation
that he should be called to a life of service in the mission
field. The consciousness that he Was set apart to this
holy mission was an ever-present incentive to duty in his
youthful days and, as he himself affirms, was, doubtless,
one of the most potent influences in restraining him from
boyish follies and excesses.
On the 26th of June, 1839, Samuel C. Jackson was
unanimously chosen to the office of ruling elder in the
church of Esperance, and in the following month of Sep
tember he was ordained and installed. This office, which
he filled with ability and conscientious fidelity for many
years, brought him into close relations and active sym
pathy with the wider fields of Christian work and inten-

22 SHELDON JACKSON
sified his interest in all that related to the extension and
progress of the Church at home and abroad. During his
term of active service he was frequently chosen as a com-
missi6ner to the General Assembly and always took a
lively interest in the questions which came before it for
discussion or settlement. He was a Presbyterian of the
most decided and unwavering type, but he had charity
sweet enough, and broad enough, to recognize and ap
prove that which was good and commendable in those, of
other views or denominations, who might disagree with
him. In the community where he was best known, as
well as in the places where he spent the later years of his
life, Mr. Jackson was honoured and beloved by old and
young for his gentleness of disposition, kindness of heart,
and unobtrusive goodness.
In his home life, and to a great extent also in his pub
lic life, Mr. Jackson was helped and stimulated to higher
endeavours, by the wise counsels and wholesome influ
ences of the gifted woman to whom, in early manhood, he
gave his heart and hand, and -with whom he was privi
leged to live, in the closest of all human relationships,
for more than fifty years. " It has been often remarked of
him," says a correspondent of the Evangelist, " that he was
equal to a co-pastor in the efficient aid he rendered the
minister in charge ; but his efficiency in the Church was
greatly augmented by the sympathetic interest of his
wife, who in the fullest sense of the Scriptural designa
tion, was 'an helpmeet for him.' "
A few years after his settlement in Esperance, Mr.
Jackson's health became so seriously impaired by the
close confinement of the store, that he gave up mercan
tile business and took charge of an old homestead farm
in Florida township, to which his father had retired
several years before. The removal of the family from
Esperance was probably in the spring of 1840, and at

ANCESTRY— BIRTHPLACE— EARLY DAYS 23
this time the boy Sheldon was about six years of age.
In the management and improvement of this valuable
landed estate, which passed into his hands at his father's
death, Mr. Jackson found congenial work and, at length,
greatly improved health.
The old homestead or manor house, which was erected
by Samuel C. Jackson's father, has been modernized in
some respects, but its main features have not been mate
rially changed. It is admirably located, on a slight rise,
or knoll, by the edge of a picturesque little glen, which
is bordered on the side next the house by a massive stone
wall. Like most of the New York country homes, of the
better class, it is a white frame house, large, roomy, sym
metrical in outlines and complete in all its appointments.
Two widely-spreading horse chestnuts shade the lawn in
front and graceful elms droop their branches all around
it. It was not a home of luxury, in the sense in which
that expression is used to-day; but it was a "house of
plenty," where orchard, garden and farm yielded their
choicest fruits, and flowers bloomed in great profusion
under the touch of skillful, sympathetic hands. In this
home of comfort and refinement, amid the fresh, whole
some influences of country life, Sheldon Jackson grew up
to the full estate and vigour of manhood. While giving
most of his time to study, he helped in the morning and
evening chores, and as he advanced in years took a hand
in the general work of the farm in leisure hours of the
summer vacations. During the whole of this period,
covering a stretch of eighteen years, the Jacksons re
tained their connection with the little mission church at
Esperance, ten miles distant, and regularly attended its
services. The road to this distant sanctuary was rugged
and exceptionally hilly. In the spring and fall it was
seldom free from mud and ruts ; in the summer, it was
rough and stony, and in the winter the exposed places

24 SHELDON JACKSON
were frequently blocked for weeks with the drifting
snows. Notwithstanding these formidable obstacles,
the journey was made back and forth, week by week,
with wonderful regularity. It is a matter of record that
the villagers within two blocks of the church door were
not more regular in their attendance at the morning serv
ice than the entire Jackson family. From personal rec
ollections, Dr. Jackson has given the following descrip
tion of these extraordinary Sabbath-day journeys : —
In the short days of winter on Sabbath morning the chores
were done, preparations made, and breakfast over before day
light. The team was hitched up, buffalo robes, blankets and
straw, with the necessary axe and shovel were placed in the
sleigh ; and as the family locked the doors and went out from
the house they carried with them the lunch-basket, and a three-
inch oak plank, or soapstone, that had been heated in the oven
of the stove, to keep their feet warm. On these ten mile trips,
going and returning from church, it was not ah uncommon oc
currence for the sleigh to upset, or the horses to get down in
the snow. In such case, a buffalo robe would be spread on the
snow upon which would be placed the mother and daughter.
Then while the son was stationed at the horses' heads the father
would loosen the traces and right the sled or help up the team.
Frequently, on these occasions, a panel would be broken out of
the road fence with the axe and a path shovelled through the
drifts into the neighbouring field, where the sled could make
progress parallel with the road, until a place was reached where
the drifts were passable.
When, after experiences such as these, the village was
reached and the team put away in a barn, Mr. Jackson
would shovel the path for the villagers from the street to
the church door, heat and ventilate the room, and finally
ring the church bell. At the close of the service, lunch
was served from the well-furnished basket ; and as soon
as convenient thereafter, the family returned to their
home, completing their twenty mile ride after dark.

ANCESTRY— BIRTHPLACE— EARLY DAYS 25
When the conditions were favourable, the time on the
road was sometimes utilized by the mother in questioning
the children in the Shorter Catechism of the Westminster
Assembly. The courage and persistency shown in these
tedious and long-continued journeys are suggestive of the
quality and texture of the moral fibre which was in
wrought into the character and life of the pioneer mis
sionary of later days. With a view to extending the
privileges of the Gospel to those who were in his im
mediate neighbourhood, Samuel Jackson established a
midweek prayer-meeting and a monthly missionary meet
ing, which were held, in turn, in two or three of the most
centrally located farmhouses. These meetings, which
were attended by the young people as well as by the
older persons, were successfully maintained during the
entire period of Mr. Jackson's residence on the home
stead farm, and resulted in much good to the community.
Mr. Jackson's children were but a short distance from
the school building of the district and were favoured in
having teachers of exceptional character and ability.
One of these who had charge of the school for several
years, — James Elder by name, — was a devout Christian
of the Scotch Presbyterian type, and exerted a wholesome
influence in the neighbourhood, as well as upon the
young people under his immediate care. From early
childhood the country lad of our story was familiar with
the events connected with the border Indian wars of the
Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys ; and the life and mis
sionary labours of David Brainerd and David Zeisburger
among the Indian tribes of these valleys had for him a
singular fascination, which no doubt had its influence in
determining the bent of his after-life. Aside from the
works to which he had access on these themes, his prin
cipal reading was in Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Progress,"
Washington Irving' s Works, some of Scott's Novels, the

26 SHELDON JACKSON
Philadelphia Presbyterian and the Home Missionary Mag
azine, which at that time was published jointly by the
Boards of the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches.
Amid such influences and surroundings, — healthful, re
fining, stimulating and uplifting, — the boy Sheldon grew
in years and knowledge ; and began to see visions and
dream dreams, relating to the great world and its possi
bilities, beyond the confines of the narrow valley in which
his lot was cast.

II
PREPARATION DAYS
A cademy — College — Seminary
" There is no road to success, bnt through a dear, strong purpose.''
— T. T. Munger.
IN the fifteenth year of his age, Sheldon Jackson was
sent to an academy of note at Glen Falls, N. Y.
During the year which he spent in this school (1848-
1849), his pastor at Esperance, the Rev. Saunders Dief-
endorf, D. D., removed to Haysville, Ohio, and took
charge of a Presbyterian Academy on the outskirts of the
town, which under his administration became one of the
famous preparatory schools of its day, in the region west
of the AUeghenies. To this school, with a view to com
ing under the care and influence of a tried friend and able
instructor, the lad was transferred in the fall of 1849. On
his arrival, he was received into the home of Dr. Diefen-
dorf and was treated as a member of his family. Here
he continued his studies until he was far enough advanced
to enter the sophomore class at college. "During this
period," says the Rev. Isaac M. Hughes, of Richmond,
Ind. — one of his esteemed fellow students — " young Jack
son was diligent, painstaking, and conscientious as a stu
dent, giving close attention both to his class-room and
religious duties ; and was withal a most delightful com
panion and schoolmate." In the autumn of 1852, he
was matriculated as a sophomore at Union College,
Schenectady, N. Y. The seat of this justly famed insti
tution, now Union University, was within easy reach of
27

28 SHELDON JACKSON
the Jackson home, and during the three years which he
spent within its walls he kept in close touch with the
members of his own family circle and the friends of his
childhood days. "As I remember him," writes one of
his classmates, David Little, M. D., of Rochester, N. Y.,
" he was a sober-minded lad, giving close attention to his
college duties. He stood well up in his class, being ac
corded a place as a speaker on commencement day.
Since our graduation, fifty years ago, I have seen little,
but have read and heard much of him as a missionary in
the Far West and a pioneer in Alaska. In college he
was called a ' plodder ' by some of the students, but he
plodded then and has plodded since to good purpose."
In the nineteenth year of his age, — October 1, 1853 —
Sheldon Jackson was received into the full communion of
the church in which he had been dedicated to God in in
fancy. The desire to make this public avowal of alle
giance to Christ had long been cherished in his heart, but
hitherto he had repressed it for lack, as he supposed, of
sufficient evidence to justify the claim that he had expe
rienced a genuine, or radical, change of heart. There was
nothing in his own personal experience, so far back as
memory could go, to correspond with the conversion of
Saul of Tarsus or the jailor of Philippi, and hence he
did not feel that he had a clear title to a place at the
Lord's table. While in college, under the ministry of
Dr. J. Trumbull Backus, he was shown the true ground
of the Christian's hope and confidence, as distinct from
modes of conversion or extraordinary experiences attend
ing conviction of sin ; and was encouraged to assume all
the duties and privileges of the Christian disciple. In
after-years, speaking of his boyhood and judging it from
his maturer knowledge of the operations of grace in the
heart, he asserts that he could not recall a time when he
had not believed in Jesus and sought to honour Him ¦

Associates and Helpers.
{For names see Appendix, page 470. Group I.)

PREPARATION DAYS 29
when he had not struggled against sin and had not lived
a life of prayer. With the settlement of this question he
joyfully accepted the full responsibilities of discipleship,
and at once became active and alert in improving oppor
tunities for service and especially in seeking to win souls
to Christ. Three months later, in great measure through
his influence, his only sister (Mrs. George Norcross),
united with the church. In the years of preparation fol
lowing, several of his cousins and young friends were in
fluenced by him to accept Christ, or to take their stand
among His professed disciples. Among these was a col
lege friend who was led by him into the kingdom and
the ministry ; and another, also, of whom mention shall
be made hereafter, who in the closest and most sacred of
human relationships has for half a century shared in his
toils and rejoiced in his triumphs.
At this period of his life, as well as in later days, the
desire to win souls to Christ seems to be uppermost in his
thoughts and interwoven with all his plans for the near
as well as the more remote future. It was also his desire,
and avowed purpose, at this time to devote his life, if the
way should be clear, to the work of missions in the for
eign field. With this in mind, he lived and laboured
throughout his entire course of preparatory studies.
Meanwhile, he was faithful in the discharge of present
duties and was ever ready to assist in the work of Christ
during the vacation seasons at home or in the associations
with which he was connected in the college and seminary.
With respect to physical culture, young Jackson lacked
many of the opportunities and qualifications which, at
the present time, are supposed to be essential to the de
velopment of a strenuous life. Athletics of the modern
"frenzied " type had no place on the grounds, or in the
discipline of the college, in his day ; and, outside of the
professional boxing-ring, public sentiment had not given

30 SHELDON JACKSON
its approval to contests for championship only, in which
the strong ruthlessly trampled down the weak and the
watchword was victory at any cost.
A popular writer, whose latest works are eagerly read
by old and young, has described in intensely realistic
fashion the modern- conception of a typical missionary
evangelist of the western frontier. In his college days,
he is introduced as " a big man, gaunt and bony, with a
mighty pair of shoulders, topped by a square, -massive
head, on which bristled a veritable shock of yellow hair,
— a man who seemed too large to be ignored and too un
wieldy to be readily adjusted to the niceties of society
ways." This man, the pride of the first eleven of his
college and the "great centre" of the "varsity
phalanx," wins the championship of Canada on a hotly
contested football field, emerging from the struggling
mass of his opponents "a ghastly, bloody, fearsome
spectacle." On the frontier, this man of might and
muscle, who in his youthful days had also learned the
tricks of the boxers and the twists of the Japanese, wins
admiration and converts, on one occasion by flinging an
obstinate cowboy over his head into the dust ; on another
by carrying a drunken doctor in his arms, whom he had
kidnapped in his helpless imbecility, to see a patient
who needed surgical care ; and, on still another occasion,
by courageously closing with three desperate men in a
scuffle over one of their victims in a gambling saloon.
With these extraordinary gifts and accomplishments this
typical missionary of the frontier combines, except in mo
ments of unusual provocation, the gentleness of a child
and the tenderness of a woman with his great strength
and unquestioned courage.
In this fancy sketch, which has in it enough of praise
worthy sentiment and sober truth to fascinate and thrill
the most unsympathetic and antagonistic of its critics,

PREPARATION DAYS 31
there are but few elements which correspond with the life
and eminent service of the hero of our matter-of-fact
story. During his school-days he was a lad of slight
build, physically small, a sufferer at times from poor
health and weak eyes ; and, by temperament and con
scientious scruples, averse to all that was rough and de
moralizing, whether in sport or in sober earnest. He
had no training in the " manly art of self-defense," and
his fitness for service did not depend upon any extraor
dinary manifestation of physical prowess, or development
of physical culture, in the days of his youth. "For
amusement," he says, "we played baseball, pitched
quoits, and in winter coasted down the hills, when we
were boys ; but I never had any special training or
practice, or was I ever present at a match game between
parties from different places." In later days, he learned
to suffer and endure for the Gospel's sake, and this had
its reflex influence in the development of a hardier con
stitution and a more rugged frame ; but in the conflict for
mastery over the allied forces of evil in the mining camp
and on the frontier the weapons of his warfare were not
carnal. The triumphs over which he now looks back
with joy, were not won by the arm of flesh. In the
fortieth year of his unique and wonderfully varied mis
sionary service he was briefly described in a local news
paper item as : — "Short, bewhiskered, and bespectacled.
By inside measurement a giant." On one occasion, it is
said, a presiding officer mistook a Tennessee missionary
of similar name for Dr. Jackson, and introduced him as
our " stalwart friend from the Rocky Mountains."
When the little doctor mounted the platform the smiles
were audible, and he naively remarked : " If I had been
more stalwart in height, I could not have slept so many
nights on the four-and-a-half foot seat of a Rocky Moun
tain stage." This inheritance, says the writer of the in-

32 SHELDON JACKSON
cident, has no doubt helped him to be what a stage-driver
styled him : — "the hardiest and handiest traveller of his
acquaintance." In the spring of 1855, Sheldon Jackson was graduated
at Union College, and in the autumn following entered
upon his course of theological studies at Princeton.
Here he identified himself more closely with those who
had the mission field in view, and in the weekly prayer-
meeting, especially, did he come into close fellowship with
a notable band of missionary enthusiasts and heroes,
whose names are familiar to-day in all the churches.
Among these were David McGilvary, the veteran mis
sionary among the Laos, Samuel Rankin Gayley, who
went to his reward from China, Charles Roger Mills, who
spent nearly a half-century in China, Jonathan Wilson of
Siam, Augustus Broadhead, who gave his life to India,
Robert Hamil Nassau, the veteran missionary of Africa,
Ashbel Green Simonton, who gave the Gospel to Brazil ;
and a still larger number who established churches in the
wilderness and on our western frontier.
Mr. Jackson was received under the care of the
Presbytery of Albany at its spring meeting in 1856, and
spent part of the summer vacation in canvassing from
house to house in Montgomery and Schenectady Coun
ties, N. Y., as a colporteur under commission of the
Board of Publication. In this work he learned much
of the world and of human nature, and found the under
taking, as a whole, much pleasanter than he had antic
ipated. In one tour of eighteen days he disposed of two
hundred and twenty-five dollars' worth of books. He
had frequent opportunities to preach the Gospel while
engaged in this work, and, although he was not formally
licensed, he regarded his commission from the Board as
broad enough to cover the ground. On the 13th of
July, 1856, he preached his first sermon in the Dutch

PREPARATION DAYS 33
Reformed church at Auriesville, Montgomery County.
His text, — "The love of Christ constraineth us" — has
been the key-note of his life-long ministry, which in its
public manifestation may be said to date from that day.
In this service, as he intimates in his diary, he was not
nearly as much embarrassed as he expected to be. " One
lady fell asleep during the discourse," but to offset this
there were several who afterwards commended the sermon
and encouraged the speaker. At the outset of this sum
mer's work he decided to set apart one-fifth of his com
mission for the sale of books to the benevolent agencies
of the Church, but at the close of the season he recon
sidered this decision and devoted one-half of it as a
thank-offering to God for His goodness and preserving
caro. On the 14th of May, 1857, Jackson was licensed to
preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of Albany. This
service was held in the Second Presbyterian Church of
Amsterdam, N. Y. Pour days later, he was appointed an
agent of the American Systematic Beneficence Society,
located in Philadelphia ; and with his usual energy en
tered upon the work which had been outlined for him by
this association. Its object, as indicated in his commis
sion, was " to present the cause of Systematic Beneficence
by addresses to public assemblies, by holding conferences
with pastors of churches and friends of Scriptural liber
ality, and by such proper additional methods as may be
most feasible ; also, to collect funds for the work of the
society and transmit the same to the treasurer." Among
the leaders of note in this movement which was undenom
inational in its constitution and sphere of operation, were
Mr. M. W. Baldwin, President ; George H. Stuart, Vice-
President ; and Thomas Cooper, its Secretary. Sheldon
Jackson was the first agent appointed by this society.
In the three months in which he was engaged in this

34 SHELDON JACKSON
work, he conferred with seventy-five ministers and ad
dressed fifty-three congregations in the leading cities be
tween New York and Leavenworth, Kansas. On one
occasion,- as the record shows, he visited ten pastors on
Saturday and on the following Sabbath filled four ap
pointments, — viz., at 11 A. M. ; 2 P. M. ; 4 p. M ; and 7 P. M.,
— in the churches of four different denominations. This
vacation experience proved to be a very helpful one in
connection with the after-labours of Sheldon Jackson,
and it brought him into close touch and intimate relations
with some noble men and women of means and generous
impulses, to whom he could appeal with confidence when
face to face with the exigencies and extraordinary de
mands of his great life-work.
The autumn of 1857 was a time of unusual interest in
missionary and evangelistic work. The breath of God's
Spirit had quickened the hearts of multitudes in every
part of the land. Houses of worship were crowded daily
with earnest worshippers and anxious inquirers, and
prayers were going up spontaneously from city and vil
lage and hamlet from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It was
the beginning of the wonderful revival, known as "The
Great Awakening." The hearts of many had been
touched also by the martyrdom of eight beloved mission
aries of the Presbyterian Church in India, a few months
before, and by reason of this fiery trial the whole church
had been brought into deeper sympathy and closer rela
tions with those who, in the face of peril and suffering,
represented them in these far-away lands.
On his return to the seminary, in the month of Sep
tember, Mr. Jackson came more directly within the
range of these influences, and entered with hearty enthu
siasm upon the double work of winning souls to Christ
and alluring recruits to the little band of devoted men
who were already committed, by covenant engagements,

PREPARATION DAYS 35
to go to whatever part of the world-wide mission field God
in His providence should direct them.
With the confident expectation of spending his own
life in the foreign field, he gave much of his spare time
to the reading and distributing of missionary literature,
to public services in the interests of mission work, and
wherever he had the opportunity brought his personal
influence to bear in behalf of this cause. A noteworthy
incident relating to this period of quickened activity was
given by the Rev. Dr. George W. McMillan, President of
Bichmond College, in a remarkable address made by him
in support of the nomination of Dr. Jackson as a candi
date for the office of Moderator of the General Assembly.
"About forty years ago," said Dr. McMillan, " it was
my high privilege to sit in the chapel of Princeton Theo
logical Seminary on the Holy Sabbath and listen to
Dr. McGill, that eloquent pulpit orator, deliver a masterly
sermon on the subject of missions.
"In the course of his argument, the Doctor seemed to
be inspired, and, looking right down on us students, he
thrust forward his hand and said : ' Young man, if you
canH be first, be foremost 1 ' After the service was over, a
young man who sat by me in the chapel — a pure,
heavenly-minded, consecrated young man — came into my
room and said, ' That was a very excellent sermon to
which we listened this morning.' 'Very fine' was the
reply. ' But, McMillan, did you notice that sentence f '
' What sentence ? ' was the answer. ' Young man, if
you canH be first, be foremost." lI canH be first, I
tvill be foremost ! ' That young man was Sheldon
Jackson." As a matter of fact, he lived and laboured
in the spirit of this injunction. In the race set before
him he was not always first, but he was never a laggard.
In the conflict he was always at the front with the ad
vance guard, or on the skirmishing line.

36 SHELDON JACKSON
On the 7th of December, 1857, Sheldon Jackson ad
dressed the following letter to the Board of Foreign
Missions : —
To the Executive Committee of the Board of Foreign
Missions of the Presbyterian Church.
Sirs: In accordance with your usage, I hereby offer myself as
a candidate for the foreign service. My age is twenty-four.
As to my education, I have passed from the common school
through the academy and college (Union) to the seminary.
My employment when out of school has been farmer and car
penter. As to health, I was completely prostrated three years
ago; having naturally a strong constitution I think that at
present I have nearly regained it. I united with the church in
1853. Immediately upon experiencing the love of Christ in
my heart my mind was made up to be (D. V.) both a minister
and a missionary. It was to the mission service I was dedi
cated in infant baptism and I see no reason why I should with
hold myself. At first, my attention was directed to the home
mission field. For the last three years, however, it has been
turned to the foreign service. This desire has gradually in
creased in depth and strength as I have examined the subject
and become in some measure acquainted with the religious
aspects of the world. Very sincerely yours,
(Signed) Sheldon Jackson.
Theological Seminary, Princeton,
December, 1857.

In this communication there is no suggestion with re
spect to any special field of labour, but it appears from
intimations elsewhere given that Mr. Jackson's preference
for work in Syria or Siam, and later for an appointment
to Bogota, in South America, could not be considered be
cause of the report of his examining physician, who de
clined to recommend him as a fit subject for work in the
foreign field. "They thought I was not strong," he
says, in reply to the question of a reporter, " but I had

PREPARATION DAYS 37
an iron constitution, with the exception of dyspepsia."
Quoting this, a writer in The Forward adds : "When one
thinks of the great army of dyspeptics who excuse them
selves from duty because of their malady, this sentence
seems humorously heroic."
In accepting his services, the Board, apparently for the
reason above given, limited his field of labour to the In
dian tribes within the territory of the United States.
The reply was as follows : — Mission House, New York,
December 28, 1857.
Rev. Sheldon Jackson,
My Dear Sir: — Your letter of 22d instant was duly re
ceived, and was to-day laid before the committee. The letter
from the brethren of the Albany Presbytery was satisfactory,
and you were appointed, with entire unanimity, a missionary
of the Board. Your field among the Indians was not desig
nated, nor at present can we say where the first vacancy will
occur. The Ottoe Mission has been assigned to Mr. Guthrie,
who, with his wife, expect to set out as soon as the travelling
opens. As you will not be ready to set out before June, the
way may be perfectly open before that time, and we will keep
you advised of anything that occurs, having a bearing on this
question. I am, dear sir,
Affectionately and sincerely yours,
(Signed) Walter Lowrie, Secretary.
With respect to this action the author of "The Rain
bow's End" — Alice Palmer Henderson — writing some
years ago, makes the following comment : —
' ' I think that the Board would be rather surprised to see
him now, after forty years of service, compared to which
Siam would have been ' carried to the skies on flowery
beds of ease.' He can endure more hardship, travel, hard
work, and exposure this minute than half the college foot-

38 SHELDON JACKSON
ball players, and he looks ten years younger than his
sixty- four years."
About two months afterwards, — February 27, 1858 —
Mr. Jackson was notified that he had been commissioned
for work among the Indians of the Choctaw nation ; and
assigned to a vacancy in the mission school for boys lo
cated at Spencer, in the Indian Territory. There were
some things connected with this appointment which
were not entirely satisfactory to this ardent young mis
sionary, who longed above all things else to preach the
Gospel, but the closing of other doors and the providential
opening of this one among the heathen of his own land,
seemed to be the answer to his prayer for Divine guid
ance. Hence, he accepted the appointment without ques
tioning, and began at once to adjust his plans for the fu
ture in conformity with this decision. On the 27th day
of April, he was graduated from Princeton Seminary, and
on the evening of the same day he left for home. The
farewell address to the class was made by Dr. Phineas D.
Gurley, of Washington City, and his tender, earnest words
made a deep and abiding impression upon the young men
of the class of 1858, who went forth on that day from this
school of the Prophets to their several fields of labour in
the home field, and in far-away lands beyond the seas.
One week later, May 5th, Jackson was ordained as
an evangelist by the Presbytery of Albany. At this
service, Dr. Eliphalet Nott, President of Union College,
presided and offered the ordaining prayer. Dr. W. S.
Sprague preached the sermon and the Rev. Charles H.
Taylor gave the charge.
On the 18th of May, the twenty-fourth anniversary of
his birth, Sheldon Jackson was married to Miss Mary
Voorhees, at the home of the bride, scarcely two miles
distant from his own ancestral home. The marriage was
solemnized by the Rev. John Clancey, pastor of the Dutch

PEEPAEATION DAYS 39
Reformed Church, Minaville, in the presence of a select
company of relatives and personal friends. Thus by a
happy conjunction three of the most important events
connected with the closing days of this preparation period
took place within a limit of less than one month, the two
last named being in the flowery month of May.

Ill
THE CHOCTAW MISSION
"Man proposeth, God disposeth." — Herbert.
IN the early days of the settlement of the West, the
work of evangelizing the North American Indians,
in so far as this was attempted, was carried on ex
clusively through the agency of the Board of Foreign
Missions. The stations to which its missionaries were
sent were usually on reservations, remote from civiliza
tion, and virtually outside its pale. Within the limits of
the Indian Territory, the largest of these reservations,
there were motley groupings of Indians, representing
several of the aboriginal confederacies and tribes of half-
breeds of various shades of colour ; and also of negroes,
who were held as slaves. The mission to which Jackson
was assigned was in the reservation of the Choctaw na
tion, at the southeast corner of this territory. Its resi
dents were nominally Christian, and at this time they ad
ministered their own affairs, and, to some extent, sup
ported their own churches and schools.
From St. Louis, the gateway to the vast and as yet un
developed region in which this station was located, was a
tiresome journey of not less than two weeks. The" route
was partly by river and partly by public or private con
veyance, over roads which at all times were a menace to
safety, and frequently were almost impassable.
There was little of romance, and much of self-denial
and self-effacement connected with this isolated homeland
mission, more remote from the haunts of civilization, in
40

THE CHOCTAW MISSION 41
point of time, than any of our mission fields in Syria or
South America at the present ; but the call to labour in
it was accepted by Mr. Jackson and his bride without
question as the call of duty, albeit with shrinking.
In the wonderful arrangements of God's providence the
bent which was given in this direction, as the result of
that acceptance, led ultimately to a greater and more
widely-extended work for the long neglected Indian tribes
west of the Mississippi, from the borders of Mexico to the
dreary wastes of the Arctic circle in far-away Alaska.
Looking backward, a connection may be traced between
this limited phase of the work under the Foreign Board
and its later developments under the fostering care of the
Home Board, for here at least the terms are convertible,
but he to whom the leadership was given, knew nothing
of this at the first and was himself led in a way which he
knew not.
The summer of 1858 was one of the few care-free vaca
tion periods which Sheldon Jackson enjoyed before or
after he entered upon his strenuous life of missionary
service. During his college and seminary course his va
cations were for the most part mortgaged to some special
cause or agency in advance ; and the recreation feature
except as it was found in change of occupation, seemed to
have but brief space, by previous arrangement or in actual
experience, in any of them.
A carefully-planned wedding journey, which included
in its round New York City, Portsmouth, Va., Washing
ton, D. C, Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and
West Point, occupied, in very agreeable fashion, the first
fortnight of this well-earned interval of leisure. Five or
six weeks following were given to brief visits among rela
tives and friends, and to such final arrangements as were
necessary for the westward journey.
As the result of a tour of exploration to the West and

42 SHELDON JACKSON
Southwest in the preceding year, Mr. Jackson's parents
had decided to remove to Galesburg, Illinois, where a
place of residence had been secured in anticipation of the
removal of the family after the ordination and marriage
of their son. It was arranged also that the young couple
should make this new home the first stage in the westward
journey. In accordance with this arrangement, they left
their kinsfolk and comfortable homes in the Mohawk
Valley on the 19th of July, and set their faces towards the
new life and experiences which awaited them in the val
ley of the Mississippi and the "regions beyond."
At Niagara Falls, they met the rest of the Jackson
family and j ourneyed with them to Galesburg. Here th ey
remained, making many pleasant acquaintances mean
while, until the 16th of September, when they left for
Spencer, by way of Quincy and St. Louis. The first Sab
bath of the journey was spent at St. Louis. On the Mon
day following, they took passage on a boat, going down
the river, for Napoleon, Arkansas. At this point, a
transfer was made to a smaller steamer going up the
Arkansas River. Little Rock, the terminus of the route
by water, was reached September 27th ; and here con
nections were made with a stage line to Washington, Ark.
This was the end of all public accommodations, and Mr.
Jackson was obliged to secure a private conveyance to
Spencer, 120 miles distant. The following extract from a
letter, written by Mrs. Jackson after her arrival at Spen
cer, gives in detail some of the peculiar experiences inci
dent to this long overland journey : —
"At Little Rock we took the stage for Washington.
We were two days and nights reaching that place, and
had most wretched fare offered us by the way, for which
we paid fifty cents each. I very often did not eat at all.
At Washington, the hotel was most shocking. If the
floor in the room we occupied had not been so dirty we

THE CHOCTAW MISSION 43
would have preferred it to the bed. All the furniture the
parlour contained was a carpet and looking-glass, two or
three chairs, and when meal-time came they took the
chairs out of the room and we must needs stand or sit on
the floor, which I did to the astonishment of the natives.
We had some difficulty in procuring a hack to bring us
to Spencer. We finally made arrangements with a man
and started about 4 P. M. The next day we rode ten
miles, getting lost on the way. That night we put up at
the house of one of the better class of people, and had
good accommodations and a comfortable night's rest.
The next morning we started and found that one of the
horses was lame, but supposed that it would get better
after a little while, but it grew worse and we were obliged
to travel slowly. When we had travelled about twenty
miles, the tire came off one of the wheels. As there was
no blacksmith's shop near it was fastened as well as was
possible under the circumstances, and we endeavoured to
reach a small town ten miles distant where we could have
it reset ; but night overtook us before we reached it, and
the roads were so bad that it was almost impossible to
travel after dark. That night we put up at a place where
we preferred to sleep on the floor. The next morning the
lame horse was unable .to travel and half the day was lost
in procuring another, and in repairing the damage to the
carriage. This being Saturday, the detention was par
ticularly unfortunate as we wished to reach Mr. Bying-
ton's mission to spend the Sabbath. Night overtook us
eighteen miles from this station, and we stayed until Mon
day with a man by the name of Peguis. About 2 p. M.,
on Monday, we reached Mr. Byington's and took dinner.
Mr. and Mrs. Byington are pleasant old people. Both
have been sick this summer. Monday evening we arrived
at a place called Depot. Here it was worse than ever.
We had to share our room with the driver and some oth-

44 SHELDON JACKSON
ers, and the bed was alive with bugs. We thought the
wagon preferable, and slept in that the next night."
On Wednesday, the day after the experience noted
above, — October 6, 1858— Mr. and Mrs. Jackson arrived
safely at Spencer and were warmly welcomed by their as
sociates in the mission. In the school, as organized at
this time, there were three departments, designated as
the Primary, Second and Third. In each department
there was a male teacher and a female assistant who
looked after the wardrobes of that section and, in so far
as was possible, kept each article of apparel in good
order. In the assignment of duties for the term the Rev.
Mr. Frothingham, Mr. Jackson's ministerial associate,
was given the temporary charge of the institution, it
being at that time without a superintendent, and the
new missionary and his wife were assigned to the third
department, which included the largest and most ad
vanced boys of the school.
With his usual alacrity and energy, Sheldon Jackson
entered upon this service. In a few days after the open
ing, he had enrolled more than thirty stolid-looking,
half- tamed boys, who taxed all his energies in the class
room and in one way or other absorbed the most of his
waking hours outside of it. The routine of each day
began at 5 A. m., and continued without break until 12 m.,
when the head of each department carved and served about
twenty -five or thirty pounds of meat at the dinner table and
had general oversight of the group for which he was re
sponsible. From 1 o'clock until 2.30 p. m., work in the
class room was resumed. From 2.30 until 5.30 P. M. the
boys were employed in chopping wood under the care of
the farmer. This brief interval, when not taken up with
dosing sick boys or giving out medicines to visiting
Choctaws who had sick ones in their homes, was utilized
in the preparation of sermons. At 5.30, all were as-

THE CHOCTAW MISSION 45
sembled for supper and evening prayers. At 6.30, Mr.
Jackson's group went to their sitting-room, where he
read to them, and at 8 o'clock he lighted them to their
bedrooms and removed the lights.
The last item in the day's work was usually the pre
paring of about fifty copies for the writing class. With
the exception of Saturday, when less time was given to
study and more to washing clothes, bathing, etc., this
was the ordinary occupation of each working day. On
the Sabbath, there were two services and two Sabbath
schools in which all of the missionary force, in one way
or another, ordinarily took part.
The founders of this mission shared in the belief more
prevalent in that day than with us now, that corporal
punishment was one of the most efficient aids to disci
pline in a school of growing boys, and from the beginning
it had been applied to the rebellious and disobedient of
all grades in the Spencer Academy. A letter to his par
ents, dated November 10, 1858, gives some interesting
items from his own experience in the matter of dis
cipline : —
"My boys are mostly large, and give me a good deal
of trouble. The missionaries here say it was just what
they had to pass through. They like to try a new teacher,
and they do it in every conceivable way. Our surest
mode of discipline is whipping. This I dislike very
much. If you should deprive a boy of his meal it would
make a good deal of noise in the tribe, but if you should
whip him until the blood runs there would be nothing
said about it. So I have to whip them. It is strange
how you can calm them down. One of them doubled up
his fist to intimidate me, but the only effect was to secure
him a severer whipping. They are very impudent and
stubborn, if allowed to have their own way, and some
times won't answer a word; sometimes refuse to go to

46 SHELDON JACKSON
class. One day, I found under the seat of one of the
boys a large hunting-knife whetted to a keen edge. I
took it in keeping for him. Recently one of the larger
boys wrote me that if I attempted to whip another boy,
he would whip me. By the advice of the other teachers
I took the suit of clothes which belonged to him when he
came, and calling him to my room was about to turn him
out, when he broke down completely and said he did not
mean it, and promised good behaviour in the future, if I
allowed him to stay. He afterwards said the same thing
before the whole school. When we get a superintendent,
the bad cases are to be turned over to him. I wish we
could have one soon. I can give him work for awhile."
One is tempted to smile at this very natural wish of a
sorely tried man. The time of the " more excellent way ' '
of Captain Pratt, which proved to be so efficient at Car
lisle, was not yet ; and even if this way had been intro
duced at that stage in the Indian Territory the effect
would probably have been immediately disastrous to the
person introducing it.
Mrs. Jackson's cooperative work was mainly along
domestic lines, such as sewing, darning socks, distribut
ing clothing, and dosing the sick. Her careful home-
training, in all the varied details of household life and
industries, and the heritage of health and vigour re
ceived from sturdy ancestors of Holland stock, stood her
in good stead in this initial venture, as well as in the
later experiences of missionary life on the frontier.
Sometimes it fell to her lot to act as a substitute for a sick
or absent teacher ; or to engage in such commonplace
work as cleaning lamps for the chapel, assorting clothing
for wear or for the laundry, and sundry duties of like
nature, when other helpers were not at hand, but usually
the time was fully occupied < ' in keeping the little Indians
in repairs." At one time, in an emergency, the work of

THE CHOCTAW MISSION 47
mending for seventy boys was cheerfully assumed. On
the 22d of December, Mrs. Jackson writes: — "I have
mended forty pairs of socks, twenty pants, ten coats,
eight shirts, this week, and have not finished yet. But
I do not mind it, as it gives me but little care."
The prevalence of malarial diseases of the most viru
lent and persistent type was one of the discouraging fea
tures connected with the work at Spencer. From these
insidious diseases, which frequently prostrated the
scholars as well as the teachers, and, at times, greatly re
duced the working force of the mission, Mary Jackson
was almost immune. It was not so, however, with her
husband. From the first he suffered from derangement
of the stomach and liver ; and within the brief space of
four months had three attacks of malarial fever. It was
characteristic of the man to keep at work, so long as he
was able to go about, but when something more than
three months had passed away without prospect of re
lief, the conviction was forced upon him that it was his
duty to seek another field of labour. To a greater extent,
perhaps, he was influenced also by the feeling that he
was not in his proper field of labour as an ordained
minister of the Gospel ; and that the work to which he
was giving his time and strength almost exclusively was
work which a layman could do quite as well, while in the
great harvest field about him the calls for ministerial
labour were pressing and urgent. Moved by these con
siderations, he wrote to the Board of Foreign Missions on
the 6th of January, 1859, tendering his resignation, to take
effect as early in the spring as he could be spared, with
out detriment to the work of the mission. Before this
letter had reached its destination, Mr. Jackson was pros
trated by a serious attack of bilious fever and for some
days was unfitted for active service.
After his recovery arrangements were made to relieve

48 SHELDON JACKSON
him from the confining work of the class room, and from
this time until he left the reservation he had the oppor
tunity to do evangelistic work in the several stations of
the mission within his reach. In the prosecution of this
work he averaged seven sermons and travelled about
seventy miles a week. For a time his health improved
as a result of this active, outdoor exercise, but with the
increasing heat of the spring time the depressing effects
of the malaria, which seemed to poison his system, re
turned ; and during the rest of his stay gave him much
suffering and inconvenience. Writing to his parents
on the 23d of February, he says: — "After my re
covery from illness at the time my school was given up,
I felt much better, but for more than a week past I have
felt miserable. Yesterday I was down sick and took
medicine. To-day I am about again and feel better. If
it were not that Mary has her work to do, with none to
take it, I would come north before the hot weather sets in.
As it is I shall probably remain and preach as I am
doing at present."
Notwithstanding these periods of illness and depression,
Mr. Jackson continued to preach without any apparent
abatement in energy or enthusiasm. On several occa
sions, if not regularly, he preached three times and rode
twenty miles on the Sabbath. On the 10th of March he
writes : — " Since the 1st instant, Mr. Evans has taken the
boys aud I have nothing more to do with the school. I
have now six weekly preaching stations and three on Sab
bath. But this will not last any longer probably, as the
weather is becoming too warm." The following account
of a communion service in the month of February gives
an inside view of some of the peculiar experiences of
these brief but busy days of evangelistic work : —
" Last Sabbath we had a ' big meeting' or communion
at Lalibok station. I went up on Friday afternoon,

THE CHOCTAW MISSION 49
fording three streams that were swollen with recent
showers. I got there just before dark, and it was an
interesting scene. The people were gathering in slowly.
The log meeting-house stood on the bank of the last
stream. It was very amusing to watch the Indian boys
as they ferried over chairs, blankets, provisions, etc., as
well as men and women, the water being almost over the
ponies' backs.
"Near the house were forty or fifty Indians gathered
around three camp-fires. I was invited to take supper
with them and accepted the invitation. The missiona
ries generally take their own provisions, but as they all
say it would be much better to eat with the people I told
them I thought I could live on what the Choctaws had.
At this time we had coffee, without milk or sugar ; corn
bread, baked in the ashes; roast ribs of pork, and
another nondescript kind of bread. After supper, the
horn was blown and the people assembled in the log
church where I preached through an interpreter.
"The preacher's desk was a hewn log on legs, much
like a carpenter's horse and the house was seated after
the same fashion with longer logs and shorter legs. After
the service was over I pushed two of the log seats
together, — they were only two inches difference in height —
rolled myself up in my blanket, and had a good sleep.
About twenty persons slept in the building. On the
floor, almost under me, was a Choctaw elder with his
wife and children of various ages. I awoke about mid
night and heard the Indians singing Choctaw hymns at
one camp and at another a voice in prayer or exhor-:
tation. "Saturday I again ate with the Indians, to their evi
dent pleasure. Preached twice during the forenoon and
then returned to Spencer. On Sabbath we all went out
with the scholars of the Spencer school. It was a very

50 SHELDON JACKSON
solemn meeting. One Choctaw who had been a back
slider for thirteen years, — and for ten years a drunkard —
was readmitted. On Monday, our best interpreter left.
He is preparing to go East to study for the ministry."
On or about the 1st of April, in accordance with the
notice previously given, Sheldon Jackson severed his
connection with the Choctaw Mission and returned with
his wife to Galesburg, Illinois. Here they remained un
til arrangements were made for work in a new field of
labour in Minnesota.
The record of work in the Indian Territory closes with
the following statement: — "Early in the spring it hav
ing become apparent that I could not live in that malarial
climate, and there already being signs of disturbances
and paralysis of all mission work that would come from
the approaching contest between the North and the South,
I withdrew from the mission and went north to Minne
sota for my health, entering the service of the Board of
Home Missions. "

IV
LA CRESCENT AND THE REGIONS AROUND
" God's work is one eternal sphere :
Our work, a segment of His work
And he, whose spirit-eye is clear,
Whose ready will no load would shirk
May read his name divinely writ
Upon the work for him most fit." — A. T. Pier son.
THE first commission given to Sheldon Jackson
by the Board of Home Missions was issued on
the application, and by the recommendation of
the Presbytery of St. Paul.
The field of labour designated in this commission was
the territory to the north of St. Anthony's Falls. This
was a territory of indefinite bounds, says Dr. Jackson,
and meant much or little according to the person who
executed it. He could have given his time to a few set
tlements on the Mississippi Biver north of St. Anthony,
or if he had the strength could have travelled across to
the Pacific coast. "I distinctly remember that I was
planning to make Alexandria, about 160 miles north
west of St. Anthony, headquarters. Alexandria was
then on the outermost fringe of white settlements. Cir
cumstances, however, led me to decline the commission."
With a view to seeking a field of labour somewhere in
this part of the Northwest, Mr. Jackson left Galesburg,
with his wife, in the month of July, 1859. His objective
point was Winona, Minn., where he had an appointment
to meet the Rev. David C. Lyon, a man of like spirit and
51

52 SHELDON JACKSON
devotion, who was anxious to secure him as a co-labourer
in that portion of the state. A visit with Mr. Lyon to
some of the needy and rapidly growing sections in the
outlying districts resulted in the selection of La Crescent,
on the Mississippi River, as a centre of missionary oper
ations. As soon thereafter as the necessary arrange
ments could be made Mr. and Mrs. Jackson removed
from their temporary home, with Mr. Lyon to this place.
On the recommendation of the Presbytery of Winnebago,
Wisconsin, a commission was given for this field which
reads as follows : —
This is to certify that the Board of Domestic Missions, acting
under the authority of and by the order of the General As
sembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of
America, on the application of the churches of La Crescent,
Hokah, and vicinity, Minnesota ; and by the recommendation
of the Presbytery of Winnebago, have appropriated the sum of
Three hundred (#300) Dollars, to aid in the support of the
Rev. Sheldon Jackson as Pastor or stated supply of such
churches. This appropriation is for twelve months, and to
commence, . . .
In behalf of the Board of Domestic Missions,
(Signed) John McDowell, President.
G. W. Musgrave, Cor.-Sec'y,
Mission Rooms, 910 Arch St., Phila., Sept. 5, 1859.
There are two notable things on the face of this
commission :
First, — The churches named in it were non-existent at
the date of its issue, or, in other words, they were not yet
organized. Second, — The scant allowance of salary named in view
of the fact that the field was undeveloped and the work
unusually laborious. In this situation, the only visible
support on which the missionary could count with cer
tainty was the meagre appropriation of the Board. It

LA CRESCENT AND REGIONS AROUND 53
depended largely upon himself whether he could secure
anything additional for the support of his family, or the
necessary expenses connected with the prosecution of his
work. In justice to the officers of the Board it should be
said, however, that this insufficient allowance was made
mainly because of the straitened condition of the gen
eral fund. The need for aggressive work on the western
frontier was not realized, at that time, by the Church at
large, and new ventures were not encouraged, for the
reason that the funds in the treasury were insufficient to
meet the wants of the churches already established.
When at a later period this crying need was emphasized
by men at the front, who came East to tell their story,
the response was prompt and generous. Happily for the
Presbyterian Church, the men who represented her on the
frontier at this critical time were not unduly influenced
by selfish considerations ; and, although apparently for
gotten and hampered on every hand for lack of means,
they loyally remained at their posts. They did not
gauge the value of their work by the pittance they re
ceived to keep the wolf from the door, but they toiled in
hope, well knowing that the fruitage of the coming years
would bring a glorious reward.
La Crescent was a village of fifty or sixty houses when
Mr. Jackson selected it as the centre of his missionary
operations and at that time the whole land to the south and
west was destitute of gospel privileges. There was as yet
no church building in the place, but he was permitted to use
the schoolhouse for religious services until a house of
worship was erected. For his own residence he secured
a little frame building — eighteen by twenty-four feet in
dimensions, — and as soon as some necessary repairs were
made, he moved his belongings into it. Here his young
wife took charge of the affairs of the household, and with
rare courage and devotion "tarried by the stuff " while

54 SHELDON JACKSON
her husband was absent on his long and almost continu
ous missionary journeys.
The crisp, clear atmosphere of Minnesota proved an
admirable counteractive to the malarial poisons of the
Indian Territory ; and its tonic influence gave wings
to long cherished inclinations and aspirations, which
hitherto had been repressed by infirmities and limita
tions. Here, at length, Sheldon Jackson found his mis
sion. From this date, by Divine ordering and ordina
tion, he became a missionary bishop to the " regions be
yond." Interpreting his commission in accordance with
the spirit and intent of the " Great Commission " he did
not confine his labours to county lines or presbyterial
bounds, but carried the bread of life to the needy across
the river among the new settlements of Wisconsin, as
well as to the perishing in the regions more directly un
der his care in Minnesota.
Replying to a question with respect to his understand
ing of the extent of his field at that time, Dr. Jackson
says :—
" The commission of September 5, 1859, was in
tended mainly for La Crescent, Hokah, and vicinity,
meaning the schoolhouses within five or six miles
around, but I interpreted it to mean every community
that I could reach, and consequently it extended a hun
dred miles or so around, reaching from Chippewa Falls
in Wisconsin, — 120 miles from La Crescent — to Jackson
in Minnesota, a distance, as the roads ran, of 340 to 370
miles." In Minnesota, this preaching circuit included the coun
ties of Houston, Filmore, Mower, Freeborn, Faribault,
Martin, Jackson, Waseca, Steele, Dodge, Olmstead,
Wabash and Winona ; in Wisconsin, the counties of
Chippewa, Eau Claire, Jackson, Trempeleau, and La
Crosse.

LA CRESCENT AND REGIONS AROUND 55
This district as a whole covered an area of nearly 13,000
square miles, a parish as large as the state of Maryland.
His field in Minnesota included for a time nineteen
preaching places, the extremes of which were more than
100 miles apart. Never before, it may be confidently
affirmed, did a home mission appropriation, of three
hundred dollars a year, provide for the spiritual wants of
a territory so vast, or accomplish so much in the estab
lishment of churches and the bestowment of gospel privi
leges. In this Presbyterian Diocese of magnificent pro-
, portions the little towns and neighbourhood groups were
J visited and canvassed, and, as far as possible, supplied
with preaching at stated intervals, usually once a month.
At every place, as opportunity afforded, the sick were
visited, the dead were buried, the wandering ones were
sought out, and ofttimes reclaimed, the little ones were
gathered into neighbourhood Sabbath-schools, religious
books and papers were supplied, family altars were set
up, the poor had the Gospel preached to them ; and,
wherever three or four of Presbyterian lineage or church
connection were discovered, they were put into position
to receive the regular ministrations of the word or were
organized at once into churches. When at length pastors
and supplies were found for these remote groups and
growing towns, the territory of this itinerant missionary
was, to that extent curtailed, but he still continued to serve
them in securing funds for their houses of worship, litera
ture for their homes and Sabbath- schools, missionary boxes
for their ministers ; and, ofttimes through influence with
friends in the East, permanent supplies for their pulpits.
From memoranda which furnished the basis of Sheldon
Jackson's quarterly reports to the Board, we cite the fol
lowing summary of active labours for the first six months,
or rather, from July 19, 1859, to January 1, 1860, in La
Crescent and the regions beyond : —

56

SHELDON JACKSON

Whole number of miles travelled . .
Whole number of miles walked .
Number of appointments met . . .
Number of hearers 
Contributions. — General Benevolence
Contributions. — Church Collections
Churches organized 
Membership of Churches organized .

i, 080 400 70
2,200
$18.00 #2-33 3
18

For the next quarter (January 1st to April 1st, 1860),
which covers the most severe and inclement portion of
the year, the record is : —

Whole number of miles travelled .
Whole number of miles walked . .
Number of appointments met . . .
Number of hearers .
Contributions. — General Benevolence
Contributions. — Church Collections

1,043 233 64
1,858
S83-98
I7.60

From the last statement it appears that the average dis
tance travelled during this quarter, — by sleigh, on horse
back or on foot, — was nearly thirteen and a half miles per
day, while the appointments filled averaged about five
per week. These tedious journeys through new and un
developed regions, which for the most part were made
alone, were attended with many discomforts, dangers and
hardships. One day this Presbyterian circuit rider
preached twice by previous appointment and rode home
by moonlight when the thermometer registered 28° below
zero ; ou another occasion it was 15° below zero. On these
and other journeys, to which reference is made in his
diary, his hands, or feet, or the exposed portions of his
face were frequently frost-bitten, before he was aware of
the intensity of the cold.
To meet a series of prearranged engagements in the win
ter months in the most favourable conditions of Minnesota

I. Filling a midwinter appointment. 2. Presbyterian Church, La
Crescent, Minn. 3. Presbyterian Church, Rochester, Minn. The first
two churches erected by Sheldon Jackson, and the only ones over
which he had pastoral care.

LA CRESCENT AND REGIONS AEOUND 57
climate, meant the resolute facing of piercing winds and
blinding storms, or the weary plodding through drifting
snow-banks which ofttimes obscured the way and utterly
bewildered the mind with respect to location and dis
tance. Mention is made of a cold ride to presbytery
with Mrs. Jackson when they were lost three or four
times in one day, and for twenty-seven miles of that jour
ney did not see a single human habitation. On the return
journey, after a breakdown in the sleigh because of the
condition of the roads, the route was so obscured that
they missed it and for four hours wandered around among
the hills in the darkness before a place of shelter for the
night was reached. This trip with its detours occupied
nine days. There are records, also, of long journeys to
preaching stations where only a few were present, or
where the house was so cold that the service could not be
held with comfort or safety. At the breaking up of the
winter season the melting snows, and the rains which fre
quently hastened the clearing away of long-standing
deposits of ice and snow, flooded all the meadows and
lowlands, making the roads in some sections almost im
passable and the fording places of the streams uncertain
and insecure.
On one occasion, while returning in a sleigh from a
preaching tour in Wisconsin, in the latter part of March,
1860, a warm spell of weather with rain for a day or two,
was followed by a cold wave on the afternoon of the Sab
bath, but this did not hinder him from filling his appoint
ments. On the Monday following, he started for home
and found all the approaches to the bridges in the low
lands overflowed with water and the difficulty experienced
in crossing them was increased by stretches of brittle ice
which had formed on either side of the bridges from the
shore. At one point where he entered the water, which
was overflowing the road at both ends of a bridge, the

58 SHELDON JACKSON
ice gave way readily, but when he came to the outreach-
ing sheet of ice on the farther shore the water was breast
deep and the horse could not secure a footing upon it.
The only way out of this hapless predicament was by a
path through the ice and in order to make it he was
obliged to get out into the water and break enough of the
jagged edges of the icy barrier to allow the horse and
sleigh to pass through. In doing this, his clothing was
soaked with water. After reaching the land, he had to
drive several miles to the first log cabin by the wayside
and when it was reached his overcoat was so firmly frozen
that he could not unfasten it until he stood before the fire
place and thawed it out. When his undergarments
could be removed he was put to bed, while the good folks
of the house dried his clothes.
Mrs. M. R. Andrews, of Portland, Oregon, who was in
timately associated with Sheldon Jackson in missionary
and educational work in Minnesota, contributes the fol
lowing reminiscence, under date of March 15, 1906 : —
I first met Mr. Jackson in the spring of 1861, in the village
of La Crescent, Minnesota, where he had recently settled after
giving up missionary work among the Choctaws.
There were few professing Christians in La Crescent at that
time, and no Presbyterians. It was, therefore, not strange that
the coming of a Presbyterian family should be given a warm
welcome by Mr. and Mrs. Jackson, especially as the family
came for the purpose of opening a school.
It was in this little village that the great work which Mr.
Jackson has accomplished for home missions was begun, under
circumstances of such difficulty and discouragement that one
with less courage would not have succeeded.
Mr. Jackson was quick to see the possibility of good results
in the future, as well as urgent need in the present. With him,
opportunity was inspiration. Loyalty to God, strong faith, zeal
and power of endurance led him to encounter danger and pri
vation to the extent (his friends often thought) of recklessness.
The severe winter climate of Minnesota, the unsettled state

LA CRESCENT AND REGIONS AROUND 59
of the country at that time, caused by the Civil War — and the
Indian Massacre of 1862 — made the missionary's life one of
hardship and self-denial. Travel by stage in summer and by
sleigh in winter was the only way settlements on the frontier
could be reached, often requiring days and weeks of absence
from home, leaving the missionary's wife lonely and anxious,
to care for the home and children.
The work of reaching out to destitute places deeply inter
ested Mr. Jackson ; his great desire was that every part of the
country should be given educational and gospel privileges, and
to this end he gave his time and energies, regardless of personal
cost. His confidence in the success of God's Kingdom seemed to
inspire confidence in others. Appealing for aid his plea was —
" Privilege to share in the Lord's work," and such was his
power to impress others with this truth, that his appeals were
seldom denied.
Many instances could be given showing the dangers and
hardships encountered by Mr. Jackson in his efforts to reach
distant places with the Gospel. I accompanied him at one
time when he was to hold evening service in a village twelve or
fourteen miles distant from home. We started on Sunday af
ternoon in December, a mild day for that time of year, such as
sometimes occurs before a severe storm. The ground was cov
ered with snow and the sky overcast with clouds. When but
a short distance on our journey, snow began to fall and con
tinued until we reached the village.
By the time evening service was over it was evident we had
encountered a " Minnesota Blizzard." The following morning
the snow almost reached the tops of the doors and windows.
Fearing we might become snowbound, preparation was made
for starting home as early as possible. Friends urged difficulty
of travel over unbroken roads and danger of freezing should the
cold increase. Mr. Jackson insisted upon returning without
delay. We found soon after starting that we must travel at a slow
pace, as the freshly fallen snow came almost to the shoulders
of the horse and into the sleigh. We were hardly out of sight
of the village before Mr. Jackson attempted to break a way by
walking in front of the horse, but it was not long before he
found that his strength was not equal to his determination — he
was overcome with fatigue — we must trust to the strength of the

60 SHELDON JACKSON
horse, which was most discouraging, as he already showed lack
of strength.
Late in the day we had travelled but a short distance, not
having gone half-way to the stage road. About twilight we
encountered a deep drift of snow through which the horse could
not drag the sleigh. Trembling with fatigue, he refused to take
another step. As night was coming on, Mr. Jackson must go
in search of help — I must remain in the sleigh, while he would
go on the horse to find a place of shelter. There was no sign
of habitation, only a vast field of snow as far as we could see,
with a bleak sky above, while about us was an overpowering
silence, such as is only caused by intense cold in a desolate
region. After an hour's absence, Mr. Jackson returned, having found,
a mile away, a Norwegian hut — with father and five children
who could speak but little English, but who would give us
shelter. Hoping to find a more comfortable place, Mr. Jackson
went some distance beyond, where he found the home of a
German ; here we were refused shelter or any assistance that
night. We decided to go to the Norwegian hut. The sleigh
must be left until the next day — Mr. Jackson would walk and I
ride the horse. In this way, we started but had gone but a
little way when, on looking back, I saw Mr. Jackson disappear
almost entirely from sight in the depths of snow. Fearing he
would become exhausted, I urged him to share the horse with
me ; with reluctance he at last consented to do so by getting up
behind me.
A bitter cold wind was blowing — by the time the hut was
reached we were in a frame of mind to appreciate shelter and
comfort, if not of the choicest. Shelter and food were asked
for the horse. Neither could be furnished — there was not a
place where the horse could be tied but to the door, not a tree
or shrub was in sight. With such exposure the horse would
die — we must go on to the next house and insist on having
shelter. Suffering intensely from cold, we reached the place and
asked the privilege of sitting by the fire through the night and
also a place of shelter for the horse. On learning that Mr.
Jackson was a minister, we were given a warm welcome; a
good supper was provided, and a place for sleeping — I to share
a bed with the mother and baby, while a bed was arranged for
Mr. Jackson and the man of the house in an unoccupied room,

LA CRESCENT AND REGIONS AROUND 61
made comfortable by the use of hot rocks. The older children
slept on sacks, filled with straw, in front of the fire. The horse
was given food and shelter in a shed adjoining the house.
Our narrow escape from freezing was realized the next day,
when we reached home late and learned of the severe cold all
over the state ; many sheep and cattle perished and a number
of people were frozen to death.
Being reserved in manner and speech, Mr. Jackson was
sometimes misjudged by those who knew him slightly and who
thought him unsympathetic, but few were more thoughtful of
others than he or more ready and watchful to do a kindness, as
many who remember his favours, with gratitude, could tesitfy.
There were times when his home became a distributing agency
of supplies and comforts, obtained by him to relieve the need
felt in homes on the frontier.

The joy of this pioneer service, despite its trials and
hardships ; its importance at this crisis period ; and its
abundant compensations for every hour of toil and self-
denial are happily set forth in the following extracts from
letters written to his parents. The first is dated February
13, 1860 :—
"On the 5th inst., after preaching at Hokah in the
afternoon I rode Mr. Pidge's horse six miles to Myound
Prairie, where I preached in the evening. Monday I
caught a ride to Caledonia, fourteen miles, where I
preached in the evening. Tuesday went on fourteen
miles farther, and preached in the evening to about fifteen
in a private house. Wednesday went fourteen miles
farther west to Richland Prairie. Got there tired and
disheartened. I had the promise of a horse beforehand
from Mr. Cameron, but he was taken sick before I started.
As my appointment had been out for a month — and I
have not yet missed one — I had to set out on foot. It used
to seem quite a feat to walk to Minaville, or Esperance,
but here six or seven miles is nothing, and my last trip
was 110 miles. Of that I walked eighty, and caught a

62 SHELDON JACKSON
ride of about thirty. I reached Richland Prairie Wednes
day noon and went to the house of Wm. Elder, a Presby
terian, to whom I had written to make me an appoint
ment. "Found them expecting me, house cleaned up, folks
cleaned up. Soon after the neighbours began to gather
in, to see 'a live Presbyterian minister,' and there was a
large company to tea. In the evening, about thirty at
tended the preaching service. After the service they
were loath to separate, some staying till midnight. These
people seemed so rejoiced that they hardly knew how to
contain themselves. It was the first Presbyterian sermon
they had heard since they came into the country. They
were anxious for a minister, but did not know where to
look for one. In their extremity, they were talking of
sending to Scotland for one. Oh, that God's people would
be more in earnest to increase the number of labourers in
His vineyard. I could only promise to visit them occa
sionally on a week day. As far as I could ascertain,
there were some fifteen Scotch families on farms in that
neighbourhood, most of the adults being members of the
Free Church of Scotland. On Thursday I left them with
much regret. When I meet such people I forget all my
weariness and trials and bless God for permitting me to
be a border missionary. Though I have very hard work,
with scarcely any pay and many trials and dangers, I
would not exchange places with the most favoured min
ister in New York State, and I often wish I were equal to
three, one to study, one to visit, and one to preach all the
time. "Thursday I walked twenty-two miles. My arm, my
nose and one side of my face, were frost-bitten. The day
was clear, cold, and windy, air exhilarating. Did not
seem any trouble to walk, and did not feel tired, but Fri
day morning found myself very stiff and sore. Visited

LA CRESCENT AND REGIONS AROUND 63
and hunted up several families (Scotch), and walked
eight miles, preaching in the evening. Saturday they
took me down to Houston, where I have an appointment
for twelve monthly services. From there I walked down
to Hokah, arriving about sundown, not tired, but lame
and sore. Yesterday (Sabbath) I rode Mr. Pidge's horse
to La Crescent and back. After preaching here, went
out four miles to a country neighbourhood."
On the 29th of February, he writes : "Monday night I
preached at Diesbach City. Tuesday morning walked
down in the rain over eight miles ; went home, got on dry
clothes and took the stage for Winona. The rain turned
to snow, and we had a long, tedious ride of forty miles%
through the mud and snow. They brought me up free
of charge. I expect to return on Friday with Brother
Lyon's horse, the use of which I have secured for two or
three weeks. If you or Brother Candee know or hear of
any minister of the right stamp desiring a missionary
field, I wish you would give me his name and address.
We want very much three more men in our field."
A little later — March 20th — he wrote: "I am in the
enjoyment of usual health. Last week, I took an ex
tended tour of 175 miles back in the country, meeting
with much encouragement and preaching every day. At
one place a list of fifteen communicant members were se
cured with a view to the organization of a Presbyterian
Church. At another, I found ten communicants ; at a
third, eight or more ; at a fourth, seven or eight. Three
of these were places never before visited. It is a great
privilege to be the first to meet these people in their new
homes, and the first minister of their own persuasion re
ceives a warmer welcome than any after-comer gets. On
Saturday I gave my new horse, which I purchased on this
round, a good trial, riding him forty-five miles and lead
ing Mr. Lyon's horse. When I reached La Crescent, I

64 SHELDON JACKSON
learned with great regret that Stella Mercer had died and
had been buried in my absence. She was perfectly con
scious in her last hours, and left uncommonly clear evi
dence of faith in Christ. She was twelve years old, but
spoke and acted like an adult. It was a beautiful death
bed scene ; and, thank God, has not been without its re
sults. The Spirit is hovering over us, and it is our ear
nest prayer that He may not pass without granting us a
blessing. Yesterday I found Colonel Mercer, the strong
man bowed as a child, and I think I left him with a
wavering hope. It seems too good to him to be true that
there is any hope for him. He has erected the family
altar and is anxious to do something for the cause. To
day I found Mr. and Mrs. Snow anxiously inquiring, and
Mr. and Mrs. Lapham are serious; Oh, remember us that
these clouds may not pass over without a time of refresh
ing. I trust that the winter has passed and we are soon to
have a spring season of the soul. Oh, that the Lord
would here work ! "
A few months after his arrival in Minnesota, Sheldon
Jackson assisted in the formation of a County Sabbath
School Association, and was elected its first president.
He was an efficient agent also in extending the influence
and distributing the publications of the Bible and Tract
Societies, and for a time, without giving up his preaching
services, acted as a field agent of the Board of Publica
tion. In the spring of 1860 he was sent as a commissioner to
the General Assembly, which met at Rochester, New
York. In selecting him as their representative at this
time, after only a few months' service among them, his
brethren of the presbytery were solicitous, above all other
considerations, to secure labourers for the vast stretches
of territory within and beyond their bounds which were
as yet destitute of gospel privileges. As the result of his

LA CRESCENT AND REGIONS AROUND 65
efforts, three or four ministers were persuaded to come to
their help during the year ; and wherever he had oppor
tunity he voiced the call of this pioneer band and pleaded
their cause.
The outbreaking of the Civil War in the spring of 1861,
arrested the aggressive work of the Church on the frontier,
and made it exceedingly difficult to hold the points already
occupied. In response to an urgent call for volunteers at
the front in connection with the work of the United States
Christian Commission, Sheldon Jackson accepted a tem
porary appointment, under direction of this organiza
tion, in the Army of the Cumberland. His commission,
signed by George H. Stuart, was dated August 4, 1863,
but he probably anticipated its arrival a day or two, for
on the 6th of August he wrote to his wife from Louisville,
Ky., en route to his post of labour in Tennessee.
With hearty enthusiasm he entered upon this work,
preaching frequently to Union soldiers and Confederate
prisoners, holding prayer-meetings, distributing Bibles
and tracts, and caring for the sick and the dying. From
Winchester, Tenn., he wrote August 8th :
"The two churches are crowded every evening, and
quite a number rise for prayer. We think of opening
another church this week, so as to have three meetings
each evening. It is a constant source of surprise to me to
see how much religious interest there is in this army. I
have not seen a drunken soldier since I have been here.
Sabbath was as quiet as in La Crosse."
This ministry which promised so well was cut short by
illness in his family. On this account he was constrained
to tender his resignation at the close of two months of
field service. Soon after his arrival at home, he had a
long and severe attack of typhus fever, contracted while
in the army. In the critical stage of this disease, his
physicians despaired of saving his life ; but his work was

66 SHELDON JACKSON
not yet done, and in due time he was fully restored to
health and strength.
With La Crescent as a centre he continued his itinerant
ministry with unabated interest for five years, except the
brief term he spent in the service of the Christian Com
mission. This period covered four years of the Civil War,
and it was a time of unusual hardship and distress in the
homes of the missionaries on the frontier. The treasury
of the Home Board of the Old School branch, under
which Jackson and his associates were serving, was for a
time almost reduced to bankruptcy. The appropriations,
hitherto pitifully small, were reduced about one-third,
and the commissions were issued for six months only.
During this period of distress, and for all the years fol
lowing while he remained in Minnesota, Sheldon Jackson
interested himself to secure from every available source
boxes of clothing and additional funds, to supplement the
salaries of the missionaries of his presbytery and synod.
This free will offering, which at the time was discouraged
by the Board, was designated as the "Raven Fund" ;
and many a faithful prophet of the Lord, refusing to leave
his post under the stress of threatened famine or failure
to meet obligations, had cause to bless God for this timely
manifestation of His providential care. The record of
the gathering and distribution of this fund is preserved
in a little leather-covered book, which, on its face, tells a
very remarkable story, but to those who read between
the lines it is one of the most pathetic records in the home
mission annals of the Presbyterian Church.
In one of the notable addresses which were made in
support of the nomination of Dr. Jackson for moderator
of the General Assembly, Dr. George McMillan, president
of Richmond College, Ohio, related an incident which
illustrates the inception and import of this unique system
of ministerial relief.

LA CRESCENT AND REGIONS AROUND 67
" I will mention one incident," said Dr. McMillan, "which
doubtless in his useful life had many multiples. It was a cold
stormy night; the missionary was looking for the quarterly
check, long overdue, but was informed by letter that there was
no money in the treasury of the Board ; that missionaries must
wait still longer for their pay. There was no coal in the bin,
no supplies in the larder, the garments were thin and thread
bare. The missionary reads the discouraging letter, looks at
his dear wife and dependent children, tears flow from their eyes
— they all fall upon their knees and pray God for help. They
arise with sad hearts. A cart is seen coming along the road
drawn by a pony; it stops at the gate; the pony is tied to the
fence ; a little man clad in furs winds his way to the humble
dwelling of the missionary ; a daughter looks through the win
dow and cries out, ' Oh, mamma, papa, it is, it is Sheldon
Jackson ! Things will be better now. ' He enters the house
— is received with tears of gladness. Soon afterwards the
frugal meal is prepared and eaten ; the story of their distress
is heard. Dr. Jackson writes a brief letter to some wealthy
church. A box of clothing and a generous check are for
warded, and the family is happy and thank God and bless Dr.
Jackson." In after years when he was a district missionary by appoint
ment, and not by force of circumstances merely, as at this time,
he continued to collect and distribute this " Raven Fund" to
those in his widely extended district whom he knew to be in
straitened circumstances or overwhelmed by financial em
barrassments, which they could not foresee or avoid. " The
whole church had confidence in his word and integrity ; there
fore his ability to help the missionaries. His presence among
them was sunshine."

The first entry in the cash account of this fund is pref
aced by the significant words, in large letters directly
under its title : —
" With God all things are possible.' 7 — " Ash and ye shall
receive.'" The amount received, — fifteen dollars, — is credited to
the Central Church, St. Louis. This initial gift was at
once turned over to his friend and former associate in

68 SHELDON JACKSON
the Choctaw Mission, the Rev. James Frothingham,
whom he had persuaded to come to his help at a critical
time in one section of the vast territory where for months
previous he had been sowing the seed and preparing the
way. The date of this gift is December, 1860. The
record shows that the aggregate amount received for
the fund from this time until January 1, 1870, was
$19,083.21. Of this amount, nearly $10,000 was contrib
uted for church buildings or special mission work ;
the remaining portion, amounting in the aggregate to
$9,230, was distributed to the missionaries who had suf
fered loss, and frequently were in sore straits, as in the
case above mentioned, because of insufficient or reduced
salaries. In the year 1869, for reasons to be given here
after, a large proportion of this fund was contributed for
the support of new men on the frontier, for whom no
provision had at the time been made by the Home
Board. During the same period — including the year 1869 — this
indefatigable worker secured one hundred and seventy
one missionary boxes, from churches and personal friends,
for the families of his brethren and fellow labourers
within the bounds of his presbytery and synod. In
some cases the boxes were forwarded direct to the ad
dresses he furnished, and in others they were sent to him
for distribution among those who in his judgment were
in need of this timely aid, but were too sensitive to apply
for it.
" On one occasion," says the Rev. John L. Gage, a co-la
bourer in Minnesota and afterwards in the far West, " a box
of clothing was sent with the request that he should open it and
divide the contents between two missionaries. When in ac
cordance with this request, an inventory of the box was made
it was found that some of the articles of apparel were thread
bare and scarcely presentable. Rather than hurt the feelings

LA CRESCENT AND REGIONS AROUND 69
of the missionaries and their wives by sending such garments,
Dr. and Mrs. Jackson filled the box from their own wardrobe
and made the homes glad. But the missionaries to whom they
were sent never knew what they had done.
" Dr. Jackson was hospitable as well as kindly and helpful.
Home missionaries were always welcome to his home, and in
our trials we found him always a sympathizing friend. And
not alone with the home missionary in his work, but he deeply
sympathized with the trials and sacrifices of the noble band of
women who shared with their husbands the privations and toils
of missionary work on the frontier. I wish the story of their
sacrifices as we have seen them could be written. But it is a
record known on high."

The Rev. Robert Strong, of Pasadena, Cal., another co-
labourer in Minnesota during this period, writes : —

I corresponded with Sheldon Jackson when I was graduated
from Princeton Seminary, in 1861, and he urged me to come
West, which I was more than willing to do. I always remem
ber that when I reached La Crosse, which was the end of the
railroad system of the United States in the Northwest, at that
time, I crossed the ferry to La Crescent; and on the way I
chatted with the captain about the Presbyterian minister on the
other side. He seemed to think very highly of him as a man
and told me how, in crossing the Mississippi in the spring
when the ice was running, he had shown much pluck
when the boat was in a dangerous place; and I think Mr.
Jackson had a warm place in the captain's heart from that
day. When I reached the other bank I noted a large sign, reading
about as follows: — " Presbyterian immigrants moving West will
please leave their names and destination with the Rev. Sheldon
Jackson, so that they may be looked after and church privileges
supplied them as early as possible." I thought that was a
pretty good specimen of Western enterprise. I settled in Min
neapolis, and our home mission committee of the Synod of
Minnesota hesitated about inviting him to become a synodical
missionary. We did not know what we missed when the
choice fell on another brother, his superior perhaps in preach-

70 SHELDON JACKSON
ing ability, but wonderfully his inferior in administrative force.1
The next I heard of him was that he had accepted the super-
intendency of missions for pretty nearly the entire West, in
cluding Iowa, Dakota, Montana, Utah, Nebraska, and I think
one other of the territories', and he was raising means by the
thousands of dollars and sending men to fields all over his
great territory. He came East several times and electrified
great audiences in New York, Albany, Philadelphia and the
great cities with the most simple and telling narratives of his
missionary experiences. His later history is well known to all
the Church, including his great work in Alaska.
An admirable summary of Sheldon Jackson's work,
while at La Crescent, is given by one of his former asso
ciates, the Rev. Dr. R. B. Abbott, President of Albert
Lea College, in his "History of the Presbytery of
Winona," which was approved, and published by order
of this presbytery in 1888.
The unique, racy style of the writer so happily blends
with the stirring events he describes, and the story is so
interesting withal, that no apology is deemed necessary
for its transference to these pages as a whole : —
La Crosse, La Crescent — the Cross first, the Crescent
later — opposite to each other — opposed to each other. Early
in its history, the Crescent hoped to rival or perhaps supplant
the Cross, and keep the mighty stream along its own banks
and wharves and busy life ; — not having read the book of
Foreordination. It was during that era of hope, though hope
deferred, that Divine Providence used malarial fever, at Spen
cer Academy, to drive to Minnesota — far-famed, healthful
'On March 14, 1864, the Rev. Robert Strong of Minneapolis, Minn.,
in behalf of the Committee of the Synod of Saint Paul, to secure a su
perintendent or synodical missionary, wrote Mr. Jackson offering him
the position and urging him to accept it.
The offer was declined, as two days previous Mr. Jackson had agreed
to go to Rochester, Minnesota, as co-pastor with the Rev. George
Ainslie.

LA CRESCENT AND REGIONS AROUND 71
Minnesota — one of the chief actors in the early building up of
His kingdom hereaway. Landing at Winona, persuaded by
Mr. Lyon to settle permanently for six months in the booming
and prospective city of La Crescent — the symbol of Islam —
Sheldon Jackson began. He kept on beginning. That has
been his life-work. Some years later, we see him beginning
further west. Next he is beginning among the Rocky Moun
tains. Then he goes to Alaska and keeps on beginning. He
will continue beginning to the end of the chapter. And when
earth shall cover his clay with other clay, let his epitaph be, —
" Here at last rests the Beginner." — Little of stature but earn
est in spirit, like another Zaccheus, he was ever running ahead
of the crowd, climbing a hill, scaling a mountain, following a
valley, opening a schoolhouse, to see Jesus — who He was, and
what He would do for these far-away western people. He was
constantly searching out the land, sowing beside all waters,
organizing beside all railroads. — Too much of it, do you say ? —
Organized too much ? The hunter does not grudge a lost shot
now and then, if he yet bags abundance of game. Oh, for
more Jacksons to follow up Jackson, to build up what he
began ! If subsequent ministers had had more of his faith and
zeal and toil, maybe Brownsville, and Minnereska, and Rush-
ford, and Richland, and Austin, and Sheldon, and Plainview,
and Utica, and Taopi, and Dresser Valley, and Rollingstone,
would never have been dropped from our Roll ; and Eyota,
and St. Charles, and Waseca, and Janesville, and Fillmore,
and Stewartville, would never have been given over to other
denominations. May be !
Mr. Jackson found one scattered Presbyterian at La Cres
cent. It was not long till he organized him — and some others.
The church was formed December 28th, with six members, the
election of officers being held at a later day. Mr. Jackson's
salary the first year was three hundred dollars, paid by the
Board of Domestic Missions, O. S. His six months' settlement,
multiplied into sixty months, resulted in a comfortable church
building, and a membership of forty-seven souls ; — and the
whole region for twenty, thirty, forty miles or more, re
peatedly traversed, usually on foot, our little circuit-walker
often taking no horse — and remember it took more than mille
passum of Sheldon Jackson's to make a mile — every neighbour
hood sought out, the gospel of Salvation preached with burn
ing fervour in every town and hamlet, every Presbyterian dis-

72 SHELDON JACKSON
covered, and a church organized wherever two or three of the
faith could be got together in the name of the Lord. Take a
specimen brick from the house of his labours : On Sabbath
morning he preached in the home church in La Crescent, in
the evening at Hokah (seven miles), or Brownsville (seven
teen miles), Monday he travelled to Houston (fourteen
miles), and preached in the evening, Tuesday evening at Shel
don (nine miles), Wednesday evening at Rushford (twelve
miles), Thursday evening at Caledonia (twenty-four miles),
Friday he returned home, and on that day and Saturday
chopped wood to last his wife another week. Then on Sabbath he
began to circuit again, varying it from time to time, to carry
the word of life to every dark corner. The recital of such a
history recalls the marvels of the heroic age, when men for the
love of Christ would undergo any labour, or suffer any perse
cution, "so they might finish their course with joy, and the
ministry which they had received of the Lord Jesus, to testify
the gospel of the grace of God." What a new and living com
mentary it gives to the marching orders of the Christian minis
try, " Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every
creature." Mr. Jackson seemed to think it meant just that.
But what time could he have for the preparation of sermons ?
Go and try it once, my young brother ; and you will see ! He
never read that last command in the light of modern revision,
" Go into the largest congregations, and preach the grandest
sermons you can write ! " His head and his heart were full of
the Gospel, and its glowing truths were cast into orderly form
for sermons while on his solitary journeys. His study was his
saddle, or oftener his boots ! Some of these preaching tours
extended as far west as Jackson, and some as far east as Gales
burg, Hixton, North Bend and Black River Falls. At that
time, he and the churches he organized were in connection
with the Presbytery of Chippewa, which extended a little west
of the Mississippi. During those years, and subsequently
while at Rochester, he organized or assisted in organizing
twenty-two churches ; of which the greater part remain to this
present, but some are fallen asleep.

During the year 1862, ever memorable in the annals of
Minnesota because of the Indian uprising and the fearful
massacres which followed, no churches were organized in

LA CRESCENT AND REGIONS AROUND 73
this field. In 1863, the crisis period of the Civil War,
only one church was enrolled.
"Yet faithful to their mission," says Dr. Abbott,
"though in troublous times, Lyon, Speer, Chapin, Jack
son, Frothingham, Ainslie, still proclaim the message of
salvation, not only each in his home field, but running to
and fro, that every destitution if possible may be
supplied." Meanwhile, events were shaping themselves for a new
departure in connection with another base of operations,
the account of which will be given in the following
chapter.

V
ROCHESTER AND THE REGIONS AROUND
"More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of." — Tennyson.
DURING one of his missionary tours into the in
terior of Minnesota, in the latter part of Janu
ary, 1861, Sheldon Jackson came to the town of
Rochester. It was the day of small things for this place,
but its location was favourable for development, and here
he gathered a little band for Christian worship on the
following Sabbath. The Rev. J. C. Caldwell, missionary
at large by the appointment of the Synod of St. Paul,
visited Eochester on the 9th of February and preached
on the ensuing Sabbath. Having learned that Mr. Jack
son was expected to return the latter part of the week
following, he remained over. After his arrival, they
canvassed the place together and came to the conclusion
that the way was open for the organization of a church.
This organization was effected on the 17th of February,
with four members. A fortnight later, two additional
members were received. It was then arranged that Jack
son should supply the church every two weeks until a
minister could be secured for the field. Under this ar
rangement, the preacher made a round trip of 140 miles
every fortnight on horseback or by horse and buggy.
The Eev. Eobert F. Taylor was the first regular minister
secured for this charge, but ill -health compelled him to
resign after six months of successful labour. Mr. Taylor
was succeeded by the Rev. George Ainslie, Sheldon Jack-
74

ROCHESTER AND REGIONS AEOUND 75
son's former associate in the Choctaw Mission. About
two years later, Mr. Ainslie requested permission of the
church to resign his pastorate in order to give himself
more entirely to the destitute neighbourhoods in the re
gions around, which he had sought to supply as he had
opportunity, while living in Rochester. When his con
gregation declined to accede to this request he asked that
a call might be made to Sheldon Jackson to become co-
pastor with him and take charge, mainly, of the work in
Rochester. In accordance with this proposal, a unani
mous call was made out for the services of Mr. Jackson,
in March, 1864, which call he accepted. "This double
shepherding," says Dr. E. B. Abbott, the historian of
the presbytery, "worked well, giving each of the breth
ren much opportunity for labour in the regions beyond."
In this call there is no mention of a specified salary.
Instead of the usual formula it reads : —
"We hereby promise and oblige ourselves to pay you,
in half-yearly payments, a sum according to the ability
God giveth us, during the time of your being and con
tinuing the co-pastor of the church."
The total membership of the Eochester church, at the
date of the acceptance of this call, was thirty-two. Of this
number, twenty-seven lived in the country, from two to
seven miles away, and the remaining five were residents
of the town. For the lack of a regular place of worship,
the Sabbath-school and the midweek prayer-meeting had
been discontinued. As soon as possible after the arrival
of Mr. Jackson a room which had just been vacated by
the owners of a drug store was secured, and all the regu
lar services were resumed. About thirty persons at
tended the preaching service, at this time, while in the
Sabbath-school the attendance ranged from fifteen to
twenty. At the first midweek prayer-meeting six per
sons were present at " early candle lighting," in accord-

76 SHELDON JACKSON
ance with the notice previously given, but it had not oc
curred to any one to bring a candle and the service was
held in the dark, "the passage of Scripture being re
peated and the hymns sung from memory."
The rapid growth of the town, and its prospective im
portance as a centre of trade and influence, made it neces
sary to secure a house of worship without delay ; and to
this undertaking the new pastor addressed himself with
his usual energy and celerity of movement, despite the
obstacles, which to others, at that time, seemed to be al
most insurmountable. As the result of a careful canvass
of the congregation and community he secured subscrip
tions amounting to $1,200, — about one dollar for every
inhabitant of the place. With this in hand and a few
letters of commendation from his associates on the field
he started East to solicit additional funds wherever in the
providence of God the way should be opened up for the
presentation of his plea. Before he reached his native
state, the Wilderness campaign under General Grant had
commenced and so absorbed were men and women in the
desperate struggles of that memorable year that it was
exceedingly difficult to get a hearing for any cause or to
awaken interest in any plea, which did not bear directly
upon the issues of these deadly conflicts. It was a time
of great financial perplexity and depression, also, and
many who had the cause of Christ at heart deprecated the
very mention of aggressive work on the frontier, in the
midst of so much confusion and uncertainty. To the man
of faith, however, all things are possible, and with prayer
and hope the work which meant so much for the land
when reunited and redeemed, was zealously and per
sistently carried on. In this case the difficulties which
at the outset bulked so largely disappeared in time and
at the close of the summer Mr. Jackson returned to his
charge with $5,000.

ROCHESTER AND REGIONS AROUND 77
The following extract from one of Sheldon Jackson's
reports to the Board gives some interesting details re
lating to the work of construction in its earlier stages : —
"Owing to low water in the Mississippi Eiver, many
of the lumber-yards were without stock. Some private
parties, engaged in building, had suspended operations
on account of the difficulty in procuring lumber ; and the
impression prevailed in the community that lumber suf
ficient for a church could not be procured at any cost.
But after a season of special prayer for the divine bless
ing, the attempt was made and the lumber was secured ;
and, with the lumber, permission was obtained to have it
transported from Winona, fifty miles distant, on the con
struction trains of the Winona and St. Peter Eailroad to
the end of the track. This made it necessary for me to
travel backwards and forwards on the construction trains
for several weeks, sometimes acting in an emergency as
brakesman, and always superintending the unloading of
the lumber at the end of the track. Then teams had to
be procured to bring it into the city. Finally, the lum
ber was on the church lot. Then a new difficulty arose.
Wages were advancing so rapidly that no responsible
builder was willing to contract for the work ; and the
season was so far advanced (October), that many thought
it unwise to commence before the following spring.
Again, recourse was had to prayer. The carpenters
were engaged ; and, by the blessing of God, the work
went forward so rapidly that upon the first Sabbath in
December the building was up and enclosed ; and the
basement plastered, painted, and occupied for divine
service. The next season the house (62x36 feet with
spire and stained glass windows) was finished, and a
pleasant and roomy manse added to the rear of the church.
The entire cost of the church building, including a bell
weighing 1,500 pounds, was about $8,000."

78 SHELDON JACKSON
From this date and with these added facilities, the
sphere of influence of the Rochester church was greatly
enlarged. At the expiration of Sheldon Jackson's third
annual commission the church became self-supporting,
and his connection with the Board of Home Missions as a
missionary pastor from this time ceased. In his final
report he says : —
"In the three years past the prayer-meeting, com
menced in the dark, has increased from an attendance of
six to fifty ; the Sabbath-school from twenty to two hun
dred ; and the membership from thirty- two to one hundred
and thirty, — the membership in the city growing from
five to ninety. The number of communicants added the
first year was twenty-three ; the second year, forty-one ;
and the past year, fifty-one. The contributions the past
year to the Boards of the Church amounted to $300.
They now set out to raise, for salary and congregational
expenses, about $1,800. This with the depression of
business causes many of them to give far beyond the
former standard of giving. Such are some of the fruits
of your fostering care. To God be all the praise."
"During Mr. Jackson's ministry at La Crescent two
sisters, Mrs. M. M. Eice, widow of a Presbyterian minis
ter, and Mrs. M. E. Andrews, widow of a teacher and
ruling elder, came to the village and opened a private
school. As they were women of culture, refinement,
teaching ability and spirituality, Mr. Jackson gave them.
the glad hand of welcome, and such assistance as was
possible in their school. When he removed to Eochester,
it was arranged that the school should also be changed to
that point as a place of wider influence.
" At Eochester, the two sisters and Mr. Jackson formed
a company to establish a private boarding and day-school
under religious influences, which was incorporated as the
' Rochester Female Institute. ' In addition to his duties

ROCHESTER AND REGIONS AROUND 79
as pastor of the church and missionary at large, he was
professor of higher mathematics and languages in the
school, without salary. During his pastorate, from 1864
to 1869, the school enjoyed great prosperity."
In December, 1867, the senior co-pastor, the Rev.
George Ainslie, requested a dissolution of the pastoral
relation in order that he might give all his time to mis
sionary labours in the adjacent regions. The congrega
tion united with him in this request for the reasons given,
and soon afterwards the relation was formally dissolved,
leaving his former associate sole pastor of the church.
In January, 1868, a manual of the church was published
by the pastor, which gave a brief history of the congre
gation from the date of its organization ; and contained
many practical suggestions relating to mutual helpfulness
and greater efficiency along the lines of aggressive work.
In his suggestions for the new year, special emphasis was
laid upon systematic exchange of calls, as a matter of re
ligious duty, social gatherings, personal communion with
God, and earnest, daily prayer for the church and its
minister. An honoured representative of this little flock, Mrs.
Amelia G. Watson of Marshall, Minn., writes, May 18,
1905, concerning her former pastor and his work as
follows : —
" Mr. Watson and myself both united with the Presby
terian church at Eochester, Minn., during Dr. Jackson's
pastorate. He married us and baptized our three oldest
children. We have watched with great interest his in
creasing influence in the Church and nation, and re
gard him as one of the few grand men, unique in char
acter and personality, a lovable, humble, great man in all
that constitutes true greatness. As a preacher, his gifts
were not exceptionally fine, but he excelled as a pastor ;
and in downright earnestness of purpose, consecration,

80 SHELDON JACKSON
and indefatigable work he approached nearer to the char
acter of St. Paul than any man I ever knew. He was too
positive and aggressive not to have made enemies, but we
always loved him and saw nothing but what was lovable
and admirable in him. He probably has faults, that al
most invariably attach to such positive natures, but, if
he has, I never saw them. . . . What a blessing to
the world he has been ! I don't think he ever pondered
much the question, — ' Is life worth living ! ' He was too
busy living for that."
" I became acquainted with Brother Jackson," says the
Eev. Joseph McNulty, of Woodbury, New Jersey, a
neighbouring presbyter and fellow labourer, " upon my
acceptance of a call to the Presbyterian church of
Winona, Minn., in the spring of 1868, at the close of the
Civil War. He was the pastor at that time of the Presby
terian church of Rochester, and I was thrown in contact
with him very often. He was a leading man in the
presbytery and in the synod, both by force of character,
as I soon found, and intensity of interest. While he had
his own flourishing pastorate in the young city mentioned,
and endeavoured never to permit any lack of pastoral
care in the pulpit or out of it, he was at the same time
' busy here and busy there ' with the care of all the
churches, and the planting of new ones throughout the
state, and the culture of legitimate missionary grounds
throughout the bounds of our synod. He went hand in
hand with good old ' Father Lyon,' the synodical mis
sionary superintendent, my predecessor in the church of
Winona. I know we had occasion frequently to speak of
the voluntary journeys Mr. Jackson (as he was then),
made again and again out along the frontiers in the
severities and hardships of that climate, — starting from
home Monday morning often and getting back only
Saturday night— gathering little knots of people and

ROCHESTER AND REGIONS AEOUND 81
preaching to them every day or night and so laying
foundations for something better to come afterwards.
His wife too was equally self-sacrificing with himself in
those days and weeks of missionary work, — 'tarrying
with the stuff,' at home. His remuneration for it all at
that early day was very limited, — for then, I am pretty
sure he did not have any of the income he came to have
in later years. He was a brother beloved and preemi
nent among his brethren, though he was always modest
and never thrust himself forward in the way of others.
As a presbyter he was a wise counsellor, and the church
never would have made the headway it did in Minnesota,
but for his efficient guidance and help. I am proud of
ever having been associated even for a short time with a
life so grandly useful to the world. I know of but few
men who have woven sacrifices and self-forgetfulness into
their lives more thoroughly from Alpha to Omega than
Dr. Sheldon Jackson."
While there were many like those whose testimony has
been cited, who appreciated the unselfish devotion and
boldly aggressive policy of Jackson and his associates,
there were others who looked with distrust upon their
superabundant activities and when occasion offered openly
opposed the organization of feeble churches on the fron
tier except wherethere were enough bona fide Presbyterian
settlers to warrant such action. Practically they inter
preted the commission of the Home Board to mean :
" Go only where there are Presbyterians and plant
churches." Not so, however, did the men on the out
posts understand their marching orders. Accepting the
command of the Master as the rule of duty, they went out
far and near to bring the privileges of the Gospel, and the
good things of their Presbyterian faith and inheritance,
to the destitute, the needy, and the lost.
Strangely enough, this principle of action, which seems

82 SHELDON JACKSON
to be so universally accepted by all the churches at the
present time had to fight its way against opposition and
official obstructions in the beginning and throughout the
course of the great forward movement which ultimately
won for the Presbyterian Church a high place of honour
and influence in the vast stretches of territory which lie be
yond the Mississippi River. This was the inevitable pro
test of ultra- conservatism and easy-going discipleship. It
had the look of plausibility, for the treasury of the Home
Board was empty when the men at the front were plead
ing for advance and enlargement, but in the end wisdom
was justified of her children : and it was found that the for
ward movement in the face of difficulties not only aroused
the enthusiasm of the Church, but replenished its empty
coffers and multiplied its aggressive agencies many fold.
Meanwhile, however, the leaders in this movement were
ofttimes regarded as dreamers and enthusiasts to be curbed
and restrained. On one occasion, Jackson was sharply
criticized by a member of the Synod of St. Paul for his
excessive zeal in multiplying churches while those already
existent were languishing for lack of funds. This charge
which few of the brethren of that body were inclined to
take seriously, prompted the humorous response of
' ' Father Lyon, ' ' who was at that time the district mission-
sionary of the synod, and who weighed 225 pounds : —
"Yes, I know, Brother Jackson goes pretty fast some
times, but while I am holding on to his coat tails I think
he can be kept within reasonable bounds." The dis
parity of bulk between the two men was so apparent to all
present and the ludicrous picture of this ponderous
official brake so realistic, that a hearty outburst of laugh
ter followed, making further comment or action unneces
sary. The dauntless spirit of the frontier missionaries which
Sheldon Jackson represented and the need for special ex-

EOCHESTEE AND EEGIONS AEOUND 83
ertion on their behalf can best be illustrated by a brief
extract from a letter addressed to him, under date of
September 11, 1868 :—
"The Board has the misfortune," says the writer, "to
have an empty treasury, so they can give me this year
but $260. Last year, it was $350, and this means a re
duction of over twenty-five per cent. You can easily see
that this is an extremely hard blow to us. The people
out here are poor, for the most part. If any of them
have property they are ; in debt. Their crops failed
for the last two years and some of them had to pay a large
percentage on borrowed money. I cannot look for much
from this people at present, if anything. I have a wife
and two children and I am forced to ask : ' How am I
going to live ? ' But I can trust my blessed Saviour. He
has never laid a burden upon me I could not with His
help bear, though grievous to be borne. This last sum
mer we had to pass through deep waters, but we have
come through.
' ' My wife has stood up under her sorrows bravely. She
could suffer and do for her Master what she would in
former years have looked upon as insupportable. Surely
our friends in the older and more favoured portions of
the Church will not permit us, —who are willing to do, and
suffer in doing, this heavy frontier work — to perish.
There seems to be, it appears to me, an effort to hold us
back in our aggressive work. I believe, however, that
we are doing in Minnesota just what our brethren ought
to do all through this young and rising West. Our only
fault out here in the West and Northwest is that we are
not by one half aggressive enough. Let us not therefore
give up till the Lord tells us we must give up. Then will
we bow in .humble submission to His holy will and never
before will we back down a single inch."
The case here cited was not an exceptional one. The

84 SHELDON JACKSON
writer has had access to information based upon scores of
letters of similar import. During the dark days of the
Civil War these faithful representatives of the Church
silently waited and endured, but with the return of peace
and prosperity they naturally looked for a revival of in
terest in the cause for which they had jeopardized their
own interests in the hour of need.
Great was their disappointment, therefore, when their
earnest entreaties for support and enlargement were met
with the old, heart-sickening response that the treasury
of the Board was empty.
For this reason, several applications for new commis
sions in the spring of 1868 were denied. For reasons not
so apparent the Board refused to recommission Mr. Lyon,
the honoured and greatly beloved veteran of this field, as
district missionary of the Synod of St. Paul.
At this time the officials of the Board of Domestic
Missions were unfortunately committed to a policy of
extreme cautiousness in dealing with the great issues
which came before them in connection with the en
larging mission fields of the New West. Acting as they
honestly believed in the interests of the whole country,
and failing, to some extent at least, to realize the exi
gencies of the hour and the necessity for prompt action
and liberal outlay, they deprecated the collecting of
special funds, or the making of special pleas, in behalf
of this emergency work on the frontier, insisting that all
parts of the field should share alike in the appropriations
from the general fund.
To the men at the front, who were holding their ground,
fifteen hundred miles westward, against fearful odds;
who had endured the pinchings of poverty and the hu
miliation of "beating time," while the representatives
of other churches were bravely advancing to conquer and
possess the land, this seemed like a virtual surrender of

Pioneer Presbyterian Missionaries in Western Wisconsin, Minne
sota, Iowa, Nebraska and Wyoming.
{For names see Appendix, page 480. Group 2.)

EOCHESTEE AND EEGIONS AEOUND 85
privilege and opportunity, in one of the most critical and
momentous periods in the history of the Presbyterian
Church. Confident that the Church they represented had
ample funds to meet the demands of a vigorous forward
movement and equally confident, from past experiences,
of its willingness to respond with generosity and alacrity,
if their situation should be made known, they were united
and insistent in the request : — " Let us go forward with
faith in God and trust the Church to sustain the work."
In their judgment, also, the great need of the hour was a
man of their own number, who could worthily and intelli
gently represent their cause; a man "that had under
standing of the times, to know what Israel ought
to do."
It is a notable fact that in this time of depression and
discouragement, two of the leading missionary synods of
the New West — St. Paul and Iowa — indicated their prefer
ence by official action, for the busy pastor of the Rochester
church, as the most suitable man to enlist the sympathies
and provoke the activities of the church in the inaugura
tion and development of a forward movement.
Prior to this action, however, which will be given in
due course, the Presbytery of Southern Minnesota gave
expression to its views in the following paper, at Minne
apolis, September 27, 1868 : —
Whereas, the committee appointed by the Board of Do
mestic Missions to correspond with reference to a permanent
secretary ask suggestions of any who are interested in the sub
ject, the Presbytery of Southern Minnesota would respectfully
suggest to the Board that a greater force is necessary to the ef
ficient working of the Board that the work in and out of the
office makes an accumulation of labour far too great for one,
and perhaps for two persons.
The Board tell us, with sad hearts, that the treasury is empty,
that not only are they compelled to decline farther commis
sions, but they cannot pay those already commissioned, — in-

86 SHELDON JACKSON
deed, that home missionary work is at a deadlock for want of
funds. Presbytery is confident that all that is wanting to fill the treas
ury is for the Church to be made fully acquainted with the
wants of the Board, and the particular state of the work in
missionary fields.
When we pause to reflect that some of our missionaries on
the frontier are almost in a starving condition, that absolute
suffering to them, and their families, in some instances has only
been prevented for a time by individual brethren borrowing
money on their own responsibility, at high rates of interest, for
their relief, or the missionaries themselves paying forty-eight
per cent., we will certainly be excused for showing an interest
in the matter that we never felt before, and should be criminal
if we repressed.
When, too, we consider the advance which Presbyterianism
has made, during the past year, in the great and important
field under our supervision, the competition of other ecclesias
tical bodies to occupy the same field, and the fullness of their
ability to press every advantage in that direction, we are ad
monished that it is of the last moment, as we value the growth
of the Kingdom under our hands, not to slacken the impulse
we have obtained, andi doing so must prove disastrous, and
only disastrous to our best interests.
In view of these things, it is evidently desirable that our
treasury should be filled at once. And in Order to this, in our
judgment, the Church should be brought into immediate sym
pathy with the whole missionary field.
We therefore earnestly recommend, as a man evidently
fitted to aid in effecting this, whether in the capacity of assist
ant secretary, or as the secretary proper of the Board, the Rev.
Sheldon Jackson, of Rochester, Minnesota.
(Signed) W. G. Wilson, Stated Clerk,
Minneapolis, Sept. 27, 1868.
H. A. Myhew, Moderator.
This recommendation was not regarded with favour by
the executive committee of the Board ; but it is interest
ing as showing the trend of sentiment in the location
where the nominee for this position had lived and laboured
for nearly ten years.

ROCHESTER AND REGIONS AROUND 87
The action of the Synod of St. Paul, one day later —
September 28th — was not so definite in its suggestions as
to employment, but it was more acceptable to the officers
of the Board and accomplished in part the object which
its advocates had in mind.
The paper as presented and adopted is herewith
given : — Synod of St. Paul, in Session at
Minneapolis, Minn., 28 Sept., 1868.
To the Board of Domestic Missions :
The Synod of St. Paul in answer to the invitation of the
Board for suggestions as to the necessities of the Board at the
present time, beg leave to suggest most respectfully, that in view
of the depletion of the treasury, if the Board see the way clear
to the employment in some capacity of Rev. Sheldon Jackson,
of Rochester, Minnesota, we think it would be very advanta
geous, inasmuch as we have often found him to have a remark
able tact in interesting the churches in the cause of missions,
and awakening an interest in behalf of destitutions in missionary
regions, and in soliciting and collecting funds in their aid.
In this respect we think he has few if any superiors in the
Church. And we believe he would be willing to serve the
cause of Christ, in this or any way to which the Providence of
God may call him. And we beg leave to suggest further, that
this recommendation is spontaneous, and not the result of any
communication with him ; and of this action he is entirely un
aware. Charles Thayer,
(A true extract; pages 122 and 123.) Stated Clerk.
The reply was as follows : —
Mission House, 907 Arch St., Philadelphia,
Oct. 6th, 1868.
Rev. Chas. Thayer, Farmington, Minn.,
Stated Clerk, of the Synod of St. Paul.
Dear Brother : — Your favour of the 28th ult. containing
an extract from the minutes of your synod is at hand.
In reply I have the pleasure to inform you that we have an-

88 SHELDON JACKSON
ticipated the wish of the synod and hope to have the gratifica
tion of a visit from the Rev. Sheldon Jackson, in the course of
the present week. Mr. Jackson had been invited to come East
some months ago, but his engagements prevented him from
coming at that time. He has written to us that we may expect
him on the 7th or 8th inst. He will visit several of the synods
in this part of the country, and I hope will be able to stir up
the ministers, etc., to greater zeal and liberality. By presenting
and pleading the cause before such large bodies he will be able,
the committee thinks, to accomplish more in a short time than
in any other way. With best wishes,
Yours truly, G. W. Musgrave, Sec'y.
A true copy furnished by order of
the Synod of St. Paul,
Chas. Thayer, Stated Clerk.

For some months before Sheldon Jackson started to the
East in compliance with this request he had been greatly
impressed with the importance of a more aggressive work
along the line of the new railroads and wagon routes, —
already crowded with emigrants — which led through
Iowa and Nebraska to the Rocky Mountains. " He had
the eye of an explorer, which always rests on the hori
zon," and in the quiet hours of the day and night he
heard the call of the new land farther west and felt the
responsibility of one who was to determine its future for
the multitudes already going as well as of those who were
to follow. Accepting the nearer call to duty as a provi
dential introduction to some place of service in the in
terests of the general work he had already decided to ask
for a dissolution of his pastoral relation with the Roches
ter church, to take effect at the close of the year, but as
yet had given no notice to the congregation of his in
tention. In a letter written to Dr. Cyrus Dickson, of
Baltimore, secretary- elect of the Board he writes, under
date of August 27th : —

ROCHESTER AND REGIONS AROUND 89
I have been a pioneer here for nine years. For four years
and more the brethren have been urging me to enter the general
work, but, in the providence of God, the way never seemed to
be open until now. It has been proposed by men of promi
nence in the West that the Board be asked to divide the state
of Iowa and give me the northern part, and some action look
ing to such an end may be taken at the next meeting of the
Synod of Iowa. No action is desired upon the part of the
Board at present, however, as I cannot leave this field before
the ist of January next.
At the meeting of the Synod of Iowa, in Cedar Rapids,
October 3, 1868, the Rev. J. Armstrong offered the fol
lowing paper which was adopted : —
Resolved, That in view of the rapidly-increasing popula
tion of our state, now numbering about one million souls, and
of the several lines of railroads being constructed through the
state, with the numerous villages and cities springing up along
them and over our vast prairies, we believe that in order to
render the plan of district missionaries effective, more than
one is required in Iowa.
We would therefore respectfully suggest to the Board of
Missions that they consider the propriety of appointing another
missionary in this state, as soon as their funds will permit,
whose field shall be the North Western R. R. and the territory
lying between it and the Minnesota line, and that he be espe
cially directed to visit the new settlements and towns not con
tingent to the fields now occupied by our ministers, and to
secure organizations where desirable and foster them, and as
soon as practicable, secure for them the regular ministration of
the word.
In order to carry out this action, a committee of six
was appointed who nominated the Eev. Sheldon Jackson,
of Minnesota, for the position, subject to the approval of
the Board. This recommendation was approved by a
unanimous vote of the synod.
When presented to the Board, at a later date, the re
quest was, however, declined. The principal reason

90 SHELDON JACKSON
assigned was the lack of funds in the treasury, but it ap
pears from other evidence in hand that the executive
committee was desirous at this time to dispense with the
office of district missionary, in every part of the field.
Meanwhile the Rochester pastor more than justified the
confidence reposed in him in his able and fervid presenta
tion of the claims and necessities of the vast mission terri
tory opening up so wonderfully in the far West. By
subsequent action of the executive committee his stay
was extended through November and December, greatly
to the advantage of the cause.
At Chicago, on the 27th of October, Mr. Jackson wrote
to the session of his church informing them of his inten
tion to offer his resignation to take effect on the first day
of January, 1869, assigning as a reason his decision to go
into the general work of the Church in the West. In this
letter he sent a personal gift of $125 to the church and
gave notice of his purpose to release the congregation
from obligation to continue his salary after November
1st. The pastoral relation was formally dissolved at a meet
ing of presbytery held at Owatonna, Minn., on the 10th
of February. In the closing days of the same month
Jackson completed the special work he had in hand
within the bounds of the presbytery and synod, and on
the second day of March left Minnesota for a new field
of labour within the bounds of the Synod of Iowa, to
which he assuredly gathered from the indications of
God's providence he had been called.
Of his widely extended and singularly diversified min
istrations in Minnesota and Wisconsin which covered
almost a decade of the most eventful history of the Church
and the nation, no adequate summary can be given in
words or statistics. Much of it was work which shall be
known only at the judgment day. Among the tangible

ROCHESTER AND REGIONS AROUND 91
results not already mentioned, the records show that dur
ing this period Sheldon Jackson preached as a supply at
thirty stations ; organized, or assisted in the organization
of twenty-three churches (three of which were afterwards
turned over to other denominations under the rules of
comity) ; secured for the field by letter, personal solicita
tion, or by visits to the theological seminaries, twenty-
eight ministers ; collected funds for the mission work or
for the missionaries amounting to about $13,500 and
distributed directly or indirectly to the families of mis
sionaries more than 150 boxes of clothing and household
supplies. It was a busy, blessed ministry, the results
of which are manifest in ever-increasing measure in the
large and influential synod now covering the ground
which at that time was held by a few faithful mission
aries of the Synod of St. Paul.

VI
THE IOWA FORWARD MOVEMENT
If there is a harvest ahead, even a distant one, it is poor thrift to he
stingy of your seed corn. — Carlyle.
WHEN Sheldon Jackson commenced his mission
ary labours at La Crescent, in the summer of
1859, the outermost fringe of permanent set
tlement and civilization in the territory then known as
the ' ' New West ' ' was in the valley of the missouri River,
a few miles west of Omaha. Except the mission or
ganizations among the Indians, there were no Presbyter
ian churches in North or South Dakota, Montana, Wash
ington, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona,
or Nevada. On the Pacific slope, there were but twenty
Old School Presbyterian organizations, of which eleven
were in California and nine in Oregon. From this period
until the close of the Civil War, the conditions were un
favourable for permanent settlements, and the population,
which consisted mainly of gold-seekers and adventurers,
was crowded together in mining camps or grouped here
and there in little towns on the plain, which became for
the time the bases of supply for the crowds among the
mountains. When peace with its priceless blessings was
restored in every portion of the land, the marvellous
energies and activities which the long struggle had devel
oped and sustained were directed into other channels and
a period of enlargement, extension and prosperity began
which has no parallel in the history of any nation of
ancient or modern times. In less than a year after the
92

White - Sections more or less occupied by Presbyterian Church • Churches widely separated from others.
Shaded -Unoccupied by Church. A- Group of 10 churches with 104 members in
Oregon and Washington.
B Group of 21 churches with9I5 members in Cal.
C Group of 23 churches with 525 members in Minn.

THE IOWA FORWARD MOVEMENT 93
last of the Union armies were disbanded, the Atlantic
cable was successfully laid and messages were flashed
along the rocky bed of the ocean between two great con
tinents. About the same time the colossal task of con
structing a railway over mountains, valleys and plains,
across the continent, was commenced from the side of
the Pacific slope. The next year work was commenced
from the terminal of the eastern road at Omaha westward,
on the line which had been surveyed over the Bocky
Mountains to meet the way which was being prepared
across the Sierra. With marvellous rapidity a force of
twenty-five thousand men reduced the distance between
the competing bands of workmen month by month ; and,
as they advanced from west to east and from east to west,
a fresh impulse was given to every movement connected
with the development of this portion of the country.
On the 10th of May, 1869, the two great divisions of
this trans-continental railway were united at Promontory
Point, 1,030 miles west of Omaha, with official ceremony
and unbounded rejoicing. Long before this period, how
ever, multitudes had already entered the territories by
every wagon trail leading westward, or were then on
their westward way, in anticipation of the advantages
which were sure to follow on the line of the iron trail.
The men of this world, wiser in their generation than the
children of light, were quick to take advantage of the op
portunities opening up on every hand ; but the churches
with their uplifting, life-giving influences, were making
no special effort to go in and possess the land. The bil
liard-room, the concert saloon, the corner groggery, the
dance hall and the gambling dens moved with every
shifting crowd, and were the first places of public resort
in every promising town. In many places there was no
where else for the young man, fresh from a Christian
home, to go, not even on the Sabbath. Evil influences

94 SHELDON JACKSON
of every kind were at the front in force, but the good
lagged far behind in the race for position and power.
While waiting for these to come up, many a good resolu
tion was surrendered and many a promising life, which
might have been a blessing to this new land, was be
clouded and ruined forever. It is always bad policy,
as well as sinful neglect, to allow iniquity to be en
trenched in a new community before the Gospel is sent to
counteract and oppose it ; and this our missionaries on
the frontiers had already learned to their cost.
Moved by these considerations and thrilled by the sig
nificance of the momentous events which were rapidly
transforming the vast domain beyond them, so long given
over to the Indian and the buffalo, into an empire of
peaceful homes and prosperous communities — the pro
spective abode of millions yet to come — the Synod of
Iowa applied to the Board of Domestic Missions for en
dorsement of their action in appointing Mr. Jackson to
superintend the work within their bounds and in the re
gions beyond, which could not be reached or successfully
carried on under the ordinary appointments of the
Church. If ever there was a necessity for a district or
synodical missionary, this was the time and the place.
Towns and villages were springing up at intervals all
along the line of the Union Pacific road, thousands of
emigrants were crossing the Missouri River every month,
and the occupied territory for which the synod felt a
God-given responsibility, extended westward hundreds
of miles beyond the farthest outposts of missionary occu
pation. This request, made in the fall of 1868, for reasons
already given, was refused. The announcement of this
refusal was a grievous disappointment to the applicants.
The agency on which they relied to meet the emergency
was called into being for the purpose they had at heart,
and now, to all human appearance, without its aid there

Emigrants Crossing the Platte in Overland Days.
Copy of Bierstadt's celebrated painting. Sketched from life.

THE IOWA FORWARD MOVEMENT 95
was no solution to the ever-recurring questions :— "How
shall this multitude going beyond the reach of present
influences be fed with the bread of life? How shall they
hear without a preacher, and how shall they preach ex
cept they be sent?" We are wont to lay great stress
upon our trained hosts, our well-tested equipments, and
carefully devised agencies for the extension of Christ's
kingdom ; and, ordinarily, we do well to confine our
labours and activities to the official channels, which, in
a sense, have been hallowed by the streams of beneficence
coursing through them from generation to generation ;
but God, who rules over all and can save by few as well
as by many, is not dependent upon any of these human
agencies for the advancement of His cause. If the armies
of Israel fail in the hour of peril or refuse to go forward
in the hour of opportunity, He can make use of a faith
ful Gideon, with his three hundred men and a few pitchers
and lamps ; a Jonathan and his armour-bearer, or a ruddy
shepherd boy with his sling, to do His work. In this
crisis hour as in the former days, there was a man sent
from God to meet its issues and inspire others, to accept
its responsibilities. For a decade of self-denying minis
tries in the moral wastes of the Northwest he had been in
training for this mission, and when the invitation of the
synod which was posted on the fore-front of the line of
advance, came to him, he regarded it as the call of
God. The unwillingness of the executive committee of the
Mission Board to approve of this invitation did not affect
his view of personal responsibility or alter his purpose.
It was no part of his plan, however, to enter upon this
work without the approval and authority of the presby
teries within whose widely-extended bounds he expected
to labour. Hence he was obliged to wait until they could
have the opportunity to take official action at their regu-

96 SHELDON JACKSON
lar spring meetings. Meanwhile, he wrote to the stated
clerks of the Synod of Iowa and of the presbyteries con
cerned within its bounds, announcing his intention, if
the way should be clear, to take up the work to which
they had called him as early as practicable in the spring,
" independently of, but not in opposition to, the Board
of Domestic Missions."
In the beginning of the month of March, he came to
Iowa, and was cordially received by the brethren whom
he visited, on the line of his route from Dubuque to
Council Bluffs. Two or three days were spent in looking
over the ground from this standpoint, with the help of
the pastor of the church, the Rev. T. H. Cleland, who
was at that time the efficient chairman of the Home Mis
sion Committee of the Presbytery of Missouri River. One
of the days of his visit was the Sabbath, and at the morn
ing and evening services Mr. Jackson preached, by invi
tation, in Mr. Cleland's church. The text of the morn
ing sermon : — "Begin to possess that thou mayest inherit
the land," was the key-note of the great movement which
he and his associates in Iowa inaugurated, in faith and
prayer, a few weeks later. On Monday morning follow
ing, — March 8th — a conference was held with Mr. Cleland
and one of his elders, Thomas Officer, with respect to the
destitutions of the field, and a list of eleven important
points was prepared, where efficient ministers were needed
at once. With a view to supplying these points it was
decided that an appeal should be made without delay to
the students of the middle and senior classes of the theo
logical seminaries. This was evidently the first step to
be taken in anticipation of the action contemplated by
the presbytery, and at noon of the same day Sheldon
Jackson took the train for Chicago. With mind and
heart burdened about these spiritual destitutions, he ad
dressed the students at Chicago, Allegheny, and Prince-

THE IOWA FORWARD MOVEMENT 97
ton, urging them as patriots and as the divinely accred
ited servants of Jesus Christ, to consider the claims of the
new land — opening up so marvellously — towards the set
ting sun, and if need be to face the difficulties and brave
the dangers for the Gospel's sake, which in all probability
awaited them there.
At the close of these addresses, which produced a pro
found impression, conferences were held with those who
were specially interested and a list of names were secured
of all, not otherwise pledged, who were willing to go
when their services should be required. To the volun
teers of the middle classes a sufficient amount was prom
ised to defray their actual expenses, while to those who
had almost completed their course and were ready to go
as missionary pastors, the prospect was held out of a
competent support, based wholly upon the promises of
God, as He should see fit to send it through His servants
in the churches.
While on this errand, Mr. Jackson availed himself of
the opportunity to confer with some of the representative
men of the church in Pittsburg, Philadelphia, and New
York, and he received much encouragement ; and in sev
eral instances promises of substantial aid. In his diary,
under date of March 14th, he wrote : —
"While praying for money to pay my expenses home,
a servant rapped at the door and handed me an en
velope which contained $50. Again I went to the throne
of grace with thanksgiving. Another rap, — and an en
velope with $25 enclosed was handed in."
The next day he made this entry, March 15th—" Took
breakfast with Dr. Van Dyke, who promised me help
next fall. Had meeting with the pastors in Mr. Alfred
H. Kellog's study at 12 M. I laid before them the desti
tutions of the West, and Dr. John Hall, Dr. J. C. Mur
ray, and others agreed to provide for the support of one

98 SHELDON JACKSON
or more men of the middle class who should go out for
the summer."
One of the encouraging signs of the times, in connec
tion with the forward movement for which these prepar
ations were being made, was the expectation, growing
more definite and certain every day, of a reunion between
the Old and the New School branches of the Presbyterian
Church. This, to the men on the Western frontier,
whose eyes were on the distant horizon line, meant more
than a concentration of forces and a union of effort.
They regarded it as significant of a new departure in the
administration of the affairs of the united Church, which
should include in its sphere of labour the whole land from
sea to sea, and stimulate its awakened membership to
wider conquests and mightier achievements.
In this epoch-making period, when two great divisions
of the Church, long separated, were drawing closely to
gether ; when two great railroads, starting from the east
ern and western shores of the continent, were rapidly
converging towards their appointed meeting-place, the
Iowa forward movement was inaugurated without obser
vation by three mission presbyteries bordering on the
great unevangelized West. For boldness of conception
and promptness of action and transcendent importance of
result, this movement, born of the emergency, is without
a parallel in the history of the evangelization of our land.
The Presbytery of Des Moines, in session at Osceola,
sounded the first note of advance, and thus in point of
time has the honour of leading in this important movement.
The following is an official copy of the action taken : —
Osceola, Iowa,
April 24, 1869.
Rev. Sheldon Jackson,
Dear Brother : — By the unanimous vote of the Presby
tery of Des Moines in session at Osceola* April 22.^24, you are

THE IOWA FORWARD MOVEMENT 99
appointed and invited to act as district missionary in Central
and Western Iowa, as far as this presbytery has jurisdiction.
(Signed) David S. Tappan, Moderator.
J. M. Batchelder, Stated Clerk.

The Presbytery of Fort Dodge which took similar
action at Clarksville, on the 8th day of May, covered a
section of the state north of the Presbytery of Des
Moines, and both were bounded on the west by the
frontier Presbytery of the Missouri River. At this time
there were fifteen ministers and twenty churches, nine
of which were reported vacant, on the roll of the last
named presbytery. About one-half of these organiza
tions were on the Nebraska side of the river, the
farthest to the west being less than sixty miles from the
Iowa line. In 1869, the New School branch reported but
four churches in Nebraska, one in Omaha, and three in
the valley of the Missouri River. There was not then a
single Presbyterian church along the line of the Union
and Central Pacific Railways between Omaha and Sacra
mento, California.
By reason of its unique position, the Presbytery of
Missouri River had a place of commanding importance
in the movement we are considering. The outlying ter
ritory, which virtually belonged to its jurisdiction, ex
tended without a break to the limits of the Presbytery of
Stockton, on the Pacific slope, — a stretch of more than
eighteen hundred miles. To the north and south, the
whole land throughout this extent was open to civiliza
tion and Christian influence, from British Columbia to
the borders of Mexico. To be a district missionary un
der the direction of this presbytery and the two neigh
bouring bodies which entered into an alliance with it,
meant, as Sheldon Jackson understood it, the supervision
and evangelization of a domain of magnificent dimensions
and untold possibilities, into which multitudes were go-

100 SHELDON JACKSON
ing from all lands and nationalities, in advance of the
Christian teacher and the uplifting influences of a Chris
tian civilization.
The presbytery met at Sioux City, Iowa, on the even
ing of April 29th. On the afternoon of that day, Mr.
Jackson and two of the ministers of the presbytery, —
Thomas H. Cleland, Jr., and John C. Elliott — ascended
a high bluff on the edge of the city, known as Prospect
Hill, to look abroad over the land. From this outlook,
portions of Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Min
nesota were visible.
To the east and south one-third of Iowa, except six or
seven feeble organizations in the river valley, was as yet
unoccupied by the Presbyterian Church. On the other
side of the river, to the southwest and west, nine-tenths
of Nebraska was in the same condition. In the territory
of Dakota, which stretched away to the northwest, with
the exception of a few mission organizations among the
Sioux Indians, under the care of the Foreign Board, there
was not a single church of either branch of our ecclesias
tical household. In the widening circle, far beyond the
sweep of vision, including the territories of Wyoming,
Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Idaho,
Montana, Washington, and Alaska, — an aggregate area
of 1,768,659 square miles, or nearly one-half of the total
area of the United States, there were, exclusive of
the Indian mission stations, only eleven Presbyterian
churches. Distributed in sections throughout the whole
of this vast region, there were unnumbered hosts of de
luded Mormons, semi-Pagan Mexicans, sun-worship
ping Pueblos, deeply degraded Eskimos, demon -wor
shipping Alaskans, with tens of thousands of Indians
in reservations or roving wild over the plains and moun
tains. On that mount of vision, the hearts of these pioneer

Site of Hill-Top Prayer Meeting, Sioux City, Ia.
Missouri River. Trio of Presbyters. Prospect Hill. First Presbyterian Church.

THE IOWA FORWARD MOVEMENT 101
missionaries were stirred with deep emotion as they
realized the extent of the spiritual destitution which con
fronted them, and, kneeling down on the ground, they
poured out the desires of their souls in strong crying for
help and strength, self-denial and consecration, so that
without shrinking they and those whom they represented
might go forward in the Master's name to occupy and
possess this goodly land.1 The spirit of this prayer-meet
ing and the impressions of the hour, were carried into the
sessions of the presbytery, and, by unanimous action,
Sheldon Jackson was appointed " Superintendent of mis
sions for Western Iowa, Nebraska, Dakota, Idaho, Mon
tana, Wyoming and Utah." To this was added, in the
original commission, the significant clause, "or as far as
our jurisdiction extends."
Appointments of this nature have not been an unusual
thing in the history of the Church : but it is seldom, if
ever, that such a commission has been given without any
provision for financial support. By all parties it was
understood that there was not a dollar in the treasury of
the presbyteries that could be appropriated for the salary
or travelling expenses of the superintendent, or those
whom he should send out to labour under their jurisdic
tion. It should be noted, also, that at this time the ex
penses of living at any point along the line of the Union
Pacific road, or in the new towns of the territories which
it opened up, were two or three times greater than in the
older communities of the East. The minimum salary of
$1,000, where much travelling was required, was found to
be inadequate for the support of a missionary on this field

1 In commemoration of this historic event the Synod of Iowa ap
pointed a committee in 1904 to erect a suitable monument on Prospect
Hill ; a site for the same having been donated by the mayor and city
counoil.

102 SHELDON JACKSON
without the most rigid economy in household and ordi
nary expenses.
Despite all the difficulties, which to many seemed in
surmountable, Sheldon Jackson without hesitation ac
cepted the appointment^ with all its risks and responsi
bilities. The basis of his trust was the Divine promises
and where the eye of sense could not discern any indica
tions of encouragement he believed that God would open
up a way. The action of the Missouri River Presbytery
was taken on the 1st of May, 1869, and within one week
from that date Mr. Jackson had posted three men at im
portant [points on the Union Pacific Railway. To the
Rev. J. N. Hutchison was given the oversight and
pastoral care of a section lying between the Missouri
River and Julesburg on the eastern edge of Colorado, a
distance of 375 miles ; to the Rev. John L. Gage, formerly
a fellow labourer in Minnesota, the section between Jules
burg and Rawlins, a distance of 318 miles ; and to the
Rev. Melancthon Hughes was assigned the remaining sec
tion from the Sweetwater Mines and Green River,
Wyoming, to Corinne, Utah, a stretch of 292 miles. As
far as possible each of the above named missionaries sup
plied the towns within these limits with preaching at
stated intervals, until other labourers came to their re
lief. The last spike on the great transcontinental rail
way was driven on the tenth day of May, nine days
after Mr. Jackson had received his appointment ; and
yet before that event took place he had seized all the
strategic points on the line from Omaha to the ter
minus of the Union Pacific in Utah Territory. A few
weeks later, four young men from the middle classes of
the theological seminaries were sent out in the same way,
' ' each to occupy from one to two counties. ' ' One of these
men was Josiah Welch, who afterwards became the first
pastor of the church of Salt Lake, Utah. Before eight

THE IOWA FORWARD MOVEMENT 103
months had passed away, ten new missionaries were at
work in Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah.
In each case the salary was dependent in part upon volun
tary offeringswhich came through the prayers and personal
appeals of the superintendent and his interested friends.
The return mails, he says, brought back the responses
in bank checks ranging in amount from $5 to $500. So
that, as the months came and passed, not a missionary
could say that he had not been paid, and paid in full.
' ' Lacked ye anything ? ' ' and they said, ' ' Nothing. ' ' This
was preeminently a work of faith and consecration, as
marvellous in its inception and prompt execution as
in its results.
It is a noteworthy fact that from May 1, 1869, to
December 31, 1870, Mr. Jackson received from private
sources for the work an aggregate of $10,037.79. This
" Baven Fund" continued as long as it was essential to
the work ; and when the flow of beneficence was once
started in that direction it was not an easy matter to stop
it by general edict or otherwise. Like the gifts of the
Macedonian church, much of it was given to the recipient
in addition to their ordinary offering, "praying him
with much entreaty that he would receive the gift and
take upon him the fellowship of the ministering to the
saints." Several years ago, says a writer in the New
York Evangelist, when a prominent person in Wall Street
was asked to give help to a missionary enterprise on new
territory, he was told that Jackson had it in hand, and
immediately doubled his gift. "That man," was the
judgment of this keen observer of men and missions,
" stands for so much in my esteem and confidence that I
will give him double and ask no questions." It was this
implicit faith in the man and his direct, common-sense
methods that won for him friends and support when
obliged, as in this case, to act upon his own responsibil-

104 SHELDON JACKSON
ity, anticipating the slower movements of the Church to
which he was so devotedly attached. It is easy to find
fault with boldly aggressive movements, and in view of
all the circumstances it is not strange that the motives of
the prime mover in this undertaking should be misunder
stood, or that his methods should be adversely criticised
by those who were far removed from the field of action, or
who were so wedded to ultra-conservative ways that they
could not tolerate any new departures when confronted
by unusual experiences or emergencies.
In the crisis hour of a great battle of our Civil War, as
the story goes, the standard-bearer of a coloured regi
ment dashed ahead of the wavering line to which he be
longed and called to the men to follow. Fearing that the
flag would be captured, the officer of the colour company
shouted out: "Bring back those colours." "Marse
Captain," was the prompt response, "dis yeh flag neb-
ber go back." "Bring up dem men dere." With a
rush the men were brought up to the flag and the coveted
position was gained. So in this crisis hour of our home
mission advance, when the line was wavering and halt
ing in the face of a great opportunity, this veteran of the
ranks seized the standard of the Cross, beneath which
was a fluttering pennant of blue, advanced it swiftly to
the front, and, planting it far in advance of the line, called
upon the Presbyterian hosts to bring their men up to it.
The fact that the Church did come up to it is the best
justification of his motives and methods.
Sometimes by friends, as well as by foes, Sheldon Jack
son has been sketched as a " free lance " in mission fields
by preference and natural inclination. This representa
tion is not warranted by facts. His early training was
along conservative lines, and at heart he was intensely
loyal to the ordinary methods and established agencies
of the Church.

THE IOWA FORWARD MOVEMENT 105
This is evident from all the records of his work, and
especially in his correspondence with the Board of Home
Missions. On the 6th of April, a short time before the
action of the Iowa presbyteries, he tendered his services
as a "volunteer in some field of wide destitution, north
of the fever and ague line, where he could do the Church
and the Board good service." At a later date, May 7th,
one week after he had received his appointment from the
Presbytery of Missouri River, he wrote to Dr. G. W.
Musgrave, explaining the situation and renewing his re
quest for an appointment under the Home Board in case
they could see their way clear to endorse the action of
the Iowa presbyteries. In this letter he says : —
"I sought and received the unanimous appointment
of the presbyteries because I did not wish to enter the
field without their sanction. If the Board is ready to
undertake the work, the action of these bodies is their
endorsement of your appointment. If not, I am in
structed by them to cooperate with and labour for the in
terests of the Board as if commissioned by it. The
presbyteries will rejoice when the funds of the Board
will enable them to commission me to this or kindred
work." . . . " I have made this subject a matter of
earnest prayer since last fall and now feel that ' woe is
me if I do not enter upon the work.' I think I have an
intelligent appreciation of its difficulties and sacrifices,
and yet the greatest hesitation has been from the fear
that my motives and work would be misapprehended by
the Board. But, dear brother, while I greatly prefer to
work under your commission, yet, if the Board cannot
appoint me, I most earnestly desire that they would con
sider me just as loyal to them as if working under their
commission. My whole heart is in their work, and I can
not be otherwise than true to their best interests." Fol
lowing this statement he indicates his wibingness to raise

106 SHELDON JACKSON
his own salary if the Board will permit it and also ex
presses the hope, based upon assurances already given by
friends and well-wishers, that he would be able to add at
least $5,000 a year to the treasury of the Board, in
case he were appointed by them, over and above what
would otherwise be received into its treasury.
The attitude of the executive committee was not
changed by this frank avowal of motives and intentions ;
but it is possible that it had an influence upon their sub
sequent action at a later date.
After making provision for the supply of the most
needy points in his new field of labour, Mr. Jackson went
to Minnesota to arrange for the removal of his family.
He had already selected Council Bluffs as his place of
residence ; and on the 25th of May he returned to this
city and at once began to outline his plans for the work
of the summer. The pastor of the Presbyterian church
of Council Bluffs, the Be v. T. H. Cleland, Jr., one of the
trio already mentioned in'connection with the " Hilltop "
prayer-meeting at Sioux City, proved to be a valuable
counsellor and helper ; aiding in the office work as far as
practicable, so that the new superintendent might be
free to undertake the more important duties of the field-
work, which at the outset called for all his time and
strength. With genuine Western hospitality he received
Mr. Jackson and family into his own home until a suit
able house could be provided for their occupancy. ' ' From
that time," says Mr. Cleland, "his house and mine were
Presbyterian hotels for the missionaries starting out for
the frontier."
The following extract from a letter written by Mr. Cle
land, under date of August 7, 1905, gives his personal
impressions of Dr. Jackson and the far-reaching influence
of the movement in which he had so prominent a part :—
"I was from the first impressed with his faith in God,

THE IOWA FORWARD MOVEMENT 107
his absolute consecration to the work, and his indomitable
energy. If men were needed for the work he could im
part his owni enthusiasm to the students leaving the semi
nary ; and they counted it a joy to be on the frontier,
where they could ' preach the Gospel in the regions be
yond, and not to boast in another man's line of things
made ready to the hand.' But the thing that astonished
me was, that when the Board of Domestic Missions had
no money for the frontier, Dr. Jackson could go to pri
vate individuals in the East and return with the adequate
sinews of war. I recall that he ferreted out one man in
the East who had interests in Truckee, Nevada, whom he
interested to maintain a missionary for that point.
" Dr. Jackson set the pace for the Presbyterian Church,
making it the pioneer missionary force for the Middle
West and the Pacific coast. This had been supposed to
be the honour that belonged to the Methodist Church
hitherto, but he proved that Presbyterianism was not
only heavy artillery, but a mountain howitzer as well,
when the necessity called for it. He had faith in the
Gospel, and in the Presbyterian Church as rightfully in
terpreting it, and also in the possibilities of the new
country in the regions beyond. He did not hesitate to
organize a small group in a village into a church, because
he knew there were 'more to follow' ; and he would
seize the advantage of being first on the ground.
"He was preeminently a man of faith in God and
seemed to his co-labourers 'to walk with God.' I have
listened to few men whose prayers were more simple,
unctuous, or mighty in their grasp of the Divine promises.
He was an inspiration. Having no fear, but large faith,
he inspired all about him with confidence ; and his work
was bound to succeed. There was nothing magisterial
in his bishopric. He asked no missionary to endure
what he was not cheerfully doing and sacrificing himself.

108 SHELDON JACKSON
He cared for his gospel soldiers like a true general. He
used his pen and his personal influence to obtain ' Boxes '
and money where salaries were inadequate. His own
means he used as freely in the work, and he was bold to
ask others to do the same. He counted himself a pio
neer. So that as rapidly as the work developed he would
move westward. He changed his residence from us in
Council Bluffs early and moved to Denver, to be closer
to the ' firing line.'
" He, beyond any other man whose history I can recall,
comes nearer to being a reproduction of the Apostle Paul,
in his grasp of strategic points, in his absolute consecra
tion to his work, and in his confidence in the Gospel as
the power of God to regenerate the heart and correct the
sad disorders of our earth. He is the Francis Xavier of
Protestant America in spending and being spent. Take
him all in all, he ranks with the foremost of the brave
men to whom the American Church and the American
State should pay highest honours, as the builder of a
Nation and the founder of a Church."
Another valuable contribution to the history of this
movement, from the standpoint of the men "on the
firing line," is given herewith, in slightly abbreviated
form. The writer is the Bev. David Stanton Tap-
pan, D. D., LL. D., of Circleville, Ohio, who had the
honour of being moderator of the Presbytery of
Des Moines, which took the initial action : —

I do not think it is too much to say that Sheldon Jackson's
entrance upon this work marked a radical change in the spirit
and methods of conducting home mission work and was a
great step in advance. In the minds of many of our ministers
in the West, at that time, our Church hitherto had pursued
altogether too conservative and timid a policy in its advances
into new territory. There was undue hesitancy in undertaking
new work and in putting it upon a firm basis. Missionaries

THE IOWA FORWARD MOVEMENT 109
were not appointed, and, above all, churches must not be
organized until the permanency and growth of a community
or projected town was assured beyond a reasonable doubt.
Those who had the shaping of our policy in their hands seemed
to be perpetually haunted with the fear of "boom towns," and
the spectre of dead churches. And so rather than organize
one church that might soon prove a failure they would miss the
starting of a dozen that would have lived and prospered. The
result was that often when we had waited until it seemed per
fectly safe to organize a Presbyterian church, there was little
need of one, and the work was crippled by our delay. Much
of the best Presbyterian element had been gathered into other
churches and could not be recovered. So that the consequence
was that we were falling to the rear in the occupation of the
western territories. Sheldon Jackson, with the spirit of the
true pioneer, at once adopted a bolder and more aggressive
policy. The missionary was located and the church established
with the advent of the first immigrants, and these became mag
nets and centres towards which Christian institutions and ac
tivities crystallized.
Instead of waiting for the communities to build up and give
assurance not simply of permanency, but of a supporting
Presbyterian constituency, the missionary and the church
entered the new territories upon precisely the same footing and
with the same risks as the farmer, merchant, and lawyer, to
fight for existence, to make for themselves homes, and to dem
onstrate their right to live. The great West was being settled
and the institutions of society and government were being
shaped and fixed with a rapidity never before equalled in this,
or any other, land. Many good people living in the older sec
tions of the country, far from these scenes of strife and growth,
failed utterly to understand the situation or appreciate the ne
cessity for doing quickly whatever was to be done, if any place
was to be found for the doing of it. Fortunately, Sheldon
Jackson sounded the key-note of our advance into the regions
beyond the Missouri. He believed that the Presbyterian
Church was called of God and fitted to do pioneer work. He
was not deterred from attempting anything by the fear of fail
ure. He was not afraid to undertake great things and to incur
risks for the Master, and he had the faith to expect great
things. Under his leadership, the Presbyterian Church assumed its

110 SHELDON JACKSON
full share of responsibility for the evangelization of the great
West; and, whatever had been its failure in the past, now
stood in the very front rank of those who were fighting to win
the land for Christ.
Neither Dr. Jackson nor his most enthusiastic admirers will
claim that he made no mistakes. Some enterprises were in
augurated that proved failures, some churches were organized
that died an "early death " ; but, after all, these were but few
in number compared with those who lived and prospered, be
coming centres of blessing to the land, and sources of influence
and strength to the Presbyterian Church.
As a young minister in close touch with that region, I hailed
with delight Sheldon Jackson's advent and enthusiastically
supported his aggressive policy, believing that it was the only
one that could possibly succeed in the titanic struggle then
going on for the possession of the land.
Looking back over the thirty-five years that have since
elapsed and viewing the actions of that day in the light of
subsequent history, I am still more firmly convinced that this
was the true and wise course to pursue. It did much to con
serve that region for morality and religion, and laid broad and
deep in those new states the foundation of our own Church.

The third person of the trio mentioned in connection
with the "Hilltop" prayer-meeting, — the Bev. John C.
Elliott, advocated the same views and was equally en
thusiastic in his support of Sheldon Jackson's aggressive
work. Such testimony from representative men at the front,
whose loyalty to the Church and self-denying service in
this crisis hour on her behalf should not be forgotten,
amply justifies the advance movement of the Iowa pres
byteries and confirms all that has been written with re
spect to its necessity and importance.
Starting out from his new home and base of operations
on the 28th of May, Sheldon Jackson made his first
journey across the plains to Cheyenne, at the base of the
Rocky Mountains. At Fremont, en route, he made a

THE IOWA FORWARD MOVEMENT ill
detour of several miles in a rough lumber wagon for the
purpose of visiting a prosperous little community, known
as the "Bell Creek Settlement." To the great joy of
many in this region, he tarried with them over the Sab
bath and preached in an unfinished house to a congrega
tion of sixty persons. One of his hearers, a woman of
culture and refinement, came on horseback, making use
of a loose blanket as a substitute for a side-saddle. Not
less primitive was another outfit consisting of a lumber
wagon with plank seats drawn by four oxen.
At the close of this service a Presbyterian church was
organized with eight members and one ruling elder.
Cheyenne was reached Tuesday evening, June 1st. At
this time detachments of soldiers were stationed at inter
vals all along the line of the Union Pacific road to guard
against the attacks of hostile Indians.
Happily for all concerned, the most formidable of these
treacherous and vindictive rovers of the plains were
forced back soon afterwards to the mountains, or were
compelled to live on reservations. The removal of this
menace, which hitherto had prevented the extension of
farming settlements beyond the outskirts of Grand
Island, — fifty- three miles west of Omaha — gave a new
impulse to emigration and settlement along the line of
the Platte River and its tributaries.
At Cheyenne, which he describes as a " city of shanties,
only two years old, but of great prospective importance,"
two days were spent in securing the help and cooperation
of those who were favourable to the organization, in the
near future, of a Presbyterian church. At a meeting of
interested citizens, on the evening of the second day, the
plans of the superintendent were approved and a com
mittee was appointed to secure subscriptions and pur
chase suitable lots for a house of worship. Four days
later, this tireless worker was east of the Missouri

112 SHELDON JACKSON
River and took part in a Sabbath- school convention
at Des Moines, in Central Iowa. On the 13th of June,
he organized the Red Oak Junction church, within the
bounds of the Presbytery of Des Moines, and the next
day travelled thirty-five miles in a lumber wagon on
the home stretch towards Council Bluffs. On the even
ing of the 15th, he boarded an east-bound train for
Pittsburg and New York, for the purpose of securing
funds for the erection of church buildings in the new
towns and missionary stations along the line of the trans
continental road. In this he was successful beyond his
expectations, and after a week of canvassing and public
presentation of his cause he returned to Council Bluffs by
way of Chicago. While on this errand, he received a
gift of $125 from a personal friend in Pittsburg, and
from one firm in the same city — James Wood & Co. — a
check for $500.
Two weeks later, he was again on his way westward,
with a view to making an extensive tour among the new
towns and mining camps of the Rocky Mountains. The
first Sabbath on the way out, July 18th, was spent at
Cheyenne. This prospective city, the capital of Wy
oming Territory, is a mile nearer the heavens than the
city on the Missouri Biver from which Sheldon Jackson
started, but it was as notable at that time for its depth of
wickedness as for its height of elevation. The daily
paper which announced the appearance of the Rev. John
L. Gage, the first missionary sent to this place, also gave
notice of a dog- and wildcat-fight in the afternoon of
the Sabbath ; and some that heard the Gospel in the morn
ing attended the latter, which of course drew the larger
crowd. There were some, however, in Cheyenne, in the
midst of evil influences, as in other places of ill-repute in
those early days, who loved the Lord and thought upon
His name ; and by these persons all that was good and

THE IOWA FORWARD MOVEMENT 113
life-giving was fostered and maintained. At the close of
the service on Sabbath morning, which was held in a
schoolhouse, Mr. Jackson, assisted by Mr. Gage, organ
ized a church with three members. This was the day of
small things, but the same church to-day has a member
ship of 355 ; and through all the intervening years has
exerted untold influences for good. The railway com
pany gave encouragement to the new enterprise by donat
ing two valuable lots for a house of worship. The next
objective point was South Pass, the principal town of the
Sweetwater mining region, in the western portion of
Wyoming Territory. The only available route at this
time was by rail to Bryan, on the Union Pacific road, and
thence northward a hundred miles by stage-coach over a
dreary waste of sand and sage brush. An hour after
midnight, on the morning following his departure from
Cheyenne, Sheldon Jackson reached the station at Bryan.
Passing out into the clear light of a full moon he was
directed to a distant lamp which indicated the location
of the principal hotel. Following this clue, he found,
on the other side of two liquor saloon tents, the en
trance to a large one and a half story house constructed
of unplaned boards. As he entered the office, in which
were grouped all the attractions of the bar and billiard
saloon, the proprietor bade him good-morning and with
a winning smile called out "Come, Captain, and have a
regular dodger to scrape the clam out of the roof of your
mouth." Declining this invitation with thanks, he
asked for a bed and was shown into a small room in the
loft. The door had no lock and the partition, originally
made of unseasoned lumber, had shrunken to such an ex
tent that a hand could be inserted between the boards. A
hole in the wall, without sash or glass, was the only
window. A slight examination of the bed revealed the
swarming vermin which lurked underneath its covering.

114 SHELDON JACKSON
As there were no chairs in the room, the only choice was
between the bed and the dirty floor. After buttoning up
his overcoat and tying a handkerchief closely about his
neck, the weary traveller vainly sought sleep on the top
of the bed. It was the middle of July, but the night
was cold and the coming of the morning was anxiously
awaited. At early dawn he went down into the office,
where three men were taking their morning dram. A
half-hour later, he found one of the men on the ground
outside, stiffening in death. In a drunken row which
quickly followed the friendly interchange of greetings
and health-drinkings he was stabbed with a knife by
one of his comrades. This was not an unusual occur
rence in that place where the first seven graves in the
cemetery were filled by men who met a bloody and
violent death.
The route from Bryan to the Sweetwater Mines ran
for much of the way along the old overland trail, be
tween the Missouri Biver and Sacramento. The Bannock
Indians who roved over this territory were incorrigibly
hostile, and on several occasions during the sixties at
tacked the stage-coaches. To guard as far as possible
against the perils of this wilderness road, the company
had constructed stockade forts at intervals of ten or twelve
miles ; and, when the Indians were known to be on the
war-path, arms were provided for the defense of the pas
sengers. Between these fortified relay stations the mule
or mustang teams, six to each coach, were driven at full
speed. As they approached the stockade, the double
gates were swung open and as soon as they were inside
they were closed behind them. Here in seclusion and
safety the necessary changes were made for the next run.
When Mr. Jackson made application in the early morn
ing for passage over this route he was apprised of the
danger of attack from hostile bands, which were known

An Indian attack on a frontier stage coach.

THE IOWA FORWARD MOVEMENT 115
to be hovering about along the line of the road, and was
given a loaded rifle to be used in defense of his life, in
case of need. A fellow passenger, bound for the same
destination, was provided with a similar outfit.
Through the long midsummer day, as the mule-team
raced from station to station, the occupants of the coach
were on the alert with weapons on their knees or close at
hand in anticipation of a surprise ; but happily for all
concerned no attack was made, and soon after nightfall
the end of the journey was reached in safety.
South Pass at this time had a population of 1,700 souls,
but its lodging-places were crowded with adventurers, and
the weary missionary was glad to accept of accommoda
tions in an untidy room, twelve feet square, in which
were three double beds. The basin of a mountain stream
in rear of the hotel furnished the only available place for
his morning ablutions. The charge for accommodations
of this character was four dollars per day.
In the morning, a notice was posted announcing a
preaching service — and, at a later hour, a boy was sent
out with a bell, who rang the changes also on the brief
sentence — "There will be preaching this evening in Mor
mon Gulch. ' ' The service was held in a large warehouse,
tendered and cleaned up for the purpose by one of the
citizens. Soon after this meeting-place was secured, a
man came across the way and offered his dance-hall, a
large canvas tent— 25x50 feet — and seemed quite disap
pointed when he learned that his offer came too late.
Before he left this community, Mr. Jackson was requested
to visit a dying miner. He found the man in a log hut —
8 x 12 feet — without floor or window. On his face was the
stamp of approaching death, and yet he was reading a
low novel. For this apparent incongruity he apologized,
saying that he could not obtain any better reading. The
man, who was still youthful in appearance, had been

116 SHELDON JACKSON
brought up in a home of wealth and refinement and was
a graduate of a well-known Eastern college. To this
dying stranger in "the far country," without comforts or
tender care, the old story of God's love and grace was
told and the missionary went his way.
Corinne, Utah, was reached on Friday, July 23d, and,
on the following Tuesday, Mr. Jackson took the stage
coach for Helena, Montana, five hundred miles distant.
The first day's experience was "hot, dusty, and unpleas
ant." On the evening of the fourth day of continuous
staging, the terminus of this northward journey was
reached ; and the weary, dust-covered traveller had an
unbroken night of rest. The next day, Saturday, he
made more than a hundred calls in Helena and secured
the names of those who were favourable to the assembling
of a congregation on the following Sabbath, and, if the
way should be clear, to the organization of a church.
His record of that day's work gives the following enumer
ation of professing Christians : — Presbyterians, twenty ;
Methodists, twenty ; Congregationalists, three ; Disciples,
six ; Episcopalians, fifteen ; Baptists, seven ; Roman
Catholics, five ; Unitarians, one ; Universalists, two ;
Friends, two.
The thoroughness of this house to house visitation is
specially notable, in view of the fact that it was the day
following a continuous ride of four days and nights in a
rough mountain coach.
On the Sabbath, two services were held in Helena, and
at the close of the first a Presbyterian church of twelve
members was organized. At this time, with the excep
tion of a few mission organizations among the Indians,
this was the only Presbyterian church within a radius of
one thousand miles. Returning by the same route,
Corinne was reached on the afternoon of Friday, August
6th. On the evening of the same day, this energetic her-

THE IOWA FORWARD MOVEMENT 117
aid of good tidings among the mountains preached to a
little congregation at Corinne and secured their coopera
tion in an attempt to support Mr. Hughes in the admin
istration of regular services. On the return journey over
the Union Pacific, several stops were made to confer with
missionaries whom he had sent out, or to organize churches
which they had gathered in the rapidly- growing towns
within their appointed spheres of labour. At each place
one or more services were held, lots were selected or se
cured for church buildings, and all the available forces
of the community were rallied to the support of the new
organization. At Rawlins, a pledge was given, through
an interested friend, for $1,000 towards the erection of a
house of worship, and a committee was appointed to se
cure additional funds and arrange for the building of the
house, at as early a date as possible. This church, being
the first to occupy the ground, absorbed for a time the
Christian element of the whole community.
It is an interesting fact that Columbus, where a church
was organized on the return journey, although usually
classed with towns of the "Far West," is in reality the
half-way town between Boston and San Francisco. This
mid-continental town, according to the prediction of
George Francis Train, is one day to be the capital of the
United States. If centrality of location were the only
' thing to be considered, this prosperous little city of the
plains has an incontestable claim to that honour.1
At Grand Island, a swarm of mosquitoes interfered with
the regular order of service, and well-nigh baffled the at
tempt to organize a church. The meeting for this pur-
1 The exact centre of the United States is said to be in Cloud
County, Kansas — fifty miles south of the southern border of Nebraska,
and not far from the great southern bend of the Republican Fork.
"This means that the Mississippi River at St. Louis is nearly 500 miles
east of the centre of the country."

118 SHELDON JACKSON
pose, as previously announced, was held in a school-
house. To guard against the interference of these pests
of the lowlands, — which for a time disputed, with fair
show of success, the claims of the early settlers to the pos
session and occupancy of the land — a man was sent an
hour before the time of assembly to build a smudge before
the door. He did his work well, but, despite the smoke,
the mosquitoes gathered in such numbers that it "was
not deemed expedient to preach." The assembly re
mained long enough, as the record assures us, to organize
a church and elect two good elders, after which the con
gregation beat a hasty retreat. The little church planted
hastily, amid an environment so hostile and unpromising,
was nevertheless a success from the beginning. Presuma
bly it stands on higher ground than the schoolhouse in
which it was born ; or perchance the law of the survival of
the fittest has worked to the disadvantage of the rapacious
hordes which once annoyed its worshippers. In any case,
it has grown steadily in numbers and influence, and at the
present time reports an enrollment of 315 communicants.
During this missionary tour, extending from July 15th
to August 17th, Mr. Jackson travelled 2,300 miles by rail
and 1, 200 by stage-coach, and at every stopping-place he
plunged at once into the work before him, regardless of
weariness or lack of sleep.
As a specimen of efficient, strenuous labour within a
marvellously brief space of time, note the following rec
ord of the organization of churches : —

August i ,

1869,

Helena, Montana.

« 8,

Rawlins, Wyoming

" IO,

Laramie, "

" 12,

Grand Island, Nebraska

" 13,

Columbus, "
" is,
- - - Blair, "
" 1 6,
Fremont, "
THE IOWA FORWARD MOVEMENT 119
The above with the church at Cheyenne organized on
the outward journey, make a total of eight churches, all
of which survive to this day.
A few days before Mr. Jackson's return from this mis
sionary tour the executive committee of the Board of
Domestic Missions reconsidered its former action and
commissioned him as district missionary for Nebraska,
Wyoming, and Colorado. The amount of salary appro
priated was $1,500, but no provision was made for travel
ling expenses in the prosecution of his work throughout
this vast extent of territory.
It appears from subsequent correspondence that it was
the intention of the Board to limit the field strictly to the
bounds prescribed in the commission ; but the work which
had been already commenced in Iowa, Montana, and
Utah, under the appointment of the Iowa presbyteries,
could not be abandoned at this time without detriment to
the cause and dereliction of interests to which he had
pledged his cooperation and support. Hence, he so in
terpreted the later commission as to include all the out
goings westward of the district named. As he himself
puts it: — "I went into the work west of the Missouri
River in the spirit of the appointment of the Presbytery
of Missouri Biver, May 1, 1869, understanding that I was
to look after all the destitute fields between Iowa and
Nevada, which was the great gap between the Eastern
churches and the Pacific coast : consequently, in 1869, be
fore the Board placed Colorado in my field, I was already
at work in all this region."
One of the most serious problems at this time, in con
nection with the oversight of the field to which he was
thus committed, arose from the necessity for suitable
houses of worship in each of the growing towns where
churches had been established. This urgent need could
not be supplied on the field itself, to any great extent,

120 SHELDON JACKSON
where a mere handful were holding the ground until the
coming of better days ; nor could it be supplied by the
Board of Church Erection, which was so straitened for
lack of funds that its ordinary obligations were met with
difficulty. In this emergency, as in other times of stress
and peril, the man of faith comes to the front and assumes
responsibilities from which under other circumstances he
would gladly have been relieved. It was necessary for
the success of the work that a special appeal should be
made to the Church at large, and, without hesitation,
Sheldon Jackson voiced that appeal. In this, he seems
to have been cordially supported by the Church Erection
Board, as well as by the individual members of the
church to whom he made his personal appeals. More
than this he did, however ; for when other helpers were
not available he assumed personal responsibilities and
signed contracts with building firms to avoid delay and
insure the continuance of the work. In the Rocky Moun
tain section and at some points on the plains, where
building material was very expensive, he met the diffi
culty by contracting with a Chicago firm which furnished
ready-made buildings, shipping them by rail to their
destination and putting them up on the ground to be oc
cupied, as specified in contract stipulations. Referring to
this novel expedient, a writer in the Baptist Standard of
that date, says : —

Our Presbyterian friends, through the Rev. Mr. Jackson,
agent for Church Extension in the Western territories, have
contracted with Lyman Bridges, Esq., of this city (Chicago)
for building seven or more churches at Cheyenne, Fremont,
Rawlins, and other prominent points on the line of the Union
Pacific Railroad. This is a practical occupation of this great
and growing field. Cannot our Baptist brethren profit by this
example ?

THE IOWA FORWARD MOVEMENT 121
Burdened with all of these growing responsibilities,
Mr. Jackson went to St. Louis, at that time the head
quarters of the Board of Church Erection, to urge more
liberal appropriations for his field. During the month of
October, he appeared in the synods and other public as
semblies in the Eastern states, to plead his cause in person.
On the return journey, he availed himself of the op
portunity to attend the adjourned meeting of the General
Assembly, in November, at Pittsburg, and marched in
the procession which joined hands on Wood Street with
the men of the New School column, "amidst welcomes,
thanksgivings, and tears."
At this assembly he was instrumental in securing the
passage of an ennabling act constituting the Presbytery
of Colorado ; and also the addition of the territories of
Utah and Montana to the field for which he was commis
sioned. In this commission, Iowa was not mentioned, and it was
the intention of the Board to connect it with another
field, but, as a matter of fact, all the churches organized
in Nebraska and beyond were still under the care of the
Presbytery of Missouri River, the border Presbytery of
Western Iowa. For this reason, and also with a view to
supplying the pressing necessities of this section until a
successor should be on the ground, Sheldon Jackson con
tinued to give a portion of his time to Western Iowa
until the date of his removal from Council Bluffs to
Denver. The last church organized by him in this state
was on the 30th of July, 1870, just before his departure
for his new home on the Colorado plains. With the for
mation of new presbyteries in the vast stretches of terri
tory west of Iowa, a new order of things arose and the
distinctively pioneer work of the Church passed from the
Missouri River to the farthest limits of the Rocky Moun
tains.

122 SHELDON JACKSON
The initial movement which contributed so much to
wards the extension and rapid growth of the Presbyterian
Church in this region, in 1870, and the decade following,
was limited to eight months of the year 1869, and about
four months of the year following.
Within this brief period, twenty-three churches were
organized, of which those on the remote limits were more
than 1,600 miles apart. During this memorable year,
the superintendent of this vast field travelled over 29,000
miles in the prosecution of his work, placing a watchman
on every high place of prominence, and occupying, with
a view to future advance, every strategic point in the new
centres of settlement and civilization. In that year, the
blue banner of Presbyterianism was planted for the first
time in the territories of Wyoming, Dakota, Montana,
and Utah.
Then, too, were laid the foundations of the Presbyteries
of Kearney, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado ; and, also,
of the Synods of Nebraska and Colorado ; each of which
covered an empire of magnificent proportions.
From whatever standpoint we view it, this was one of
the grandest missionary movements of modern times. It
opened up to the privileges of the Gospel seven states and
three territories, placing the Presbyterian Church in the
forefront of every one of them, and gave into our hands
that splendid and ever-growing domain — already a mighty
influence for good on this continent — now covered by five
synods, twenty-seven presbyteries, 579 churches, with an
enrollment of 68, 650 communicants ! ' ' Into these churches
since 1869 have been received 100,601 members on con
fession of their faith. And by these churches since 1869
has been contributed for missionary and religious pur
poses the sum of $15, 323, 292 1 "

VII
THE BEGINNINGS OF A GREAT MIDLAND SYNOD
"Our parish is a mighty nation, spreading from sea to sea. No
thought yet encompasses it. No man who cannot see over the sum
mits of the Rooky Mountains and out on the clear Pacific understands
the future of this nation and can provide for it." — Dr. C. L. Goodell.
THE pioneer minister of the Presbyterian Church
in the Rocky Mountain territories was the Bev.
Lewis Hamilton, of the Presbytery of St. Joseph,
New School. He crossed the plains with the advance
guard of the gold-seekers and adventurers in the spring
of 1859, and on the day after his arrival in Denver he ad
dressed a congregation of attentive hearers in an unfin
ished building which had been temporarily fitted up by
its owner for the occasion. At the suggestion of Horace
Greeley, who was then making a tour of exploration
through that portion of the "New West," Mr. Hamilton
followed the crowds who were going up into the moun
tains and preached as he had opportunity in the several
towns and camps of the mining regions. Meanwhile,
other ministers of the Gospel arrived from the East and
laboured in some sections for short periods, but owing to
the unsettled condition of the country no attempt was
made at that time to establish permanent churches.
The First Presbyterian Church of Denver was organized
with eleven members under the ministrations of the Rev.
H. S. Billingsly (O. S.), on the 16th of December, 1861.
This was the first organization, on home mission ground,
within the limits of the Rocky Mountain territories. It
123

124 SHELDON JACKSON
was taken under the care of the Presbytery of Missouri
River, and was subsequently transferred to the Presbytery
of Highlands, in Kansas. At a later date, November 18,
1868, a dissatisfied element of the congregation resolved to
place itself under the care of the New School branch of the
Church, and on the 10th of August, 1869, those who rep
resented this element, apparently a majority of the
Church, were received into the Presbytery of Chicago,
taking the name of the First Presbyterian Church of
Denver, New School. The former organization, although
greatly embarrassed by this action, maintained its ex
istence, and its pulpit was supplied by the Bev. C. M.
Campbell, under commission of the Board of Domestic
Missions. When the Presbytery of Colorado was or
ganized it was enrolled under its original title ; and, by
request of the congregation, the name was changed to
Westminster.1 The New School organization secured the pastoral
services of the Rev. E. P. Wells, of the Presbytery of
Chicago, and was transferred to the Presbytery of Colo
rado, on the 16th of August, 1870.
Three or four additional churches were organized in the
mountains, or alongside the foothills in Colorado, during
the sixties, but all of them were feeble, dependent upon
transient supplies, and practically without presbyterial
oversight or care.
When the union between the Old and New School
branches was consummated at Pittsburg, November, 1869,
there were but five churches existent, of the Presbyterian
type, within the limits of the territory. Ten years had
1 Through the energetic and indefatigable labours of the Rev. W. Y.
Brown, who took charge of this organization under commission of the
Board of Domestic Missions, in July, 1870, its growth was rapid, and
in 1872 the congregation completed and occupied a new house of wor
ship in a central part of the city.

A GREAT MIDLAND SYNOD 125
passed away since Father Hamilton had voiced the
cry of the Messenger of old, in this western wilderness : —
"Prepare ye the way of the Lord" — and yet the work
of evangelizing the tens of thousands who had come to
live and labour in this mountain section of the land, so
far as the Presbyterian Church was concerned, was de
plorably limited in its reach and pitifully meagre in its
results. Where they could do no more, the missionaries,
who, amid many discouragements, manned these outposts,
held the ground in anticipation of the coming of a better
day. The merging of the forces and influences of the re
united Church happily synchronized with the opening of
the new decade and contributed largely to the speedy in-
bringing of that day. By appointment of the General
Assembly, the year 1870 was set apart as a Memorial
Year, and long before its close there were substantial evi
dences of awakening interest and enlarging liberality in
every department of mission work.
To Sheldon Jackson, who was eagerly noting the signs
of the times, this was the golden hour of opportunity, and
he utilized it by bringing every influence he could exert
to bear upon the work which confronted him in the vast
stretch of mission territory committed to his care. In
anticipation of this hour, he had secured from the Old
School Assembly, a few hours before its dissolution, the
necessary legislation for the erection of a presbytery,
which should include all the churches already organized
in the Rocky Mountain territory north of New Mexico,
to be known as the Presbytery of Colorado. As soon,
thereafter, as it was practicable, he made arrangements,
in accordance with the provisions of the Enabling Act,
for convening and constituting it at Denver.
In the month of February, 1870, he entered the terri
tory of Colorado for the first time. At that date, there
were no railroad connections with Denver, and the trip

126 SHELDON JACKSON
from Cheyenne, — an all night ride — was made by stage
coach. On the 18th of February, the evening of the day
of his arrival, he convened the presbytery in the base
ment of the Baptist church and preached the opening ser
mon. The ministers who responded to the roll-call, under
the provisions of the Act of the Assembly, were A. R.
Day, C. M. Campbell, Sheldon Jackson, H. P. Peck, and
William Kephart. The Rev. Lewis Hamilton was re
ceived by letter from the Presbytery of St. Joseph (N. S.)
and was given the place of honour as the first moderator.
One of the veteran missionaries who responded to this
roll-call had spent thirty-two days in crossing the Plains
with his family ; another had driven a team of six mules
in an emigrant train over the same route when hostile
Indians disputed their passage and sought opportunities
day after day to harass or cut off some of the party in ex
posed situations by the way. To attend this meeting,
one of the missionaries had travelled 107 miles by stage
coach, and another, the convener, had journeyed more
than 600 miles. Four of the Rocky Mountain territor
ies, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Montana — were in
cluded in the limits of this presbytery at the date of its
organization. The churches enrolled were Denver first (O. S.), Black
Hawk, Boulder Valley, Upper St. Vrain, Cheyenne,
Laramie, Eawlins, and Helena. One-half of this number
had been recently organized by Sheldon Jackson in the
territories north of Colorado, and the remainder, as
already noted, belonged within the limits of that territory.
The New School Church of Denver was not included in
this enrollment, but at a subsequent meeting, in August
of the same year, it was received by letter from the Pres
bytery of Chicago. The immense extent of territory
covered by this presbytery may be inferred from the fact
that two of its churches, Denver and Helena, were a

Pioneer Missionaries in Colorado.
{For names see Appendix, page 480. Group 3.)

A GREAT MIDLAND SYNOD 127
thousand miles apart. The only available mode of trans
portation for six hundred miles of that distance was by
stage-coach, over exceptionally rugged roads.
The meeting of this little band of presbyters afforded
the first opportunity for concerted action, and, after its
routine business had been transacted, the body resolved
itself into a committee of the whole to devise ways and
means for supplying the spiritual destitution of the field
committed to their charge. With a view to more efficient
oversight and care, the General Assembly was requested
to limit the field to Colorado, by placing the ministers
and churches of the territories of Wyoming, Montana,
and Utah in a separate presbytery. This action was
taken in 1871, but, meanwhile, by direction of the As
sembly of 1870, the churches of Wyoming remained under
the supervision of the Synod of Southern Iowa, while
those in Colorado were assigned to the care of the Synod
of Kansas. Provision was made at the same time for
Utah Territory, by placing it under the care of the Synod
of the Pacific ; Montana was overlooked, and for a whole
year had no ecclesiastical connection, except with the
Presbytery of Colorado. Thus it appears that the
churches of this pioneer presbytery of the Bocky Moun
tains, during the first year of its existence, were distrib
uted among three widely-separated synods, reaching
from the borders of Iowa and Missouri to the shores of
the Pacific Ocean. The General Assembly of 1871 put an
end to this anomalous condition of ecclesiastical super
vision by creating the Synod of Colorado, which included
all the churches of Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado,
and New Mexico. In the last named territory, a presby
tery had been organized as early as June 2, 1868. It
was constituted with barely a quorum of ministers and
one ruling elder. One of its ministers was a home mis
sionary ; another was labouring among the Navajo In-

128 SHELDON JACKSON
dians under commission of the Foreign Board, and the
third was a chaplain in the United States Army at Fort
Craig. This ecclesiastical body, small as it was, com
prised all the ministers of the Gospel within the territory
of New Mexico, at that date, except one or two belonging
to. the Episcopal Church, who were serving as chaplains
in the United States Army. The church at Sante Fe,
which the ruling elder represented in this body, was
then the only organized Protestant church in the territory.
A few months later, when the Synod of Colorado was
constituted, it reported five ministers and two churches.
The Presbytery of Wyoming was constituted at Chey
enne on the 13th of June, 1871, with five ministers and
all the churches organized up to that date in the territor
ies of Montana, Utah, and Wyoming.
The Enabling Act, which placed the above named pres
byteries under one ecclesiastical organization was as
follows : —
" Resolved, — That the Synod of Colorado is hereby con
stituted, to consist of the ministers and churches in the
Presbyteries of Colorado, Santa Fe, and Wyoming : and
that said synod meet at Pueblo, Colorado, on the 4th day
of September, 1871, at 11 o'clock, a. m., and be opened
with a sermon by the Rev. Sheldon Jackson, or, in his
absence, by the oldest minister present, who shall preside
until a moderator be elected."
The synod met in accordance with this action, and was
opened with a sermon, but for lack of a quorum adjourned
to meet at the call of the moderator. This call was not
issued until the autumn of the next year — 1872 — when a
meeting was arranged for the 8th of September in the
church of Colorado Springs. At this time and place, a
quorum was present. Lewis Hamilton, the pioneer min
ister of Colorado, was elected moderator, and Sheldon
Jackson was made the stated clerk. Then for the first

A GREAT MIDLAND SYNOD 129
time in its history the synod took up the regular business
for which it was constituted. At this session, the follow
ing recommendation was unanimously approved : —
"Resolved, — That in the opinion of this synod there is
a great and increasing necessity for the constant and la
borious services of a synodical superintendent of missions,
within our bounds, and that we do most cordially bear
our united testimony to the untiring zeal, faithfulness,
and efficiency of the Rev. Sheldon Jackson, our present
synodical missionary, and to his eminent fitness for this
department of church work ; and we respectfully petition
the Board of Home Missions to recommission him for
another year."
For more than two years prior to this official endorse
ment, Mr. Jackson had been at work in every portion of
this vast outlying territory, under direction and com
mission of the Home Board. Three years later, by en
actment of the General Assembly, Arizona was added to
the Synod of Colorado. As thus constituted and en
larged, this ecclesiastical body covered six of the great
territories of the Rocky Mountain section. It has usually
been classified with the synods of the " Far West," but
in reality it was located in the eastern portion of the great
West. Its border line eastward was less than three hun
dred miles west of the longitude of Columbus, the central
station on the line of the transcontinental railroad. This
midland synod separated the eastern portion of the
Church from the western — the Atlantic slope and Missis
sippi Valley from the rugged mountains and sunny plains
of the Pacific slope. Through it ran the great backbone
ridge of the continent, — the mineral ridge of the United
States, — with its priceless stores of silver and gold, and
its new cities and mining camps springing up like magic
in many places that hitherto had been regarded as inac
cessible and unfit for human abode.

130 SHELDON JACKSON
Its most noteworthy feature, however, was the immeii-
sity of its reach, especially from north to south. In this
direction, it extended from the Canadian boundary to the
borders of Mexico, a distance of more than twelve hun
dred miles. In width, this mountain district averaged
about three hundred and seventy miles. Its aggregate
area was 670,393 square miles, an area almost equal to
one-fifth of the entire surface of the United States, ex
clusive of Alaska.
Stating it in another form, this princely domain was as
large as the combined empires of Great Britain, Germany,
France, and Italy, — not including their colonial posses
sions. It covered a field ten times larger than all of the New
England States ; a province larger than all the country
between the Missouri River and the Atlantic Ocean, from
the Lakes to the Ohio River ; — an area as large as the
space covered by twenty-seven synods in the East !
In the spring of 1872, the General Assembly created
the Presbytery of Montana and assigned to it that por
tion of the Presbytery of Wyoming which was included
in the territories of Montana and Utah. At the meeting
of the synod in 1874 the Presbytery of Wyoming was di
vided. The portion of it east of the main ridge, including
the churches of Rawlins, Laramie, and Cheyenne, was
transferred to the Presbytery of Colorado. The western
portion was joined to the territory of Utah, and the name
was changed to the Presbytery of Utah. From this date
until the end of the decade, the synod consisted of four
presbyteries, viz.: — Colorado, Utah, Montana, and
Santa Fe. In order to secure a quorum for the* meetings
of synod, during this period, which were usually held in
or near Denver, it was necessary to have a representative
from Montana on the north or from Santa Fe" on the
south. If he came from the north, he was obliged to

A GREAT MIDLAND SYNOD 131
travel, on the round trip, 800 miles by stage-coach and
1,300 by rail ; if from the more remote stations of the
south, the journey back and forth involved 1,600 miles
of staging and over 200 by rail. In either case, the aver
age expense for the journey was about $125. The longest
of these direct journeys is but 150 miles less than the
distance from Chicago to Denver, and yet it would have
been easier and not much more expensive at that time to
have travelled all the way from the city of New York to
attend one of the meetings of this synod. For this
reason, there were but three business meetings during the
period of the seventies, viz. : in 1872, 1874, and 1878.
This synod was as notable for its altitude as for its
great extent. The places in which its churches were lo
cated were elevated from 5,000 to 10,000 feet above the
sea. Several of its churches had an average elevation of
8,000 feet, or the equivalent of about one and a half miles
skyward. The average elevation of the first group of
twenty-five churches, which were organized within its
limits, was 6,146 feet. It was no uncommon thing for
those who sought for the wandering sheep of Christ's fold
in this "hill country " to be lost in the clouds, or to labour
for hours in the snows of mountain passes in the attempt
to fill an appointment : or to meet with their brethren of
the same presbytery in the foothills or on the sunny
plains, who were enjoying the comforts of the land in the
fullness of its spring-time.
The population of this synodical province, which
throughout its vast extent was home mission ground, was
singularly diverse and incongruous in its elements and
beliefs. The multitudes which had entered it from the
year that gold had been discovered within its borders
were made up of adventurers and home seekers from
every quarter of the globe. Alongside of the best repre
sentatives of Christian culture and civilization were the

132 SHELDON JACKSON
lawless and debased, the unfortunates and degenerates of
human society, who are always found in force in the new
settlements on the frontier. Here, in close contact with
the best and worst of the Anglo-Saxon race, were Indi
ans and Half-breeds, Mexicans and Mormons, Chinese
and Japanese, whose lives and habits and influences were
at variance with the underlying influences and principles
which from the beginning of its history have made our
land stable and strong. In one of its largest and most
prosperous sections, Mormonism, with its corrupting in
fluences, was strongly entrenched and defiantly outspoken
and aggressive. In other sections, there were groups of
Indian settlements, which in the aggregate amounted to
one-third of the Indian population of the country ; while
in the South there were not less than 130,000 natives of
Mexican and Spanish descent, deplorably ignorant and
superstitious, who could only be reached effectively
through the combined influence of the Christian school
and Church.
To this field of labour, so vast in extent, so rich in
natural resources, so important in view of its prospective
growth, and so diverse and incongruous in the elements
which made up its native and emigrant population, —
Sheldon Jackson gave more than a decade of the busiest
and most fruitful years of his strenuous life.
With unfaltering courage and ready tact, he met the
difficulties and overcame the obstacles which confronted
him on every hand. With apostolic fervour and zeal he
explored the "regions beyond" as the advance agent of
the Church, preaching the Gospel to little groups who
had pushed out beyond its privileges ; and, where the
way seemed to open up, establishing churches and
schools, which, with few exceptions, became permanent
centres of spiritual life and wholesome influence.
While intensely loyal to the Church which commis-

A GREAT MIDLAND SYNOD 133
sioned him to do this work, he gladly lent a helping hand
to every agency which had for its object the extension of
Christ's kingdom throughout this vast domain, and was
deeply interested, also, in everything that related to the
development of its natural resources and possibilities.
Referring to this period of his life and activity, the
Rev. Dr. Duncan J. McMillan, the well-known ex-secre
tary of the Board of Home Missions, writes : —
Dr. Jackson was the great leader in the Rocky Mountains,
not only in church matters, but also in material interests. In
those early days, with pen and tongue he did more than any
other man to make known to the world the resources and pos
sibilities of that region. Gifted with a seer's vision, the possi
bilities of our great West were as real to him at the begin
ning of its development a generation ago as the accomplished
facts are to every intelligent citizen to-day. He wrought for
the future as if it were present, hence he was misunderstood
and often censured by men who could not see afar off.
For the reason given by Dr. McMillan, Sheldon Jack
son was favoured, as few men outside of political circles
or railroad connections have ever been, with free trans
portation and reduced rates. Regarding him as a valu
able helper in the civilization and development of the
regions in which their own interests were centred, the
officials of these companies readily responded to his ap
plications for transportation over long distances, for him
self, or for reduced fare for the missionaries whom he sent
out to the unoccupied fields. In this matter he was
greatly assisted by the Rev. John L. French, who had
many friends among the proprietors of the stage lines.
These favours were freely given on railroads and stage
lines among the mountains where the fare usually ranged
from ten to twenty-five cents per mile. As a result of
this friendly cooperation, thousands of dollars were saved
to the treasury of the Home Board every year.

134 SHELDON JACKSON
With scarcely an exception, all the rail and stage lines
in the West, such as the " Overland Mail," the " Gilmer,
Salisbury & Co.," the "Southern Pacific" mail line —
then the longest stage line in the United States — the
Colorado Stage Co., and perhaps a score or more of other
lines liberally furnished these facilities year by year for
reaching the missionary outposts.
The most notable of all the long-distance transportation
cards which Dr. Jackson has preserved is an annual for
the year 1880, issued by the Gilmer, Salisbury & Co.
Stage Line, which was good for free passage over all the
lines of this company in Utah, Nevada, California,
Colorado, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Idaho,
Montana, Dakota, Washington Territory, Wyoming, and
Nebraska. This interesting memento of travel in the western half
of the United States, a generation ago, has been copied
for this work. It is a silent witness to the wonderful
energy of the men who were able to effect such a combi
nation over a territory almost as large as one-half of the
surface of the country, as well as of their appreciation of
the hardy traveller who was unselfishly labouring for the
best and highest interests of this rapidly developing por
tion of the land. During the year for which this pass
was given, — and for some time before — Sheldon Jackson
had been looking after the interests of the natives
in far-away Alaska, in addition to the work which
engaged his attention in his own great field, and these
favours of the transportation companies enabled him
to visit some remote points to the north and south,
which, without this timely assistance, could not have
been reached.
Referring to this period of his active labours Dr.
Edward Payson Tenney, of the Congregational Church,
ex-president of Colorado college, says : —

-"'•^Bae^Ss^S

\&^^^^m

mm ^

(f&.^A&JazLcTn,

X^<Un\,

~- - -_- OVEli Ol'RI.rXKS -—
DURING THE YEAR 1880 UNLESS OTHERWISE ORDER

:.. . On Account &V*J*JLjZLl

THIS PASS IS VOIO UNLESS COUNTERSIGNED
BY

~ 5 2
S z Si
o - c

E^" This Pass is God cvor ail Lines ia Utah, California, Colorado, Nevada, Tosao,
Arirona, How iiosico, Nebraska., Oregon, Washington Territory,
Idaho, Dahota, M ntana and Wyoming.
.•Gilmer, Salisbury & Co's Stage Lines. &§
This Ticket is issued by the above named Company, and accepted by the per
son herein named, on the conditions herein set forth:
The person who accepts this Ticket thereby assumes all risk of accidents, and in
consideration of its receipt, expressly agrees that the above Company shall not be
liable under any circumstances, whether by negligence— criminal or otherwise— of
it> agents or others, (nr any injury to the person, or for luss or injury to property
while using tliis Ticket, artel that as to such person the above Company shall not
be considered as common earner?, or liable as such.
KOT TRANSFERASIiE.
This Ticket is KOT TRANSFERABLE, and if presented by any other per-
gor than the parly issued to, ihe Agent will take it up, collecting \ ull Stage Fake.

I hereby agree that this Ticket is subject in the above condition i

1880.

^JH^££>lcr^^- ~>rCt Cy/t^T*^--^

(*IGN IN INK..

"Why He Could Afford to Travel."
Facsimile of an annual stage pass covering fourteen states and
territories. Without free transportation on stage lines, railroads,
steamships, U. S. revenue cutters and naval vessels, the extent of
Dr. Jackson's work would have been greatly abridged.

A GREAT MIDLAND SYNOD 135
He has proved to be one of the most energetic, self-deny
ing, useful men in the Far West. When he mounts his horse
at Denver he is not so far from the equator as he is from the
most neglected part of his own district. Mount Franklin, in
the edge of the Polar Sea, is nearer New York than the dis
tance Sheldon Jackson travels in passing from the southeast
corner of his parish to Sitka in the northwest. It is needless
to say that this man, inured to hardship, and more enterpris
ing than any commercial traveller, looks fully after every part
of the work committed to him.
This work wal of necessity exceptional, and in some
respects without precedent. Much of it was beyond the
limit or practical control of the presbyteries in which he
laboured, and there was a necessity for personal supervi
sion and the assumption of personal responsibility, which
did not exist in the smaller fields and older settlements.
His answer to those who charged him with undue assump
tion of authority in the prosecution of his work, was in
substance this : —
" The field was so new and so vast that I could not con
fer with either presbytery or Mission Board. I was com
pelled to act on my own responsibility and judgment.
But upon the first opportunity, which was usually not
longer than six months, I reported to presbytery my
action, which was then ratified, and the churches I had
organized were received and enrolled, by action of
presbytery, in due form. As the area of the terrritory
was cut up into smaller divisions, the presbyteries were
able to look after their destitute fields more efncienTly,
and I was not obliged to take so much responsibility. In
the earlier days, however, it was only by assuming re
sponsibility that I was able to accomplish my work."
District supervision was more popular with the .New
School branch than with the Old, in the decade which
preceded the Union, and the employment of field or dis
trict secretaries, — as they were termed — to meet the new

136 SHELDON JACKSON
and unprecedented conditions which had arisen, resulted
in a marked increase of interest, and of contributions
also, in connection with the work on the frontier.
In the Old School branch, they were designated as
district missionaries. The initial letters of this title were
sometimes facetiously interpreted to mean Doctor of Mis
sions, a degree more honourable in the case of some of
these faithful servants of the Church than any subsequent
honour conferred upon them by the favour of college or
university. The appointment of able .and alert men for
this work was a concession to the labourers at the front,
but the necessity for this action was not clearly appre
hended by many in the church, while by others it was re
garded as a dangerous departure in the direction of
prelacy or unauthorized assumption of power. After the
reunion, the importance of this exceptional pioneer work
was more fully recognized, and those who were commis
sioned to engage in it were designated as synodical mis
sionaries. The temporary character of the work was em
phasized, however, by the requirement that the recom
mendation for such appointments should be made year by
year, and a renewal was never granted except at the re
quest of the body within whose bounds the service was to
be rendered. As thus guarded and limited, it has become
an accepted agency of the Church and is in reality as
thoroughly Presbyterian in its workings as any other office
of representative character which has been called into
being to meet the exigencies of aggressive mission work.
The colourless designation — synodical missionary — which
might apply with equal propriety to any missionary of
the synod, does not convey an adequate idea, however, of
the timely and splendid service which such men as Henry
Little, A. J. Norton, Timothy Hill, Thos. Frazer on the
Pacific slope and Sheldon Jackson rendered to the Church
in this critical period of awakening and opportunity.

A GREAT MIDLAND SYNOD 137
They were the heralds of the Good Tidings, the advisers
and helpers of discouraged missionaries and struggling
churches, the organizers of Christian society, the leaders
of men by Divine ordering and appointment, who, with
consummate ability, each in his place, superintended the
mission work in the important field committed to his care.
The publication of the Rocky Mountain Presbyterian
was commenced at Denver, March, 1871, with the
design of bringing the Presbyterians of the territories
into closer communication with each other ; and also of
making the churches of the East acquainted with the ur
gent needs and marvellous possibilities of this new land.
Sheldon Jackson was its sole editor and proprietor ; and
during the ten years of its existence it was sent to all the
ministers on the Assembly-roll, — free of charge. Where
gifts or subscriptions were sent by churches or individuals
they were received with thanks. The writer has seen
scores of letters of appreciation and thankful acknowledg
ment for helpful information received through its col
umns, and in one of these there is mention of a gift of $500,
which was sent by an appreciative friend to assist in the
expense of its publication. Thus with pen and tongue
and pictorial illustration the living realities of the mis
sion work on the frontier were kept before the minds of
the Church and its ministry.
During the entire period of Dr. Jackson's missionary
labours in this Bocky Mountain Synod, the executive
department of the Home Mission Board was administered
jointly by Drs. Henry Kendall and Cyrus Dickson. In
these great and good men, who " had understanding of
the times, to know what Israel ought to do," the mission
aries on the frontier found generous supporters and sym
pathetic helpers in their aggressive work. The period in
which they served the Church in this capacity was pre
eminently the hour of advance and opportunity ; and

138 SHELDON JACKSON
never in its history was the cause they represented advo
cated with more ability or managed with greater
efficiency. ¦
Dr. Kendall had served the New School Church in the
same capacity for nine years before he was called to this
position in the United Church ; he was thoroughly con
versant with the whole field, in so far as it was opened up
to civilization and settlement. In 1864, he crossed the
plains with the gold-seekers and adventurers and visited
many of the most notable settlements and mining camps
as far west as Nevada, California, and Oregon, in order
that he might more intelligently provide for their spirit
ual interests.
Dr. Kendall was tall in stature, dignified in bearing,
impressive in appearance, and winsome in manner, de
spite the look of sternness which sometimes came over his
face. When he rose to speak on his favourite theme, he
was the very embodiment of a man charged with a mes
sage of thrilling import — a message which came from a
heart all aglow with devotion to God and country.
Dr. Dickson, the representative of the Old School
branch of the Church, was called to this service from a
church in Baltimore. He regarded the office, which
came to him unsought, as one of commanding influence
and importance ; and when at length the way was clear
to its acceptance he gave himself unreservedly to its claims
and duties.
He was not so impressive in appearance, so deliberate
in judgment, or so masterful in influence overmen, as his
stalwart colleague, but he stood foremost among all the
platform orators of his day, when pleading the cause of
the men at the front ; or when seeking to arouse the
Church to a sense of its responsibility and duty in con
nection with the winning of the whole land for Christ.
His addresses on such occasions were rare combinations

A GREAT MIDLAND SYNOD 139
of argument and appeal, tenderness and pathos, wit and
wisdom ; and as he rose to the full tide of eloquence his
face glowed with the deep feeling which stirred his own
soul, and the entire audience was held as though spell
bound to the last word.
The authority exercised by these notable " chiefs of the
captains" was sometimes questioned, and their acts were
frequently the subjects of severe criticism, — as in the case
of their agents and representatives in the mission field, —
but it was a time when a firm hand was needed : and, as
new issues arose, they could only be met by the exercise
of a discretionary power which sometimes seemed at
variance with the precedents and traditions of the past.
The results of their work, as we see them to-day, however,
are the best justification of the course they pursued.
The variety and aggressive character of Sheldon Jack
son's work, under their inspiration and direction, maybe
inferred from the following items, culled from his annual
report to the Board for 1871, — the first full year of his
labours within the bounds of the Colorado Synod: —
Churches organized — 5 ; churches supplied with preach
ing services — 15; ministers located — 8; houses of worship
built or in process of building — 6 ; lot secured for church
buildings — 37 ; funds secured outside the field — $4,000 ;
amount saved to the Board for transportation of self and mis
sionaries, by securing passes, or reduced rates — $3,000; total
of miles travelled in prosecution of the work — 29,055.
Later reports show an increasing amount of responsi
bility, correspondence, and travel, and one is at a loss to
know how enough waking hours could be secured during
the busy years of that memorable decade for the work
which was undertaken and accomplished.
Thus were the foundations laid within this vast and
rapidly-growing empire for the strong and vigorous

140 SHELDON JACKSON
churches which have influenced the thought and governed
the life of many thousands of its inhabitants for an entire
generation, and have given to Christianity, of the Pres
byterian type, a place of commanding influence through
out the Bocky Mountain regions.
The details of the work, as inaugurated and carried on
by Sheldon Jackson and his associates in each of the im
mense territories included in this synod, will be told in
the chapters which follow. It is fitting, however, that
mention be made in this place of the wonderful growth of
these organizations in the entire field, as shown by the
most recent reports to the General Assembly, the latest
being for the year 1907 : —
In 1870, there were in this great Midland Synod but
eight feeble churches (not one of which was self-support
ing) six ministers, and three presbyteries, with scarcely a
quorum in either of them for the transaction of business.
Within the same limits, as shown by the statistical report
of 1908, there are now sixteen presbyteries, 315 ordained
ministers and 367 churches. The aggregate of the offer
ings made by these churches during the year was more
than twenty million dollars. Where one synod held the
ground in 1870 there are now four synods ; where the
membership in the aggregate was less than 500, there are
now 32,007 communicant members, and a Sabbath- school
membership of 34,018 ; where there were no distinctively
Christian schools or colleges, there are now four col
leges and fifty-three schools for the exceptional popula
tion under the care of the Woman's Board of Home Mis
sions, itself an outgrowth of the work of the same synod.
This is the Lord's doing, — albeit through the use of
human instrumentalities, — and it is marvellous in our
eyes.

VIII
PIONEER WORK IN COLORADO
' ' Zeal and duty are not slow ;
But on occasion's forelock watchful wait."

-Milton.

THE territory of Colorado, which was carved out
of the richest section of the Bocky Mountains,
covered a spacious domain, larger than the com
bined areas of the states of New York, Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, and Delaware. Its reach from north to south
is 280 miles ; from east to west, 370 miles. It came into
being as a distinct province of the United States in 1861,
the fateful year which ushered in the Civil War. Its
growth in population was seriously retarded by this great
struggle ; and for some time after its close the Indians
were a constant menace to those who attempted to cross
the plains by coach or with the emigrant trains. As this
memorable decade drew to its close, the way to the moun
tains was made easy and safe by the completion of the
Union Pacific Bailroad. About the same time, rich de
posits of silver were discovered in some sections of the
mountains and a new impulse was given to emigration
and the development of the country.
When Sheldon Jackson reached Denver, in the month
of "February, 1870, he found a typical Western town with
only 4,000 inhabitants. It was all astir with life, how
ever, and the prophecy of its coming greatness could be
distinctly read in the movements on foot for its enlarge-
141

142 SHELDON JACKSON
ment and easy communication with the outside world,
as well as in the confident assertions of its zealous pro
moters and public-spirited citizens. That this confidence
was not misplaced, was attested by the increase of its
population in two years from this date to 10,000 souls.
On the 28th of June, 1870, the first train on the Denver
Pacific road entered the city of Denver, and from this
date regular connections were made with the transconti
nental road at Cheyenne. In the summer of the same
year, the Kansas Pacific pushed its way across the plains
to Denver, opening up direct communication with the
East. Meanwhile, preparations were being made for the
building of a railroad southward to Pueblo, and of a nar-
row-guage line westward into the heart of the mining
regions in the mountains. There were evidences, also,
of awakening interest and unusual developments in all
the towns and mining settlements of the territory.
Becognizing in these signs of the times the hour of op
portunity, this indefatigable missionary of the cross,
whose .enthusiasm in his Master's cause was as intense as
it was contagious, took up at once the1 burden of responsi
bility, which, in the providence of God, had been as
signed to him. After a brief conference with the breth
ren of the newly constituted presbytery, with respect to
the supply of the most needy places, he engaged passage
for the Monday morning following in a stage-coach bound
for Southern Colorado.
The route was over the Arkansas Divide, better known
as the "Stormy Divide," whose summit, some fifty miles
south of Denver, rises to an altitude approximating that
of Sherman, the highest point on the line of the Union
Pacific road. The objective point of the first day's
journey was Colorado City, at the base- of Pike' a Peak,
about eighty miles from Denver. Mr. Jackson's fellow
travellers on this trip were a ranchman, an ex-member

PIONEER WORK IN COLORADO 143
of the legislature, a Spanish speculator, a French miner,
and an invalid from the East. All were heavily armed,
and the principal topic of conversation was a horse race
which was to take place in the southern part of the terri
tory the next day. After a time the fumes of tobacco be
came so dense that the missionary contingent of this oddly
assorted party was obliged to take refuge with the driver
on the box outside. His destination was reached in safety
late in the night. The next morning diligent search was
made for members or adherents of the Presbyterian Church,
but without success. Afterwards, ten or twelve com
municant members were found, but as he went from house
to house that morning his questions were almost uniformly
met with the response,— " There are none in this section."
While making an attempt to secure a building belonging
to the Methodist Church for a public meeting, a man came
up to him in haste, as if fearful he might escape him, and,
seizing his hand, said, " I am John Irvine, a Presbyterian
elder. I have heard that you are a Presbyterian minis
ter, and I want you to come with me to my home."
"Yes," was the reply, "I am ; and will go with you with
pleasure. Where do you live?" "About twenty-five
miles down here," said the man, pointing in the direction
he expected to take. This reply was a little startling for
the moment, but Mr. Jackson reaffirmed his acceptance
of the invitation, and soon thereafter the start for this un
expected journey was made.
A good pair of mules, in fine condition, and accustomed
to the road, made the miles appear short, and in due time
the ranch of John Irvine was reached. The next morn
ing, Mr. Irvine's son was mounted on a broncho and sent
forth to summon the people of the neighbourhood to a
preaching service in the evening. At the appointed
time, an attentive congregation, numbering sixty persons,
was assembled in two of the adjacent rooms of the house.

144 SHELDON JACKSON
Under this hospitable roof, two days were spent with
pleasure and profit, and, on the morning of the third,
the guest whom they had welcomed so heartily in the
name of his Master, was furnished with a pony and rode
to Pueblo on the Arkansas Biver. On the Sabbath fol
lowing — February 27th — a large assembly which filled the
court room of the place to overflowing, attested the inter
est felt in the organization of a Presbyterian church.
This organization was effected with four members, John
Irvine and his wife living on a ranch sixteen miles dis
tant, and two women living in the village. John Irvine
was chosen and installed ruling elder. The Methodist
minister of the village and a minister of the Cumberland
Presbyterian Church, who had travelled forty-five miles
for the purpose, took part in this service, and also in the
celebration of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, which
immediately followed it. This service, reviving so many
precious associations of worship in far-away Eastern
homes, was one of unusual tenderness and heartfelt joy.
"The preciousness of such scenes," says Dr. Jackson,
"as were witnessed on that Sabbath, in this frontier vil
lage, must be seen and felt to be realized. Could our
young ministers know of the joy of such labours, they
would the more earnestly ask to be sent to the front."
This was the first church organized by the superintend
ent of missions in Colorado, and the results have abun
dantly attested the wisdom of establishing and nourishing
it in the day of small things. The following tribute of
appreciation from Edward Trumbull Lee, D. D., LL. D.,
a former pastor of this church, is worthy of a place in
this connection : —
Dr. Jackson was a wonder in those busy days. He was
raised up of God to do that important work. The church
which I served in Pueblo, the First Presbyterian, was organ
ized by him with four members, three of whom were women,

PIONEER WORK IN COLORADO 145
and one of the women was the wife of the one man. Now
that church worships in a fifty thousand dollar stone building,
all paid for; has over five hundred members, and is the mother
of four other churches in the same town, three of which are
self-supporting ; and one of them, the Mesa church, is vigor
ous and strong. No work tells so powerfully as work done for
God. It is the greatest work on earth. What are the conquests
of Alexander or Napoleon in comparison with the conquests
of Marcus Whitman and Sheldon Jackson ! I take off my hat
to these two missionaries. The latter was made moderator of
our General Assembly, and the Church was never more hon
oured by the personality which occupied the moderator's chair
than in that Assembly.
On the day following the Sabbath spent at Pueblo, a
church was organized at Colorado City, with five mem
bers. Four years later, this congregation transferred its
membership to the more favourably located church at
Colorado Springs. Meanwhile, it did its appointed work
in a needy community. The return journey was made
by stage-coach to Denver. The following morning, the
superintendent started on another circuit, which included
the principal mining settlements in the heart of the
mountains. Six spirited horses drew the large Concord
coach in which he had taken passage, at a rapid pace
over the plains to the foothills, up a famous canon amid
scenes of savage grandeur, and over three mountain
ridges covered with snow to Gregory Gulch, the most
notable at that time of all the gold-mining settlements
in the territory. From this place a trip was made to
Georgetown, the centre of the silver-mining district,
twenty miles distant, where a church of sixteen members
was organized. The next day, Mr. Jackson attended an
adjourned meeting of presbytery at Black Hawk. Dur
ing the session of this body he went over with a committee
to Idaho Springs, where a church with thirteen members
was organized. On the return journey, another church

146 SHELDON JACKSON
was organized at Golden, situated at the gateway of Clear
Creek Carton, with four members. Thus within a fort
night of the most inclement season of the year services
were held at several widely separated points and six
churches were organized, all of which, except the one
merged into the prosperous church of Colorado Springs,
remain and are in good condition to-day. The number
of miles travelled on this double circuit, by stage or other
conveyance, was but little short of five hundred.
With the understanding that his field of labour would be
restricted to the mountain territories already named, under
the adjustments about to be made by the secretaries of the
united church, Sheldon Jackson decided to transfer his
place of residence to Denver, — then the key to all the
Bocky Mountain territories — as soon as he could com
plete the work he had undertaken in the interests of the
churches in Nebraska and Western Iowa. In anticipa
tion of this removal, he purchased some desirable lots in
one of the new additions, before he left Denver. At a
subsequent visit, in July, he contracted for the building
of a house. On the 5th of August, he shipped his house
hold goods to Denver, and came on in advance of his
family to look after some important interests of the work
in Colorado and New Mexico. One of the immediate re
sults of his labours at this time was the organization of a
church at Greeley. This place was laid out by the
"Union Colony " of New York, in the spring of 1870, as
a temperance settlement ; and from the first it was noted
for its thrift, intelligence, and high moral tone. The
Presbyterian church, because of this timely action, has
been an important factor in the religious development of
the community, as well as in the town since its establish
ment. At the present time it has an enrollment of 250
communicants. As soon as he had completed the work
he had outlined for this tour, Mr. Jackson went to Gales-

PIONEER WORK IN COLORADO 147
burg for his family, and returned with them to Denver
on the 24th of September. Soon after their arrival,
Mrs. Jackson was prostrated with a fever. About the
same time two of her daughters developed symptoms of
scarletina, which took its usual course without serious
results. Not long afterwards, the infant daughter of the
household was stricken with a disease which baffled the
skill of the physicians, and in the end proved to be fatal.
This little one, born at Council Bluffs on the 1st day of
January, 1870, was named "Louise," after her aunt,
Louise Jackson Norcross, Mr. Jackson's only sister. On
the day following her death — October 31st — the bereaved
father carried the precious remains back to Galesburg,
where they were interred by the side of "Mary Helen,"
another child of the household who died at this place
September 28, 1861.
Denver was the home of the Jackson family for almost
eleven years, but it was only at rare intervals during this
period that the head of the household had the opportunity
to spend an unbroken fortnight or more with his family
in the enjoyment of it. Its doors were always open, how
ever, to the wayfaring minister or the tourist from the
East, who sought information concerning this vast mis
sionary field ; and there were but few of the missionary
labourers who entered it, in the early days, who did not
find in this hospitable home a resting-place and a warm
welcome after the fatiguing experiences of a long over
land journey. With easy grace and wonderful skill,
Mrs. Jackson ordered the affairs of her household, despite
the extraordinary demands which were ofttimes made
upon her time and strength, and, in some instances, upon
her patience, also. Such as she had for the use of her
own family she gave to her stranger guests without dis
play or apology, in the spirit and with the grace of
genuine hospitality.

148 SHELDON JACKSON
Of Mary Jackson's part in the great work to which her
husband was so fully committed, not much has been
written, except in the book of remembrance on high ; but
in the administration of this service, so faithfully rendered
in the Master's name, it may be truly recorded of her :
" She hath done what she could."
The growth of population and the development of new
industries throughout the territory were so rapid and
continuous prior to its admission as a state, in the year
1876, that the superintendent was obliged to give to it a
larger portion of his time than to all the remainder of his
great field combined. While constantly on the alert for
favourable times and opportunities to plant churches in
the new centres of growth and influence, he had more
than enough work to occupy his full time in supplying,
strengthening, and keeping alive the feeble churches
already established. At a later period, it was compara
tively easy to secure temporary supplies until pastors
could be secured, but at this time there were not enough
resident or visiting ministers to keep pace with the growth
of the country and the necessary extension of the Church
and its privileges. Hence, for some years after his re
moval to Denver, Sheldon Jackson went from church to
church preaching on the Sabbath, administering the
sacraments, presiding at congregational meetings, giv
ing counsel, aid, and encouragement ; and, in so far
as possible, consistently with the claims of other por
tions of his field, doing for the community within
his reach the full work of a pastor at large. These
roundabout journeys, undertaken at all seasons of the
year, covered distances ranging from thirty to two hun
dred miles.
During this period sixteen churches, exclusive of the
six already mentioned, were organized. Three of this
number were in mining camps, where they served their

Sheldon Jackson. 1880.

Mrs. Sheldon Jackson, ii

PIONEER WORK IN COLORADO 149
purpose for a time and were disbanded by the removal
of the population ; another at Evans, the seat of a colony
organized in 1870, was merged in 1877 with the church
of Greeley. Seven of the fourteen which remain to this
day report communicant members as follows : — (1907)
Trinidad, 233; Longmont, 235; Collins, 482; Boulder,
801 ; Canon City, 836 ; Colorado Springs, 1,290. The last
named organization is the mother of two churches in the
same city, and has a national reputation for its efficiency,
missionary zeal, and generous responses to the various
beneficent agencies of the Church. This church, organ
ized with eleven members, July 2, 1872, on a site which
less than a year before was a rolling mesa without in
habitants, and worth but $1.25 per acre, was carefully
nurtured for several years by the Home Board, amid
many discouragements and reverses, but it has grandly
repaid all the labour and care expended upon it.
Within the past decade (1897-1907), it has contributed
more than $100,000 for congregational expenses and a
sum total of nearly $25,000 for the work of the several
Boards. In the newer portions of the country there were many
places at this time in which it was not advisable to estab
lish churches, because of the shifting character of the
population, where multitudes were living without the
privileges of the Gospel, to whom Mr. Jackson ministered,
as he had opportunity, on his journeys back and forth
among the churches. His vacation tours among the
mountains afforded the opportunity to visit many an out-
of-the-way camp or community, where he had the privi
lege of preaching the Gospel for the first time. An
instance in point is given by Dr. H. M. Field, who spent
a portion of the summer of 1871 in Colorado. At the
close of an interesting description of the country and the
condition of the churches, he adds : —

150 SHELDON JACKSON
That indefatigable worker, the Rev. Sheldon Jackson, is
prospecting around in all parts of the territory, hunting up lost
sheep on the mountains and sowing the good seed by all waters.
At a mining camp on Mount Bross, where as yet only two of
the workmen had brought their families and were living in
homes, the question was asked, " Do you ever have preaching
up here ? " " Oh, yes," was the reply, " Sheldon Jackson was
here last Sunday and we all met in this building — a house for
crushing ore — the largest in the place ; arid he stood upon the
engine and gave us a rousing sermon." That, says the writer,
is the sort of men needed in these frontier settlements — men
who can "stand on an engine" and preach. My friend Jack
son, I know, would not hesitate, if he thought he could reach
an old hardened sinner, to mount a locomotive and let fly a
Gospel message at a group by the wayside while going at a
speed of forty miles an hour.
The following extract from the correspondence of the
Eev. Dr. Eobert F. Sample, who spent the summer of
1873 in Colorado, is specially valuable because of his
opportunities to form a personal judgment, at first hand,
of the character of the work which this pioneer mis
sionary of the Church had done or was attempting to do : —
Nearly all the evangelical churches have entered the terri
tory. Presbyterianism, however, has gone to the front, and we
find a church of our order at many important points. Along
the railway and stage routes, among the mining districts, and
in agricultural settlements, we have taken the initiative in
evangelistic work. For all this we are largely indebted to the
earnest and self-denying labours of Sheldon Jackson, superin
tendent of missions for Colorado, New Mexico, Montana,
Wyoming, and Utah. A Zaccheus in stature, he ascends
mountains and overlooks the land. We have known him to
travel for forty-eight hours in a stage-coach, reaching his desti
nation in the morning, preaching three times on the day of his
arrival, arranging for the settlement of a pastor, and laying the
foundations of a temporary manse, which was completed and
occupied by a young minister and his wife before the next Sab
bath. And a few days later, perhaps, in Utah or Montana,
printed placards announce that this untiring evangelist will

PIONEER WORK IN COLORADO 151
preach in the hall above a lager beer saloon, or in the dining-
room of a hotel. Meanwhile, the Rocky Mountain Presbyterian,
the only religious newspaper in Colorado, is published and
scattered abroad ; and scores of letters to missionaries, or those
who are preparing to labour in the great home field, have been
written. The Church is beginning to appreciate the labours of
such men, and honours the pioneers in the Master's work, who
lay the foundations of Presbyterianism in the scattered settle
ments of the great West.

An evidence of appreciation in keeping with this inti
mation was given in the year following by Hanover Col
lege, Indiana, itself the direct product of home mission
labours, in the conferring of the honourary degree of
Doctor of Divinity upon Sheldon Jackson.
In the roundabout journeys, to which reference has
been made, there were perils to be faced as well as hard
ships and discomforts to be endured. Some of these were
incident to the rude civilization of the time in the more
remote sections of the country and the reckless assump
tion of risks by those who were charged with the duty of
speeding the traveller on his way. The writer can recall
some down grade experiences of travel by stage-coach in
Colorado in the early seventies, which for swiftness of
descent and reckless rounding of curves would match the
famous ride of Horace Greeley in the Sierra Nevadas ;
but through all such experiences, so frequent that they be
came commonplace, he escaped without loss of life or limb.
On one of his winter journeys he was delayed for
thirty-six hours by snow-drifts on the Arkansas Divide.
On another occasion, while attempting to board a stage
coach a mile and a half from his camping- place, in order
to fill an appointment at Pueblo, he unconsciously as
sumed the rdle of a road-agent and for a few moments
faced one of the most perilous experiences of his life. It
so happened that the coach, which was due at this point

152 SHELDON JACKSON
about midnight, carried on that trip a sheriff and his posse
who were bringing a noted desperado to the county seat
for trial. While on the way this party had received
notice that an attempt would be made at some point to
"hold up" the stage-coach and rescue the prisoner.
When Dr. Jackson, intent only upon reaching his desti
nation, appeared by the roadside between stations at this
unseemly hour, and signalled the driver to stop, the
guards on the alert within naturally associated him with
the leadership of a band of brigands in ambush. Before
he could explain the situation, or even comprehend its
full significance, a half dozen revolvers, thrust out from
the coach, covered his person at close range and the
ominous click of the hammers which accompanied this
action warned him that there was but the trembling of a
finger between him and instant death. It is needless to
say that he surrendered unconditionally ; and when the
whole matter was made clear was cordially welcomed to
the fellowship of the inmates of the coach.
After the adjournment of the General Assembly of
1871, which had held its sessions at Chicago, a number of
the commissioners with their wives and personal friends
took advantage of special privileges accorded by the rail
road companies to extend their journey across the plains
to the city of Denver. To supplement this arrangement,
Sheldon Jackson, with his usual alertness and tact,
secured reduced rates for a round trip of several days
among the mountains, and when they were ready to leave
Denver to make this round he conducted the party in per
son. While at Georgetown, the seat of the silver-mining
region, the opportunity was given to ascend Grey's Peak.
A limited number of the company, including the Hon.
Felix Brunot, chairman of the Board of Indian Commis
sioners, Dr. H. Kendall, secretary of the Home Board,
Mrs. Kendall, and two friends, and Thomas Cree of

PIONEER WORK IN COLORADO 153
Pittsburg, availed themselves of this opportunity. After
they had "viewed the landscape o'er from this magnifi
cent outlook " of the continent, the party returned to the
place where they had left their carriages. In ascending
the mountain, Dr. and Mrs. Kendall had occupied a seat
in a carriage with Dr. Jackson, but on account of the
steep grade at or near this point Mrs. Kendall decided to
continue the journey on horseback. For the same
reason, Dr. Kendall announced his intention of walking
down the steepest part of the incline near the Terrible
works, and left the carriage. Dr. Jackson, who was
driving the team, was carefully working his way down
the mountain when suddenly one of the horses shied at
something in or near the road and pressed the other to
the edge of the embankment on the opposite side. See
ing his peril, and utterly unable to check the momentum
of the vehicle, he leaped out on the road, but not an in
stant too soon, for the horses and carriage went over the
slight barrier which guarded the road and plunged down
ward, almost perpendicularly, to the bed of a rushing
stream, nearly one hundred and fifty feet below. The
carriage was completely wrecked, but, strange as it may
seem, the horses were not killed. One of them, when
freed from the harness, rolled over into the stream and
was carried down through swirling rapids and by im
mense outjutting rocks to a dam a quarter of a mile be
low. When rescued from its perilous position, the horse,
with the exception of a few cuts and bruises, was found to
be in fairly good condition. " The escape," says one of
the party, "was most marvellous, and had Dr. and Mrs.
Kendall been in the carriage at the time they could hardly
have escaped certain death."
At the meeting of the Assembly of 1874, at St. Louis,
Dr. Jackson arranged for another excursion to Colorado
on a larger scale, and in response to notices given during

154 SHELDON JACKSON
the sessions of that body, about one hundred persons, in
cluding many notable men and women from all quarters
of the land, were enrolled for the journey. This party
from first to last was conducted and cared for by this busy
agent of the Church in the Eocky Mountains, and one of
its avowed objects was to afford the opportunity to see for
themselves and those whom they represented, the actual
condition and marvellous possibilities of the vast region
so recently opened to the evangelizing influences and
operations of the churches. On the return of the excur
sionists from the mountain, where they received many
favours from friends and officials of the transportation
lines, they were notified that arrangements had been made
for another journey, at the expense of the railroad com
pany, to Colorado Springs and Pueblo, including on the
return journey a Sabbath at Manitou, and on the follow
ing day a visit to the Garden of the Gods. This round,
including carriages and hotel accommodations, was made
without charge to their visitors, through the generous co
operation of the residents of the places named with the
railroad company ; but back of it all was the unseen hand
of the missionary bishop who had won the confidence of
these advance agents of civilization and who had been
one of their most efficient helpers in the dissemination of
information concerning the interests they were labouring
to advance. Among the direct results of this visit, were
the securing of a pastor for one of the vacant churches of
Denver and gifts, in the aggregate, of several hundred
dollars from interested persons in aid of some of the
financially embarrassed churches.
In concluding an interesting account of this excursion,
the Eev. Dr. J. W. Allen writes : —
We had for our leader the indomitable Sheldon Jackson,
superintendent for this Rocky Mountain region. His name is
already the synonym of energy and efficiency, and is known

PIONEER WORK IN COLORADO 155
throughout the Church, wherever home missions has a home
in the hearts of the people. He has greatly endeared himself
to the members of this excursion, who represent all parts of
our Church, from New York to the Rocky Mountains. He has
called our attention to his field of labour and shown us its
wants, giving us knowledge and impressions which could only
be gained by personal observation. Every one who has made
the tour will in the future take a deeper interest in the evangel
ization of this section of the land.

When Colorado was admitted into the Union with fit
ting ceremonies and celebrations as the Centennial State,
the Presbyterian Church was one of the most potent in
fluences for good within its widely- extended borders.
In the northern portion of the state, it had occupied all
the strategic points and was strongly intrenched in the
chief centres of industry and influence. With the pass
ing of the days of territorial rule, the transformation
from the unsettled conditions of frontier life to the quiet
and orderly ways of civilized communities was rapid and
continuous, and to this extent the urgent necessity for
pioneer work in advance of presbyterial oversight and
direction had practically ceased. From this date until
he was transferred to a new field of labour Dr. Jackson
gave the greater part of the time which could be spared
from his work in the other portions of the synod, to the
newer and more remote settlements and mining camps
in the southern part of the state. Mingled with a horde
of incoming settlers in this section there were more
than twenty thousand Spanish-speaking people of Mexican
descent, who in general were as ignorant of the first prin
ciples of evangelical religion as they were of the rudi
ments of a common school education.
In the spring of 1875, the Eev. Alexander M. Darley
was sent to Del Norte with instructions to itinerate in all
the accessible regions round about, and, if the way should

156 SHELDON JACKSON
be clear, to make a visit to the San Juan country, on the
western slope of the Sierra Madre range, into which mul
titudes were going to search for gold. By previous ap
pointment, the superintendent met Mr. Darley at Del
Norte and assisted him in the organization of a church
at that place on the 11th of April. Mr. Darley had the
privilege of preaching the first Presbyterian sermon in
that portion of the state which lies to the west of the
Sangre de Christo Mountains, as well as the first sermon
in the San Juan region, on the Pacific slope of the Conti
nental Divide. In this important work, which was at
tended with hardship and peril, Darley was ably assisted
for a time by a younger brother, George M. Darley, a
skilled mechanic, who had given up a lucrative position
to study for the ministry. Under the tutelage of his
brother, George Darley supported himself by the labour
of his hands, preaching and holding services for prayer
in the mining camps and on the outposts, as he had
opportunity. At Lake City, he built the first Presbyterian house of
worship on the Pacific slope of the great Divide, and for the
most part with his own hands. In order to hasten its
progress as it approached completion, he laboured
through a period of thirty-six hours without sleep or rest,
except the brief pauses at meal-times. While engaged in
this work, he preached at this and other points in reach
on the Sabbath. For some time before his ordination, in
which the writer was privileged to have a part, young
Darley was encouraged to exercise his gifts in ministering
to those in this neglected region, who were as sheep without
a shepherd, and nobly did he respond to the trust which
was committed to his hands. At this time, and in later
years, he was a typical representative of the noble band
of missionaries on the frontier who laboured zealously in
season and out of season, courageously and without com-

PIONEER WORK IN COLORADO 157
plaint, to plant the banner of the Cross on the very skir
mishing line of the army of occupation. His devoted
wife, a woman of rare culture and ability who was the
first minister's wife of any denomination to cross the
Sierra Madre range in Colorado, was just as truly a typ
ical representative of the majority of the wives of our
missionaries on the frontier. On one occasion it was
necessary for her to cross the range over deep snow with
her three small children to a point on the railroad one
hundred and seventy miles from Lake City. The trip
was made in a sleigh to the summit of the Cochetopa Pass,
which was reached about midnight. A short distance be
yond it, the sleigh was upset, owing to the carelessness of
a drunken driver, and the passengers were thrown down
the mountainside. Mrs. Darley, holding fast to her little
babe, fell against a projecting rock, bruising her shoulder
and cutting her face in several places, from which the blood
flowed freely. One of her children fell near her and was
not injured ; the other child was found after a search of
some minutes securely rolled up in his blankets and sound
asleep. When the sleigh went over the road, the fright
ened horses ran away, leaving the little party in this ex
posed situation, in the midst of snow-drifts too deep for
walking, without fire or shelter. The nearest station on
the road was three miles away ; but, fortunately, there was
an army post about a mile from the Pass, and as the
horses dashed past it a soldier on guard saw them and
awoke the captain in command. A party of soldiers was
at once sent out down the road. The first evidence they
had of the wreck was a little roll of baby clothes in the
snow. Following on with haste they soon found Mrs. Dar
ley and the children, and offered to take them to a place of
shelter. As one of them took up the little babe, Mrs.
Darley noticed that he was a coloured man, and fearing
that she had fallen into the hands of a gang of desperados,

158 SHELDON JACKSON
at once asked who they were, and where they were tak
ing her. In reply, the leader of the party assured her
that he was an officer in the regular army and raising his
lantern showed his shoulder straps. With this assurance
she went with them to the camp where the soldiers did
everything in their power to make the mother and chil
dren comfortable. The next day they were sent to the
nearest town on the line of their journey, and two days
thereafter reached the terminus of the Denver and Bio
Grande Bailroad. Through experiences such as these,
delicate women, as well as strong men, were sometimes
called to pass, in order to carry the Gospel to the outposts
of the regions beyond. With the laudable ambition to
carry this message in advance of all other denominations
to the new centres of coming influence in the San Juan
region, Dr. Jackson requested Mr. Darley to visit one or
two of the new towns farther to the west which were be
ginning to attract attention and were giving promise of
rapid growth. One of these places was Ouray, on the
other side of the Engineer Mountain. To make this jour
ney, a round of 250 miles, it was necessary to take blan
kets and provisions, and for this purpose a "burro" was
secured. ' Finding a young printer, who wished to go to
Ouray, Mr. Darley joined forces with him and on the 20th
of March they started out on foot driving the patient
donkey, which carried the impedimenta, before them.
The snow, which averaged a foot or two in depth, was
found to be four or five feet in some places and the whole
distance was through a wilderness without an inhabitant,
except at the Ute Indian Agency. The first day they
walked twenty-five miles, reaching a deserted log cabin.
By the third day the bread by constant jolting upon the
burro had become so fine as to necessitate eating it with a
spoon ; while the snow-storms were so continuous that
much of the way they could not find any wood dry enough

PIONEER WORK IN COLORADO 159
to make a fire. The fourth night, in the midst of a severe
snow-storm, they reached the Indian agency, having had
altogether only about three hours' sleep in as many nights.
One of these nights they were kept awake by the wolves,
which came so near that they could hear the snap of their
teeth. From constant exposure to the wet and cold, their
limbs had swollen to nearly twice their natural size,
making every effort to use them acutely painful.
During the last day's journey, which covered a reach of
twenty-five miles, they forded the Uncompahgre Eiver, a
rushing mountain torrent of ice- water, waist deep, twenty-
one times. At 8 o'clock p. m. their destination was
reached. Thus the first minister of the Gospel reached
Ouray. As one has expressed it, — "Pluck always wins
in this country," and, in view of the circumstances, it
was not a surprising thing that many of the citizens of
the place, of all denominations, rallied around the blue
banner of Presbyterianism and gave their names for a
church organization.
When the time came for the second trip to Ouray, the
river was so swollen with the summer floods that the trail
was impassable, and the only practicable route was over
the main mountain range, the elevation of which was be
tween thirteen and fourteen thousand feet. Dr. Jackson
accompanied Mr. Darley on this journey and assisted him
in the organization of the church. On the third trip, he
canvassed the town to secure funds for the building of a
house of worship, which was erected and dedicated in
sixty days from the reception of the first contribution.
In this, as in every other instance, the first church on the
ground received the largest local support.
While crossing the Sierra Madre Mountains on snow-
shoes, in the spring of 1877, this dauntless missionary
and his companion, Gus Talbot, the veteran mail-carrier,
were lost for more than three hours amid the snow-clouds

160 SHELDON JACKSON
which drifted and surged around them, obscuring all the
landmarks by the way. At one point on a trackless
slope which they were descending, the mail-carrier
plunged over a concealed cliff and disappeared from
sight. At the same moment, Mr. Darley, seeing his
peril, sprang aside while a great cake of snow gave way
just at his feet. Eecovering himself from the momentum
of the swift descent, he returned to the spot where his
friend had disappeared, and, to his great delight, found
him emerging from the snowy bed into which he had
fallen. Going more carefully, to avoid a similar experi
ence, they came at length to the timber line. Amid the
pines they found a temporary shelter, and a clue to the
direction in which they wished to go. With renewed
energy they pushed on towards Silverton, the objective
point of their journey, some fifteen miles distant, which
they reached almost at the point of exhaustion after
nightfall. The next day Gus Talbot, the plucky mail-
carrier, told the people of Silverton that they could tie
to George M. Darley, for out of more than one hundred
men who had attempted to travel with him over this
route, the Presbyterian preacher was the only one that
had the grit to keep with him all the way. On Monday,
a subscription paper was started for a church building,
and thus another outpost was taken possession of in the
name of the Master.
An interesting account of Dr. Jackson's trip to Ouray
with Mr. Darley was written for the Rocky Mountain
Presbyterian, from which the selection following is taken.
The journey was undertaken, as already intimated, for
the purpose of organizing a church.

After a pleasant Sabbath spent with the little church at Lake
and the family of Mr. Darley, Mr. Darley and myself started
on Monday morning for Ouray. Taking the stage to Capitol,

PIONEER WORK IN COLORADO 161
we rode up the canon of Henson Creek for ten miles, between
lofty rock-wal,ls from ioo to 1,000 feet high. By noon we were
at Capitol. After a good dinner, we shouldered our blankets
and provisions and started on foot up the canon. All along were
beautiful waterfalls and cascades a thousand feet high. Here
and there we passed where the avalanche had cut a broad
swath down the mountainside, carrying away the trees, both
stump and limbs. Five miles up, at the edge of the snow line,
we came to a new log cabin, built by Messrs. Smith and Harris.
Here we camped for the night.
About sundown the clouds began to gather and the snow to
fall, and with it fell our hopes of crossing. But earnest prayer
was made that He who causes the elements to do His bidding
should so control them that we could get across. Soon the
clouds floated away and the sky was clear again.
Our blankets were spread upon a pile of shingles and I was
soon sleeping soundly. Mr. Darley, who could not sleep, kept
the fire burning and amused himself by throwing chips at the
chipmunks that played about the floor and ran over our beds.
At 2 a. M., he woke me with the announcement that break
fast was ready. Eating breakfast of bacon, biscuit and coffee,
by half-past three we were on our way to get over the crust be
fore the morning sun should soften it.
We floundered over the fallen timber in the dark, felt our
way over logs across the streams or waded them, and when
boots and socks were thoroughly wet, we found a grim satisfac
tion in wading all subsequent streams rather than balance on
an uncertain log. In an hour we were at timber line, or an
elevation where timber ceases to grow. We now started zigzag
up the vast field of frozen snow and ice. The air grew rarer
and rarer, and breathing became more and more difficult.
The wet boots became frozen and the wet feet ached as if they
were freezing too. Up, and still up, we went. Each step the
heel of the boot was driven firmly into the frozen snow —
each one trying to step in the dent made by the one who pre
ceded him. A misstep or slip would send the unlucky
traveller whirling down the snow-face of the mountain, to be
dashed in pieces on the rocks below. Every few steps, secur
ing our heels in the snow, we would lie out at full length ex
hausted, heart thumping, nose bleeding, eyes running, and ears
ringing. Sometimes the blood was forced from both eyes and
ears. From near the summit a detached rock was sent whirl-

162 SHELDON JACKSON
ing down the vast snow-field until a mile below it seemed like a
top spinning on the floor.
Daylight was approaching and still we were painfully climb
ing, until, as the first rays of the morning sun were lighting up
a hundred grand mountain peaks around, we gained the sum
mit — 13,500 feet. And from that summit what a panorama
greeted our eyes ! On either side was Mt. Sickels and Engi
neer's Peak. Off to the north, the great Uncompahgre Peak,
14,235 feet high, was head and shoulders above his fellows ;
far away to the west, in the dim blue distance, was the Wah-
satch range of Utah ; while as far as the eye could reach in
every direction was a wilderness of peaks, and all covered with
snow, with the exception of some rocks too steep for the snow
to lie upon. Nothing but snow was visible — a Canadian
January scene in the middle of June.
But it was too cold to tarry and we were soon plunging down
the western face of the mountain. Where it was not too steep,
we ran down the face of the snow, and where it was too
steep for running, we would sit down and slide. And such a
slide of a thousand feet at a breakneck speed might well be the
great event of the season for the average schoolboy. Between
running and sliding we were down in twenty minutes, a dis
tance that on the other side had cost us two hours of painful
climbing, and were at the first cabin on the head-waters of the
Uncompahgre River. Without halting, we plunged down the
canon, as there was yet considerable snow to be crossed. The
descent was rapid, and the trail bordered with a constant suc
cession of waterfalls, any one of which would have repaid a trip
of hundreds of miles. Soon after reaching timber line the
snow ran out, and we had a succession of dry ground, mud,
and fording the mountain torrents. Down we go until we
reached Poughkeepsie Creek, which through a wild and
almost inaccessible canon joins the Uncompahgre from the
west. Here we lost the trail and got off into the fallen timber. By
the time the trail was found, my feet were so blistered, travel
ling in wet and at times frozen boots, that I could go no
farther. We were in the heart of the mountains, still ten miles
from town. It was decided that Mr. Darley should leave the
provisions and blankets with me, and then push on to Ouray
and send back a horse to carry me in. Building a fire and
spreading the blankets, I went to sleep, with my feet drying at

PIONEER WORK IN COLORADO 163
the fire. Four hours passed, and Mr. Darley returned without
the horse. Shortly after leaving me, he had again become
lost, and, wandering around, found himself at the bottom of a
deep canon, where the water of the mountain torrent filled from
rock to rock shutting off all farther progress. To extricate
himself from that gorge, he had climbed great pine-trees, that
like stairs enabled him to get from one ledge of rock to another.
On his return, he had met a miner going to Ouray, and, being
too much exhausted to walk in with him, had sent a note in
forming the Presbyterians of our situation.
After a good rest in camp, a burro pack train came along
and we hired our passage into Ouray on the same kind of an
animal that the Saviour made His triumphal entry into Jerusa
lem. So, mounting a burro, without saddle or bridle, we
started for town. The trail led up and down mountainsides
so steep, that, going up, we had great difficulty in keeping from
sliding off behind, and, in going down, we felt like bracing
with our feet behind the animal's ears, and along the edge of
precipices, where the giving away of a stone would send both
animal and rider into the foaming river a thousand feet below.
Just before reaching the village, we met a party with horses and
provisions coming to our relief, and soon after we were safe
among friends. An appointment was made for preaching, and
on the evening of June 13th, after the sermon, the First Presby
terian Church of Ouray was organized.

In his book of recent date, "Pioneering in the San
Juan," ' Mr. Darley, — now a doctor of divinity and an
ex-college president — mentions the fact that in the spring
of 1890, less than thirteen years after this perilous journey,
he rode in a palace car through a portion of the same re
gion and found prosperous towns, where in 1877 the Ute
Indians and wild animals had full possession. In this
connection the writer gratefully acknowledges his obliga
tion to Dr. Darley for the valuable information he gleaned
from this book of reminiscences. It gives the true story
of a "Sky Pilot" of the mining camps, a story more
1 "Pioneering in the San Jnan," Kevell Co., New York.

164 SHELDON JACKSON
wonderful in its details than any creation of fancy or
romance.1 In a letter to the New York Evangelist, from Denver,
where he met Dr. Jackson after his return from this trip
among the Sierras, Dr. Theodore Cuyler says : —
The most remarkable pioneer of missionary work here is
that heroic Kit Carson of the Presbyterian Church, Sheldon
Jackson. The brave little man jumped into our car on Satur
day, just in from a. tramp over the snow mountains, carrying
his own blanket and provisions. He has been among the miners
of the San Juan region, and is prospecting for mission stations
in Arizona and New Mexico. He will soon start for Idaho and
Oregon. Dr. Jackson is worth more to Colorado than any one
of its richest gold or silver mines.
It is a far cry from the borders of Mexico to Sitka, in
Alaska, but, if Dr. Cuyler had known all, he would have
added this, also, for it too was included in the itineraries
of that busy, eventful year.
It is easy to criticise such adventures as we have de
scribed as rash and injudicious, but those who have lived
amid such spiritual destitutions as Sheldon Jackson and
his associates sought to relieve, know and appreciate the
value of prompt action at any cost of hardship or labour.
As one has put it, — "The men who observe the wind and
regard the clouds and consult their comfort are not the
men to carry the Gospel to the ' regions beyond.' The
men who are needed for such work must be willing to en
dure hardship, face danger, take the chances, and attempt
seeming impossibilities, in the confident hope of victory
in the end."
Writing to an Eastern paper from the San Juan region,
1 In August, 1889, Dr. W. H. Boyle, chairman of the home mission
committee of the Presbytery of Pueblo, reported one dozen evangelists
in that field who had received their education at the Del Norte Presby
terian College, of which for a time Dr. Darley was president.

The bearer of "good tidings" to the miners on the mountains
of Colorado.

PIONEER WORK IN COLORADO 165
a well-known elder of one of the Pittsburg churches, Ed
ward Copley, says : —
I have been here more than a year without being able to
attend divine service, the nearest preaching station being
Silverton, twelve miles distant. By the zeal and foresight of
Dr. Sheldon Jackson, the Presbyterian denomination has
churches established at several of the most important points.
These are exerting a good influence and are doing much to
check forgetfulness of God and a disregard of His commands
and all things sacred. By these, however, only a small portion
of the population is reached as yet.

The discovery of a rich bed of carbonate ores, in which
silver was the principal element, at Leadville, one hun
dred miles southwest of Denver, in" the spring of 1878,
gave a new impulse to the tide of population which was
already setting in strongly towards the state of Colorado.
In a few months, the fame of this mining camp went
out through all the civilized world, and the rush
of visitors and prospectors to this place and its im
mediate vicinity was unprecedented in the history of the
country. While journeying with a camping party, in the summer
of 1877, the writer crossed the ridge where as yet this
priceless hoard of treasure was hidden, and found about
two dozen log huts amid the stumps of newly-felled trees
and heaps of rubbish from partly opened mines. In a
little more than a year from that date, the hamlet on this
ridge had grown into a city of from eight to ten thousand
inhabitants, with banks,, and schools, and churches, and
almost all the modern improvements of the older cities
of the country. In the height of its prosperity, Leadville
had a permanent population of over fifteen thousand, and
it was estimated that not less than one hundred thousand
persons had visited it in a single year.

166 SHELDON JACKSON
In the midst of the wonderful excitement and frenzied
activity which marked its beginnings, Sheldon Jackson
appeared and carefully looked over the ground in the in
terests of the work for which he was commissioned.
Securing the help of Mr. Harry L. Janeway, a licentiate
who had just completed his course at the theological
seminary, arrangements were made about the middle of
July for regular preaching services, and on the 4th of
August following a church was organized with thirteen
members. A suitable building was erected a few months
later. In less than four years from its organization, this
church sent a contribution amounting to $9,200 to the
Board of Foreign Missions, and at the date of its fifth
anniversary its total contributions amounted to the sum
of $26,640. During the same period, it had received 264
members and reported at its close a present membership
of 217. This mountain city has long since settled down
to the quiet orderly ways of the average Colorado town,
but the church which was gathered in that memorable
summer of 1878 still holds on its way and bears tes
timony to the enduring power and sanctifying influ
ence of Divine truth. Its membership at the present
time — 1907-^is 147, while its Sabbath-school has a mem
bership of 378.
Dr. Henry C. McCook, of Philadelphia, visited this
stirring city in the summer of 1879, and gave his impres
sions of the work which was being done on the field by
the representatives of the Presbyterian Church, in a com
munication to the public press from which we make the
following quotation : —
The Blue Banner floats in Leadville. And, what is still
better, it has its own church fortress to float from ! It is an
edifice of goodly proportions, with searings for from three to
four hundred. Its pine board walls are yet unpainted, the
windows are of neat but cheap stained glass, the pews and

PIONEER WORK IN COLORADO 167
pulpit are in good taste and modern style. Here comes the
missionary ! He looks like a boy : but he has acquitted him
self like a man, and with admirable modesty, judgment, and
zeal has pushed his work. He bears the honoured name of
Janeway, — a name that was once at the fore of our home mis
sion work. This young brother finds that his health requires
him to leave this field soon, and one of our best men should
be sent to man the fort. Last winter, lumber, nails, pews, pul
pit, organ, glass — everything — was freighted through mountain
snows, over mountain ranges or passes. And when the great
tide of humanity set in towards Leadville, with the opening
spring, the house of God was there to welcome and shelter the
worshippers. Thank the God of grace for the Christian love
which conceived and the Christian liberality which sustains
such enterprises as this. It is a happy day when the vigour of
this Christian zeal for souls moves abreast of the zeal of man
for worldly gear. Such enterprise has placed the Presbyterian
Church at the head of the denominations in the Centennial
State.

The Eev. Dr. Theodore Crowl, another distinguished
visitor to Colorado during the same year, confirms the
above statement and gives a reason for it from the stand
point of an observer in the Congregational Church : —

"A few weeks ago," he writes, "I met a clergyman who
had been sojourning in Colorado, who said to me, — ' Were I
a Presbyterian I should remain in Colorado. ' The reason as
signed by him for this remark was, in substance, that the Pres
byterian Church had so completely occupied the field that there
was little room left within the limits of the state for the Congre
gational Church. ' You Presbyterians,' he said, ' have a major-
general in Sheldon Jackson. ' I do not suppose that it was his
aim to exclude other churches, but this remark shows that while
Dr. Jackson finds time to interest the churches in the East in
home mission work he is a most indefatigable worker in the
field committed to his charge. If he finds time to look after
Alaska, it is not because he neglects his work in the Rocky
Mountains, but because of his tireless industry he can accom
plish more than two or three synodical missionaries. Let

168 SHELDON JACKSON
nothing be done to discourage Dr. Jackson in his great work.
He is a workman that needeth not to be ashamed."
" It is too funny for anything," writes a correspondent of the
Congregationalist and Boston Recorder, ' ' that a missionary
secretary, and a superintendent for Colorado and one for Utah
and that best of territories perched upon the Rockies, and one
for the sunny slope should all be confronting Dr. Sheldon
Jackson, who for so many years has had it pretty much his
own way out there, driving the stakes of his Presbyterian claims
about as soon as the miners had driven theirs. But these
worthy knights will have to spur their steeds, for that Kit
Carson of Presbyterianism, as Dr. Cuyler calls him, has cut
loose from his old camp and has already preempted the whole
of Alaska. And when he gets to the outermost tip of land in
Alaska, he will be as far west of Portland, Oregon, as that city
is west of its namesake in Maine : and then he will probably
annex the Sandwich Islands and establish a protectorate upon
the opposite coast of China, and Mr. Gray of the Interior can't
help it."
This testimony to the efficiency and tireless energy of
Sheldon Jackson is specially valuable, because it is the
voluntary admission of contemporaries and generous rivals
in the same field of labour.
From the date of the organization of the church at
Leadville until his removal from Denver, in the spring
of 1881, Dr. Jackson gave almost the whole of his time
to the needy fields and new forms of missionary activity,
which were developing outside the borders of Colorado.
His term of active labour in this field was limited, there
fore, to a single decade (1870-1880). During this period
of pioneer service the number of the churches was in
creased from four to thirty-eight ; and at its close the
Presbytery of Colorado was divided by act of the General
Assembly into the Presbyteries of Denver and Pueblo.
Thus were laid the foundations of a great synod, which
occupies the ground held by the presbytery before its
division and which has, within the limits of the state, at

PIONEER WORK IN COLORADO 169
the present time, four presbyteries and one hundred and
forty-seven churches.1
The immediate successor of Dr. Jackson in this field
was the Eev. John G. Eeid, one of the younger mission
aries of the presbytery, who laboured zealously and suc
cessfully for three years in perfecting the organizations
already formed, as well as in the extension of the privi
leges of the Gospel to the unreached masses and " excep
tional populations" in the "regions beyond." In a
recent communication, Mr. Eeid gives his estimate of his
predecessor and the value of his work as follows : —
In my judgment the chief elements in his career of phe
nomenal success were indomitable energy, utter disregard of
obstacles or difficulties, absolute fearlessness along the line of
what he saw to be duty, and a consuming devotion to the
Presbyterian Church. Out of the latter grew almost every
criticism that I ever heard upon him or his methods. Such
mistakes as he may have made in his administration in those
early days when he almost alone represented, and stood up for,
Presbyterianism west of the Missouri River, must be laid to the
charge of his superabundant zeal. In many important ele
ments, particularly along the line to which God assigned him,
Dr. Jackson was one of the greatest men the Presbyterian
Church of the United States has ever produced. But for his
indomitable, untiring, self-sacrificing labours, the history of the
Rocky Mountain region would have been very different. As
you and I look back thirty years to the " day of small things"
we can hardly realize that what we now see in the strong
churches, with their far-reaching influences for God and for
good, had so insignificant a beginning. In our early ministry
here we hoped for this issue. Dr. Jackson, with the eye of
faith, "saw this day afar off," — and was not only glad, but
nerved and inspired to perfect those foundations which have
made it possible — actual. The preservation in permanent form
1 In 1899, Dr. Wm. H. Boyle, formerly pastor of the church of Colo
rado Springs, wrote, "The Presbyterians hold Colorado with their
strong churches and have more than one hundred mission stations
throughout the synod."

170 SHELDON JACKSON
of the services which he rendered will be a partial repayment of
the debt Presbyterianism in the great West owes to him and
his memory.
The Church in whose interests these early pioneers of
the Cross laboured so zealously has been greatly favoured
in having as their successor the Eev. Thomas C. Kirk-
wood, D. D., who has supplemented their work through
a period of more than twenty-one years, with wisdom,
fidelity, and eminent success. Under his able and effi
cient administration Presbyterianism is still foremost
among all the agencies for good within the limits of this
richly dowered and rapidly growing Centennial State.

IX
PIONEER WORK IN WYOMING AND MONTANA
"The secret of life is not to do what one likes, but to try to like
that which one has to do, and one does like it — in time."
— Dinah Muloch Craik.
THE territory of Wyoming came into prominence
in the early days of exploration and emigra
tion, mainly because it afforded the most avail
able thoroughfare, by way of the North Platte and
Laramie Plateau, from the plains to the Pacific slope.
The Indian trail which led across the southern portion of
the territory to the cations of Utah, gave place to the
Overland Stage Eoute, and this again to the Union
Pacific Eailroad, which followed the same general course
across the mountains.
In this rugged region there are but few streams and no
navigable rivers, and hence the towns grew up in favour
able locations along the line of the railroads. The main
dependence of the settlers, early and late, has been on
grazing or the development of its mineral resources.
While rich in coal and other minerals which await their
appointed time for utilization, the gold mines of the
territory, once so promising, especially in the Sweetwater
country and the Black Hills, did not prove to be so rich
or so extensive as the indications seemed to warrant in
the early days of its occupation.
For these reasons, the population of Wyoming has been
slow of growth and the mission work within its borders
has been limited to its prosperous towns along the line of
171

172 SHELDON JACKSON
the railroads or in the chief centres of its mining opera
tions among the mountains.
The churches of Cheyenne, Rawlins, and Laramie, on
the line of the Union Pacific Eailroad, were organized, as
already stated, in the summer of 1869. After his removal
to Denver, the superintendent made frequent trips to
these places, in the interests of the churches already es
tablished, as well as for the purpose of supplying and
developing other points which for the time, at least,
needed the uplifting and transforming influences of the
Gospel. By the assumption of personal responsibility
and by persistent appeals to individuals and the Church
at large, he secured funds for the erection of houses of
worship at each of the places where churches were organ
ized, and supplies for each point occupied, also, at the
earliest possible moment.
The church at Bawlins was the first of this group to
enjoy the advantages of a house of worship. This build
ing, an attractive frame in Gothic style, with a seat
ing capacity for about three hundred persons, was ordered
in Chicago, and was shipped in sections so that it could
be put together as a whole on the ground it was to occupy.
Early in the month of March, the work was completed
and Sheldon Jackson was summoned from Council Bluffs,
over 700 miles away, to take part in its dedication. "The
setting apart of this building among the bleak mountains
of the great dividing ridge of the continent to the worship
of Almighty God, was an incident of more than ordinary
interest. The building itself, a growth of marvellous
rapidity, was the first Presbyterian house of worship in
the three great contiguous territories of Wyoming, Mon
tana, and Utah. It was the first of its kind, also, along
the line of the Transcontinental Eailway, from the valley
of the Missouri Biver to the valley of the Sacramento, on
the Pacific slope.

PIONEER WORK IN WYOMING 173
To those who loved the ways of Zion, the sight of this
goodly structure, with its homelike appointments and its
spire pointing heavenward, was a joy and inspiration.
The day of the dedication was cold and stormy. Drift
ing snows obstructed the pathways and piercing winds
swept fiercely along the hillsides ; bat despite these hin
drances and discomforts the people came from near and
far to attend the service.
From Fort Steele, fifteen miles distant, came a company
of United States soldiers, headed by their chaplain ; and
there were others who travelled twenty miles to have the
privilege of once more worshipping God after the manner
of their fathers.
A correspondent of the Philadelphia Presbyterian gives
an incident in connection with the account of this service,
which may be regarded as a fitting sequel.
"Just at the time," he writes, "when these pleasant things
were transpiring in this far Western town, a member of an
Eastern church had his thoughts largely directed to the subject
of church extension, as possibly affecting himself. Consulting
with his pastor and the members of the session, they too were
imbued with his spirit. The result was the voting by the
church of $1,000 yearly for the support of a missionary on the
frontier. But the interest did not end here : it continued to
grow, and ere long an additional subscription amounting to
$800 was devoted to the same purpose, with a view to adding
another worker to the posts on the frontier. To give direction
to these generous gifts, Sheldon Jackson was sent for and he
laid, — as he only could — the field and the work to be done
before them. Ere the evening was over, they unanimously
voted to send a man to occupy the new church at Rawlins,
with the understanding that Laramie, twenty miles farther
east, was to be included in his pastorate."
This generous provision — it may be added — was made
by the Brainard Church of Easton, Pa. The name of the
missionary who was commissioned for this field was

174 SHELDON JACKSON
Franklin L. Arnold ; and there were few of our mission
aries on the frontier who have had a better record for
ability, faithfulness, and unselfish devotion to the re
sponsible work committed to his hands.
Writing to Dr. Jackson, in response to a kind letter of
sympathy from him after her father's death, his daughter,
Mrs. Charles Stone, says : —
Among the memories of childhood your loved presence in
our home stands out distinctly, and though we have not
chanced to meet for many years, your voice and face are very
clear to me. How we children looked forward to your visits,
and how happy my dear parents always were in them ! Every
step of your useful life has been followed by us with a feeling
of proprietorship, and dear papa's prayers were often raised to
God's throne for your work.
In touches such as these the secret of leadership and
influence among men is clearly revealed.
In the autumn of 1870 a manse was erected at Laramie,
and, in the following year, an effort was made to secure
funds for a house of worship. The success of this move
ment was assured by the timely assistance of Mrs. Daniel
Parish, of New York City, who contributed a memorial
offering of $3, 000 for this purpose, and afterwards added
to this generous gift an organ and a communion service.
As a finishing touch to this good work, her husband
placed a clear toned bell in the tower of the church. It
was dedicated by Dr. Jackson, the pastor, and by ethers
on the 4th of February, 1872.
The foundation for a house of worship at Cneyenne was
laid in the autumn of 1869, but owing to some unexpected
delays the building was not completed until late in the
spring of 1870. It was dedicated on the 16th of July.
At this service, Sheldon Jackson preached the sermon,
and the pastor, Eev. Wm. G. Kephart, offered the dedi-

PIONEER WORK IN WYOMING 175
catory prayer. It appears from the record of this event
that a collection was taken at this service which was suf
ficient to free the church from all indebtedness. Strictly
speaking, this was true. There was a claim, however,
which was not considered, because it was regarded by all
to be unlawful and unjust, which afterwards brought the
superintendent of this field into a very embarrassing situa
tion. The facts relating to this claim have been briefly
stated as follows : —
"In the contract for the building of the church, it was
stipulated that it should be ceiled or plastered, according
to the wish of the trustees as the work advanced. The
contractor sent on a portion of the ceiling, which, when
the trustees decided in favour of plastering, he sold to a
resident of Cheyenne. The trustees went on and had the
house plastered and in the final settlement offered the
voucher of the plastering as so much payment in making
up the contract price of the building. The builder re
fused to accept it, but demanded the same amount as if he
himself had paid the plasterer. This the trustees refused
to pay, as it would mean paying twice for the same
thing." Thus the matter ran on until the spring of 1871.
When the General Assembly met at Chicago, Mr. Bridges,
the builder of the church, finding Mr. Jackson at its ses
sions, had him arrested for the debt and bound over to ap
pear at a subsequent meeting of the court in Chicago.
The case was placed in the hands of attorneys, to whom
were given all the papers, including contracts, vouchers,
etc. Unfortunately, these papers were all destroyed in
the great Chicago fire, in the fall of that year, and no de
fense was available to disprove the claim, except such as
might be obtained from witnesses over one thousand miles
away. Under these circumstances, Mr. Jackson's attor
neys advised him to pay the bill, and thus save the im
position of further costs. The amount of the bill was

176 SHELDON JACKSON
about $500, and, as the church was unable to pay it, and
the suit was in his name, he was obliged to borrow the
money to satisfy the claim. Before the payment was
made, the amount was reduced through an arrangement
made by his attorney in Chicago to $300 and costs. At a
later date, this sum was collected and repaid to Dr. Jack
son by some of his personal friends.
Thus, to the other extraordinary experiences of this
pioneer missionary service, was added an arrest by an
officer of the law for the Gospel's sake. In the spring of
1871, Dr. Jackson visited Evanston, a growing town near
the border line of Utah, and after a thorough canvass of
the place held a service in a hall over a saloon. Early
in July of the same year, a church was organized at this
place, which was supplied at regular intervals during the
remainder of the year by the Eev. Mr. Arnold, of
Laramie. Meanwhile, sufficient funds had been secured
to erect a comfortable house of worship, which was finished
January 1, 1872, and was dedicated on the 28th of April
following. For the reasons already given, the way was
not clear for the organization of any additional churches in
the territory during the continuance of Sheldon Jackson's
superintendency of the work of the synod.
At the second meeting of the Presbytery of Wyoming at
Laramie, February 3, 1872, the following action was
taken : —
We, the members of the Presbytery of Wyoming, take this
opportunity of expressing our appreciation and entire satisfac
tion with the work and services of Brother Jackson, superin
tendent of missions in the large and interesting field over
which he is placed, and particularly over that within the bounds
of our presbytery. We take pleasure in endorsing his work,
and hereby tender our thanks for the timely assistance which
he has been instrumental in giving to our weak and struggling
churches, his careful oversight and watchfulness, his untiring
zeal, encouragement, and judicious counsel to our ministers and

PIONEER WORK IN MONTANA 177
people ; and, further, we recommend that he be reappointed
superintendent of missions for the same field, for the ensuing
year. Than this, from his brethren and associates in the field,
no commendation of his work could be more hearty, and
no summary of this work for the cause of Christ in the
territory of Wyoming could be more complete.

Montana
The territory of Montana, which ranked with the
largest, richest, and most productive divisions of the
Eocky Mountain system, was greatly hindered in its
development for nearly two decades after its organiza
tion, by its isolation from the trade and commerce of the
outside world. From the first inrush of settlers, on the
discovery of gold in 1862, to the completion of the Union
Pacific Eailroad, in 1869, Helena, which afterwards be
came the seat of government, was a thousand miles from
any railroad station or seacoast port.
From this date, also, until the completion of the
Northern Pacific and the Utah Northern, in 1881, the
nearest point of communication by rail with Helena was
about five hundred miles. This was the period of stage
coach and lumber-wagon transportation and civilization :
and but for the lure of gold this "gem of the moun
tains" would have been, through this time of isolation,
only a hunting-ground for the few : and to the many a
terra incognita. During the entire period of his labours
in and for Montana, Sheldon Jackson was handicapped
by these hindrances to rapid development ; but he saw in
advance the better day which improved facilities of
travel was certain to bring, and patiently prepared the
way for it. Unlike the territory of Wyoming, this was a
goodly land throughout its whole extent : a domain larger

178 SHELDON JACKSON
than all Great Britain and Ireland, with broad, rich val
leys and a dozen rivers coursing through them, larger
and more beautiful than the Mohawk and Juniata ; giving
promise of unlimited water-power for manufactures and
facilities for irrigation. Its rugged hillsides were covered
with a dense growth of fir, cedar, and pine ; its mines
ranked with the richest and most celebrated in the world,
and its upland pasture ranges were capable of sustaining
vast flocks and herds throughout the entire winter season,
in good condition, without housing or other food than
that which they cropped from the ground for their daily
needs. In the light of its present development, it is ap
parent to the man of dullest vision that Montana was
worth to the land and to the Church of God a thousand
fold more than it cost in toil and treasure in the early
days of its discovery and settlement.
The pioneer minister of the Presbyterian Church in
Montana was George Grantham Smith. He was sent out
by the Committee of Home Missions (New School), of
which Dr. H. Kendall was then the secretary. He
reached Bannock, Idaho, in June, 1864, but his trunk,
which was forwarded by freight, did not reach him until
eighteen months after his arrival.
His stage fare from the Missouri Eiver to Bannock was
$425, and $75 additional to Virginia City, Montana, where
he spent a portion of his time. Finding that his board
at the hotel would cost him $1,200 in greenbacks for
twelve months, he decided to board himself and did his
own cooking and washing in a log cabin twelve by eight
een feet, with a single pane of glass for a window. A
bed tick and pillow, of coarse factory stuff which he
filled with dried hay, cost him $28, and at one time the
market price of flour was $500 per barrel. At Virginia
City, he organized the first public schools, opened Sun
day-schools, conducted regular prayer-meeting services,

PIONEER WORK IN MONTANA 179
preached as he had opportunity, married and buried the
people, and was instrumental in closing all places of busi
ness on the Sabbath. He did not attempt to organize
churches, for the reason that no Mission Board then in
existence could maintain a missionary at a cost, for living
expenses alone, of $5,000 a year. In 1866, Mr. Smith
left Montana by way of Fort Benton and the Missouri
Eiver. Three years later, Sheldon Jackson made his first visit
to Helena, over the stage route from Corinne in Utah,
and organized a church of twelve members. Eefer-
ring to his visit, the Eev. T. V. Moore, author of the
"History of the First Presbyterian Church of Montana,"
says: —
Rev. Sheldon Jackson, D. D., is the father of organized and
permanent Presbyterianism in Montana. The first congrega
tion he gathered in Helena was indeed a lonely little flock.
There was not another church (except Indian missions) of the
same denomination in a region stretching westward to Port
land, Oregon, southward to Cheyenne, eastward to the
churches of Minnesota, and northward to the pole. Dr. Jack
son wrote at the time that there was not another Presbyterian
church within a thousand miles of it.
When Mr. Jackson returned to Montana, in May, 1872 —
three years later — four ministers had been found to come here,
three young men, the Rev. James R. Russel (now city libra
rian of Butte, Montana), Rev. Wm. S. Frackleton, and
Rev. Wm. C. Rommell, and one older man, Rev. Lyman B.
Crittenden, all of them Princeton Seminary men. They were
authorized by the General Assembly, in session at Detroit
during the same month, to plant, not a church only, but a
presbytery in Montana. Mr. Rommel did not arrive until
autumn. The other three, with the indefatigable Sheldon
Jackson, proceeded to organize churches in Gallatin City,
May 30, 1872; Bozeman, June 2d; Hamilton, June 3d;
Virginia City, June 5th ; Deer Lodge, June 9th ; Missoula,
June 1 2th; and Helena, June 15th, — seven churches in sixteen
days.

180 SHELDON JACKSON
As an illustration of the diverse elements in
newly gathered churches, the same writer says, ' ' In its
early years, the church of Helena had communicants from
both branches of the Presbyterian Church (North and
South) ; from the United Presbyterian church ; the Es
tablished and Free churches of Scotland ; the Presbyterian
churches of England, Ireland, and Canada, besides Congre-
gationaliste, Methodists, Baptists, Disciples of Christ,
Episcopalians, Lutherans (German and Scandinavian),
Mormons, Dunkards, and Quakers."
The first of this group of churches to secure a church
building was Deer Lodge, under the leadership of
Eev. James Eussel, in 1874. The first service in this
building was held February 21, 1875.
The missionary tour which resulted in the organiza
tion of the above mentioned churches, with its detours
and zigzags, included a round of about 5,000 miles.
While varied by many agreeable and interesting inci
dents and experiences, it was nevertheless a severe test
of grit and endurance, as well as of courage and fidelity.
There were nine passengers inside the coach which started
northward from Corinne and several on the outside. As
one has put it, — the miseries, torture, and living death of
a night ride in a crowded stage must be experienced to
be known. In this case, however, there were four suc
cessive nights and five days of tossing and jolting, for the
coach was thirty-six hours behind time. The route led
up the Malad valley through camps of Shoshone Indians
and Mormon settlements up to the snow line and beyond
the Divide into the territory of Idaho. Before nightfall,
the coach passed through an encampment of one hundred
lodges of Snake Indians. At the rude halting-place for
supper, a hoarse cry of " murder," followed by the thud of
heavy blows, was heard. When the passengers rushed
to the door of the room adjoining to ascertain the cause

PIONEER WORK IN MONTANA 181
of this outcry, they were confronted with drawn revolvers
to prevent interference in the bloody strife.
At its close, the vanquished comrade was borne away,
with broken ribs and a bruised and sadly disfigured head
and face. At this point, the stage was abandoned, for
some reason not given, and all the baggage, mail, and ex
press packages, were piled into a lumber wagon, upon the
top of which the passengers seated themselves as best they
could. In this decidedly uncomfortable fashion they rode until
midnight, in a cold drizzling rain, when their progress
was interrupted by a rushing stream from which the
bridge had been swept away a little while before. As
soon as possible, a log raft was constructed which floated
three or four trunks and as many passengers at a trip.
As soon as all were over, the journey was resumed. On
the third day, the summit of the main range was reached
by a pass of easy grade which led from Idaho into Mon
tana. Here a network of little brooks was crossed which
joined at lower levels to form the most remote sources of
the Missouri Eiver.
At a station of the company, where two stage lines came
together, the weary passengers camped out for a few
hours of the night under blankets in the freight wagons.
The night was uncomfortably cold, and when the super
intendent of the line came along with an extra coach at
11 p. M., there was great joy among the campers. Thence
to Bannock, the journey was made with comparative com
fort and accelerated speed. On the fifth day, Helena, the
destination of the little party, was reached. Three days
later, Dr. Jackson took the coach for Gallatin, starting at
3 o'clock, A. M., and arriving at 5 p. M.
This early morning hour seems to have been the usual
time for the start on most of the all-day journeys which
were made on these missionary tours. This trip included

182 SHELDON JACKSON
hundreds of miles of travel, all of which were made by
stage-coach, except a stretch of eighteen miles on foot and
a carriage ride of half a day.
On the evening of his return to Helena, Saturday, June
15th, Dr. Jackson attended a business meeting of the
Presbyterians in the court-house. At this meeting, the
church was reorganized and two elders were elected.
The next day these representatives of the congregation
were ordained and installed. On Monday evening, Dr.
Jackson preached the opening sermon of the newly erected
Presbytery of Montana and was elected its first moderator.
This was literally a "carpet-bag" presbytery. It came
into the territory with this missionary bishop whose pres
ence was necessary to make up a quorum, and its pro
spective membership shared many of his hardships by the
way up to this point.
Leaving each of his associates in charge of two or more
churches or outstations he again took the coach, which
had been his headquarters for so many weeks, for a dusty
and disagreeable ride to Fort Benton, 140 miles distant,
at the head of steamboat navigation on the Missouri
Biver. In a circular letter to the children of the Sabbath-
schools, Dr. Jackson mentions the fact that at one point
on this missionary tour through Montana he met a Chris
tian mother with whom he had a brief conversation while
the stage stopped to change horses.
When she learned that he expected to preach and ad
minister the sacrament of the Lord's Supper the next
day, at a place forty miles distant, she expressed her deep
regret that she had not heard of this sooner that she might
have arranged to go and take her children with her to
attend the meeting, that they might have the privilege
of witnessing for the first time in their lives, a sacramental
service. It was in these isolated regions that many an

PIONEER WORK IN MONTANA 183
exile from spiritual privileges in the New West remem
bered Zion and longed for the coming of the herald of the
Gospel and the establishment of the Church in which they
might worship God after the manner of their fathers.
At each point which he visited on this tour, Dr. Jack
son's work was commented upon by the public press
with favour : and in several instances highly appreciative
notices of his sermons and his efforts to establish churches
in Montana were published.
One or two extracts may suffice to show the spirit of
these notices : —

The Rev. Sheldon Jackson, superintendent of missions for
the Rocky Mountains, preached in the court-house last
Sunday evening. The house was filled with attentive listen
ers, who were well pleased with the sermon. Indeed, we have
seldom seen an audience evince a greater interest in a religious
service. The reverend gentleman will be certain to meet a
hearty welcome whenever he may find it convenient to visit
us. — Deer Lodge Independent.
"Sheldon Jackson," writes the correspondent of a Virginia
city paper, " is a fluent, pleasing and earnest speaker, and we
think just the right sort of a man to successfully establish and
maintain the churches of his denomination in our mountain
country." " In the Rev. Sheldon Jackson," writes still another
correspondent, "the Presbyterians have a man who worthily
magnifies his office. One would think this field big enough for
a half dozen of bishops, and quite too big for one man to keep
pace with its growth. But if the record of the past twenty days
is a fair specimen of his powers, he will provide all these states
and territories with churches as fast as they are needed. He
also edits the Rocky Mountain Presbyterian. At that rate, the
Methodists will have to look out for their prestige."

The return journey by steamboat from Fort Benton, at
the head of navigation on the Missouri Biver, to Sioux
City, Iowa, is described in Dr. Jackson's notes as " a wild
romantic ride of ten days, during which the boat was

184 SHELDON JACKSON
twice on fire." At one point the steamer was delayed for
some time by a large herd of buffalo which were
swimming across the river. The distance between the
above-mentioned points by the river's course is two thou
sand miles, one-half of which was through a wilderness
region, abounding in game of all sorts, where thousands
of Indians roamed at will and claimed the privilege of do
ing as they listed throughout its vast extent. The only
signs of civilization along this part of the route were oc
casional clearings, at long intervals, occupied by United
States forts, or stockade trading-posts. Many of the
passengers on the boat, as it followed its course down the
stream, were on the alert for game, within sight and
range, and the crack of rifles was heard almost continu
ously at some points of the journey during the daytime.
On the trip made by this boat up the river, " eleven buffa
loes, a bear, and a score of mountain-sheep, deer, and
lesser game, were taken." At frequent intervals large
bands of Indians, whose camps were near by, flocked to
the river's bank to see the boat pass. On one occasion
"they showed their friendly feeling by firing into the
boat." "Perhaps," as the narrator naively adds, "this
was done for the fun of seeing the passengers scatter and
dodge." At Fort Benton, there were at this time about
one hundred inhabitants, besides Indians, half-breeds,
and a company of United States soldiers.
The fort was built in 1846, but, so far as known, from
that date until 1872 no Protestant minister had ever
preached at the place. For some months before Dr.
Jackson came, two earnest Christian women had kept up
a Sabbath service and had prevailed upon their husbands
to take turns at reading a printed sermon. He would
gladly have availed himself of the privilege of preaching
the Gospel to this little company, but the boat was await
ing the arrival of the stage-coach by which he came. He

PIONEER WORK IN MONTANA 185
did have the opportunity, however, to preach to the
motley assembly which gathered on the deck of the
steamboat the next day. A continuous journey of two
days by rail, after landing at Sioux City, brought this
long journey to an end. "It was a journey," as he ex
presses it, "of great hardships and many dangers; of
long weeks with their days of toil and nights of suffering ;
and yet the hardships were more than compensated by
the spiritual joy of founding gospel institutions which
shall assist in moulding the rising public sentiment of
that beautiful territory, so soon to be the home of tens
and hundreds of thousands."
One of the institutions included in the foregoing state
ment was the Gallatin Female Seminary, founded by the
Eev. Lyman B. Crittenden, soon after his arrival in the
territory. His daughter, Miss Mary G. Crittenden, ren
dered efficient service as the principal of this seminary.
In the early days of its existence, when the hindrances
connected with its continuance seemed to be almost insur
mountable, Sheldon Jackson came to the rescue and from
personal friends and well-wishers secured money and
equipments for its support and enlargement.
This pioneer school was one of the "seed-sowing insti
tutions" of the land, and is now under the care of the
synod, which holds the ground once occupied by this
feeble presbytery.
The third and last official visit made by the superintend
ent to Montana was in the summer of 1878. His ex
periences on this trip were similar to those on the former
journeys. At this date the territory was still isolated
from the outside world, and the only way to enter it, — ex
cept by the long river route — or to journey through it,
was by the lumbering coach of the former days.
With respect to the character of work in this field and
his intense zeal for its accomplishment, Dr. D. J.

186 SHELDON JACKSON
McMillan, ex-secretary of the Home Board, and the suc
cessor of Dr. Jackson in the Montana field, says : —
Some of his alleged mistakes have proved to be great suc
cesses. He was severely criticised for organizing a church at
Bozeman with six members : and another at Missoula with two.
But he knew, as few if any others knew, what he was doing.
They were indeed feeble outposts, but they were claim-stakes,
like the cross erected by Columbus on San Salvador, a procla
mation to the world that the land was claimed for Christ.
Those feeble beginnings in Montana are now strong and influ
ential churches.
His endurance in the days of his prime was phenomenal. I
have known him to preach three times in one day, riding
twenty-five miles on horseback between appointments, and rise
next morning fresh and ready for anything. One evening he
preached in Missoula and at the close of service he took the
stage for a hundred miles, over a mountain road — a steady
twenty-four hours' run — to Deer Lodge, where he arrived
barely in time for a service, which he had announced for that
evening. He persuaded the driver to take him directly to the
church, and, leaping from the top of the coach to the church
steps, entered it and went through the service without a moment
for rest or refreshment of any kind. The statement made by •
some one, as illustrating his habits of industry, that he edited
the Rocky Mountain Presbyterian from the hurricane decks of
stage-coaches, was hardly an exaggeration.
I have seen Dr. Jackson sway vast assemblies, and I have
seen him where two or three were gathered together in humble
cabins or dugouts. I have seen him in some of the high
places of the earth, and I have seen him sleeping on the ground
among the sage brush, and in stables among the cattle ; and
everywhere and always he is the same imperturbable, irrepressi
ble, unpretentious Sheldon Jackson.
In immediate results, and in some other respects, the
work in Montana was more disappointing and discourag
ing than in other portions of the Colorado Synod. As the
advance agent of the Presbyterian Church, Sheldon Jack
son received a cordial welcome in every part of the terri
tory ; but he found it impossible, owing to circumstances

PIONEER WORK IN MONTANA 187
beyond his control, to make good the plans he had ma
tured or to meet the engagements he had made for the
supply of some of the most needy portions of the field.
After his first visit to Helena, which was made on his
own volition and without expense to any agency of the
church, he went East to secure ministers for some of the
most important points, including the "lone church,"
which he had organized at Helena, a thousand miles
from any other of the same name on either side of it.
In his quest for ministers after his second trip, he was
successful beyond his expectations, but the volunteers
who responded to his call were not sent. With the pass
ing of this opportunity, the blue banner which had been
raised so confidently was allowed to droop, and at length
was lowered and laid aside for lack of supporters. Not
until three years had passed away, was it again unfurled,
to wave continuously and triumphantly over this beauti
ful mountain land, until Christ shall come again.
Meanwhile this dauntless missionary continued to labour
in the interests of that apparently forgotten land. In
1870, he wrote to a' friend in this territory: "I want
to wake up the Board to the importance of Mon
tana. If I could have my own way I should have had
several Presbyterian ministers in the field months ago. I
shall make a new attempt in the spring, and I hope to
get there myself. But I have been disappointed so often
that I make no promises."
In the summer of 1872, the prospects were bright for
the speedy completion of the Northern Pacific Eailroad.
Knowing what this meant to the territory of Montana,
Sheldon Jackson was eager to preempt every strategic
point which was not yet occupied by the other leading
denominations. Hence, as already noted, seven churches
were organized during this visit. In order to provide
for regular, or at least occasional, services for these

188 SHELDON JACKSON
churches, it was necessary to give to each one of the mis
sionaries then on the ground, the care of one or more
places outside his special field, until a larger force of la
bourers could be secured. Hence, the superintendent
grouped the outlying stations with the nearest occupied
point within reach — a very lqng reach in most cases — and
these points were named in the commission of each of
the ministers in charge.
After a brief period of trial, one or two of the mission
aries gave up the attempt to reach the outlying places in
their district, mainly because of the heavy expense it en
tailed upon them. While recognizing the necessity for
doing this work, they were emphatic in their contention
that the cost of travel in reaching these points should be
met by the Board, inasmuch as their salaries, insufficient
for present needs, would not justify them in making this
sacrifice. On the other hand, the superintendent ascribes
the failure to meet these obligations to inexperience in
frontier work. He writes : —
It was true the extreme points were one hundred miles apart, but
there were at that very time a dozen missionaries in Minnesota,
Colorado, and probably other sections whose fields were equally
large and called for as much sacrifice to supply them. It is also
true that the fare on a stage-coach for ioo miles was beyond the
ability of the missionaries to pay regularly from their salaries.
But, on the other hand, they did not need to use the stages.
Along that line of frontier, ranches were frequent, and saddle
horses were cheap. The missionary could have two or three
regular preaching stations between his extreme points and thus
reduce a day's travel on horseback to twenty-five or thirty-
three miles. And at the close of the day's ride he could preach
in the log cabin of his host to the ranchmen of that region. On
these routes the people would take care of him and his horse
without charge. Not only that but something would be added
to his salary by the free-will offerings of his hearers ; but, bet
ter still, the Gospel would be preached at four or five places in
stead of two.

PIONEER WORK IN MONTANA 189
This plan was in successful operation, at that very time, both
in Minnesota and Colorado.

When the aid asked from the Board for these journeys
was refused, because of a depleted treasury, some of the
organizations were left without preaching services or pas
toral care. For this cause, apparently, three churches
which were enrolled by the presbytery at its organization
lost their hold upon the community and were either dis
banded at a later period, or reorganized.
Says the Eev. George Edwards, the historian of the
Synod of Montana, — "The minutes of the General As
sembly show that for several years Presbyterianism was
of very slow growth. The difficulty seems to have been to
man the churches that were organized, and this naturally
caused dissatisfaction and criticism on the part of both
churches and presbytery." From the criticism to which
reference is here made, Dr. Jackson, who was acting un
der the instructions of the Board, was not exempt. In
one or two instances also dissatisfaction, because of sup
posed partiality in the distribution of work and the as
signment of places, developed into open antagonism and
this, with other matters to which exceptions were taken,
issued, at length, in a request to the Home Board that
Dr. Jackson's oversight of the mission work of Montana
should be discontinued and that the presbytery should
have the privilege of planting and fostering, with the con
tinued support of the Board, its own churches and mis
sion stations. This was the act of a body which num
bered not many more than the minimum of members
required for a quorum, but it was an official act of a reg
ularly constituted body and as such received careful and
respectful consideration. A copy of this action and
the reasons, or specifications given for it, were sent by
the secretaries to Dr. Jackson, with the request that he

190 SHELDON JACKSON
make reply on his own behalf, a privilege, it seems, which
was not accorded to him by the presbytery which initiated
this action.
A detailed statement, correcting some misapprehen
sions and covering the entire ground of complaint was
sent back to the Board and apparently this ended the
matter ; for Dr. Jackson's commission was afterwards re
newed in the same terms as before and included the whole
synod until the mission field was divided in 1881.
With characteristic frankness and candour he has
copied and preserved in permanent book form all the
statements and specifications relating to this complaint
as well as his reply to the same. These and other records
bearing upon the early history of the work in Montana
may be consulted in the library of the Presbyterial His
torical Society in Philadelphia, Pa.
Aside from all other considerations Dr. Jackson was
deeply grieved to learn, in this indirect way, that some of
the young brethren whom he had influenced to come to
this field, and for whose success he had laboured, and
daily prayed for, should so misjudge his motives and dis
credit his work. To one of these brethren, who at an
earlier date had expressed a desire to cooperate with him
and ignore any differences between them for the work's
sake, he wrote : —
"Dear Brother, — Your letter of the 23d was received
this morning, and I thank God for it. I have often
prayed that God would bring our hearts together again,
because it seemed necessary for the prosperity of His
work. Montana has always been a favourite field of mine,
as those who have heard my public addresses will testify,
and those who have been much with me will witness. It
was pleading for Montana that awakened a new mission
ary spirit in Auburn Seminary, when four of the young
men offered themselves to the Board. It has been a con-

PIONEER WORK IN MONTANA 191
stant source of regret that circumstances which I could
not control have prevented, in the past, the advancing of
our cause to the extent I could have wished, but I trust
that now a brighter day is dawning, and that you may
receive the needed reinforcements."
Elsewhere he gives this explanation of the fact, which
he frankly admits, that his visits to Montana were ' ' hasty
and infrequent," — "Because the Board would not divide
my field I was trying to cover the whole country from
Mexico to Canada. But while I tried to improve every
moment, I did spend from one day to a week in every
Presbyterian church in the territory, except Missoula, at
each visit to the place. I also kept informed of the prog
ress of all sections of the territory, but the Board had
refused to enlarge the work, and I had not the heart to
visit sections which were deprived of gospel privileges
and say to the exiled Presbyterians, ' Your church is too
poor to help to give you the Gospel. ' ' ' The want of greater
success during the seventies, he attributes to three causes,
viz. : —
(1) The remoteness of the country to the railroads, and
hence the slow increase of population (not as many in
1878 as in 1872).
(2) The general discouragement attendant upon the
failure of Jay Cook and the suspension of the building of
the Northern Pacific Eailroad, in consequence of which
many of the best and most enterprising of the population
left the country.
(3) The failure to supply some of the churches which
were organized with the ministrations of the Gospel.
The brighter day, to which reference was made in the
letter, above quoted, began to dawn in the last year of
Sheldon Jackson's term of service in Montana.
In 1880, two railroads, — the Northern Pacific from the
East, and the Utah and Northern from the South — reached

192 SHELDON JACKSON
the territory. During the next year fully one-fifth of the
population of the preceding year was added to its work
ing force and as its resources were developed in line with
the activities and industries of the outside world, the
secret of its boundless riches began to be known abroad,
and its growth was rapid and continuous. In less than a
decade after the beginning of this era of prosperity, Mon
tana was admitted to the Union, with a population of
about 130,000, and an area in square miles which is ex
ceeded by three states only within the bounds of our
national domain.
With the realization of this dream of material prosper
ity, came the opportunity and the reward of the men who
had waited in hope, and laboured amid many discourage
ments to give to this fair land the priceless privileges of
the Gospel of Christ. While the growth of the Presby
terian Church in Montana has not been so rapid as in the
state of Colorado, it has reached out into all the impor
tant points of the state : and the ground once held by the
little presbytery, which needed the presence of its synod
ical missionary to make a quorum, is now covered by a
strong, aggressive, and influential synod.

W^W?\ \ M£~/jk,A

Pioneer Missionaries in Arizona, Utah and Montana.
{For names see Appendix, page 481. Group 4.)

X
PIONEER WORK IN THE TERRITORY OF UTAH
"The leaders of men are the ones with eyes for the new and excep
tional opportunities." — W. T. Ellis.
"Whatever makes men good Christians, makes them good citizens. "
— Daniel Webster.
WHEN Brigham Young and his deluded follow
ers fled from the wrath of an exasperated and
outraged community in the Mississippi Val
ley, they wandered wildly across the plains and over the
mountains in search of a new home. With a zeal, cour
age and persistency which were worthy of a better cause,
they toiled for weeks and months over sandy plains and
rugged mountains until at length a place of refuge was
found beyond the last range of the Eocky Mountains in
the valley of the Great Salt Lake. This beautiful basin,
which Fremont had discovered and described a short time
before, and for the occupancy of which Brigham Young
had a revelation at an opportune moment, was, in some
respects, the counterpart of the basin of the Salt Sea in
the Jordan Valley.
Appropriating all that was workable in connection
with this resemblance, the crafty leader of this motley
host laid out a city, which he named Zion, and, in keep
ing with this pretension, called all who acknowledged it
as the central place of their worship and devotion, "The
Latter Day Saints." At the date of this settlement,— the
summer of 1846 — the whole extent of the unoccupied
country to which Brigham Young laid claim, belonged to
193

194 SHELDON JACKSON
the Eepublic of Mexico. At the close of the war with
Mexico it was ceded to the United States. Soon after, it
was surveyed by order of the Federal government, and
out of it was organized the territory of Utah. In this iso
lated region, apart from the haunts of civilized men, and
some two thousand miles west of New York City, Brig
ham Young developed one of the most cunningly de
vised systems of religious despotism which has ever been
invented by the mind of man. It included the teaching
and practice of polygamy, blood atonement, and sensual
ism in general in its most revolting forms, under the guise
of pretended revelations. "No Pope in Borne," says
Wm. Hepworth Dixon, "no Czar in Moscow, no Caliph
in Bagdad, ever exercised such power as the Mormons
conferred on Brigham Young. They call themselves
Saints, accept the Bible as true, baptize their converts in
the name of Christ ; but they are not a Christian people,
and no church in the world could hold communion with
them in their present state. In truth, they approach
much nearer, in creed, in morals, and in government, to
the Utes and Shoshones than to any Anglo-Saxon church.
Young gets a meaning from the Bible which no one else
ever found there — a new history of the creation, of the
fall, of the atonement, of the future life. A Mahom-
medan mosque stands nearer to the Christian than the Mor
mon temple stands. Islam broke down idols, Mormonism
sets them up. Smith and Young have peopled their
strange heaven with gods of their own making : and the
Almighty is in their eyes but a President of heaven, a
Chief among spiritual peers, occupying a throne like that
of a Eoman Jove."
The territory of Utah was created during the adminis
tration of President Fillmore, and to the amazement and
sorrow of those who knew something of the coarseness,
the unconcealed disloyalty, and despotic rule of Brigham

PIONEER WORK 195
Young, he was made its first governor. From this time
until he was deposed for unbearable insolence and de
fiance of the authority of the general government, during
the administration of President Buchanan, he rivalled the
sultans of the East in his assumption of arbitrary power,
and in the number of his wives and concubines. When
he had occasion to travel among his subjects, he journeyed
"like an Oriental prince, with two personal servants, a
barber, and one of his wives, and was followed by a pro
cession of carriages and men on horseback." In the
earlier days of this despotic rule, he openly advocated the
exile or death of those who apostatized from the Mormon
faith, or who opposed his pernicious teachings and prac
tices. The Danites and blood-avengers were the execu
tors of his jealous hatred, and his authority to banish or
to "cut off" at will was not called in question. The cul
mination of a series of mysterious murders and assassina
tions, estimated as not less than five hundred, was the
massacre at Mountain Meadows, where, in 1857, one hun
dred and twenty-one persons — men, women and children
— belonging to an emigrant train which was peaceably
passing through the territory were brutally put to death.
This infamous crime, which for several years was attrib
uted to the hostility of the Indians, was at length traced
to its true source, and the leader of the party, Bishop
John D. Lee, who carried out the behest of the Mormon
rulers with fanatical zeal and unquestioning obedience,
was made the scapegoat of this awful tragedy, and paid
the penalty of outraged justice with his life. '
1 The spoils of these murdered ones, including horses, a carriage,
wagons, clothing, etc., were brought to Salt Lake a few days after the
massacre and sold. Ten per cent, of the proceeds went into the treas
ury of the church, and Brigham Young, at that time thegovernor of the
territory, bought the carriage for his own use. In his confession, a
short time before his execution, John D. Lee asserts that he and fifty-

196 SHELDON JACKSON
The arbitrary power which was vested in the Mormon
rulers was turned to good advantage in so far as the ma
terial development of the country was concerned ; and
wonderful things were accomplished in this way which
could not have been done nearly so promptly or efficiently
in a community where individual liberty was recognized
and guaranteed. While Brigham Young was unscrupu
lous in his ambitions and fanatical in his beliefs, he was
eminently practical in the administration of the business
affairs of the community, over which he exercised the
same arbitrary authority as in the affairs relating to the
church. With consummate tact and ability he directed
the industrial development of the territory, exacting tithes
of all the increase, and making every agency and indus
try contributory to the advancement of the politico-eccle
siastical oligarchy of which he claimed to be the divinely
appointed head. Under his direction, towns were located,
roads were built, irrigating ditches were constructed, and
every available mountain stream was utilized to beautify
and fertilize the land. It was his aim to create a paradise
in the lowland sections of this mountain region, which
should attract the downtrodden and oppressed of all na
tions ; and from the beginning of this project he sent out
emissaries among all the countries of Europe to preach
the excellencies of the Mormon faith, and to invite all
who came under their influences to come out from the bond
age of old faiths and old restrictions into the larger lib
erty and greater privileges of this new " Land of Promise ' '
in the Far West. As the result of these labours and ap
peals, multitudes came, and as fast as they arrived places
were found for them and the work for which they seemed
one of his Mormon associates spent a portion of the preceding night in
a prayer-meeting asking the guidance of God with respect to the pre
meditated massacre of the morrow. — " Lee's Confessions, ' ' pp. 233-234,
1882.

PIONEER WORK 197
to be fitted was put into their hands. Bound by the
double chain of poverty and dependence, there were few if
any of these newcomers who had the opportunity, if they
had the desire, to escape from their environments and
conditions. At first, the new settlements were confined
to the Salt Lake valley, but, as the population' increased,
they were extended down the centre of the territory, along
the line of cleavage between the mountains, to Bio Vir-
gen, in Arizona. Northward, they were extended as far
as Oneida, in Idaho Territory. Thus, this attenuated
commonwealth, rarely more than ten miles in width, had
a reach of about seven hundred miles from north to south.
For almost twenty years after its founding, the isolated
inhabitants of this Mormon commonwealth were left,
practically, to their own devices. During the progress of
the Civil War a few non-Mormons, contemptuously called
Gentiles, settled in Salt Lake City, or prospected among
the mountains in its vicinity for silver and gold. From
the first they were regarded as intruders and were de
barred from many privileges and opportunities which
were accorded to American citizens in other portions of
the land. There were several, also, during this period
and for two or three years following, who were treacher
ously assassinated, because in some way they had given
offense to Brigham Young or his associates. The com
pletion of the Transcontinental Eailway was the begin
ning of a new era of liberty and enlightenment for the
territory of Utah. It opened the way for the incoming
of hardy settlers from the Eastern states, who claimed
their right to go and come, buy and sell, as it seemed
good to them, without reference or deference to the
despotic power which hitherto had ruled this portion of
the country. This was not accorded to them, however,
without a conflict, which has been continued to this day.
The church and its agencies have through all these years

198 SHELDON JACKSON
controlled the legislation of city, town, and state, and a
free ballot amid such influences is virtually an impossibil
ity. In 1869, there were about one thousand non-Mor
mons in Utah, one-half of which were prospecting for
silver among the mountains. A year later, the mining
population, mostly of this class, numbered four thousand.
In 1877, the non-Mormon element was estimated at
fifteen thousand, and it has been steadily increasing in
numbers and influence until the present time.
The first evangelical missionary to the territory was
the Eev. Norman McLeod, who was commissioned by the
American Home Missionary Society of the Congregational
Church. He reached Salt Lake City in January, 1865,
and, despite the threats made against his life, inaugurated
a religious service in a building known as Daft's Hall.
Here he preached the Gospel, organized a Sabbath-school,
and within less than a year secured the erection of an
adobe house of worship. This successful beginning
aroused the smouldering wrath of the Mormon hierarchy,
and a determined effort was made to arrest it before it
should take the form of a permanent organization. In
the autumn of 1866, while Mr. McLeod was absent in the
East, in the interests of his mission, his Sunday-school
superintendent and most efficient helper, Dr. King Bobin-
son, a surgeon of the army, was called from his house to
visit a patient, and was treacherously assassinated in the
street by men who were lying in wait for his appearing.
The withdrawal of the military force from Fort Douglas,
at this time, to Denver, deprived the non-Mormon ele
ment of the protection they had hitherto enjoyed, and for
this reason mainly the missionary society suspended the
work. It was resumed six years later, under more favour
able conditions and with gratifying success.
In 1867, Bishop Tuttle of the Episcopal Church, visited
the territory with a view to the establishment of churches

PIONEER WORK 199
and schools, but little progress was made until after the
completion of the Pacific Eailroad.
The first Presbyterian minister who had the privilege
of preaching the Gospel to a Mormon audience was the
Eev. Dr. Henry Kendall, whose honoured name will al
ways be associated with the pioneer work of the Home
Board of the United Church. While on his way to the
Pacific coast, in 1864, in the interests of the home mis
sion work of the New School branch of the Presbyterian
Church, he spent several days in Salt Lake City, noting
the conditions and holding conferences with some of the
non-Mormon residents and United States officials. Dur
ing this visit, he was introduced to Brigham Young, who,
to his great surprise, invited him to preach in the Taber
nacle. "At this time," says Dr. Samuel E. Wishard, the
present synodical missionary for Utah, "the Mormon
prophets were predicting and praying for the downfall of
our government. Hence Brigham' s invitation to Dr.
Kendall had in it the taunt of the old mockers who said
to God's captive people, •
" 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion.'
Dr. Kendall's courage was equal to the occasion. He
struck the gospel note that went echoing through these
mountains until it was taken up in full chorus by our
Board of Home Missions. It is the popular belief that
the politeness of Brigham, in his mild treatment of Dr.
Kendall, was somewhat due to certain military aspects
up at Fort Douglas. However that may be, says Dr.
Wishard, Dr. Kendall made some discoveries and his
gospel message had been heard by the tabernacle congre
gation. He had taken in the situation, and that was
something gained."
To Sheldon Jackson must be accorded the honour of

200 SHELDON JACKSON
making the first attempt, in so far as the Presbyterian
Church is concerned, of giving the regular ministrations
of the Gospel to the territory of Utah. In advance of
the regularly constituted agencies of the church, he sent
the Bev. Melancthon Hughes on his own responsibility,
as already noted in the chapter on the Iowa Movement,
to Corinne, at the head of the Great Salt Lake, twenty-
five miles northwest of Ogden, with a view to its oc
cupancy as a strategic point from which to begin the
Christian conquest of this goodly, but strangely deluded,
section of our national domain. At Corinne, the popula
tion was mainly of American birth, and its business in
terests were developed by men who had no sympathy
with Brigham Young or the apostate church which he
represented. Hence there were several persons in this
community who welcomed Mr. Hughes and assisted him
in securing a place in which to hold regular services.
The first service in this place was held on the 13th of
June, 1869. Dr. Jackson visited Corinne on the 23d of
July, when en route to Helena, Montana. On his return
journey from Helena, he looked over the ground more
carefully, preached on the Sabbath, and made arrange
ments for a temporary board of managers to represent the
congregation in an effort to secure a lot for a house of
worship ; and, if the way should be clear, eventually, to
apply for a church organization. The field for which
Mr. Hughes was commissioned covered a stretch of 292
miles on the line of the Pacific Bailroads, and hence it
was impossible for him to make frequent visits or to ac
cept an invitation as a permanent supply. The best that
could be done, therefore, at the time, was to hold the
ground until a minister could be secured for this portion
of the field. In the spring of 1870, the Eev. Edward E.
Bayliss was sent to Corinne. He took up the work as
signed to him on the 10th of April, giving his full time tc

PIONEER WORK 201
this point until October 9, 1871. He assisted Dr. Jack
son in the organization of a church with nine members
on the 14th of July, 1870. A week or two later, lots
were secured for the erection of a house of worship. This
building was completed and dedicated November 20th of
the same year. The Bev. John Brown, of Elko, Nevada,
the nearest Presbyterian minister, came 260 miles to as
sist Mr. Bayliss and the superintendent in the dedication
service. The citizens of Corinne contributed $1,543 to
wards the erection of this house of worship, and the
Board of Church Erection gave $2,000 additional. Thus
was the first Presbyterian church organized and housed
in Utah. Referring to this memorable event, Dr. Wish
ard says, —
" The indignation of the Prophet Brigham was aroused
against the whole community. The erection of a large
church building and the music of a church-bell still
further disturbed the Prophet." To this he adds, on the
authority of a gentleman who spent several years in
Corinne or its neighbourhood : —
The Gentile town of Corinne was an eye-sore to Brigham
Young, and he assiduously plotted to destroy it. He had his
son John, then President of the Utah Northern Railroad, build
the narrow-gauge road from Logan to Franklin, Idaho, in order to
intercept the travel northward at that point. He then formally
cursed the town, its business and people, from the rear platform
of his private car, and had the depot, track, and bridge across
the Bear River removed to Franklin, Idaho. This not succeed
ing, the curse not being executed by Providence, he had the
Utah Northern sold to the Union Pacific, and the junction of
that with the Central Pacific removed to Ogden, and thus
Corinne was left a mere way-station on the Central Pacific.
Still the people clung to their homes, though doing business at
Franklin and Ogden.
This petty persecution, which in time did effect the
growth and prosperity of the church at Corinne, was in-

202 SHELDON JACKSON
dicative of a smouldering hatred and intolerance as deadly
and fanatical as that which culminated in the Mountain
Meadow Massacre, but, happily, it was now restrained by
a strong arm of power which compelled a show of obedi
ence, at least, to the laws of the land.
At a critical time in the history of the church at
Corinne, Dr. Jackson undertook to supply its pulpit from
his home in Denver, as frequently as was possible, for a
period of three months. The records in his note-book
show that he made four round trips of 1,300 miles each,
from February 3d to April 23d, in the fulfillment of
this voluntary obligation. The idea of supplying a church
at this distance, in the most inclement season of the year,
would hardly have occurred to any one else, and certainly
its apparent impracticability would have staggered any
one who did not have free transportation.
At the suggestion of the secretaries of the Home Board,
the superintendent visited Salt Lake City, July 1, 1871,
to make a careful investigation of the situation, with the
view to the establishment of a Presbyterian church. As
a result of this investigation, it was decided to undertake
the support of a missionary in this citadel of Mormon
power and influence at once. In order to save time and
secure a valuable man, the Bev. Josiah Welch, under
appointment for Montana Territory, was transferred to
this field and commenced his work October 1, 1871, by
preaching to a congregation of twelve persons. Says Dr.
Wishard : —

It is of divine wisdom, that when a work is to be
done, God always has a man prepared for it. The clock
struck the hour, and the Rev. Josiah Welch, a recent gradu
ate of Princeton Theological Seminary, answered to the call of
Providence. He had been commissioned by the Board of
Home Missions to take work in Montana, but the synodical
missionary stepped across his path, and confronted him with

PIONEER WORK 203
the claims of the people of Utah, emphasizing his plea with a
revelation (non-Mormon) to the young preacher of the deep
spiritual darkness that had settled down upon Salt Lake City,
like the pall of an unbroken night. Mr. Welch had the wis
dom to see the opportunity, and to interpret it as the voice of
God. He obeyed that voice, though it remained for those of
us coming after him to realize the heroism of his decision and
its value to the cause of Christ. Embarrassments met him at
the very beginning of his work. Brigham Young had closed
against Christian work every hall and every place of public con
course. Mr. Welch finally rented the hay-loft of a livery
stable, at an expense of fifty dollars per month. A church of
eleven members was organized, (tradition says in the skating
rink) on the Sabbath, November 12, 1871. This was ac
complished by Mr. Welch, Sheldon Jackson, and Dr. Geo. S.
Boardman, who was providentially present.
For about three years services were held in the skating
rink and other halls, as opportunity offered, and the little
flock steadily grew in numbers and influence. As soon as
Mr. Welch had entered upon his work, Sheldon Jackson
sent out, through the religious press, an earnest appeal for
assistance in the building of a suitable house of worship.
In this appeal, he asked for a Christmas gift of $5 each
from 5, 000 Presbyterian women. The response in this in
stance came far short of his expectation, — for the impor
tance of evangelizing this crude mass of deluded immi
grants was not realized at that time, — and afterwards Mr.
Welch was obliged to leave his important work in Utah,
for several months, in the care of others, while he pleaded
with friends and well-wishers in the East for the necessary
aid to make it efficient.
He succeeded at length in securing a sufficient amount
to warrant the building of a comfortable house of wor
ship, which was erected upon a large and well located lot
containing a house suitable for a manse. The building
was dedicated on the 11th of October, 1874. From this
date on, the church has had a continuous growth, and

204 SHELDON JACKSON
more and more as the years have passed it has become a
power for righteousness throughout the territories domi
nated by Morman influence, as well as in this rapidly
growing city. It has established two mission stations in
other parts of the city, which have now become vigorous
churches, and its present membership is 520, with a Sab
bath-school enrollment of more than 800. This influential
church, throughout its eventful history, has had but
three pastors. To Josiah Welch was given the difficult
and dangerous task of gathering, organizing, and devel
oping it in troublous times, and in its interests he toiled
laboriously and unselfishly until failing health made it
necessary to give the work into other hands. With the
same spirit of devotion, his successor, the Eev. Eobert G.
McNeice, took up the work, and, with unflinching cour
age, withstood the evil influences which were arrayed
against him, upholding the standard of Christian purity
in the interests of the nation, as well as of the Church
which he represented. After nearly twenty years of con
tinuous toil, Dr. McNeice was released from this charge
to enable him to devote his time and energies to the estab
lishment and development of Westminster College, a direct
outgrowth of the good work which Dr. Jackson began in
the summer of 1869. A worthy successor to Dr. McNeice
was found in Dr. William M. Paden, who left the Hol
land Memorial Church of Philadelphia to cast in his lot
with the noble band of labourers in Utah, who, with
singleness of aim, were striving to redeem this fair herit
age of the nation from the corrupting influences of igno
rance, superstition, and sensualism. Under his wise and
able leadership, a new house of worship which ranks
among the best in this section of the land, has been built
and dedicated, and the influence of the church itself has
been felt in the councils of the nation as well as in the
assemblies of the Church for which it stands.

PIONEER WORK 205
In the spring of 1S75, the session of the Church organ
ized the Salt Lake Collegiate Institute, and elected Prof.
J. M. Coyner, of Indiana, as principal. This school,
which was opened up in connection with the Presbyterian
church in Utah, was held for some time in the basement
of the house of worship. Says Dr. Wishard : —
The story of this institution, that enrolled the first year
sixty-three pupils, and within the next two years one hundred
and sixty-five, would furnish data for a history of its own.
Christian education in the Collegiate Institute has advanced
step by step from the day of small things until two commodious
buildings are demanded, and have been furnished to meet the
necessities of the educational wants of the people.
In this phase of the work, Dr. Jackson was deeply inter
ested, and in his public addresses, as well as in the col
umns of the Rocky Mountain Presbyterian, he aroused the
Church to the necessity of opening and sustaining Chris
tian schools at every available point where missions were,
or should be, established. Out of this necessity grew the
educational work of the Woman's Home Board, which
to-day is one of the most successful agencies of the Church
in connection with the evangelization of the land. Of
this agency and the part which Sheldon Jackson had in
its beginning and development, more will be said in an
other place.
When Mr. Welch made his first trip to the East, about
the 1st of January, 1873, for the purpose of solicit
ing funds for the erection of a house of worship, Dr.
Jackson undertook the supply of his pulpit during his
absence, which covered a period of about two and a half
months. With the exception of a few days required for
a hurried trip to Denver and return, he spent the whole
of this time in Utah, ministering to the little flock in Salt
Lake, preaching at points within reach, exploring new

206 SHELDON JACKSON
fields, and studying on the ground the needs and condi
tions of the territory as a whole.
One of the points to which his attention was directed
at this time was Alta, a mining camp at the head of the
Little Cottonwood Canon. This was the seat of the
famous ' ' Emma Mine, ' ' and those who flocked to it from all
parts of the country were mostly adventurers of the low
est class. It was known distinctively as a "Gentile"
town, a designation which in this case was too literally
true to be creditable to non-Mormon residents in other
parts of the territory. The season was not far enough
advanced to visit this place during the superintendent's
stay in Salt Lake, but near the close of the month of May
he returned to Utah, and spent a Sabbath at Alta.
Moved by the spiritual destitution of the place, where no
gospel message had hitherto been proclaimed, he de
scribed the necessities of the field and asked for a volun
teer from the young men who were seeking a place in
which to labour. The Eev. J. P. Schell, of Union Theo
logical Seminary, promptly responded to this call, and
amid many discouragements commenced his labours early
in June. On the 20th of July, Dr. Jackson assisted him
in the organization of a church.
This was the first Protestant organization in Alta, and
much interest was manifested in its success by the better
class of the community. In October of the same year, a
frame building, well adapted to the wants of the congre
gation, was dedicated, and, soon after, a reading-room,
for the benefit of all who wished to avail themselves of its
privileges, was added.
Eeferring to the labours and triumphs of this young
missionary, Dr. Jackson says : — "Well do we remember
him at an early visit, his study over a grocery and whisky
store, the ceiling and walls lined with cotton cloth,
the feather bed handy in which to roll himself when the

PIONEER WORK 207
stray bullets from a street brawl came unpleasantly close,
and his feet and legs rolled up in pieces of carpeting to
keep him warm as he sat in his room. The snow was
five feet deep in June in the main street, and in making
pastoral visits on the back streets, we passed from the level
of the snow by a plank into the second-story window.
In July we slept under four pairs of blankets." Here,
despite these appalling difficulties, the Gospel was faith
fully preached, the children were gathered into the Sab
bath-school and taught the way of life, wanderers were re
claimed, and the people of God were strengthened and
built up in their most holy faith. Like most of the min
ing camps, its day was brief, and at length the little
church which had stood for all that was good and true
amid abounding evil, died, like the town in which it was
located, for lack of population.
While the way was thus opened up for the establishment
of three Presbyterian churches in Mormon territory, they
were all gathered originally from the non-Mormon ele
ment of each of these communities. Meanwhile, the prov
idence of God was opening up the way for the evangel
ization of the benighted residents of Mormon communities,
where, as yet, there was no nucleus of evangelical faith
or following. The chosen instrument for the inaugura
tion of this work was a young minister, Duncan J.
McMillan, who at the close of his seminary course had
accepted a call to a small church in Illinois.
While zealously labouring in this field, his work was
suddenly arrested by the failure of his health. In the
summer of 1874, he came to Colorado to test the efficacy
of its life-giving atmosphere, and also to make inquiries
concerning a field of labour in this territory, in case he
should be compelled to give up his charge in Illinois.
While on an outing of a fortnight with the Jackson
family at Idaho Springs, the writer met Mr. McMillan

208 SHELDON JACKSON
for the first time, and greatly enjoyed his genial com
panionship, roaming over the mountains and chatting by
the camp-fire with him for several days. With his
usual, never-failing hospitality, Dr. Jackson had invited
this young health-seeker to join his family in camp, and
soon found in him a man after his own heart. In giving
some personal reminiscences with respect to this vacation
experience and its outcome, Dr. McMillan says : —
I first met Dr. Jackson in 1874. Being in quest of health I
was advised by him to try the climate of Utah, where I might
find health and a field for missionary effort. At that time, we
had three little churches in the territory ; one at the Gentile
railroad town of Corinne, one at Salt Lake City, and one in
the mining town of Alta. But Dr. Jackson had in mind a new
departure. No one had attempted the Mormon towns, and no
one but the indomitable Jackson would have conceived the idea
of invading them. He had not visited them, but had heard
that there was disaffection in the ranks of the "Saints," and
upon the rumour, which he believed to be well founded, he
suggested that an attempt be made. Others scouted the idea.
The secretaries of the Board of Home Missions did not favour
it, nor did the Board make any appropriation for it. But Dr.
Jackson promised to stand by the missionary. He kept his
word, never wavering, but giving the movement his endorse
ment in the face of derision and censure. In time, he not only
secured the support of the Board, but created a sentiment
throughout the Church favourable to the work.
The point in Utah to which Mr. McMillan was sent, a
few months after his visit to Colorado, was Mt, Pleasant,
in San Pete County, a little more than a hundred miles
south of Salt Lake City. The story of his trials and
triumphs in this difficult field is one of the most thrilling
in the annals of our home mission work. The favour
with which he was received by apostate Mormons brought
down upon him the hatred and vindictiveness of the
priesthood and rulers, and every effort was made to dis-

PIONEER WORK 209
credit hismission and crush out his attempts to organize
a church and school. A few months after he had entered
upon his work, Brigham Young and his twelve apostles
visited Mt. Pleasant and held a two days' mass meeting of
four services. Three of these were given to denuncia
tions of Mr. McMillan and his work.
He was accused of the vilest crimes, and by one of the
speakers the boast was openly made that the bullets were
moulded for his benefit and would be used at the first
favourable opportunity. At this time, forty pupils were
withdrawn from the school and Brigham Young com
manded the people to unite and drive the intruder from
their midst. One night he was awakened by a noise at
his window and on going to it saw a masked man clutch
ing the window sill with one hand and holding a revolver
in the other. Without a moment's hesitation he thrust
his own revolver in the would-be assassin's face, who
quickly fled. At another time he was invited to an oyster
supper, where wine and other liquors were served.
When he refused several invitations to join with some
young men who were present in drinking, he was rudely
seized by two or three of them who tried to force some
whisky, presumably drugged for the occasion, down his
throat. When he stoutly resisted, however, the attempt
was given up. Again and again he was warned by
friends among the liberal element of the place that his
life was in danger. Bishops denounced him and forbade
his preaching in their towns, but he kindly and yet
firmly informed them that he would preach wherever the
American flag floated. At one point he found that his
notices for a preaching service had been intercepted, but,
nothing daunted, he hastily put up notices on his arrival,
about five o'clock p. m., in the post-office and some of
the stores and at half-past seven he found the house
crowded with people. On entering, a friend of the

210 SHELDON JACKSON
liberal element of the place took him aside and advised
him not to go on with the service, telling him that there
were those present who had sworn to shoot him before the
meeting should be dismissed. Thanking his friend for
the information, he, however, declined to dismiss the
meeting. When the time had arrived to begin the serv
ice, he invited the mayor and bishop, who were present,
to the platform. When they declined, he took his place
on the platform and laid his revolver upon the open
Bible in full view of the audience. He then sang a hymn
alone, read the Scriptures, poured out his soul in prayer,
and afterwards "preached such a loving Gospel that
enmity for the time being was disarmed."
At the close of five years of wonderfully successful
labour in this valley, Mr. McMillan gave the following
summary of his experiences and encouragements : —
When I reached this populous valley, March 3, 1875, I
found myself one hundred and twenty miles from any Christian
— not one professing Christian among the 17,000 who lived
and moved and had their being in this valley. The entire
non-Mormon element had come out from the Mormon church
and were avowed enemies of all religion. There was little in
common with them and myself, except antipathy to Mormon-
ism. They were, however, anxious that some provision might
be made for the education of their children. This was the
single thread by which I might hope to draw them. This
thread I seized with a firm grasp. They gave me $535, and I
pledged $1,000, towards a building, at that time unfinished,
and the title and the property at once vested in me. I
published appeals for help, as none of our Boards at that time
could help us to build or buy. Then I went East at my own
expense, and personally applied for aid. But my appeals
elicited such replies as these : From an elder in St. Joseph :
" I've seen enough of these Mormon hordes ; there's not a soul
among them worth saving. I'll not give a dime towards your
enterprise." A minister in Illinois said: "I believe firmly
that the Mormons are all reprobate, and I would advise you to
abandon your wild scheme, or you may perish with them. ' ' Said

PIONEER WORK 211
another elder, who was a bank president : " Sir, no amount of
credentials could commend to my favour the advocate of any
such undertaking. Those who have endorsed you have be
littled themselves." With these words Dives shut his door in
my face and left me standing on his steps in the rain. But I
thank God for giving me more faith in Himself than in men.
With 150 children of Mormon parentage under our instruction
at that time, and a congregation attending regularly the preach
ing of the Word, I knew that the effort could not die fruitless.
The money came not apparently as the result of special appeals,
but in answer to prayer. Spurned by many of the household
of faith, despised and cursed by Mormon priests and apostles, I
was impelled by the promises of God and drawn by the pros
pect of 17,000 souls without another voice to declare a Saviour's
love to them. Oh ! those days seem now to be but strange
visions of the past. Out of those trying and perilous days,
and through the then dark and portentous future, God has
surely led us. Five hundred children and youth have passed
under our instruction and influence, and now call us blessed.
The circle of young people has been revolutionized in senti
ment and spirit. A church whose roll contains forty-two
names — thirty-five of whom remain — has grown up. Three
other churches in as many neighbouring towns are part of the
immediate results. An average of one convert, or sixty-eight
in the five years and eight months, I have welcomed from the
Mormon ranks to the communion of our beloved church. The
establishment and maintenance of twenty schools in purely
Mormon communities, in an unbroken line of 400 miles from
north to south, with 1,500 children of Mormon parentage thus
brought under gospel influences, and the distribution of hun
dreds of copies of the Word of God, where before it was un
known, are parts of the visible fruits.
When these hopeful words were written, Mr. McMillan
had accepted the appointment of general superintendent
of the mission field in Utah, from which Dr. Jack
son had asked to be relieved, and was about to enter upon
his duties in connection with the work. From this
charge, in which he acquitted himself with the same fidel
ity and ability which he had shown in the work at Mt.
Pleasant, he was called to serve the Church in a wider

212 SHELDON JACKSON
field as a secretary of the Home Mission Board. With
respect to the work of his predecessor in preparing the
way for the successes of the later years, especially in
Southern Utah, Dr. McMillan says : —
In 1876, Sheldon Jackson visited the valley of San Pete,
and from personal observations, mainly, published the first
complete statement of work among the Mormons, its encour
agements and its needs. From this publication dates the steady
growth and prosperity of that great work. The next year he
went by stage and private conveyance through Utah to St.
George, the southern capital of the Mormon empire, at the
southwest extremity of the territory. Here he preached in the
Mormon Tabernacle, the first gospel sermon ever delivered in
that city. The voice of no Christian minister of any denomi
nation had ever been heard within a hundred miles of the town.
I accompanied him part of the way. On that trip, Dr. Jack
son showed his rare tact more than once.
One evening, weary of travel, we found lodging in a small
farmhouse. We spent the evening and far into the night in
conversation with the family, and in singing gospel songs,
which were new to the family. The parents and children were
delighted. They asked if we were giving concerts through the
country, and were surprised to learn that we were not profes
sional singers. In the morning, when we offered compensation
for our lodging, we were told that our songs were ample pay.
But we declined to have the bill settled that way. Dr. Jack
son offered a year's subscription to the Rocky Mountain Pres
byterian, and I The Interior for a year. The man gladly ac
cepted both. Before leaving, at the request of the man, Dr.
Jackson made a statement of our religious belief so clear, sim
ple, and complete that the man confessed that, though new to
him, it was reasonable, and that it appealed to his conscience.
Soon after, he and his family left the Mormon faith and iden
tified themselves with our church.
After Dr. Jackson's return from this trip, he wrote an
open letter to the " Ladies of the Presbyterian Churches
of Brooklyn," describing the condition and degradation
of the women of the polygamous households he had met
in various places on this journey.

PIONEER WORK 213
This letter produced a deep impression, and gave a new
impulse to the work which had just been inaugurated for
the evangelization of the exceptional population of the
Western territories.
In the early seventies, the town of Brigham, so named
by its ecclesiastical ruler, "Apostle Lorenzo Snow," in
honour of Brigham Young, was famous for its intense de
votion to the exclusive tenets of the Mormon faith. It
was the boast of its inhabitants that it was then, and
should be kept in the future, a distinctively Mormon
settlement. It was only six miles from the " Gentile "
city of Corinne, where Sheldon Jackson established the
first Presbyterian mission, but for several years it was
almost impossible for the missionary at that point to make
an appointment for a religious service or secure a place
in which to hold it. In the summer of 1874, the Eev. S.
L. Gillespie, a returned missionary from Africa, was sent
to Corinne, and in some way he secured the opportunity
to conduct a service in the court-house. For several
months afterwards, he sought to get a foothold in this
stronghold, but without avail. At length, he found a dis
contented Mormon, who had borne the yoke until patience
and endurance were exhausted, and who was willing to
sell his property to the Home Mission Board for a con
sideration. In the spring of 1878, Mr. Gillespie removed
to Brigham, despite the threats which had been made by
its fanatical residents, and occupied the house for a resi
dence and mission station. Up to this point, his move
ments had not been fully understood, but when he ac
tually appeared with all his outfit and quietly took pos
session of the house, he was banned by the priesthood and
subjected to a series of insults and outrages by neighbours
and hoodlum bands, with the avowed intention of forcing
him to abandon his work and leave the place. Says Dr.
McNiece : —

214 SHELDON JACKSON
The two men who had committed the awful offense of using
their wagons to move this worthy American citizen into that
town from Corinne, were brought before the priestly authorities
and arbitrarily dealt with.
Then the despotic command of the priesthood went around
forbidding the people to sell Mr. Gillespie any supplies for his
family, simply because he was an American, and a Christian
American. Consequently, for several months, he had to go six
miles across the country to Corinne to buy most of his provi
sions, dry-goods, clothing, and other necessaries. Then they
began to injure his property, by tearing down his fences, tip
ping over the outbuildings and stoning the house. Several
times the windows of his dwelling were stoned, sometimes en
dangering life. But a man who had been four years a mission
ary in Africa, and three years in the calvary service during our
Civil War, part of the time as a staff-officer, was the wrong man
upon whom to practice this kind of intimidation. Then the
children who began to attend his school were threatened, and
some agent of the priesthood would stand before the door of the
humble chapel on Sunday evening to intimidate the Mormon
people from attending the service, by reporting their names to
the priestly leaders.
Despite all these hindrances and petty persecutions, the
good work went on, and soon the transforming power of
the Gospel began to be felt and acknowledged. Scoffers
were silenced by the sweet spirit and patient endurance
of the man who confronted them. There were those who
had watched the effect of the curse which had been pro
nounced upon his house, his well, his garden, and all the
mission premises, and they were not a little shaken in
their fanatical belief when they saw, as one has put it —
"that the curse so far as the garden was concerned proved
to be a great fertilizer, for the yield of vegetables was un
usually large." As the days passed on, and this curse
seemed to be harmless, in other matters a new interest
was awakened in the man and his message. The neigh
bours who had held aloof began to make friendly ad
vances, the school grew in numbers, and at length the

PIONEER WORK 215
little chapel was crowded with interested and earnest
listeners. When eight years after the arrival of Mr. Gil
lespie in their midst, a convention of the Christian teach
ers of the Presbyterian Church met at Brigham, some
sixty in number, including ministers and missionaries,
they were met at the station by the band of the town and
were escorted with every demonstration of respect up to
the heart of the little city, where they were welcomed by
some of the best of the Mormons whose homes were open
to receive them. Thus the light at length dispelled the
darkness and the reception of the truth as it is in Jesus
brought liberty to those who were in bondage.
About forty miles north of Ogden, on the Union Pacific
road, and just over the "divide" there is a beautiful
elongated basin, rimmed about with snow-capped moun
tains, known as the "Cache Valley." It is about forty
miles in length, and from ten to twenty miles in width.
Its beauty and fertility made it a desirable place for
settlement, from the early occupation of the country, and
Brigham Young regarded it as a valuable " stake " from
which to enlarge his borders into the rich valleys of
Southern Idaho.
Here also in process of time the indomitable Jackson
appeared on his trail and disputed the possession of that
fair heritage. In Dr. Wishard' s interesting book, entitled
" Our Home Mission Work in Utah," there is a full ac
count of the origin and development of the mission to this
valley. "With the base of operations," — he writes, — "which had
been secured at Corinne and Salt Lake, Dr. Jackson pushed
his investigations on northward beyond Ogden and Brigham
into Logan.
" He had a genius not only for discovering work but work
ers also. Having found the opportunity at Logan he went in
search of a man, who had grace and wisdom enough to know an
opportunity on sight. He found the man in the Metropolitan

216 SHELDON JACKSON
Church at Washington City — not in the pulpit, but in the pew.
After he had made his plea for help before the congregation, he
went into the Sabbath-school, which is always a good place to
find the best material for the best service. Here he discovered
Mr. Calvin M. Parks teaching a large Bible class of young
ladies, while his wife and daughter had an infant class of be
tween three and four hundred. At the close of the school, Mr.
Parks was informed by the synodical missionary that he was
needed in Utah ; and that his work there was not to teach but
to preach the Gospel ; and that he should prepare himself for that
work. Mr. Parks was obedient to the heavenly calling, was
soon licensed to preach the Gospel, was dismissed to the Pres
bytery of Utah, and on the 5th of July, 1878, like Abraham,
went out not knowing whither he went. He found the place,
however, as every man does who obeys the call of God, and in
due time he was located in the beautiful little city of Logan.
He secured a 'furniture wareroom, and paint-shop back of it,'
which was soon transformed into a chapel, schoolroom, study,
parlour, kitchen, and hall. Early in September, the little mis
sion school was opened with six pupils. It was a beginning,
and as nothing ever proceeds without a beginning, something
had been achieved. For two years, the teaching was carried
on in this building, while the machinery overhead was keeping
up a brisk rivalry. Mr. Parks was ordained at the first meeting
of presbytery, and a church of eleven members was organized
on the 10th of December, 1878."
The school which began with six pupils developed soon
afterwards into the "New Jersey Academy," for the
equipment of which the ladies of New Jersey contributed
the handsome sum of eleven thousand dollars. In its
after-growth it employed five teachers, and a matron who
had charge of the boarding department. The number of
pupils in attendance at this time was more than one
hundred. Convinced that the whole valley was his par
ish, and encouraged by calls from other towns who de
sired like privileges, Mr. Parks pushed forward the
work until he had completed the building of seven
chapels outside of Logan, in the valley, each of which
was utilized for a mission school. Thus was established

PIONEER WORK 217
a series of mission churches and schools through Mormon
territory from the borders of Idaho to the borders of
Arizona. Up to the date of Dr. Jackson's retirement
from field work, in Utah, January 1, 1881, the Presbyte
rian Church was the only religious body which had
planted and maintained mission schools in distinctively
Morman settlements and towns.
At this date, the Presbytery of Utah reported a work
ing force of eleven ministers and thirty-two teachers.
The latter were employed in twenty-two schools, with an
aggregate attendance of more than fifteen hundred pupils.
It is a significant fact, and not generally known, as it
ought to be, that these schools, established in the face of
ridicule, opposition, and daily peril, became the germ of
the public school system of Utah.
The Morman schools which preceded them were main
tained for the purpose of training the children in Morman
doctrines and practices and provided only the crudest
forms of instruction. "The present Superintendent of
Public Instruction for the State, although a Mormon, re
cently said that the Christian schools of Utah had not
only paved the way for our public school system, but had
made it a necessity."
It appears from data in hand that the tireless leader of
the consecrated band which inaugurated and extended
these agencies of enlightenment and redemption all over
this benighted section of the land, made not less than six
teen round trips from his home in Denver during the first
half of the decade in which he superintended the work in
Utah. In this portion of his vast bishopric he was loyally
supported by the entire force of missionary workers and
at every point was met with a cordial welcome to their
fields of labour.
When the work to which he gave more than a decade
of the best years of his life passed into other hands, his in-

218 SHELDON JACKSON
terest in it continued without abatement : and, by voice
and pen and personal benefaction, he has continuously urged
its claims and emphasized its importance. As the direct
outcome of the pioneer work which he and his associates
accomplished in the formative period of missionary occu
pation, there is now a Synod of Utah, with three aggres
sive presbyteries, which reaches from the northern limit
of Mormon occupation in Idaho to the border of Arizona.
It carries on its rolls to-day (1908) sixty-one ministers,
sixty-eight churches, 3,738 communicant members, and
a Sabbath-school membership of 4,308.
" Our thirty-three mission schools," says Dr. Wishard,
"which have been opened at one time and another since
the work began, with our four academies, now doing full
and effective work, have exerted an influence for the
betterment of social and spiritual life in Utah that cannot
be measured. They have furnished us some of our best
mission teachers, and sent others into the public schools,
and are giving us ministers of the Gospel. They have
created a demand for, and at length have secured the
Westminster College, founded by Dr. Sheldon Jackson,
which is to be the crown of our noble Christian educational
work in Utah."

XI
PIONEER WORK IN NEW MEXICO AND ARIZONA
The human race is divided into two classes : those who go ahead
and do something, and those who sit and enquire, ' Why wasn't it
done the other way ? ' ' ' — Oliver W. Holmes.
WHEN Sheldon Jackson made his first visit to
New Mexico, near the close of the autumn of
1870, he found a country almost as distinct
ively Mexican in its language, customs, civilization, and
methods of labour as when it was ceded to the United
States, more than a score of years before. WiJ2r*£he busy
outside world teeming with life and energyfchere was no
direct communication by rail or boaV^With the excep
tion of one or two stage lines, whicn had been recently
established, the typical mode of conveyance was by the
patient burro, or the lumbering ox cart, with solid wood
wheels, which had served in turn without appreciable
change in construction the men of every generation from
the days of the Spanish occupation. The methods of
agriculture were as primitive as in the lands of the East :
and the various implements of agriculture and manufac
ture were as rude and crude as those which were in use
among the Indian tribes about them. Up to this date,
no attempt had been made to establish public schools,
and for some time afterwards, when an effort was made
to introduce them^-fne instruction given was almost
wholly in the hands, and under the direction, of the
Jesuit priests.
Through a long course of training under such influences
the minds of the people had been dwarfed and their wills
219

220 SHELDON JACKSON
enslaved. The effects which were manifest on every
hand were gross illiteracy, debasing immorality, childish
superstition, and a low grade of intellectual development
among the common people. Salvation by works and
expiation for sin by penances, and self-inflicted suffering
were almost universally accepted as the sum and sub
stance of the teaching of the Church, which for genera
tions had claimed their allegiance and directed their
worship. And, for lack of knowledge, pagan rights and
Christian ordinances were strangely interblended.
The'^native population of New Mexico, which at this
tinje numbered about ninety thousand, was made up of
three distinct groups :
The first and largest was the Mexican. The name
stands for the mixed race of the country, and every shade
of colour and type of nationality, from the pure Castil-
lian to the Indian of the Montezuma dynasties, were
represented in this group. It included every grade of
intellectual and moral development, also ; but the con
dition of the masses was indicative of a long process of
moral debasement and a sad lack of the enlightening,
uplifting influence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Of the Mexican women, very few could read or write,
and five-sixths of the children were growing up without
any of the advantages of an ordinary school education.
The second group was the remnant of the mysterious
aboriginal race, known as the Pueblo Indians. They
were located in eighteen pueblos of curious construction
originally constructed for defense. Before the days of
civilized warfare they were practically impregnable.
Each story of these communal houses, frequently built on
the summit or shelf of cliffs, rose in successive terraces,
the upper levels being narrower than the lower. The
only approach to the lower stories was by means of lad
ders, which could be withdrawn in time of danger. Each

PIONEER WORK IN NEW MEXICO 221
pueblo was an Indian town contracted into one great
building containing many separate cells or habitations.
The residents were governed by rulers of the patriarchal
type, and from generation to generation enjoyed a com
munity of goods and interests. While nominally Eoman
Catholic, they were pagan in belief and practice. They
worshipped the sun, and also their ancestors, with mys
terious rites and incantations closely resembling the old
ceremonies and sacrifices of Baal worship. Many of
them looked forward to the coining of Montezuma, and,
like the Aztecs of Mexico, they had risen to a higher
plane of civilization, especially in the line of industrial
art, than any of the aboriginal tribes around them.
The third group included all the nomadic Indian tribes
of the country. They resembled the Indians of the plains,
and had nothing in common with the residents of the
pueblos. All told, they did not number more than fif
teen or twenty thousand, but they were savage and relent
less in their desultory modes of warfare, and for several
years were a menace to the explorers and early settlers
of the territory. The coro>irfed force of the aborigines,
of both of the' above mentioned groups^was about one-
fifth of the^opulatioti'.
Except the affairs connected with the administration
of the government there was but little at this time to
attract the adventurers or home-seekers of the Anglo-
Saxon race. A few of its best and worst representatives
were to be found at Santa Fe, or in settlements connected
with the army posts, but, apart from these, the actual
residents of American birth were, in point of numbers, a
very insignificant element of the population.
While the field itself, throughout its vast extent, was
distinctively foreign missionary ground, its population
being alien in faith, language, customs, education, and
sympathies, it was also included within the bounds and

222 SHELDON JACKSON
under the care of a newly-organized presbytery and synod,
every rood of which was recognized as home mission ter
ritory. It was, in a word, the meeting-place of both
branches and departments of the missionary work of the
Church ; hence, it was inevitable that new problems
should grow out of this anomalous condition ; and that
new methods and agencies should be utilized to solve
them. As the advance agent of the Home Board, and
of the synod, Sheldon Jackson was concerned mainly
with the magnitude of the task before him and the most
direct methods of accomplishing it. His first trip to New
Mexico- included Santa Fe, the ancient capital of the ter
ritory. At this time, the only available mode of travel
was the stage-coach from Denver. The record of the
journey is condensed into a single sentence in his note
book, under date of August 26, 1870 : — "To New Mexico
by stage and return 1,000 miles." At Santa Fe, he
found congenial associates and a cordial welcome at the
home of the Eev. D. F. McFarland, who opened the first
mission in the territory, under commission of the Board
of Domestic Missions (O. S), November 22, 1886. In
after years, the widow of this devoted missionary accom
panied Dr. Jackson on his first journey to Alaska, and
took charge of the mission established by him in that far
away Northland.
In the autumn of 1872, Dr. Jackson visited Fort Gar
land, and Taos, New Mexico. At the first named point
he preached and administered the sacrament of the Lord's
Supper. At Taos he was the guest of Mrs. Kit Carson,
the widow of the celebrated scout and guide of the
Fremont expedition across the Bocky Mountains.
For the reasons already given, the growth of New
Mexico was slow until near the middle of the decade,
when, the discovery of its mineral wealth and the opening
up of its remote sections to travel and traffic, by rail-

PIONEER WORK IN NEW MEXICO 223
roads and other modern modes of conveyance, made
it a more desirable place of residence and largely
reinforced its population of English-speaking people.
In October, 1871, the Presbytery of Santa Fe, which
covered the whole territory, reported only two churches
and five ministers. One of this number was a chap
lain of the United States Army, two were pastors of
home mission churches, and two were missionaries to the
Navajo Indians. Beside these, there were six ministers
belonging to other connections or denominations, mak
ing in all a missionary force of eleven representatives of
the Protestant Church.
During this period of slow development, the superin
tendent kept in close touch with the work by correspond
ence and gave his time for travel mainly to other portions
of the field. Meanwhile, he was untiring in his efforts to
secure funds for those who were labouring in the territory.
By public addresses, and through the columns of the
Rocky Mountain Presbyterian, he drew attention to its de
plorable condition, the necessity for organized effort, and
a new departure in the methods of work, in order to meet
the condition of the unreached masses of its native
population. From the first he saw the inconsistency and
inadequacy of the attempt to evangelize this territory, al
ready under the care of a regularly constituted presbytery,
through the agency of the Board of Foreign Missions.
He was firmly convinced, also, that it was only a ques
tion of time until the Church at large would realize this
and make suitable provision for the enlargement of the
work, as it was doing in every other portion of the home
field.
/' Through the efficient aid of some of the woman's mis
sionary societies of the East, funds had been already
secured for the establishment of schools at two of the most
important points, and, in view of the increasing interest'

224 SHELDON JACKSON
manifested in this field, the Board felt justified, at the
opening of the year 1875, in sending Dr. Jackson on a
more extensive tour of exploration, with a view to the
immediate establishment of missions among the Mexican,
Pueblo, and Indian population of the country.
The 5th of July did not seem to be a very favourable
time for the beginning of a journey southward almost to
the borders of Mexico, but the exigencies of the service
did not admit of much choice of time or place. Hence,
with two overcoats for the mountain section of the tour,
and the lightest of summer clothing for the hot, dusty
plain of the lowland sections, he took his departure at
the date above mentioned. By this time the Denver and
Eio Grande road was completed as far as Pueblo, where
the stage was taken for the remainder of the long jour
ney. In Southern Colorado, black rain-clouds swept over
the mountains, discharging their contents for a time in
heavy showers which swept down the canons and gull eys,
making the roadway insecure, and greatly impeding the
progress of the coach. A report that a portion of the
road over the Eaton Pass had been washed out reached
the conductor about midnight, and orders were given to
wait at a wayside station until daybreak. This delay
gave Dr. Jackson the opportunity to breakfast at one
oclock, A. M., after which he rolled his greatcoat around
him and slept soundly for two hours on a billiard table of
the hostelry. At four A. M. the journey was resumed.
Near the summit of the Pass, the territorial line was
crossed into New Mexico. At Eed Eiver station, where
General Kearney and his army of invasion made their
first camp in New Mexico, the coach stopped for dinner.
From this point the route led southward through Las
Vegas, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque, to Silver City, the
objective point of the long journey. At every crossing,
the streams were flooded, and in one instance a Mexican

PIONEER WORK IN NEW MEXICO 225
was hired to ford the stream in advance of the coach to
guide the course of the driver. On the preceding Satur
day the coach was washed away, in attempting to cross
this ford, the driver was drowned, and the mail destroyed.
One section of the journey, a stretch of ninety miles,
known as the " Jornado del Muerto" (the journey of
death) has been for generations the terror of all who
were called to pass that way. Formerly, there was but
one spring of water across its whole extent, and this was
several miles from the road. Many travellers have per
ished with thirst in attempting to cross this desert with
out a sufficient water-supply, and the bones of scores of
animals still mark the course, which men have followed
for long ages across this barren waste. At the date of
this journey, there was a deep well about midway along
the route which some enterprising Germans had dug, but
it was necessary still to swing a keg of water under the
hind axle of the coach from which to refresh the team by
the way.
At a point on one section of the first great overland
route to California, the occupants of the coach were
notified that they were just 1,200 miles from St. Louis,
and the same distance from San Francisco. It is said that
in theearly days the stages ran this distance — 2,400 miles,
— across mountains, deserts, and treacherous streams,
with such regularity that during twelve months there was
not a single failure to deliver the mail on schedule time ;
and every day, for two winter months, the stages from
San Francisco and St. Louis met within three hundred
yards of this half-way point. From this section of the
journey to Silver City, its terminus southward, the route
was through the country of the treacherous Apaches.
The discomforts of these long night-journeys were many
and not infrequently of an unusually aggravating char
acter. The first night out, after crossing into New

226 SHELDON JACKSON
Mexico, Jackson had the coach to himself. After supper
he secured permission to place some hay in the bottom of
the coach and upon this he spread his blanket and made
the best of the situation. It was, at best, as he puts it,
"a sleeping or attempting to sleep, under difficulties. A
sudden lurch would jam my head against the farther end
of the coach, or a jolt toss me up, to come down with a
thud, while constrained and cramped positions brought
on nightmare." Another night, while on this journey,
Dr. Jackson was rudely awakened by a crash, followed
by a volley of oaths. In the darkness, his coach had
collided with the up -coach in a ravine. The lamps in
both were smashed, and wheels and whiffletrees were
securely interlocked. After considerable delay, the
coaches were extricated from this perilous situation and
went their ways.
Some months before his arrival at Silver City the super
intendent had secured a commission from the Home Board
for the Bev. W. W. Curtis, who was already on the
ground and had received a hearty welcome from those who
were favourable to the establishment of a missionary sta
tion. He was then the only Protestant minister in a tract
of country whose area was nearly 300 square miles. His
nearest railway town and station was Austin, some 750
miles distant.
The county court, which was in session when Dr. Jack
son arrived, showed its appreciation of his labours on be
half of the country by adjourning that he might have the
use of the room occupied by the court for a preaching
service. After making the ascent of Mount Pinos Altos,
in the main range between the Atlantic and the Pacific,
under the guidance of Mr. Curtis, he started on the return
journey. At Las Cruces he spent the Sabbath and
preached at this place and at Mesilla to a little company
of American residents, who were as sheep without a shep-

PIONEER WORK IN ARIZONA 227
herd. Seven days and six nights were occupied on the
return journey. On the round trip twenty-four days and
fifteen nights were spent in the stage or on horseback.
One object of this long journey, as already intimated, was
to visit some of the pueblos and secure such information
concerning their residents as would be helpful in the es
tablishing of one or more missions among them. The im
portance of this work ' was accentuated by the fact that
in the allotment of the several Indian tribes to the various
Christian denominations, by the government, the Pueblos
had been assigned to the Presbyterian Church. With the
cooperation of General Gregg of the United States Army,
who furnished horses from the post at Santa Fe, Dr. Jack
son, accompanied by the missionary pastor at this point,
the Eev. George G. Smith, made a detour of about seventy
miles from his route to visit the Pueblos at Santa Cruci
and Taos. Arizona
In the spring of 1875, by enactment of the General As
sembly, the territory of Arizona was added to the Synod
of Colorado. This gave to its superintendent of missions
a new field to explore. It comprised an area of 114,000
square miles, and throughout its vast extent there was
not, at this time, apart from the military posts, a single
Protestant minister of the Gospel.
In the spring of 1876, Dr. Jackson made provision for
a visit to this distant territory by an appeal issued to
individual contributors. This was done with the consent
of the Board, for the reason that no funds could be spared
from its treasury at that time for this purpose.
Before he started on the journey, he had been success
ful also in interesting the "Ladies' Union Missionary
School Association," located at Albany, New York, in
the pueblo at Laguna. Here it was proposed to establish

228 SHELDON JACKSON
a mission, and the officers of the society had pledged a
sufficient amount to support a teacher, in case a suitable
man could be found.
In the good providence of God, one who was admirably
adapted to the field was found by Dr. Jackson, and it was
a part of his errand to locate him on it while en route to
Arizona. The man selected for this difficult field was the
Bev. John Menaul. In 1870, he had been sent by the
Foreign Board to the Navajo Mission, where he remained
until the spring of 1875. The experience which he had
among the Navajos, and later for a few months among the
Apaches, was a valuable preparation for the initial work
of instruction and evangelization at the pueblo of Laguna.
In a remarkable manner, also, the way had been prepared
for the coming of Mr. Menaul to this people. As far back
as the year 1852, the Bev. Samuel Gorman, a Baptist
missionary, had. found his way to the pueblo, but for
nine months could not get access to the people, because
of the bitter hostility of the priests, who had usurped au
thority over them in all things temporal, as well as in
things spiritual. At length, the missionary and his wife
were introduced to the council of the village by Captain
H. L. Dodge, of the regular army, a Christian gentleman
in whom the Indians had implicit confidence. He told
them that they were his friends, who had come to do them
good by preaching the Gospel and teaching their children.
After carefully considering the matter in council, they
consented to receive Mr. Gorman among them and for
mally adopted him and his family as children of the
pueblo. In the enjoyment of this privilege he was free to
go in and out among them and to take up a small tract
of unoccupied land for his own use ; but the long domi
nant influence of the priests was manifested in every ef
fort which he attempted to make for the instruction or
elevation of the people. For six years he tried to get the

PIONEER WORK IN ARIZONA 229
children to come to a school which he opened, and failed.
Their parents were friendly to him, but would not require
their children to come. The fear of the priests, with
whom he had many a conflict, had its influence upon his
hearers as Sabbath by Sabbath he faithfully preached the
Gospel. On several occasions the rulers of the Indians were
compelled to whip the people for failure to attend mass.
One morning he witnessed the whipping of forty-two
women and children at the church door, because in some
way they had offended the priest.
They were ordered to bare their backs, says Mr. Gor
man, and then the lashes were laid on until the priest who
stood by was satisfied. Amid such influences and deter
mined opposition, this faithful missionary laboured until
the spring of 1859, when he accepted an invitation from
the Mission Board of his church to become the pastor of
the church at Santa Fe\ As the direct result of his la
bours one woman and three prominent men of the pueblo
were converted, one of whom became his interpreter.
This man, a devout student of the Bible, was afterwards
licensed to preach. When Mr. Gorman went away, the
mission was given into his charge. He continued to
preach until his death, in July, 1861. At the time of his
death he was also governor of the pueblo. From this
date until the establishment of the Presbyterian mission
— fifteen years later — they were destitute of all religious in
struction. Meanwhile, the leaven of the Gospel had been
silently working, and there was a deep-seated desire to
have another teacher of the Gospel like the good man
who had testified of the truth by his life as well as by
his words. In 1870, a young woman l passed through that
region on her way to the Navajo Mission. The people of
the Laguna pueblo had heard in some way that she was
'Miss C. A. Gaston.

230 SHELDON JACKSON
coming as a missionary to them, and they sent out an
official delegation to meet the stage and welcome her.
When they heard that she was going farther, they were
much disappointed and pleaded with her to remain with
them to tell them of the Saviour and teach their children.
In the wonder-working of God's providence this woman
was now coming back to them, after six years of waiting,
as the wife of the Eev. John Menaul.
By previous appointment, Dr. Jackson met the Indian
agent, Mr. B. M. Thomas, Mr. Menaul, and the Eev.
George Smith at Santa Fe. On the 23d of March, he
started with these friends in a government ambulance to
establish the mission at Laguna. The journey, which oc
cupied three days, was broken for a few hours at Albu
querque, a place of prospective importance, whereapreach-
ing service was held at which the superintendent and Mr.
Smith took part. At sundown on Saturday evening, the
little party arrived at the village of Laguna and received
a cordial welcome from the lieutenant-governor who was
presiding during the temporary absence of the governor.
Messengers were sent out for all the absent officials, and
runners dispatched to the little bands of Indians who
were out with the flocks and herds to summon them to a
council on the following day.
At the appointed time, the Indians poured into the
assembly room, filling every vacant seat and occupying
all the standing-room from the platform to the door. The
governor, the lieutenant-governor, the war captain, and
other officials occupied the left hand side of the platform,
and the honourable women, the wives and children of the
chief men of the Pueblo, the left. In the centre were
seated the missionaries, the agent, and two interpreters.
Dr. Jackson made the first address after the council was
regularly opened. He expressed his pleasure in meeting
with so many residents of the village ; described the two

PIONEER WORK IN ARIZONA 23*1
classes of white people, those that were made good by the
teaching of the Holy Spirit, and those who refused to ac
knowledge God in their lives and actions. He empha
sized the thought also that those who were led by the
Spirit of God had a desire to lead others into the good
way and that, for this reason, the good women of Albany,
many days'' travel to the sun-rising, when they had heard
that the Laguna people had no Bible and no teacher, met
together in council and had sent to them Minister Menaul
to give them the Bible and teach them about God and
His Son, Jesus Christ, who had come into the world to
save sinners. Addresses following were made by Mr.
Smith, Mr. Thomas, the Indian agent, and Mr. Menaul.
To all these, the audience gave heed as if spellbound.
When, at the close, the agent turned to the governor and
asked Vhat response his people desired to make, their
eager countenances were lightened up, their blankets
were thrown back, and in an instant they were all talking
and gesticulating at once. After they had been quieted
down, the governor announced that the people had said,
"They were glad, very glad, that the good women of
Albany had sent them a teacher. Now they could learn
to be good, and they would do as the good man had told
them. It was all good, very good."
Then followed a prayer of thanksgiving and the bene
diction, while the whole company reverently bowed their
heads. Next morning another council was held, at which
land was granted for mission premises and arrangements
were made for building an irrigation ditch to connect
with the ground which the missionary desired to bring
under cultivation. Leaving Mr. Menaul to begin his
work under such favourable circumstances, the rest of the
party started on the return journey at an early hour on
Tuesday morning. The lieutenant-governor showed his
regard for their kindness to his people by escorting them

232 SHELDON JACKSON
some twelve miles on their way. A few months later,
Mr. Menaul wrote : "The work here is progressing be
yond my highest expectations. The Lagunas are in a
fair way to abandon the last forms of heathen dances and
devil-worship. The church is crowded every Sabbath.
For lack of seats, very many of the people have to stand
up during the services." In the month of October, a
school was started, with thirty scholars. Thus was the
first mission begun, with its school and other equipments,
among the aborigines of the pueblos, the remnants, as
some think, of the ancient Aztec race.
The Ladies' Society at Albany supported the church
and school at Laguna for three years, when it was turned
over to the care of the Woman's Executive Committee of
the Presbyterian Church.
At Santa F6, Sheldon Jackson took the coach for a
continuous ride to Tucson, which was at that time the
capital of the territory of Arizona. A one-seated "buck-
board " was substituted for the coach at Silver City. The
first night's experience in this conveyance is thus de
scribed by this long-suffering traveller: — "There were
four hundred pounds of mail heaped on in front and back,
so that there was no alternative but to sit bolt upright.
Once I started to crouch down between the seat and
dashboard, but, small as I am, it could not be done with
comfort. So strapping myself to the seat lest I should
get asleep and fall off, I got through with the night as
best I could. There were no houses between stations.
The first stop west of Silver City was thirty -five miles,
which we made in five hours. There we took supper —
two fried eggs, fried beef, and a cup of coffee. The
charge for this wayside meal was one dollar. There was
a cation at this place which showed up distinctly in the
light of the full moon. Our next house and station was
twenty-two miles distant. We had a pair of wild horses

PIONEER WORK IN ARIZONA 233
and made the distance in three hours. At this station
there were four men who were evidently equipped for in
stant attack or defense. Their house was an armoury of
guns and revolvers."
At Point of Eocks, a station eighty-five miles from the
stopping-place last mentioned, a covered wagon was se
cured and here two more travellers were booked for the
remaining portion of the journey.
After six days and five nights of continuous travel, in
coach and buckboard, Dr. Jackson reached Tucson, and
so far yielded to the demands of overstrained nerves and
muscles as to take a daylight nap of three or four hours.
" About 3 P. M.," as he puts it, " got up, washed, had a
good cup of tea, and felt better." Not long afterwards,
his search for Presbyterians was rewarded by the dis
covery of six communicant members. Under date of
April 12th, he writes : —
" Last Sabbath, I held the first Presbyterian service that
was ever held in Tucson, and organized the first Presby
terian, and second Protestant church, ever organized in the
territory. Services were held in the court-house, with an
attendance of about one hundred. J. B. Clum, formerly
elder at Santa F6, was made ruling elder. Ex-Governor
McCormick gives the church eligible lots for building.
Mr. Clum presents them with a good cabinet organ.
They hope to build, by next fall, an adobe church, with
board floor. The whole Protestant element of the com
munity gives the new movement their hearty sympathy.
.Sabbath afternoon, the governor was invited in to dine
with me, and in the evening we had a praise meeting.
They have a number of good singers among the citizens.
On Monday news was brought in of an outbreak of the
Chir-ai-chuai, Apache Indians. We staged it through
their reservation all day last Thursday, and on the next
day they were on the war-path. The troops are out after

234 SHELDON JACKSON
them, and couriers have been sent out to warn the scat
tered farming settlements."
The above mentioned service was thus advertized in the
Saturday morning issue of one of the Tucson daily
papers : —
" The word of God will be preached in the court-house
to-morrow morning at 10:30 A. M. We bespeak a
large attendance. These seasons of grace are rare at
Tucson to the Protestant residents. The Eev. Mr.
Jackson comes highly recommended. The ladies will
certainly be there. They are always found in every
good word and work. Let them suggest to their husbands
and male friends for once to neglect the everlasting reck
onings of profit and loss, or to forego the last sensation,
the problems of politics, the comic weekly, the agile bil
liard ball, the seductive sevens-up, or the Sunday morn
ing's nap, and wend their way to the house of worship."
On Monday evening, the journey by stage was resumed.
At Montezuma station, Dr. Jackson sent an Indian courier
to the Pima Agency for an ambulance. While waiting for
it he availed himself of the opportunity to visit the
famous ruins of Casa Grande, in the immediate vicinity.
Eeturning to Montezuma he found the ambulance was
ready and at once started for the agency, fourteen miles
distant. The following day (Wednesday) after securing
some valuable information concerning this tribe, and some
good specimens of Pima pottery, idols, stone weapons, etc.,
he took the stage northward for Prescott, a promising
town which afterwards became the capital of the territory.
In the. valley of the Salt Biver, a name suggestive of any
thing but fertility and prosperity, he found beautifully
cultivated farms, which had been cropped for three hun
dred years without any diminution of their fertility. At
Wickenburg, he was detained from 6 A. m. until 6 p. m.
to makfe connections with the stage for Prescott. The

PIONEER WORK IN ARIZONA 235
only place to sit down during this long day was in the
billiard and drinking saloon, with the most villainous,
cutthroat crew with which he had come in contact on the
trip. Two or three days were spent at Prescott looking
over the ground and preparing the way for a mission station
and an ultimate organization of a church. A few months
later, the Eev. John A. Merrill, a graduate of the San Fran
cisco Theological Seminary, was secured as a supply for this
station, and the Bev. J. E. Anderson, who had laboured
successfully for some time in Colorado, was commissioned
for Tucson. For a while after his arrival, Mr. Merrill
paid for himself and wife, one hundred and thirty dollars
per month for board and the use of one room. This was
five dollars more per month than the salary allowed him
by the Board. His travelling expenses to the field
amounted to one hundred and thirty-two dollars besides.
In the face of difficulties and self-denials such as these,
the first churches in this new empire of the Southwest
were planted and nourished. Dr. Jackson found it easier at
this time to return by way of the Pacific coast. The jour
ney to "Seven Palms," in California, the southern ter
minus of the railroad, — was made by stage-coach without
accident or detention. It was a dreary ride, however,
over waterless deserts and drifting sands, so heavy in
places that frequently for hours the six horse team " could
not get off a walk." During two of the nights spent on
this journey, he strapped himself to the top of the coach,
on deck, in order that he might enjoy the luxury of
stretching his limbs at full length while he slept. At
Seven Palms, his long stage ride, of well-nigh 1,800
miles, was ended. It was a welcome relief to exchange
the rough riding of the coach for the cars, which left the
station at 11 p. m. and arrived at Los Angeles at 10 A. m.
the next day. His arrival in San Francisco, which seems
to have followed closely upon the visit of Dom Pedro,

236 SHELDON JACKSON
Emperor of Brazil, is thus announced in the Occident of
May 4th : —
Another man, as marked in his way, and whose influence will
not be less lasting than an emperor's, visited our city last week,
the Rev. Sheldon Jackson, D. D. — a small, compact, well-knit,
sinewy, sanguine, sunburnt young man. We are surprised to
find in such a form the great religious explorer and founder of
churches all over the central western section of the United
States. We had the pleasure of sitting in conversation with him
and our own district missionary, Rev. Thomas Fraser, who has
been doing similar work in all the vast region of the West
coast, from Puget Sound to San Diego. Some of our Eastern
brethren are opposed to this system of district supervision.
Those of us familiar with these vast spiritual wastes are per
fectly aware that there is no other possible means of
establishing mission work over them. No man can engage in
that war at his own expense and hazard. No pastor can go out
of his field, hundreds of miles, and give the labour and time
needful to work up these churches. In California we were for
a long period without such labour. Fields lost to us, churches
actually built by us, and then disposed of, or turned over to
other denominations, attest the result.
In the following year — 1877— Dr. Jackson made three
trips to this remote section of his vast missionary field,
and, meanwhile — between the first and second — explored
the regions beyond to the northwest as far as Sitka in
Alaska. The first trip was made during the months of
March and April. It included a series of tiresome and
dangerous journeys by ox cart for five continuous days,1
ambulance and on horseback to the various settlements of
the Zuni, Navajo, Moqui, and Jemez Indians. The ob
ject of these visits was to prepare the way for the estab
lishment of missions, as soon as the necessary arrange
ment could be made to man and support them. A signifi
cant warning, which did not act as a deterrent, however,
1 The return journey was made in the same oonveyanoe — making a
round trip of ten days by ox cart.

Pueblo of Zuni, N. Mex. A Round-trip of Two Weeks to Zuni
by Drs. Jackson and Menaul.

PIONEER WORK IN ARIZONA 237
was given by Mr. Menaul in outlining an itinerary for
this tour. "At present," he wrote, " there is a band of
some forty highwaymen on the road between Old Fort
Wingate and Zuni, who are robbing nearly every travel
ler in all this section of the country, so that travelling is
well-nigh impossible, except by large, armed parties. I
hope these gangs will soon be broken up, at least before
your time is on to visit us." Fortunately for Dr. Jack
son and his companion, Mr. W. H.. Jackson, — the photog
rapher and artist of the Hayden Survey party, — who
secured a collection of valuable views illustrative of the
journey, the passage through this abode of the forty
thieves was made without attack or molestation. In this
and in several other instances, stages or private convey
ances were held up by Indians and road agents immedi
ately preceding or following the journey made by this
hardy traveller, but amid all these dangers he seemed to
be shielded and guarded by an unseen hand and a vig
ilant, unseen Watcher who never slept.
The experiences and impressions of this missionary tour
are briefly given in an incidental notice of a meeting of
the Presbytery of Colorado, which was held at Colorado
Springs, May 8th to 9th. The writer, an editor of one of
the local papers, mentions the fact that the Darley brothers
came to the meeting across the mountains from Del Norte
and Lake City, a distance of 285 miles, in a pony buggy,
being one week on the way ; and, as an offset to this,
adds : —

The Rev. Sheldon Jackson — who does not know him ? the
Bishop of the Rocky Mountains — made his appearance on the
second day, on his return from a two months' tour through
New Mexico and Arizona. It is hard to keep track of this
brother. It is worth a man's life almost to keep insight even of
his coat-tail, as he glides around the mountains or plunges into
deep ravines, or darts away southward among a strange and

238 SHELDON JACKSON
wild people. On this trip he had travelled 3,000 miles, mostly
in government conveyances. He brings sad tidings from an
unexplored region, sad, because these strange tribes, the rem
nants, as some think, of the Aztec people, are idolaters, having
no knowledge of Christ. He brought home a number of hide
ous and veritable specimens of idols. He told us he had seen
confined in one coral three thousand children, four thousand
women and two thousand men : in all nine thousand Navajo
Indians, to be counted by government officials preparatory to
the distribution of supplies; yet not one of the 9,000 had ever
heard of Christ. The Church needs just such indomitable pio
neers as Dr. Jackson at the front.
On the second journey of the season to New Mexico,
which was made, as already noted, after his return from
Alaska, Dr. Jackson was favoured with more agreeable
company than usually fell to his lot on missionary jour
neys. It was a tour of inspection rather than of explora
tion, and his companions were Mrs. Jackson, Dr. Henry
Kendall, the veteran secretary of the Home Board, and
Mrs. Kendall. The ladies of the party were the repre
sentatives of a great company of women who had heard
the call for help from this semi-pagan section of the land
and were organizing their forces, even then, to undertake
a work which for extent and efficiency has no parallel in
the history of missionary activities. Careful preparation
was made for this journey in advance through the kind
ness of Indian agents aud some of the officers of the
army, who were in a position to offer transportation and
an escort, if necessary. The report that smallpox had
broken out in its most virulent form at Santa Fe and in
some of the pueblos was somewhat of a damper to the en
thusiasm of the party in preparing for the journey, but a
reassuring message from the brethren in this portion of
the field decided the question in favour of making the at
tempt. Dr. Kendall was somewhat concerned to know
what sort of a side-saddle the ladies would want for an

PIONEER WORK IN ARIZONA 239
eighty mile trip on horseback, but presumably this was
answered to his satisfaction by the organizer of the party.
The journey included the Mexican villages of New
Mexico, as far south as Albuquerque and the Indian
pueblos of Taos, Laguna, and Jemez. The smallpox
proved to be a very real menace, for its ravages and loath
some eruptions were in evidence throughout a large sec
tion of the country which was visited, and in the pueblos
the party came into very close contact with those who
were suffering from it. It is a matter of record that as
many persons died of this disease in New Mexico during
this year as of yellow fever in the South in 1878. ' ' There
has been no sadder sight in these United States," said Dr.
Jackson, in describing some of the scenes which were wit
nessed on this journey, " than the despair of these
heathen mothers as child after child was carried out from
their presence. Some prepared feather prayers and
fastened them upon their children in the vain hope of
staying the ravages of the disease. Others threw them
selves upon the floor and rolled in agony before their
wooden idols, that had eyes that could not see, ears that
could not hear their frantic cries, and hands that could
not save. And then these poor childless mothers sat in
their loneliness and despair, without comfort, because no
one had told them of the Comforter ; without a hope, be
cause no one had ever told them of the Shepherd who
gathers the lambs to Himself."
This exploration tour, with a secretary of the Board
for a travelling companion, resulted in an enlargement of
the work in New Mexico and possibly a more sympathetic
fellowship with the superintendent in his self-denying
work on the frontier. In Dr. Kendall, also, the church
had a secretary who was equal to the occasion, and who
had been at the front before. " If the church," says one
of the party, " could have seen how gracefully the senior

240 SHELDON JACKSON
secretary of home missions can handle a frying-pan before
a camp-fire, eat Off a tin plate seated Indian fashion, and
when night comes roll up in a blanket and sleep on the
ground without a tent, the coyotes barking around the
camp, they would recognize the same vigour that is every
where manifest in home missions."
After a sojourn of nearly six weeks in New Mexico,
Dr. Jackson and his party returned to Denver, arriving
about the middle of October. On the 17th of the same
month, Dr. Henry K. Palmer, a medical missionary from
the church of Colorado Springs, reached the Zuni pueblo,
with his family, and opened a mission, in accordance with
arrangements made by the missionary superintendent.
Soon after his arrival, he wrote : " I do not believe that
a more needy field exists in the world, and the work cor
responds to that among the most heathenish of people.
There are at least 1, 300 souls in this pueblo, and no one else
has ever attempted to gather them as a portion of Christ's
harvest." In this pueblo, Dr. Palmer faced the horrors
of the smallpox during the winter, and for a time deaths
occurred at the rate of from one to five a day. The ex
posures and hardships incident to the care of the sick and
the beginning of his labours in a field so difficult and de
pressing, seriously affected Dr. Palmer's health, and in
the following spring he was obliged to relinquish his
work. Under date of May 6th, Mr. Menaul wrote :
" Dr. Palmer left here on his way home to die. It is so
sad. He had secured the confidence and love of the peo
pie to a wonderful degree, and his work was opening up
with much promise." "Three or four of the leading
men of the pueblo followed Dr. Palmer and his family on
this homeward journey 200 miles and could not speak of
their loss without weeping."
A few days after his arrival in Denver, Dr. Jackson
started on the third tour to New Mexico, with a view to

PIONEER WORK IN ARIZONA 241
attending the fall meeting of the Presbytery of Santa F6
and completing some arrangements for other sections of
this needy field. At Fort Garland, New Mexico, he was
met by the Eev. Alexander M. Darley, who had secured
a light buckboard with a team of bronchos to take him
across the mountains to Tierra Amarilla. In a letter to
Dr. Kendall, under date of November 2d, some interest
ing experiences are given in connection with this ride
over the mountains : —
A few miles out from Garland there came on a severe storm
of hail, snow, and sleet, in which we rode three or four hours ,
without cover or umbrella. Made Conejos the first day and
put up at a Mexican house where we had coffee (without milk),
stewed mutton, and tortillas for supper, and the same for break
fast. Ten miles west of Conejos, we commenced climbing the
mountains, and from thence on it was up and up, the snow in
creasing from one inch to a foot in depth. The new military
road exists only in imagination as yet. It has been staked out
and blazed through woods, but not graded, and some tracks
have been made by pilgrims, like ourselves, supposing there
really was a road there. The first teams were thirty days in
getting over sixty miles and a number were two weeks on the
way. We made it in two days, but at great risk to life and
limb. About r p. m. on Thursday, we trotted over the edge
of a precipitous slope of about 1,000 feet, not seeing it until
we made the turn of the descent. I sprang out. Darley in
stantly put on the brakes, but they would not hold, and soon
the bronchos were on a full run. The wagon flew through the
air as it bounded from rock to rock and our blankets and pro
visions strewed the road. I gave up the team for lost, when
one of the bronchos concluded to balk. The momentum was
so great, however, that he slid along about fifty feet before the
wagon came to a stop, and not a step farther would he budge.
We finally took the team off, and, chaining both wheels, let the
wagon down the mountain by hand. From this point we
toiled through canons, bogs, over fallen timber and rocks,
until night overtook us on the summit, at an elevation of 10,000
feet. We drove into a thick clump of tall pines and camped.
The snow was nearly two feet deep, and the cold was intense.

242 SHELDON JACKSON
I judge below zero. With great labour we heaped up a pile of
logs three or four feet high for a fire, which sent the sparks to
the top of the tallest pines and lighted up the woods all around.
The horses were tied on one side of the fire to protect them
from the mountain lions, and we laid pine boughs on top of the
snow for our bed. We took turns at sleeping and watching
during the night. Next morning, we were on the way about
sunrise, and during the forenoon were able to make only one
mile an hour. Twice we had to take the team off, lock the
wheels, turn the wagon around, and let it down a mountain
side backward with ropes by hand from one to two thousand
feet. At one point, Mr. Darley gave up completely and de
clared we might as well abandon the wagon first as last. But
I told him we could try, and if we got down safely, all right,
and if the thing went to the bottom with a smash, it was not
much worse than to abandon it at the top. After a severe
struggle, however, we did get down safely, and about 2 p. m.
we passed out of the mountains into the valley. The rest of
the afternoon we made from six to eight miles an hour, and
reached the Indian agency after nightfall. Have made arrange
ments to preach at the Chicago colony, six miles above, to
morrow. There are eight families in this settlement. Mr.
Darley and agent Russell are now off visiting some of the
Mexican plazas. The smallpox is raging all through this
region, and is proving very fatal.

Taos, the objective point of this journey, was reached
on the fourth day out from Tierra Amarilla. On the
third day, Mr. Darley missed the road and went twenty
miles out of the way, reaching the Bio Grande about
9 p. M. "Not daring to cross the river in the darkness,
they camped by the roadside until the dawning of the
morning." The night was bitterly cold and the situation
in general very far from comfortable. There was a good
representation of the various mission stations at the meet
ing of the presbytery, and the great theme of all its
sessions was the evangelization of this long-neglected
heritage of the nation. One feature of special interest
was the licensing of four native missionary teachers, the

PIONEER WORK IN ARIZONA 243
first-fruits of work among the Mexican element of the
territory. In the spring of 1878, Dr. J. M. Shields and family
were sent to the pueblo of Jemez, and soon after their
arrival opened a mission and day-school. In the month
of September following, Sheldon. Jackson made another
visit to this portion of the territory and assisted in the
organization of a Presbyterian church at Jemez. A week
later, a church was organized by the missionary in charge,
John Menaul, and Dr. Jackson, at the Laguna pueblo.
On the 8th of November, the Eev. T. F. Taylor and
family arrived at Zuni, and took charge of the mission at
that place, as the successor of Dr. Palmer.
By his patient, persistent efforts, thejafTssionary super
intendent secured funds for the erection of mission build
ings at Jemez and Zuni during this year.
In the winter of 1879, Dr. Jackson secured a contract
from the government for the erection and equipment of a
boarding and industrial school for the Pueblos at Albu
querque. He also obtained permission from Carl Schurz,
Secretary of the Interior, to place fifteen Navajo, ten
Pueblo and five Moqui children in the Indian training
school at Carlisle, Pa.
With a view .to the inauguration of this new departure
in the instruction of the Indian wards of the nation on a
larger scale he was appointed the special agent of the
government to collect Indian children from the various
tribes and mission stations under his charge and place
them in such schools as^should be designated by the
government officials(J(^>^bout the beginning of the month
of July, 1880, he made a trip to New Mexico, to test the
willingness of the Indians to part with their children for
this purpose. In each case it was necessary to secure the
permission of the tribe, as well as of the parents, and
this required careful handling of the leaders, who were

244 SHELDON JACKSON
naturally suspicious and averse to anything which seemed
to be. revolutionary or out of the usual course of events.
After many vexatious delays and solemn deliberations at
council-fires, ten Indian boys were secured from the
Pueblos, and one from the Apaches. At the Navajo
agency, there was a disposition at first to send the full
number for which provision had been made, but the deci
sion of the warriors was overruled by the squaws, who
were not present at the council, but had influence enough
to stay its proceedings. In the hope that their objections
might be overcome in time, Dr. Jackson gathered up
those who had been already secured and conducted them
in person to Pittsburg, Pa., where he ma
for their safe delivery at the school iii Carlisle^An in
teresting incident, illustrative of his a&apteMEty to cir
cumstances and prompt decision in emergencies, was
given in one of the Carlisle papers in connection with a
brief account of the arrival of this little band of Indian
boys from New Mexico. The writer, who seems to have
been connected with the school, says : —

The Rev. Sheldon Jackson, D. D., who brought us the Pueblo
children, had a narrow escape on his trip East. He was en
gaged to lecture on Alaska and the Indians on the 29th of July,
in the Assembly Hall at Chautauqua, New York. He expected
to reach Carlisle and deliver to us the party of children by
July 24th, but storms and the washing out of railroad bridges
in Colorado, detained the party, so that on the morning of the
day he was to deliver his lecture at Chautauqua he had only
reached Pittsburg, Pa. Sending forward his party of children
and telegraphing us to meet them at Harrisburg, he turned
aside to keep his Chautauqua engagement. He reached the
grounds six minutes before the time appointed for his lecture,
went on the stand at once, and delivered, what the records of
the assembly pronounced a most intensely interesting and in
structive lecture in behalf of Indian education and missionary
work,. But then six minutes was on time !

PIONEER WORK IN ARIZONA 245
On the 14th of August, 1880, the Board of Foreign
Missions of the Dutch Eeformed Church transferred the
Indian tribes in Arizona which had been assigned to
their care by the government to the Home Board of the
Presbyterian Church. This action was officially com
municated to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. It re
sulted in bringing some 16,000 Indians of various tribes,
several of which had not been cared for hitherto, into
close relations with the Presbyterian Church. During
the winter months of December and January which fol
lowed this action, Sheldon Jackson visited three of these
tribes and arranged for the establishment of missions
among them. This was done in connection with another
expedition, authorized by the Indian commissioner, to
collect children from several of the tribes in New Mexico
and Arizona, for the schools at Hampton and Carlisle.
On this long and perilous journey, Mrs. Jackson accom
panied her husband and assisted him in the care of the
children. On the greater part of this trip he was fa
voured also with the company and assistance of Mr. M. E.
Conklin, travelling artist of the Frank Leslie Publishing
Company, who availed himself of the opportunity to visit
the out-of-the-way places to which Dr. Jackson was go
ing in the interests of the house with which he was con
nected. On the journey southward from Albuquerque,
Dr. and Mrs. Jackson had the advantage of travel by rail
over the newly constructed railroad to San Marcial, the
terminal station of the passenger line. This was reached
after hours of vexatious delays, one hour too late for the
outgoing construction train, upon which they expected to
continue their journey. As there was no train available
of this character until the next morning, they were
obliged to wait over for it. Through this long winter
day they shivered around a red hot stove in a temporary
canvas hotel, while the thermometer registered near zero

246 SHELDON JACKSON
outside. General John Fremont, who was travelling with
them over this line, shared their discomforts, for here
there was no advantage in rank or station, and contrib
uted liberally to the general fund of conversation and
reminiscence which helped to wile away the slowly mov
ing hours. Their sleeping-place for the night was a
rough shanty, eight feet by six in dimensions. The night
was so cold that the clock stopped and the landlord,
missing the usual ring of the hours, overslept, and the
little party was aroused, too late for breakfast, with the
warning that the train was about to start.
Stumbling along in the dark for a quarter of a mile
they were hurried into an emigrant car, attached to a
freight train, which was already crowded with saloon men
and gamblers, who were moving to the front. The car
was unlighted and cold, and the general discomfort of the
men found expression in increased drinking, smoking,
and profanity. Thus the New Year's day — 1881 — was
spent from seven A. M. to one in the afternoon, when a
transfer was made to the stage-coach for the mission sta
tion at Mesilla, which was reached at eleven o'clock at
night. A ride of twenty miles across the desert in a pri
vate conveyance through the land of the treacherous
Apaches, brought the party to the terminus of the South
ern Pacific, where a construction train was again taken
for Deming, the limit, at that time, of the passenger
division of the line. Eeferring to this ride across the
desert, Dr. Jackson says: "We did not anticipate
danger, as the noted chief Victoria had been so recently
killed and the power of his band was supposed to be
broken. It was a false security, however, as the next
week they captured the stage, killed and mutilated the
driver and passengers, and during the next two weeks
massacred from twenty-five to thirty persons. However,
the good hand of our God was with us and we escaped."

PIONEER WORK IN ARIZONA 247
At Deming, Dr. Jackson learned that the train on which
he expected to continue the journoy had left about six
hours before their arrival. At tliis point it was impos
sible to secure food or lodging, and the only alternative
was to continue the journey in an emigrant car attached
to the construction train. The day wore away without
the opportunity to take dinner or supper. At midnight
a transfer was made to a more comfortable car, in which
the journey was continued until the party arrived at Tuc
son at four o'clock the next day. On the day following,
the agency of the Pima and Maricopa Indians was
reached and arrangements were made for the specified
number of children from this station. During his stay
at this agency, Sheldon Jackson again met Mr. Charles
H. Cook, who kept store during the week and preached
to the Indians on the Sabbath, and urged him to resign
his clerkship and give his whole time to religious work ;
and also to study at home for the ministry. To enable
him to do this, Dr. Jackson provided the necessary text
books and supervised his studies by mail. He finally
arranged for his examination and ordination by the Pres
bytery of Los Angeles. Los Angeles, although 411 miles
distant, was the nearest presbytery to Mr. Cook. At
Wilcox station he took the stage-coach for the San Carlos
Apache Agency, one hundred and twenty miles distant.
The return journey, via Glebe, which was about fifty
miles out of the way, was found to be " the roughest and
most dangerous ride on the whole trip. In some places
the hills were so steep that the passengers were warned
to get out, and when the wheels were chained the horses
were put to the gallop to prevent the coach from running
over them." On the return journey from the places of
rendezvous for the children several attempts were made
by parents or suspicious chiefs of the tribes to prevent
one or another from going, and great wisdom and tact

248 SHELDON JACKSON
were necessary to keep those who had been secured until
they were out of reach of their would-be deliverers. As
far as the young people themselves were concerned, no
difficulty was experienced and no distrust was manifested.
When the party were about to take the midnight train at
Tucson for the long journey to the States, a telegram was
shown the leader which conveyed the startling intelli
gence that a hostile band of Apaches were on the war
path murdering and pillaging along the line of the route
they were expecting to take. In view of this imminent
danger, it was thought best to remain over a day to tele
graph for a military escort. At the end of this time, no
message had been received, and it was decided to continue
the journey. Through the kindness of the assistant
superintendent of the road, a special car was furnished,
which was locked up to prevent intrusion from Indian
visitors. At midnight the car was attached to the regu
lar train. At Deming, it was found that all travel had
been suspended on account of the Indian raids. The
stage-coaches were not running, and the freighters were
laid up at the terminal or way stations. For two days
previous, Dr. Jackson had been telegraphing to the Eev.
Mr. Thompson, the missionary at Mesilla, for teams to
convey his party across the country, and at Deming a
message was received that they were awaiting them at
the end of the track, some sixty miles distant. With this
assurance, the car was attached to a construction train
and at midnight they reached the terminal station and
were warmly welcomed by Mr. Thompson who had ac
companied the teams to render any assistance within his
power. The most dangerous part of the journey was still
before them and the children were aroused from their
slumbers, transferred to the wagons, and an immediate
start was made in order to get as far on the way as pos
sible before daylight. There were three wagons and

PIONEER WORK IN ARIZONA 249
three armed horsemen in this hastily-gathered equipment,
and the teams were pushed along as fast as possible.
Small bands of hostile Indians were known to be all
around them, but they were not attacked and reached the
terminal of the New Mexican road in safety. " Two days
before," says Dr. Jackson, "three herdsmen and two
miners had been killed near the road at Chloride Gulch.
On the day previous, two men were killed on the Upper
Chrichillis, and, as we afterwards learned, at the same
time we were on the road, a man, his wife, child and
mother-in-law were massacred at Carisco. On the fol
lowing day, five men were killed west of San Marchial,
and, a day later, the buckboard stage was captured and
the driver killed."
These massacres had so stirred the Mexican communi
ties that in every town excitement was at fever heat and
lawless bands were breathing out threatenings and slaugh
ter against all Indians and their sympathizers among the
white element of the territory. In the face of this new
peril, great caution was necessary to avoid a collision in
the towns through which they were obliged to pass, and
as far as possible the Indians were kept in the background.
At one point an attempt to waylay and massacre the
whole party was frustrated by Mr. Thompson, who had
received imformation of the conspiracy beforehand.
This veteran missionary, who did faithful service at
one of the most difficult and dangerous posts at that
time on the frontier, has given a brief sketch of that
memorable journey, which should have a place in this
record. "During the first part of my term of service in New Mexico, "
he writes, " Dr. Jackson was general missionary of this vast
region of country, and his work of organizing schools and
churches among this people was no easy task. To try to reach
the Indians, especially, brought a protest at once from the

250 SHELDON JACKSON
Americans and Mexicans, for the Indians were hated and sought
for only to be killed. When, therefore, the plan of the gov
ernment to take Apache and other Indian children north and
educate them, became known at Mesilla and Las Cruces it
created great excitement, and it was openly counselled on the
streets that Dr. Jackson and all his party of Indian children
should be killed. The feeling ran so high that plans were laid
to waylay and shoot them, as they drove through a lonely ravine
on their way across the country between railways, and lay the
blame on the Apaches. Learning of the danger, I accompanied
the wagons to the end of the track and there waited the arrival
of Dr. Jackson and party. They arrived on the construction
train at the end of the track about midnight. Soon after the
children were hurried into the waiting wagons and we were off.
Leaving the natural route of travel, a detour was made, thus
avoiding the party lying in ambush, and, by forced driving,
Mesilla was reached about noon. On the evening of the
second day the party was safe in a camp of United States sol
diers who had been notified by telegraph from Washington to
protect them. . Those days and nights were times of great anx
iety to me. The Apaches were out on the war-path, the old
stage driver was shot shortly afterwards, and there never was a
day during this excitement that I did not watch carefully the
movements of those who were constantly threatening to kill the
Indians and all their sympathizers. I have often wondered if
those young men and girls, who were awakened at night in the
train, rushed into the wagons and driven with so much speed
along the Rio Grande, understood why we wanted to reach
Mesilla so quickly. My sympathies are with the poor Indians,
and I think we as a church should send more teachers into
those dark sections of our land. The work done by Dr. Jack
son and the material he worked with has never been fully ap
preciated. I have not forgotten the trying time through which
he has passed, and I rejoice in knowing that the Lord has
spared him to see some of the darkness disappearing among the
Mexicans, and anew era of gospel power prevailing."
At Marcial, the southern terminus of the Atchison and
Santa F6 road, which was reached by Dr. Jackson's party
about 10 p. m., a greater peril than any of the preceding
days awaited them. ' ' The whole village, ' ' says Dr. Jack-

PIONEER WORK IN ARIZONA 251
son, "was panic-stricken with fear of the Indians, as on
the two previous days nine persons had been murdered a
few miles distant. Then, to make the danger more vivid,
that afternoon the mutilated bodies of four persons had
been brought to the Mexican village, a short distance
away, where an infuriated mob of between two and three
hundred were assembled to view the remains of their
friends. Their loud wails of grief were mingled with mad
cries of vengeance upon the Indians. Had the presence
of these sixteen unarmed Indian children been known to
them, the mob would have torn us limb from limb, for an
Indian cannot be more cruel than an infuriated Mexican.
Arriving at the depot, our party kept their seats until
the train was emptied and backed down to the yard.
Ominous warnings were given by the railroad men that
if the Mexicans found out we were there, our lives would be
worthless. Once in the yard, we were quietly and quickly
transferred to a special car. The shades were pulled
down and the lights put out. For three hours — it seemed
an age — we sat in darkness facing death, liable at any
moment to hear the cry of the frenzied mob. The chil
dren were unaware of their danger, and slept, while my
wife and I watched and rested on the promises. It was
not simply the lives of the party at stake, important as
they were to us, but the education and evangelization of
the tribes represented by these children were at stake.
Everything had been done that could be done to secure
the safety of the party, and now we were shut up to sim
ply waiting and trusting. At length there was a whistle,
a puff of the engine, a jerk, and, to our great relief, we
were under way. In the morning, we were in Albuquer
que, and the long strain of six days and nights of great
anxiety was over. At Albuquerque, Mr. Conklin had
gathered for us ten Pueblo children, five boys and five
girls. The entire party of twenty-six Indian children we

252 SHELDON JACKSON
at length turned over to the Carlisle and Hampton train
ing schools."
A telling instance of the result of a brief period of
Christian instruction, in the case of one of the Papago
Indian girls of this party, was given by Francesco Bios,
several years ago, in the Southern Workman : —
One winter morning, nearly three years ago, Dr. Sheldon
Jackson brought a party of Arizona Indians to Hampton.
Most of them were strange, wild-looking men ; three were funny
little Pima boys, with great black felt slouched hats, and very
ragged clothes. Two little girls finished up the procession. One
of them, Melisse, a regular Topsy, with dishevelled hair and
queer, wild ways ; the other, Francesca, a quiet, sweet-faced
child, who looked up from under her shawl with shy, trustful
glances, which won our hearts right away.
She hardly looked like a girl who could brave the public
opinion of her tribe and resist the threats and persuasions of
her friends to follow the ray of light that glimmered before her.
The little girl, fairly established in school, set herself dili
gently to improve. In a marvellously short time she began to
talk pretty broken English. Two of the older girls took her to
room with them, and helped to teach her. They were discour
aged sometimes, but I think when they think of her now, they
must feel they have a rich reward.
After Francesca had been at school a few months, reports of
her mother's death were brought to her. It was some time be
fore they were verified. When at last the little girl had to be
lieve them, her grief was very sharp, but she bore the pain with
the same patience and courage she had shown before.
When we moved to Winona Lodge no one was readier than
Francesca to do her share in the work, or more conscientious
about accomplishing it.
But towards the spring the little girl grew weak. She didn't
care to 'go to school, and she couldn't play.
She stood in the hall and bade us good-bye as the Berkshire
girls started off in June for the summer.
We didn't know she was going so soon on a longer journey
from which she would never return. . . . "I know I am
going to die," she said bravely one day. " I should like to
live and tell my father about God." She knew General Arm-

PIONEER WORK IN ARIZONA 253
strong was going to her home. When she bade him good-bye
she wanted him to see the old church, and to bring her some of
the Indian fruits. In the early morning twilight of the day she
died she called the teacher who watched her and said, " My
mother came to see me last night. She glad to have me here."
" I think she will take you to be with her soon." " I know,"
said the little girl, " but I should like her to stay here a little
while and learn." Only a few hours after she reached the
brink of the cold river. With her sweet old courage she set
her face forward, and we think she saw one waiting to carry
her across, as she cried with infinite tenderness and gladness —
" Jesus ! Jesus ! "
And the teacher beside her, whose hair was white with years
of service and sorrow and trust, called to the child — " Yes,
blessed Jesus, sweet Jesus! "
Was she already in the arms of Everlasting Tenderness and
Strength, that with a voice and look of such measureless peace,
she echoed the words — " Sweet, sweet Jesus ! "

With much less difficulty and danger other parties of
Indian children were afterwards secured by Dr. Jackson
for these far-away Eastern schools, as well as for those es
tablished by government aid within the limits of his mis
sion field.
Thus while acting as the field agent of a Board,
organized solely for work among the English-speaking
population of the country, Sheldon Jackson became, by
force of circumstances and Providential overrulings, the
superintendent of the mission schools and churches of
most of the aboriginal tribes, outside of the Indian Terri
tory, as well as of the missions established among the
Spanish-speaking people of the country.
The Eev. Charles H. Cook, D. D., who has laboured
for more than three decades among the Pima Indians in
Arizona, bears this testimony to his efficiency and suc
cess in the beginning and early development of this
work : —

254 SHELDON JACKSON
' ' It was about thirty years ago, ' ' he writes, ' ' when we first had
the privilege of meeting Dr. Jackson. In visiting his great
parish, — Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona, — he
called on us at Sacaton, Arizona. The good brother was not
only anxious to have the Gospel preached to the whites, but he
also felt a deep interest in the welfare of our Indians. Arizona
at that time, I believe, had one Protestant church at Prescott,1
and one day-school among the Pima Indians. The Indian pop
ulation numbered over 40,000, but up to that time no church
of our great country had sent a missionary to any of the tribes
of Arizona. During the winter of 1880-1881, when the South
ern Pacific was being built through Arizona, Dr. Jackson paid
us a second, visit. He had concluded that as no other denom
ination would establish a mission among the Pimas, that the
Presbyterian Church must do so. This he accomplished, and
the Pimas nOw have seven churches and a Presbyterian mem
bership of some 1,340. At present, most of the Arizona In
dians are supplied with churches and schools. Among the
chief magistrates of our great Republic, General Grant, Hayes
and Harrison took a special interest in the welfare of our In
dians. Among the ministers of the Gospel perhaps no one
has taken a greater interest or worked harder to bring the
Christian civilization we enjoy to our Indians than Dr.
Sheldon Jackson. Instead of filling the pulpit of one of our
great Eastern churches, the good brother considered it his duty
to condescend to men of low estate, that he might bring the
light of the Gospel of Christ to the dark places of our country,
where it was most needed. May he long be spared to continue
in his great work. ' ' 2

During the decade of faithful, laborious service which
Dr. Jackson gave to New Mexico and Arizona, the work
among the Spanish-speaking people was necessarily slow.
It began with* the mission school and the training of
native teachers and preachers and it encountered much
opposition, open and secret. Its progress, however, since
" the day of small things " has been rapid and continu-
1 There was no Protestant church at Prescott at that time.
"Annual Report, General Assembly, 1906.

PIONEER WORK IN ARIZONA 255
ous. The Synod of New Mexico, which now covers the
immense field once held in faith and hope by the Presby
tery of Santa Fe, reported to the Assembly of 1908 five
presbyteries, which have under their care ninety- one
churches. The working force of the synod consists of
sixty-nine ministers, five licentiates, sixteen local evangel
ists, seven Indian helpers and eighty-seven missionary
teachers. It also reported eight candidates for the
ministry. While the present needs of this typical mission field are
still great and pressing the results are most encouraging.
The splendid work done by the mission schools is rec
ognized by all who come in contact with them and the
missionary is now welcomed to every community in
which they have been established. A few years ago the
Pima Indians only were named in the work of the synod.
"Now Pimas, Papagoes, Maricopas, Mojaves, and
Navajos are being preached by eight ministers and thir
teen helpers, and tidings come of many who are inquir
ing the way of life." Thus has the promise been verified
that they who "sow in tears shall reap in joy."

XII
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE WOMAN'S BOARD
OF HOME MISSIONS
" Over the ages comes down to us
A sweet old message that readeth thus : —
' Help those women who laboured with me ' !
And, methinks, could St. Paul look down and see
The gleaners who follow the reaping band,
Where the fields lie whitening in every land,
He would call from heaven's third height of glory
1 Help those women.' " — Anon.
FROM the days of the Apostles the value of
woman's work, in ways distinctively womanly,
in the missionary and evangelistic activities of the
Church, has been recognized and encouraged. The faith
ful women who laboured with St. Paul in the Gospel,
whose names have been inscribed by him on an imper
ishable roll of honour, have been followed by a long line
of like-minded labourers, — more numerous to-day than
ever before, — in every active and aggressive period in the
history of the Church.
The hearty cooperation of the women of the Presbyte
rian Church in the home field antedates the origin of the
Home Board itself ; and, for a century or more, they have
ministered through organized bands to the necessities of
the missionaries on the frontier. This was the " control
ling purpose " which held together the Women's Sewing
Societies of the olden time. As one has happily ex
pressed it : — 256

Woman's Executive Committee and Board of Home Missions.
{For names see Appendix, page 481. Group 6.)

WOMAN'S BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS 257
They combined to give where they could, and to labour
where they could not give, to lighten the burdens and brighten
the homes of these devoted ones battling for the Lord on the
rugged frontier. As the cool mountain springs are to the ma
jestic Hudson, so these time-honoured sewing societies, are to
the nobJe, organized woman's work of to-day ! They were the
far-off sources from which all this glorious work for women
sprang. They pursued the even tenor of their way through
many changes in Church and State, in spite of indifference and
ridicule, all the while keeping the welfare of the missionary at
heart with perennial devotion. They were the nurseries, for
the idea that woman's work was needed to supplement man's
work in the outward, aggressive activities of the Church, and,
if first for domestic missions, then, naturally enough, next for
foreign missions,1
The great central agency, now known as the^Woman's
Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church, so
wonderfuTTrTIts presehtr3.evelopments and so far-reach
ing in its influences, is the outcome of a movement which,
at the first, was not only slow of growth, but was singu
larly misunderstood and bitterly opposed. It grew ouff
of repeated appeals from missionaries and laymen on the
fjr^mtier who were brought face to face with conditions'
which existed among the unreached masses of the native
populations in the Eocky Mountain territories^ Within
the limits of the^gre^^ission^ryTLield^which was provi
dentially committed to Sheldon Jackson's care, in the
spring of 1869, the problem of reaching these unevangel-
ized masses was confronted, and its solution attempted in
what seemed to be at the time the only practical way.
Here in close relations with a mixed multitude of the rep
resentatives of all lands were concentrated all of the Mor
mon, nearly all of the Mexican, and about one-third of
the Indian population of the country.
'Historical sketch of the Woman's Executive Committee of Home
-Missions, hy Mrs. .& T. Scovel, of Pittsburg, Pa., May 23, 1879.

258 SHELDON JACKSON
To reach these lapsed, pagan and semi-pagan masses,
which dominated the sections in which they were located,
by the ordinary modes of approach, under the rules and
conditions originally^ framed_fpr the Home Board, was
^mpossibleTTts- charter limited its^phere~oTinftij^nce to
thejvreaching of the Gospel, presumably_among English-
speaking peoplePand its founders had never anticipated
"a situation such as confronted our pioneer missionaries in
the early seventies, when they were brought into close
contact with the dominating influences of degrading super
stitions and unmitigated heathenism, within the limits of
their newly-formed presbyteries and synods. It was
equally impossible to reach these "exceptional classes,"
as they were then termed, effectively under the provisions
and modes of operation of the Foreign Board. Its re
sources were inadequate for such a work, and its field was
so wide that its gauge was necessarily fixed at about one
missionary for every three million of the world's popula
tion. As a matter of fact, this Board could not see its
way clear to support continuously during this decade a
single missionary to the Indian tribes of the Eocky Moun
tain territories , nor could it do anything for the degraded
Mormon element of Utah, which so sadly needed the up
lifting influences of the Gospel of Christ.
In view of these difficulties and limitations, Dr. Jack
son was convinced from the first that a new agency must
be employed to meet this emergency and prepare the way
for the preaching of the Gospel. This agency, which had
been so successfully employed in foreign lands, was the
Christian school. It was a natural, and certainly a legiti
mate, conclusion that, inasmuch as the mission school was
a necessary adjunct to the work conducted by the Foreign
Board in the Indian Territory, it was just as necessary to
success in work conducted by the Home Board among the
Indians of Colorado or Arizona. If it were a necessary

WOMAN'S BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS 259
agency to reach those who did not welcome the Gospel,
and for the most part were hostile to it, in the Eepublic
of Mexico, it was quite as necessary among the bigoted
opposers of the Gospel in Utah and New Mexico. It was
also a natural and legitimate conclusion that it was just
as necessary and seemly that the Christian women of our
land should join in a systematic effort to bring the deliv
erance of the Gospel to the degraded and deluded women
and children of Utah and Alaska and the Southwestern
territories, as to the degraded and deluded women and
children of India and China.
While, for the reasons already given, the Home Board
was not at liberty to use its funds for the establishment
of mission schools, there was apparently no alternative
but to seek the voluntary help and cooperation of ^the
women of the church^— -whoseheafts the Lord Had touched,
— in the Inauguration and development of this important
auxiliary work. A hint as to its practical value, and
also as to its mode of operation, had been already given
within the limits of Dr. Jackson's field, by a little band
of devoted women, representing different denominations
in the state of New York, who had formed a Union Mis
sionary Society fof~the~purpose of_establishing schools in
New Mexico and^Arizoiia. The first impulse to this
movement came from the appeals of an earnest Christian
lady1 who had accompanied her husband, an officer of
the army, to his military post in New Mexico. While
there her heart was stirred within her as she realized that
this goodly heritage of the nation, which for many years
had been under the protection of its flag, was practically
throughout its vast extent without the influences of the
Gospel, and almost wholly given over to the influences of
a corrupt form of Christianity, but little better than
heathenism. The letters which she wrote with respect to
1 Mrs. A. J. Alexander.

260 SHELDON JACKSON
this spiritual destitution to her mother, Mrs. E. T. Throop
Martin, of Auburn, New York, were read, or sent, to
some of her relatives and personal friends. Moved by
these representations, a little circle of workers was formed,
under the leadership of Mrs. Martin, with a view to sup
porting a missionary teacher in the city of Santa Fe.
This informal organization was effected in the summer of
1867. It was known as the Santa F6 Association, and its
first undertaking was the establishment of a mission
school in that old historic centre of government and in
fluence. Through the active cooperation of Mrs. Julia
M. Graham, a warm personal friend of Mrs. Martin, a
similar association on a larger scale was organized in the
month of March, 1868, at the Bible House in New York
City, which was called "The New Mexico, Arizona, and
Colorado Missionary Association."
To this larger and more influential organization the
Auburn Society became auxiliary, and Mrs. Graham was
made its first president.
This association in its first year "paid the salary of a
Bible reader and teacher in Santa F&, assisted in defray
ing the expenses of a missionary in Arizona, another in
Colorado ; aroused interest in behalf of the Pima and
Navajo Indians ; sent out Bibles, tracts, and three com
munion services. In all, $1,203.50 were raised. In the
following year, money was raised for the purchase of a
valuable property at Santa Fe, upon which were buildings
used as church, parsonage, and schoolhouse. Then fol
lowed the establishment of a mission at Las Vegas, the pur
chase of buildings there, and the erection of a church." '
In the preceding chapter mention was made of the
Ladies' Union Missionary School Association, located at
Albany, N. Y., which undertook the support of the
1 First annual report of the New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado
Missionary Association.

WOMAN'S BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS 261
school at the pueblo of Laguna for the first three years of
its existence. This association was organized as a branch
of the New York Society, on a stormy day in the month
of March, 1871. In the following year, it was incorpor
ated, so as to hold land for mission purposes. It proved
to be a valuable auxiliary to Dr. Jackson's work in a
time of need, but, like the parent society, which was also
helpful at several points, according to its ability, it dis
tributed its work among the locations where the need
seemed to be greatest, irrespective of denominational
influence or control.
It is worthy of note in this connection that the founders
of this Union Missionary Society and its several auxil
iaries, were the first to respond to the call for organized
work in the support of missionary teachers and evan
gelists on our western frontier, with a view to supple
menting the work of the churches. In some cases, also,
they were privileged to prepare the way for the tardy
advance of the missionary. They were the first to break
with the tradition, so long held by many in the churches,
that woman's work in the home field was limited to the
preparation of missionary boxes or the securing of funds
to supplement the deficiencies or reductions of the mis
sionaries' salaries. The call which they heard was recog
nized as the call of God, and in responding to it by
direct efforts to save the lost and uplift the degraded of
their own sex in the benighted regions of our new pos
sessions, they became the advance guard of a mighty and
ever-increasing host of ministering women, whose field
extends now over a vast continent and whose influence is
felt for good in every quarter of the land.
In the spring of 1870, when organizations auxiliary to
the Woman's Board of Foreign Missions, located at Phila
delphia, were being formed all over the country, the
Presbyterian contingent of the New York Society, which

262 SHELDON JACKSON
seemed to have a controlling influence in its deliberations,
decided to sever its connection with the Union movement
"in order to organize a new denominational society
which should combine foreign missions with the home
work, which had been the impulse of the first move
ment." After this organization, to which was given the
name of "The Ladies' Board of Missions," was formed,
the Union Society was reconstructed and continued its
work along the lines which it had followed in the past.
Under the leadership of Mrs. Graham, the Ladies'
Board of Missions made itself auxiliary to the Home
and Foreign Boards and sought the cooperation of auxil
iary societies for both branches of the work. At the
close of its first year, it reported forty-seven auxiliaries,
and receipts in money amounting to $7,647.06. From
this date it contributed to both departments of the mis
sion work, but the larger part of its funds were given to
the new developments and advanced movements of the
united Church in the foreign field. The sphere of its
operations in the home field was mainly in the territories
committed to Dr. Jackson's care, and his advice and
cooperation were sought in connection with the points
which the officers of this Board decided to supply. On
the 8th of July, 1872, Mrs. Graham, president of the
Ladies' Board, wrote : —
Your Rocky Mountain paper reaches me regularly, and I
read with much interest the great work that is doing in the
formation of presbyteries, organizing new churches, etc. I
wish I could say that we could send you help, but our Board
is as yet but a little thing, although I hope its usefulness may
increase in the course of time.
At a later period— January 1, 1873 — she wrote : —
We shall always look to you to suggest objects of work and
interest. If we can do them, of course we will. Whenever

WOMAN'S BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS 263
you can give us some of your jottings of travel, I shall be
thankful and try to make the best use of them.
A practical difficulty in connection with a proportion
ate distribution of funds between the two agencies of the
Church is suggested in another letter under date of
January 5, 1874 : —
Dear Mr. Jackson : — I send you one of our annual reports
and hope that you will have a notice of it in your paper.
Dr. Dickson thought we had not done much for the home
work, but our report shows the contrary. At all events, we
have done all we could. It is perhaps unfortunate for us that
we did not turn our attention exclusively to foreign missions.
If we had done so, we should have had much larger receipts to
show. Now when we have lost so much by our adhesion to
the home work, that Board don't give us any credit for it.
From this and other indications it was evident to
Dr. Jackson that no adequate support could be secured
for the great work which was looming up before him in
connection with the evangelization of the unreached
masses of the "exceptional populations" of the country,
except through a central organization which had but one
aim and which could appeal directly to the churches on
its own merits and in its own behalf.
From abundant evidence in hand, it is clear that he was
the proposer and first advocate of concerted action among
the women of the Presbyterian Church to accomplish
this end. In this he stood almost alone at the first, and
it is safe to say that in no other undertaking in which he
was engaged was he subject to so much misapprehension^,
reproach, and determined opposition. From the begin- \
ning of the year 1870, he published earnest, pathetic
appeals, addressed to Christian women in behalf of the
many thousands of benighted women and ignorant chil
dren, within the limits of our territorial possessions and

264 SHELDON JACKSON
of our presbyteries and synods, who were living without
the knowledge of God, and were as utterly neglected as
the perishing multitudes in far-away heathen lands. In
1872, he commenced the publication of the Rocky Moun
tain Presbyterian, which was made the special advocate
of this feature of woman's work. In its advocacy at this
time, however, much wisdom and no little tact were
required with respect to the manner of its presentation.
There was a deep-seated and widely prevalent prejudice
in the minds of many against the so-called "exceptional
classes" in the territories ; and where this did not exist
there was a tendency to regard their condition with in
difference, or to depreciate any efforts which were being
made to better their condition or transform their lives.
Recognizing the fact that there was less of this scepti
cism, as to results, in the minds and hearts of the Chris
tian ladies whom he addressed, and, where it did exist,
was more easily overcome, he made his appeal for help
first, and mainly to them.
His good judgment was apparent, also, in leaving the
school work in the background until its need was felt and
its place assured, through the natural and unforced de
velopments of the work of the missionaries on the field.
Hence, in the first years of this advocacy, emphasis was
laid mainly upon the building of chapels, the raising of
funds to supplement the salaries of missionaries, where
the expenses were excessive or where the development of
new work at points of special interest among the Mor
mons, Mexicans, or Indians called for special funds which
the Board was unable to supply. Meanwhile, he gladly
availed himself of aid furnished by the Ladies' Union
Missionary Associations or by individual contributors
who were moved to respond to his appeals.
In 1873, the Presbyteries of Colorado and Wyoming, —
Utah being included in the latter — endorsed the recom-

WOMAN'S BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS 265
mendation of Dr. Jackson that the churches within their
bounds be authorized and encouraged to form distinct
societies in the interests of this phase of the home mission
work. In the same year, he prepared and published a
blank constitution for the use of congregations desiring
to avail themselves of this recommendation, which be
came the basis of similar organizations, in after years,
all over the country. The Seventeenth Street Church of
Denver, with which the Jackson family was connected,
was one of the first churches in the Presbytery of Colorado
to take action in accordance with this recommendation,
and Mrs. Jackson was made the president of the society
thus constituted.
At this time, strange as it may seem, in the light of
present conditions, every suggestion that the sphere of
woman's work in the home field should be enlarged, so as
to include the establishment of mission schools or the
raising of funds except for the purpose of supplementing
the salary of missionary labourers on the frontier, was
met with disfavour or open opposition. In the strong
Presbyterian cities of Philadelphia, Pittsburg, and Alle
gheny, where arrangements had been made for Dr. Jack
son to address the women in behalf of the cause he repre
sented, the pastors of the churches were waited upon by
a committee of ladies and entreated not to announce the
proposed meetings from the pulpit. This opposition on
the part of the women, representing the Foreign Board,
was aroused by appeals industriously circulated through
the religious press and other channels, by some notable
leaders in the activities of the Church, who claimed, and
no doubt honestly believed, that the policy advocated by
Sheldon Jackson would seriously interfere with the re
cently established work for women in foreign lands. An
other hindrance to its advocacy, at this time, was the
attitude of the officials of the Home Board, who could not

266 SHELDON JACKSON
see their way clear to authorize or commend it. After a
careful study of the situation, from the standpoint of the
missionaries on the frontier, the senior secretary, the
Eev. Henry Kendall, D. D., who at first was not favour
ably disposed, eventually gave to it his hearty and un
qualified support. From this time onward, he was
closely allied with Dr. Jackson in a long continued and
persistent effort to gain for this cause the approval and
sanction of the highest judicatories of the Church. At
the Assemblies of 1875, 1876, and 1877, Drs. Kendall and
Jackson conducted popular meetings in behalf of this
movement, and pressed its claims upon the Home Mis
sion Committees of the several assemblies. Meetings of
a similar character were afterwards continued by the
Woman's Executive Committee. As the result of their
united labours, the general assemblies of 1872 and 1873
recommended that the women of the Church should attest
their interest in this department of work by generous con
tributions in money, as well as in the preparation of ' ' boxes
of clothing," for the missionaries and their families.
The Assembly of 1874 reiterated this recommendation
and designated the months of October and November in
which special attention should be given to the raising of
money in the several societies or churches, for the Home
Board. In this connection the Board was directed to ap
point suitable women in the different sections of the
country to bring the matter to the attention of the
churches and societies in their respective districts.
In the Assembly of 1875, there was a marked advance
over all previous deliverances. After careful consider
ation of the subject in all its bearings, this assembly
authorized the formation of a distinct Woman's Home
Missionary Association under the advice and control of
the Board of Home Missions. This unequivocal action
cleared the way for the formation of auxiliaries through-

WOMAN'S BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS 267
out the Church, and several presbyteries and synods
promptly recommended the organization of such societies.
The Assembly of 1876 gave additional emphasis to the
movement, which was now assuming much greater im
portance, and was commanding attention in every part of
the land, by authorizing the synods to appoint commit
tees of women within their bounds to cooperate with the
Board in the prosecution of the work. Following this
action, committees were appointed at the autumn meet
ings ensuing by seven synods of the Church, viz.; the
Synods of Albany, Cincinnati, Colorado, Michigan, New
Jersey, New York, and Pittsburg. " With the increase
of woman's societies," says a writer in the " Presbyterian
Encyclopedia," "the school work began to assume such
proportions that it had to be reckoned with. Conse
quently, the Assembly of 1877, recognizing the fact of its
existence, formally authorized the Board to assume the
charge of it and enlarge it as rapidly as the woman's so
cieties provided the funds."
In bringing this matter to a successful issue, able as
sistance and hearty support were given by Dr. Kendall's
veteran assistant, Dr. Dickson ; Timothy Hill, represent
ing the aborigines of the Indian Territory ; Thomas
Frazer, representing the " exceptional population " of
the Pacific coast ; as well as by the entire force of mis
sionaries at the front, who were face to face with the
problem of evangelizing the masses of the alien semi-
pagan residents of their respective fields. It is conceded
by all who took part in this movement, however, that it
was the continuous, persistent, and united labours of its
prime movers, Drs. Kendall and Jackson, during the
sessions of these assemblies which aroused the enthusiasm
of the commissioners and concentrated their attention
upon the most important points connected with this new
development of mission work.

268 SHELDON JACKSON
This successful combination of effort was facetiously set
forth by Dr. Gray, of The Interior, who at that time was
not friendly to the movement, after the manner of
the Westminster method of instruction : Question :
" Wherein does the Board of Home Missions principally
consist?" Answer: "The Board of Home Missions
principally consists of Dr. Kendall of New York and Dr.
Jackson, the flying horseman of the Eockies."
To the seven synodical committees, above mentioned,
seven more were added by the spring of 1877, but as yet
the movement had not culminated in a national organiza
tion. This was owing partly to the fact that many of the
leading workers in the various associations which had
been formed, or were forming, had the impression that it
would be better to work through such organizations as
the "Ladies' Board of New York," which already had
great influence, and worked in the interests of both
Boards. Another cause of delay or hesitancy, was the
strenuous objection made by the leading representatives
of the Foreign Board in New York and the Woman's
Foreign Mission Board in Philadelphia, to the erection of
another*distinct association for mission work.
Through all the phases and developments of the move
ment, Sheldon Jackson held persistently and consistently
to the view that the best results could only be secured
for the home work by the creation of a distinct central
society. His experience in the field had convinced him
that the work to be done was of such a character that it
must stand upon its own foundation and make its appeal
on its own merits : and in proportion to its relative im
portance and urgent necessities. It was evident to him,
also, that no just proportion could be assigned to either
department of the work through the agency of a Union
Society, without the danger of precipitating a conflict of
opinion, if not of antagonistic interests.

WOMAN'S BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS 269
In the Home Board itself, there was no settled opinion
or outline of definite policy in reference to the best modes
of procedure, prior to the middle of the decade in which
this phase of the work originated. On the 17th of June,
1875, Dr. Kendall wrote :
" Dear Brother Jackson : —
" We have yours on woman's work. I think we
shall lay the matter before the Board next week and ask
for a committee of five to take the matter into considera
tion as to 'ways and means.' My mind starts the fol
lowing queries : Give me your thoughts on the subject.
1. Shall we try to bring the New York Society to become
wholly home mission t 2. Failing in that, shall we
adopt or recommend it as it is? Or 3. Shall we
organize another society with headquarters here ? Would
not that bring us into collision with Mrs. Graham's or
the Foreign Missionary Society and its auxiliaries f Or
4. Shall we dispense with a great central organization
such as Mrs. Graham's or the Foreign Missionary Society
at Philadelphia, and work only presbyterially and
synodically beyond the individual church? I should
like your views about it. If this committee advise a
vigorous movement I shall recommend that you come
East, about the time the fall meetings are held, and work
as far as possible through them ; then through the synods,
and then in the cities and large towns, until the begin
ning of January, perhaps longer."
These queries indicate very plainly the difficulties con
nected with the introduction of this new agency, so as to
take up the work efficiently, and at the same time avoid
unnecessary friction with the recognized agencies, united
or separate, already at work.
With a view to pushing the interests of this outgrowth
of the work more vigorously, Dr. Kendall, under date of
August 30, 1875, wrote :—

270 SHELDON JACKSON
Dear Brother Jackson : —
We want you to come East and make a campaign, first
among the synods and then in the cities, and, in working the
matter up, we would like you to visit as many of the Eastern
synods as possible, and if it comes convenient to be at New
York, New Jersey, Albany, Baltimore, Harrisburg, Philadel
phia, or Pittsburg, Central and Western New York : all or as
many as possible and as far East as possible, other things
being equal, for here is the money. After the synod we must
move among the masses, stirring up the women in city and
country in this great work. If we cannot organize as we
would, we must work as we did last year, only more exten
sively and vigorously. We wish you to confine yourself before
the synods to the woman's work and the Sabbath-school work,
and leave the general missionary appeals to others or to them
selves. But press home on them this one feature — women's
and children's work for women and children on home mission
fields.

The instructions contained in this letter were carried
out at the time designated, and " the campaign " so care
fully outlined had much to do with the shaping of events
in the after development of the work. Meanwhile, the
Rocky Mountain Presbyterian kept before the Church and
its ministry the needy condition of the fields for which
this provision was being made, and the necessity for
prompt action on their behalf.
On the 26th of January, 1876, a plan for the coopera
tion of the women's societies with the Board was adopted
and published. Up to this date, however, the question of
"school work" had not been officially considered. In
several instances the missionaries in the field had estab
lished schools under the direction of the superintendent,
where funds had been provided by independent societies
or individuals, but the Board did not assume the author
ity to plant them or to formally accept the charge of
them. In the autumn of this year, a gift of $500 was
placed in the hands of the treasurer, for the employment

WOMAN'S BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS 271
of teachers in Utah, under the supervision of the mission
aries. In connection with its acceptance, the following
action was taken : —
" Resolved, — That the secretaries be authorized to ex
pend the amount thus contributed, for the purpose in
dicated, without further commitment of this Board."
This cautious deliverance blazed the way for the con
sideration and hearty approval of educational work on the
home field by the Assembly of 1877, " as rapidly as the
women's societies should provide the funds." In December
of the same year, the school work among the exceptional
populations was formally undertaken by the Home
Board and the first teachers, sixteen in number, were
commissioned. In January, 1878, by previous arrangement, Dr. Jack
son addressed a series of conferences and public meet
ings in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, in the interests of
the work. At this stage of its development, the opposi
tion to the movement which had been slowly gathering
force in some quarters was manifested in open antago
nism towards those who advocated or encouraged it.
In these addresses it was shown with convincing force
that the condition of the pagan and lapsed masses in
Alaska, Utah, and the Southwestern territories, living
under the flag and recognized as the wards of the nation,
called for special effort which could not be compared
with or measured by the standards of the foreign field.
As an evidence of the inability of the Foreign Board to
meet this emergency, the facts were cited that within the
limits of the great field covered by the Synod of Colorado,
which contained the largest number of the exceptional
population of the country, there was not then, and had not
been for years, a single missionary commissioned by this
Board : and also that the Indian tribes within its borders,
which had been given over to the care of the Presbyterian

272 SHELDON JACKSON
Church, under the administration of President Grant, had
been neglected and left without a teacher or preacher, so
far as this Board was concerned, for a period of over six
or seven years. Furthermore, it was made plain, that
the object of the movement, for which an impartial hear
ing was demanded, was not to divide, but rather to in
crease the activity and efficiency, of the women of the
Church, a mere tithe of whom were at the time enlisted
for aggressive mission work.
Nothing daunted by the opposition which met him at
every turn, in these trying days, Sheldon Jackson supple
mented his addresses by personal letters to influential
women in all parts of the land, with special reference to
the formation of a central organization for the unification
of the work so auspiciously begun. With a view to bring
ing this matter to a decision, he urged the officers of the
Synodical Home Mission Societies to call a general con
vention for the formation of a central organization for the
whole Church. This they hesitated to do, because of the
impression which generally prevailed, that the Board of
Home Missions was the proper authority to issue the call.
He then applied to the secretaries of the Board to arrange
for such a meeting, but the members of the Board were
divided in opinion as to the expediency of taking such
action, and the secretaries in view of this fact were un-
willi ng to take the responsibility. Despairing of securing
action from the constituted authorities of the Church, Dr.
Jackson issued the call on his own responsibility and
made arrangements for a convention of women to meet at
Pittsburg, Pa., on the 24th of May, 1878, to consider the
desirability of effecting the organization of a National
Home Mission Society for the women of the Presbyterian
Church. Having called the meeting he carried on a vig
orous correspondence with prominent women in the
several synods asking their cooperation in securing a full

WOMAN'S BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS 273
representation and a satisfactory issue in keeping with the
importance of the occasion.
The convention was held at the appointed time in the
First Presbyterian Church. Mrs. W. A. Herron, of Pitts
burg, was called to the chair and Mrs. Wilson N. Pax-
ton was made the secretary of the meeting. The fol
lowing extract from a letter of recent date written by
Mrs. Paxton to Dr. Jackson gives some interesting facts
belonging to the inner history of this movement.
I well remember the almost universal opposition you met
with between 1870 arid 1878 in your efforts to interest the
women in a home mission organization.
I believe I was the first one to write you to come to Pittsburg
and Allegheny and address our ladies on woman's work in
home missions. After I had made all the arrangements for the
meeting, and sent to the Presbyterian pastors of those cities
notices to be read from their pulpits on the Sabbath preceding
the meeting, a committee of Presbyterian women visited the
several pastors and plead with them not to make the announce
ment, claiming that the meeting would injure the woman's for
eign mission work. There was much feeling over the meeting.
While waiting for the audience to gather, you related to me the
opposition that you had met shortly before from the foreign
mission women in Philadelphia, and that you had only suc
ceeded in having a meeting in that city through the determined
stand of Mrs. Matthew Newkirk, Sr., who secured a hall and
made all the arrangements for the meeting. And thus you said
" we must stand by you and back you up in Pittsburg." Upon
that occasion you won many ladies to favour a woman's home
mission organization. That feeling of apprehension, that a
woman's organization for home missions would interfere with
women's foreign mission work, has now happily passed away in
the great success of both societies.
I further remember, that, when failing to prevail upon any
of the Women's Synodical Societies of Home Missions, either
singly or collectively, to issue a call for a general meeting to
form a national organization of Presbyterian women for home
missions, you issued such a call yourself and wrote to a num
ber of the most prominent women in the several synods for their

274 SHELDON JACKSON
cooperation and for permission to use their names as vice-presi
dents of the proposed organization, and that you asked my per
mission to have the replies of said women sent to me at Alle
gheny, as a more central location than your home at Denver
for gathering the replies, inasmuch as the convention was
called to meet at Pittsburg.
But for your persistent, tireless, and wisely-directed efforts,
through the press and in public addresses in all the large and
many of the smaller cities and villages of the north, to arouse
the women of the Presbyterian Church to organized work for
home missions and to create a public sentiment favourable to
such an organization, I feel sure that the formation of " The
Woman's Executive Committee of Home Missions " would
have been delayed many years.
Those of us, who were most intimately associated with you in
church work in those days, know that you, more than any other,
were the one whom God used for the organization of " The
Woman's Executive Committee of Home Missions," and I
earnestly hope you will be spared to write the inner history of
how it was accomplished.

At the business meeting of the convention, a proposal
to form a Board, similar in some respects to the Woman's
Board of Foreign Missions, to be located in New York
City, was presented and explained. As the number of
representatives present was relatively small, and the
sentiment divided as to the best method of procedure, it
was suggested, as preliminary to further action, that a
committee of twelve ladies should be appointed to confer
with the Ladies' Board of Missions in New York as to the
propriety of having this organization devoted exclusively
to the work of home missions, so that it might become
the official organ of the Woman's Home Mission Society
of the Presbyterian Church.
This proposal met with favour and was at once adopted.
Mrs. S. F. Scovel of Pittsburg was made chairman, and
Mrs. O. E. Boyd of Elizabeth, N. J., secretary of the
committee.

WOMAN'S BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS 275
The conference, as previously arranged, was held in
New York City, July 11th, the committee having spent
the preceding day at Elizabeth in special prayer for
Divine guidance.
The Ladies' Board, after careful consideration, declined
to make the proposed change in their organization and
the committee, in accordance with previous instructions,
called a convention of the synodical committees to meet
at the Bible House, New York City.
This meeting was held on the 12th of December, 1878,
and resulted in the formal organization of " The Woman's
Executive Committee of Home Missions." This modest
title was assumed to avoid the possibility of a conflict
with existing institutions, and for several years it con
tinued to be the official title of this central organ of com
munication between the Board of Home Missions and the
synodical committees.
The officers of the new organization were : — Mrs. Ash-
bel Green, president ; Mrs. S. F. Scovel, and Mrs. J. B.
Dunn, vice-presidents ; Mrs. F. E. Haines, corresponding
secretary ; Mrs. J. D. Bedle, recording secretary ; and
Mrs. M. E. Boyd, treasurer.

"Who that remembers that occasion," writes Mrs. Boyd in
after years, "does not recall the solemn hush of that hour,
when the Master through the sweet calm voice of our chair
man, Mrs. Scovel, talked to us of holy service. ' If I wash thee
not, thou hast no part with Me ; and if I then, your Lord and
Master, wash your feet, ye ought also to wash one another's feet.'
It was to render service to our divine Lord, through the person
of our benighted and neglected fellow-countrymen, that this
organization was effected and work begun. The field of opera
tion was the exceptional population of our land ; the object to
enlighten and Christianize them. Surely such a gigantic en
terprise, undertaken by a few feeble but earnest women, was
not the product of human invention, else its history would have
been written long ago in disgrace and failure."

276 SHELDON JACKSON
Mrs. Green held the position to which she was called
with rare ability and whole-hearted devotion to the work
during its formative period, and until her death, on the
16th of August, 1885. She was succeeded by Mrs. Darwin
E. James, a leader of national reputation, who, by her
noble example, undaunted faith, and unceasing devotion
to this sacred trust has won the hearts, inspired the con
fidence, and stimulated the endeavours of all who have
laboured with her. Her period of service has been one
of continuous advance and enlargement : and, with un
diminished vigour she still presides over the noble band
of consecrated women who have joined hands and united
prayers with her in this good work.
It will be admitted by all who are familiar with the
events which led up to the formation of the Woman's Ex
ecutive Committee that Mrs. E. F. Haines, of Elizabeth,
New Jersey, who by unanimous consent was chosen to be
its corresponding secretary, was the most active and ef
ficient agent in the formation and shaping of this enter
prise. Her correspondence with Dr. Jackson in its in
cipient stages and developments, indicates the wisdom of
her counsels, as well as the depth of her interest, which
never seemed to flag, despite the discouragements and
conflicts of opinion encountered on every hand. Her
sweet spirit and saintly life were manifest in all her la
bours and trials : and, with unreserved dedication she
gave "her brain, time, money, and strength freely and
voluntarily to this cause." As one of the missionaries in
Utah once expressed it : — "To many of us, the Woman's
Executive Committee seemed to be personified in Mrs.
Haines, and its energies and lively sympathies to be con
centrated in her. She embodied its faith, its daring spirit,
its conquering aggressiveness, and the largeness of its de
sire concerning the work which had been committed
to it."

WOMAN'S BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS 277
In a notable anniversary address, given at the annual
meeting in May, 1904, Mrs. James ranked Mrs. Haines
with the first three, who were worthy of special mention
in connection with the founding of the Woman's Execu
tive Committee : —
"Three names stand with prominent brilliancy at the
beginning of our organization, those of Eev. Henry Ken
dall, D. D., Eev. Sheldon Jackson, D. D., and Mrs. F. E.
Haines. To Dr. Jackson, however, more than is gen
erally known, this Board owes a debt of unceasing grati
tude, and when the life of that remarkable man shall be
written, one will see how from the very beginning to the
present time his help has been freely given to aid our
work." In the reminiscence hour at the same meeting, Dr. Jack
son was requested to give an account of the steps which
led to the formation of the Woman's Executive Commit
tee, then known as the Woman's Board. In response, he
said : —

It will be necessary to speak in a personal manner. I was
sent to the frontier as a young missionary to do missionary work
among the Indians, but as I looked over the field I could do
little without the aid of a missionary teacher. I wrote Dr.
Kendall, then secretary of the Board, that we must have a
teacher to go into the homes of the Indians, to gather the
children, and to open the way for the minister. Later I came
in contact with the Mexicans, with the same result. To my
appeal, Dr. Kendall replied that the Board did not have a cent
to devote to employing missionary teachers. " We can send
you a preacher, though." To which I wrote back: "They
won't come to hear preachers : send us a teacher." Still there
was no money for teachers. I said to Dr. Kendall : " We must
have a Woman's Society for Home Missions." Dr. Kendall
saw there was something lacking for effective work on the field
and tried to secure the organization of a woman's national home
missionary society for the Presbyterian Church. The original
of this Woman's Home Missionary Society had two members,

278 SHELDON JACKSON
both men ! Dr. Henry Kendall and myself. Dr. Kendall
was president and I was secretary. While at the General
Assembly we would announce that there would be a Woman's
Home Mission rally, and it was not hard to fill the
largest hall or church with women who would come in
response to such an invitation, but an organization was
not effected for some years. It was not easy to convince the
women of the necessity for such an organization. The first
recommendation of the General Assembly was that in addition
to its box work, the women should be encouraged to give money
towards home missions. In the two following assemblies, it
was recommended that women should organize definitely for
this work.
Finally, in response to repeated solicitations, a meeting was
called in Pittsburg, and the women coming together there, be
came convinced of the necessity for organization, and took the
work then and there out of my hands, and they have carried it
on with great success ever since.
To facilitate the work of this new organization, Dr.
Jackson offered the free use of the columns of the Rocky
Mountain Presbyterian. This offer was gratefully accepted,
and that paper became the official organ of the com
mittee. Its name was changed January 1, 1881, to the broader
title " Presbyterian Home Missions," to accord with the
wider sweep of its range and influence. At the close of
this year, he presented the paper with its greatly aug
mented list of subscribers to the Board of Home Missions.
Four years later, the executive committee undertook
the publication of a magazine, which was named the
Home Mission Monthly. Within a few months of its is
sue, it numbered ten thousand paid subscribers, and its
success, under the able and efficient management of Mrs.
Delos E. Finks, its only editor — has been phenomenal.
To this work Mrs. Finks came with the experience of
more than a decade of blessed service as the wife of a de
voted home missionary in Colorado, having crossed the

WOMAN'S BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS 279
plains on her bridal tour, in the early seventies. The
magazine has not only been self-supporting from the start,
but has paid over to the general fund a large sum, in the
aggregate, from its surplus, over all expenditures, year
by year. On its twentieth anniversary, its surplus for the
year wasmore than $2,5.00 — enough, as the secretary puts it,
to support five day-school teachers in Porto Eico and Cuba.
In a recent communication, Mrs. Finks gratefully
acknowledges the personal assistance rendered to her as
well as to the cause she represents by Dr. Jackson, and
adds:— "He stood behind the overtures which went to
the General Assembly relative to the formation of a
Woman's Home Mission organization, and was the firm
friend and wise counsellor in those early days. His life
has been one of far-reaching influence and unflinching
zeal and devotion."
In 1880, the Woman's Board of Missions of the South
west, and, in 1882, the Woman's Board of Missions of
Long Island, connected their home work with the execu
tive committee. One year later, the Ladies' Board of
Missions of New York discontinued their home depart
ment, which was also consolidated with the Woman's
Executive Committee.
Thus, at length, without friction or abatement of zeal
for either cause, conflicting interests were harmonized
and a great National Association pledged to the work
of home evangelization grew up alongside of its sister
organization for the evangelization of the world. The
motto of the one was " The world for Christ" ; the motto
of the other was "Our country for Christ, that through
its influence the world may be more quickly brought to
the knowledge of Him." The methods and proportionate
expenditures could not be harmonized or brought before
the Church in one budget, but each department along its
own lines did its work effectively, and perhaps all the

280 SHELDON JACKSON
more successfully because the leaders of each had a free
hand and a wide, unrestricted field. None of the evil
things which were prophesied concerning the division or
transference of funds and the wrecking of the foreign
work, in some sections of the land, ever happened in the
practical working of these organizations. Within the
limits of the Presbyterian Church, it was soon found that
there was ample room for both ; and marvellous was the
growth of each as in generous rivalry this ever-increasing
host of noble women laboured side by side, for one or
both, as it seemed best to them, for the furtherance and
extension of the kingdom of their common Lord.
In 1885, the field of work assigned to the Woman's
Executive Committee was enlarged by the addition of a
department of instruction for the benefit of the ignorant
masses of the negro race in the South. A year later, the
needy whites of the Southern mountains were included,
by action of the General Assembly, within its sphere of
work and influence. In 1893, a Young People's Depart
ment was added, to promote intelligent, systematic work
among the various organizations of the young people in
the Church, and a superintendent of schools was ap
pointed to have general oversight of the educational
work. In 1895, there was a further enlargement of the
work to include missionary effort among the immigrant
populations of foreign tongues in the mining and other
industrial sections of the country. Another advance was
made in the same year in the commissioning of women
other than teachers, for missionary work in the homes of
the mountaineers of the South, and wherever similar
work should be needed. In 1897, the name was changed
to " The Woman's Board of Home Missions," to indicate
more clearly the national scope of its work. In the same
year, the maintenance of preachers of the Gospel in
churches connected with or growing out of the mis-

WOMAN'S BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS 281
sion schools, was undertaken. In 1899, the missionary
teachers of this Board followed the flag to Porto Bico
and Cuba ; and in the schools and hospitals and mission
stations already established there a work of marvellous
extent, and still more marvellous transforming power,
has been already accomplished.
During the first year of its existence the Woman's
Executive Committee supported twenty teachers commis
sioned for its field, and its receipts from all sources were
$5,296. In 1908, twenty-nine years after its organization, this
splendidly equipped agency for the evangelization of
our land reported a missionary force of 442, and an offering
of more than a half million dollars. While the direct in
fluence of this work can only be estimated by the mathe
matics of the angels, its reflex influence has also been
very great. It has developed a nobler type of woman
hood and a higher ideal of patriotism. And it has
added immeasurably to the effective working force of our
churches by diverting lives that otherwise might have
been aimless and worldly minded into the noblest forms
of Christian life and activity.
The story of its conquests over superstition and sin ; of
its wonderful influence in moulding sentiment and quick
ening the public conscience in dealing with the abo
rigines of the land ; of its influence as a potent factor in
exposing and resisting the debasing influences of Mor-
monism at the capitol of the Nation, as well as in the
strongholds of its possessions ; of its marvellously rapid
growth and widely diversified forms of consecrated and
concentrated activities — do not properly come within the
range of this chapter. Suffice it to say, that this Woman's
Board is to-day the largest and most efficient evangel
istic agency, of its kind, in this, or any other nation of
Christendom.

282 SHELDON JACKSON
The writer has watched this movement from its earliest
beginnings and development, has sympathized, and la
boured, to some extent, with those who were its prime
movers in the day of small things, and it has been his
aim to present mainly the facts which relate to that
period of its history and growth ; to the intent that
honour may be given to those who toiled at the foun
dations, to whom in the fullest sense of the term honour
is due.

Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church and Notable
Superintendents of Missions.
{For names see Appendix, page 482. Group 7.)

XIII
PIONEER WORK OUTSIDE THE SYNOD OF
COLORADO
Texas — Nevada — Idaho — Alaska
{1870-1880)
" He had the eye of an explorer, which always rests on the horizon ;
and his desires ran ahead of his vision." — The Prospector.
THE initial work of exploration and evangeliza
tion which has been described in detail in the
preceding chapters, ranged over six of the
largest of the Eocky Mountain territories, and was
crowded into a period covering a little more than a
decade of active service. With hands full and heart
burdened with the daily demands of this great work, so
varied in its nature and so pressing in its claims, Sheldon
Jackson, nevertheless, found time for the study of the
needy fields beyond the limits of his prescribed range of
official tenure and oversight. In the columns of the
Rocky Mountain Presbyterian and in public addresses he
urged the occupation, in the name of Christ, of every
section of the newer portions of the land, and kept in
close touch with every movement which had for its object
the enlightenment and evangelization of its exceptional
population. In the winter of 1872, he reached out a helping hand
across the border of Utah, to a little band of evangelical
Christians in Pioche, a prosperous mining town in Ne
vada. At this time, the secretaries of the Board could
give no assurance of assistance in the support of a mis
sionary for that field. It was the centre of a community,
283

284 SHELDON JACKSON
however, destitute of gospel privileges, with a population
of about five thousand souls, and without question as to
boundary lines, or prospective support, Dr. Jackson took
it under his care. In reply to an inquiry of Mr. John
Paul Egbert, a student at Princeton Theological Semi
nary, who was seeking a temporary field of labour in the
New West, he directed attention to this place and recom
mended him to visit it. Mr. Egbert, who has since
served the Church in some of its most important fields of
labour, in the East as well as in the West, went to Pioche
at once, and in a short time gathered an interesting and
enthusiastic congregation. An organization was effected
on the first day of May, 1873 ; but soon after Mr. Egbert
was obliged to leave the field in consequence of a severe
attack of illness. His successor, the Eev. H. B. McBride,
of the McCormick Theological Seminary, was also secured
through the influence of Sheldon Jackson. The congre
gation provided for the greater part of the support of
both of these young men, and that which was lacking
was made up to them from the hitherto unfailing supply
of the "EavenFund."
The following letter, which came to hand a few days
after the date of the organization of the church at Pioche,
is given as an instance of timely aid from unexpected
sources outside the regular channels of communication
and supply : — West Chester, Pa., May ij, 1873.
Rev. Sheldon Jackson,
Dear Sir : — Our good friend, Mrs.  , whose interest
in mission work here, in the West and in foreign fields, is ever
warm, has entrusted me with $100 for mission work in the
West, which we think had better be given to you to be ex
pended according to your judgment. We trust through this
some may be taught to know, love, and serve God.
Your friend,
S. M. Dickson.

OUTSIDE THE SYNOD OF COLORADO 285
A few months later, another friend from the same place
writes : —
I will enclose a draft which you will use as your judgment
dictates, either for the support of missionaries now in the field,
or towards building a church. What is over $100 please use
for your paper or rather your private missionary work.

Thus through voluntary offerings, unhampered for the
most part by limitations, Dr. Jackson was given the op
portunity ofttimes to supplement the insufficient aid fur
nished by the Board, or to seize opportunities in advance
of the tardy processes of official action.
In the summer of 1874, the needs of the great and
rapidly-growing state of Texas appealed strongly to his
sympathies, and he was urged by some of his personal
friends to consider its claims with a view to undertaking
the superintendency of the missionary work within its
limits. With the approval of the officials of the Board,
he made a tour of exploration through some of the sec
tions of the state which gave promise of the most rapid
development, noting the conditions and exigencies of
the several points of special interest in each. This jour
ney, which occupied less than a month of the autumn
season, covered a distance of 3,500 miles. It included
Junction City, Austin, Galveston, San Antonio, Fort
Scott, and other important centres of growth and in
fluence. With respect to this tour and the reasons for
making it Dr. Jackson writes : —
I went to Texas at the suggestion of Dr. Kendall. At the
time Texas was receiving a very large emigration, and Dr.
Kendall was disposed to transfer me from the Rocky Mountain
field to that of Texas, as superintendent of missions, and prob
ably wanted to give me a chance of seeing what I thought of
Texas. He secured from William E. Dodge free passes for

286 SHELDON JACKSON
myself and wife over all the railroad lines in the state. Both
Mrs. Jackson and myself concluded that the climate would not
suit us, consequently no change of location was made.
In the spring of 1877, the Eev. E. B. Wright, of Aus
tin, Texas, made another earnest but unsuccessful attempt
to secure Dr. Jackson for this field. Under date of
April 17th, he writes : —
Are you not by this time aching for " New Worlds " to con
quer ? I hope so, and that you will conclude ' ' Texas " to be
a prominent enough world to suit your ambition. Our con
dition is this : the work is growing upon us ; immigration is
pouring in and bids fair to be a continual stream for years : and
to-day there is no better ground for mission work in the United
States than the state of Texas. ... It is, therefore, evi
dent that we must have a superintendent for our Work, of grit,
grace, and experience. Very much depends on the man we
get. . . . Like Diogenes, we must light our lamp and
hunt for a man and we ought to have him early on the ground
next fall. . . . Now please write me a letter and give a
hint that it is possible that we can get you. Do not be too
quick to think, or to say "no." If you will but give me a
hint to encourage us, I think I can make up all the details in
such a way as will save you from any annoyance in the matter.
There was another field in the remote regions of the
Northwest, the almost unknown province of Alaska, to
which this dauntless missionary explorer longed to go, as
far back as the early days of the seventies, but the way of
approach to it at that time was not yet open. From the
date of its transfer by the Eussian authorities to the
government and protection of the United States, frequent
appeals had been made to the churches and missionary
societies of the several Protestant denominations of the
country, by Christian women, civilians, and government
officials, residing in Alaska, in behalf of its deluded and
degraded natives, thousands of whom had never even

OUTSIDE THE SYNOD OF COLORADO 287
heard the name of the Saviour of sinners, but for several
years there was no response to these appeals and the land
was literally shrouded in the gross darkness of hea
thenism. As early as 1869, two years after the transfer of Alaska
to the United States, Mr\JyTiiifient_Colyer, Secretary of
the Board of Indian Commissioners, made a tour of ex
ploration into a portion of this new possession, and, upon
his return, recommended the immediate establishment of
schools among its ignorant native population, numbering
at that time about 30,000 souls. In accordance with this
recommendation, an appropriation of $50,000 was voted
by the Congress of 1870-1871, but no provision was made
for the administering of the fund, and it was not used.
During his term of service as commander of the Mili
tary Department of the Northwest, which included
Alaska, Major-General O. O. Howard also made frequent
and urgent requests througlTthe religious newspapers for
missionaries and teachers to supply the pressing need of
this long-neglected section of the land.
Stirred by the thought that all these efforts and appeals
had failed to secure a single missionary, or establish a
single school of the American type in a period which,
covered nearly a decade of American occupation, Sheldon
Jackson wrote to the Board of Home Missions in the win
ter of 1875, and again in 1876, urging the establishment/
of a Presbyterian mission among the Alaskans. These
requests were respectfully considered, but this far-away
region was then regarded as distinctively foreign mission
ground, and for this reason, mainly, no action was taken.
About the same time, theJtey^JLL. Lmdsley, D. D.,
of Portland, one of the most active andaggressiveleaders

of the^Presbyterlari jDhurchjn_Oregon, corresppnded-with
the Board_of~Eoreign Missions with respect to the same
thing. This Board at the time was struggling under the

288 SHELDON JACKSON
burden of a heavy debt ; and could not give any assur
ance of help to Alaska, then or in the near future. Its
inability to meet such a crisis in the homeland, was evi
dent from the fact that it had not established a new mis
sion of a permanent character among the Indians of the
country since the year 1849.
Thus for a period of almost ten years the American flag
had waved over a broad section of our national domain,
containing many thousands of ignorant and degraded in
habitants, in which there were no churches or mission
aries of the evangelical faith : no schools of the American
type, and, for a still longer period, no ruler by official
appointment ; and no organized form of government.
At length, as if to shame the great Christian nation
which had so culpably neglected them, the opening of
Alaska to missionary work came through agencies outside
the territory of the United States, and from the repre
sentatives of this needy people themselves.
There are few instances in the annals of mission work
in any land, where the transforming power of the Gospel
has been more rapid in its development, and more
wonderful in its results, than among the native population
over the border line in British Columbia, during the
period to which reference has been made.
In the autumn of 1857, Mr. William Duncan came to
Fort Simpson and at once began his labours among the
Tsimpsean Indians, under the auspices of the Church
Missionary Society of England.
" Here," he says, "I found nine tribes of Indians, number
ing by actual count 2,300 souls. To attempt a description of
their condition would be but to produce a dark and revolting
picture of human depravity. The dark mantle of degrading
superstition enveloped them all, and their savage spirits,
swayed by pride, jealousy, and revenge, were ever hurrying
them on to deeds of blood. Their history was little else than a

OUTSIDE THE SYNOD OF COLORADO 289
chapter of crime and misery. But, worse was to come. The
following year the discovery of gold brought in a rush of miners.
Fire-water now began its reign of terror, and debauchery its
work of desolation. On every hand were raving drunkards and
groaning victims. The medicine-man's rattle and the voice of
wailing seldom ceased."
In the midst of these appalling difficulties, and in the
face of perils which would have deterred a man of ordi
nary courage and faith, Mr. Duncan set himself resolutely
to work. As he told in simple fashion the old story of
redeeming love, some of the hardened hearts before him
began to melt ; and as at Antioch, Corinth, and Ephesus,
in the olden time, one and another were led to forsake
their evil ways and heathen practices and to enter into
covenant with God and one another to live in conformity
with the teaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. On the
28th of June, Mr. Duncan opened the first school in the
house of a friendly chief, with twenty-six children and
fifteen adults. Before the close of the year the attendance
had increased to 140 children and fifty adults. From
this time the interest in the knowledge of "the good
way " began to increase and the evil influence of the con
jurors, who had so long deceived and enthralled them, be
gan to wane. In the month of May, 1862, a devoted
band of converts to the faith of Christ came out from the
evil associations which environed them and established a
Christian village, with strict regulations concerning life
and conduct, at a place thirty miles away, called Metlah-
katlah. In his description of this remarkable exodus,
Mr. Duncan says : —
When all were seated in the place of assembly the ques
tion was put, " Will any one stand out in the midst of the
scoffing heathen and declare themselves Christians ? " First
there came two or three, trembling, and said they were willing
to go anywhere, and to give up all for the blessed Saviour's sake.

290 SHELDON JACKSON
Others were then encouraged ; and that day fifty stood forth,
and gathered such things as they needed, put them into their
canoes, and away they went. On that day, every tie was
broken ; children were separated from their parents, husbands
from wives, brothers from sisters, houses, land, and all things
were left — such was the power at work in their minds.
The story of Metlahkatlah, its rapid growth into a
community numbering about 1,000 souls and its ultimate
transfer to a new settlement within the limits of the
United States, is familiar to all the readers of modern
missionary literature. It will suffice for our present pur
pose to say that this mission was a potent influence in
preparing the way for the introduction of the Gospel
among the native tribes of Alaska.
Not less wonderful in its developments and results, and
still more closely connected with the beginnings of mis
sionary work in Alaska, was the mission established a
few years later by the Wesleyan Methodist Church in
British Columbia. In the latter part of the sixties, a pio
neer evangelist of this'church conducted a series of relig
ious services in Victoria, which resulted in the conver
sion and in-gathering of a large number of the native pop
ulation, many of whom belonged to the tribes of the in
terior. Within the far-reaching sweep of this wonderful
work of God were some who had been notable leaders in
wickedness, whose changed lives and intense zeal in
seeking the conversion of others attested the power of
the Gospel which they professed. At the close of these
services, the new converts from the interior went every
where, like the disciples of old, "preaching the word."
One of the converts, the chief of a tribe located in the
vicinity of Fort Simpson, returned to his people with the
fire of Divine love burning in his heart, and at once, in
connection with his wife, opened a day-school, which was
attended, ere long, by over two hundred people. Relig-

OUTSIDE THE SYNOD OF COLORADO 291
ious services were held also at Fort Simpson, which, in
the absence of a regular minister were carried on by the
people themselves. When the Eev. Thomas Crosby was
sent out to this mission station by the Canadian church,
in the fall of 1874, " he found a glorious work of grace in
progress, and not a single family that had not already re
nounced paganism and all were impatiently awaiting his
arrival to be taught more perfectly in the new way."
Thus a whole tribe came under the power of the Gospel,
and, as at Metlahkatlah, organized a Christian community
which year by year advanced steadily in the direction of
a higher civilization.
In the spring of 1876, a little band of these native
Christians, eight in number, crossed the border into Alaska
in search of employment. At Fort Wrangell, they se
cured a government contract to cut wood. To the sur
prise of the officers and men at the post, they declined to
work on the Sabbath : and, as was their custom, met to
gether for Christian worship. In Captain S. P. Jocelyn,
of the 21st Infantry, the commanding officer at the Fort,
they found a protector and warm personal friend. Thus,
in the wonderful ordering of the providence of God,
through these humble workmen who had recently ac
cepted the faith of Christ in British Columbia, and were
seeking for more light without the aid of any accredited
missionary teacher, the kingdom of God came, without
observation, to Alaska. They were the honoured messen
gers to whom the Holy Spirit gave the privilege of pub
lishing the gospel story to the ignorant and degraded
natives in advance of all the churches and missionary
societies of our land. Surely in the annals of missionary
work since the days of the Apostles there has been noth
ing more pathetic and significant than the efforts of this
little band of new converts to stimulate one another in
holding fast to their profession of faith, and to make

292 SHELDON JACKSON
known, in so far as they had opportunity, the way of life
to those who, for lack of this knowledge, were miserably
perishing around them. In response to their earnest re
quest, Mr. Crosby visited Fort Wrangell, as the summer
season was drawing to its close and his labours among
them for a brief season were greatly blessed. Before he
took his departure to his own field he persuaded one of
the wood-cutters, Philip McKay, better known among the
natives as "Clah," to remain in Alaska during the winter
and continue the religious services among the natives in
the vicinity of the Fort.
On his return to Fort Simpson, Mr. Crosby wrote to the
secretary of the Methodist Episcopal Church at New
York, describing the condition of affairs and urging the
establishment of a mission there at once. To this request,
the response was not favourable at the time, and the
reason assigned was "lack of funds." He next wrote to
the mission Board of the Presbyterian Church, but here
also the disposition to help was restrained for the same
reason. Meanwhile, the native evangelist, Clah, aided by one
of his associates who remained in Alaska, gave his whole
time to Christian work. He opened a day-school in Oc
tober, which had an attendance of ninety — many of his
scholars being adults — during the winter. Although not
so far advanced in the rudiments of an English education
as an average schoolboy of nine years of age in the
United States, Clah made the best of his knowledge as
preacher and teacher and daily sought for more.
Better than all other knowledge, he had the teaching
of the Holy Spirit, and, as a result, a deep religious in
terest was awakened among the natives to whom he
ministered. So great was the change wrought in the lives of some
who came under the influence of the Gospel that the citi-

OUTSIDE THE SYNOD OF COLORADO 293
zens and soldiers stationed at Fort Wrangell were aston
ished and deeply impressed. As the result of the winter's
work, forty of the natives gave up their heathenism and
publicly acknowledged their faith in Christ, while others
renounced witchcraft, devil dances, and the debasing serv
itude imposed upon them by the conjurors and medicine
men. There were two witnesses to this remarkable movement
among the native population in and about Fort Wran
gell who used their influence in a very effective way on
their behalf. One was Mr. John C. Mallory, a tempo
rary resident of Portland, Oregon, who had come to the
West in search of health. Through the influence of his
friend and pastor, Eev. Dr. A. L. Lindsley, he had se
cured a position in some subordinate capacity in the
United States Army and was sent to Alaska on special
duty by direction of Major-General Howard. Mr. Mallory
reached Fort Wrangell, in the early spring of 1877, but
was confined to his bed with hemorrhage of the lungs dur
ing the greater part of the month which he spent at the post.
He had seen enough and heard enough, however, during
his brief stay, to arouse his interest and quicken his zeal
in behalf of this needy people, who, without efficient
leadership, were struggling up towards the light and
vainly pleading for missionaries and teachers from the
churches of their own land. On his return to Portland,
which was hastened by the critical condition of his health,
the pathetic story of a waiting people and a wide open
door was told by this dying man to deeply interested
hearers. To this call for help, Dr. Lindsley and his
people were eager to respond to the extent of their ability,
but at this time the only agency available for succour was
the Foreign Board, and for the reason already given no
grant was made by it for the work in Alaska and conse
quently no missionary was commissioned or sent.

294 SHELDON JACKSON
The other witness to this movement whose heart was
touched with pity for the condition of these neglected
wards of the nation was Mr. J. S. Brown, a soldier con
nected with the post. Mr. Brown was not himself a pro
fessing Christian, but was so moved by what he saw
and heard that he wrote a letter to General Howard, en
treating him to use his influence to persuade some church
or missionary society to send a missionary to Fort
Wrangell. The letter does credit to the mind and heart of Mr.
Brown, and is worthy of a place in this narrative.
Dear Sir : — I write you in behalf of the Indians in this section
of Alaska, hoping that you may be able and willing to assist
these poor creatures in their endeavours to learn more of the
good Saviour, of whom they have learned but recently.
About last June, a party of Indians from Fort Simpson, Brit
ish Columbia, arrived at Wrangell and instituted a series of
meetings for divine worship. The Stickeens and other tribes
here really know nothing about Christianity. They soon be
came interested in the proceedings of their Christian visitors,
and a few, after many inquiries, concluded to try the " new life "
of which they had heard. Since then, the few have become a
hundred, and the tribe are asking for a Christian teacher, or
some one to explain to them more fully the way.
Rev. Mr. Crosby, of Fort Simpson, came here last fall and
did noble work for a few days, but his own mission demanded
his presence, and he could only leave two young men (Indians)
of his church to continue the work. It has been manfully
carried on during the winter ; and could you, gentlemen, be
present during some of their services, I know your hearts would
go out to them at the earnestness of their prayers and their in
tense mental struggles between the prejudices of their tribal
teachings and the new doctrines of Christianity. They are
poor financially, and while their country is unfitted for anything
like agriculture, the waters are rich in fish, and the land full of
game and heavily covered with timber. Since the advent of
traders and miners among them, lewdness and debauchery have
held high carnival, and the decimation of their numbers is the
result. If a school and mission were established at Wrangell

OUTSIDE THE SYNOD OF COLORADO 295
there would, no doubt, be an Indian population of over 1,000
souls located within reach of its benefits. And one whole-
souled, energetic worker here could sow seed that would bear
fruit from British Columbia to Bering's Straits.
These Indians have patriotic ideas, are proud to call them
selves "Boston Siwaches " (United States Indians), and glory
in the possession of a " star-spangled banner." But they feel
bad when they learn how much better off than themselves are
the Indians of British Columbia. Schools and churches abound
among the British Indians, so that nearly all of them can read
and write, and appear to better advantage than their neighbours
in Alaska. This fact speaks much for the Christian people of
Canada, and little for those of our own Republic, who yearly
send so much to convert the heathen in other lands, and while
they allow our own countrymen, who certainly are just as deserv
ing, to go down to the lowest hell. I am not a church-member,
but am making this appeal for these poor people from the dictates
of a heart that I trust may never be deaf to the cry for help from
the heathen. Can you not, will you not, make it your busi
ness to build up and foster this mission to Alaska ? A number
of men could be employed advantageously, but one whole
hearted man could do much and pave the way for doing more.
Send out a shepherd who may reclaim a mighty flock from the
error of their ways, and gather them into the true fold, the
Master of which said : " Feed My sheep." I hope this letter
may be considered in all charity, blemishes excluded.
And now, with faith in the justice of the cause for which I
plead so feebly, I leave the matter in your hands, trusting that
a brighter day may soon dawn for the poor benighted natives
of Alaska. Yours sincerely,
J. S. Brown.

This letter was referred by General Howard to Dr.
Lindsley, of Portland, who gave it into the hands of the
Eev. Howard Stratton, the commissioner from the Pres
bytery of Oregon, to the General Assembly. Of its fur
ther disposition, and the part it had in the opening of
Alaska to the full enjoyment and privileges of a Chris
tian civilization mention will be made hereafter.

296 SHELDON JACKSON
"If we knew more of the Divine government," says a
recent writer, "we should discover that the Supreme
Being, taking account of the condition of the Church and
the world, and perceiving, as we do but dimly, the tend
ency of the currents of thought moving among men,
foresees that there will be need of some special message
being proclaimed, and especially commissions a messen
ger, whom he prepares and equips for the task of de
livering it. " So in this hour of emergency, and in answer
to this pathetic appeal, ' ' there was a man sent from
God" whose name was — Sheldon Jackson. Henceforth,
although he knew it not then, the rest of his active life
was to be devoted to the education and evangelization of
the people of this far-away northland. Like Philip in
Samaria, he was engaged in a great work, which seemed
to demand all his energies and time, when an unexpected
call came to leave it for a brief season, in order to make
a special tour outside of his prescribed field of labour.
Like Philip, also, he knew not the real object of this
journey until in unquestioning obedience to the ordering
of Providence he was far on his way. The first intima
tion of the purpose of the officials of the Home Board,
through whom this call to go northward came, was
given in a letter from the senior secretary, Dr. Ken
dall, under date of April 19, 1877. In substance,
his instructions were to make a tour of exploration
in Montana, in order that he might become better ac
quainted with its principal cities and strategic points,
and that in so far as possible he might supply such fields
as were destitute of gospel privileges, pending the ar
rival of men who should be commissioned to take charge
of them. The time allotted for this service was about
three months. At or near the end of this period, he was
directed to go to Boise City, in Idaho Territory, and
thence northward to Walla Walla, in Oregon Territory.

OUTSIDE THE SYNOD OF COLORADO 297
Eeturning from this point, he was requested, if the way
should be clear, to make a thorough exploration of the
whole field north of the Pacific Eailroad to the California
and Oregon lines. This tour, as originally laid out, in
cluded territory belonging to the superintendents of other
fields, but the Board took the responsibility of making
this special investigation, mainly for the reason that
these sections were practically beyond the reach of those
who were appointed to care for them. At the close of
this letter of instruction, Dr. Kendall says : —
" You will be glad to know that the financial outlook
is more encouraging than we expected, and that we
stand ready to send the right men to all the important
points now open from the Missouri Biver to the Pacific
coast." In a foot-note to this communication, Dr. Jackson
adds: "The above letter resulted in the opening of
Alaska to gospel work."
This is literally true as to the result, but it was due to
a series of overruling providences which, in the first in
stance, eliminated Montana from the proposed tour of ex
ploration, and afterwards diverted the course of the jour
ney, as originally outlined, from Eastern Oregon and
Washington Territories to Portland and Alaska. In
the letter itself there is no intimation of a visit to Alaska :
and in the mind of the writer there was no thought of in
cluding it in this northward tour.
During the sessions of the General Assembly, which
was convened at Chicago, on the 17th of May, Mr. Strat
ton, the commissioner from the Presbytery of Oregon,
gave Mr. Brown's letter into the hands of Sheldon Jack
son to make such use of it as he deemed best. Deeply
touched with the pathetic appeal of its writer, he pub
lished it at once in the Chicago Daily Tribune and soon
after in the leading organs of the Presbyterian Church

298 SHELDON JACKSON
throughout the country. The original letter he for
warded to the Board of Home Missions with the request
that a suitable man be commissioned as soon as possible
for this long-neglected field. By a remarkable conjunc
tion of unforeseen events, the General Assembly had pre
pared the way at one of its sessions for the granting of
this request by authorizing the Home Board to establish
schools and support missionary teachers under certain
circumstances, among the aboriginal or exceptional pop
ulation of the country. This action was somewhat am
biguous in expression, and was in advance of any move
ment looking to the evangelization of the natives of
Alaska ; but the Board acted upon the presumption that
it covered the needs of this far-away northland, and at
the first regular meeting after Dr. Jackson's letter was
received, appointed the Rev. Francis Robinson as their
missionary to the post at Fort Wrangell. This action
Was taken in June, but before the commission reached
him, Mr. Eobinson had accepted a call to a church in
California. While at the assembly definite instructions relating to
the special mission northward, suggested by Dr. Kendall
in the letter above mentioned, were given to Dr. Jackson.
In the plan of the journey, as originally outlined, Mon
tana was included. In the later plan it was omitted for
lack of time, and Idaho was designated as the first terri
tory to be visited. The start for this momentous journey
was made from Denver about the 1st of July. The first
stage, by rail, was over familiar ground to Kelton, Ne
vada. From this point, Dr. Jackson diverged north
ward, taking the stage-coach for Walla Walla, in the ter
ritory of Oregon, 500 miles distant. On the evening of
the third day of continuous staging, he reached Boise
City, Idaho, and carefully looked over the ground with
a view to the establishment of a Presbyterian church.

OUTSIDE THE SYNOD OF COLORADO 299
On Sabbath, the 15th of July, he preached in the Method
ist church. This was said to be the first sermon preached
by any Presbyterian minister in this region. The follow
ing day several families of Presbyterians and some of
other denominations, who were willing to cast in their lot
with them, were visited and arrangements made for se
curing a minister. Through Dr. Lindsley, chairman of
the Home Mission Committee of the Synod of Columbia,
to whom Dr. Jackson reported the situation, a mission
ary was promptly sent to occupy this point and preach
in the neighbouring villages. Boise at this time had a
population of about 2,000. It was then, as now, the
capital of the territory, and was prospectively the most
important point within its limits. On Monday evening,
the 16th of July, Dr. Jackson resumed his journey by
stage. His companions on this section of the journey
were a scrofulous Chinaman and a gambler, far gone in
consumption. During the night the gambler had a severe
hemorrhage, and for a time seemed to be at the point of
death. While crossing the Blue Mountains of Oregon the air
was so cool that it was necessary to wear a winter over
coat. The same night he lay "with his head in an open
window, at Walla Walla, panting for breath, with the
thermometer at 108° after sundown."
At this point, Dr. Jackson found the whole region of his
prospective labours in commotion, by reason of a revolt
among the Nez Perces Indians, under the able leadership
of Chief Joseph. The revolt had already culminated in
open warfare, the troops had been called into active serv
ice, and settlers in all the exposed sections were fleeing
from their homes to fortified posts or other places of safety.
Under such conditions, mission work in the places to
which he was minded to go, was well-nigh an impossi
bility.

300 SHELDON JACKSON
In the face of this providential interdict, Sheldon Jack
son took counsel with the promptings of his own desires
and judgments as to the next step, and promptly decided
to go to Portland for a conference with Dr. Lindsley, and
thence^ if the way should~be clear, ~to~AlaskaI In a
description of this journey, he says : " On my long stage
trips, while establishing churches throughout the Rocky
Mountain territories, I had often thought of that distant
section of our country, and the vague hope would some
times cross my mind that I myself might yet be permitted
to go there." In the wonder-workings of God's provi
dence this vague hope had now grown into an intense de
sire, and he eagerly availed himself of the opportunity to
follow the leadings of Providence, which seemed to point
in that direction. "My trip, as far as Walla Walla," he
writes, " was in obedience to the direct instructions of the
missionary secretary, concerning which I had no discre
tion. From Walla Walla to Portland, the trip was dis
cretionary, and the secretary expected me to take it.
From Portland to Alaska the trip was finally taken upon
my own judgment, and at the earnest request of Dr.
Lindsley and others interested in Alaska. ' ' At Portland,
he^HniMia^A^-JB^J^cFarland, a missionary friend who
with her husband had rendered faithful service for sev
eral years at Santa Fe, the first mission established
by the Presbyterian Church in the territory of New
Mexico. Mrs. McFarland, after the death of her husband, about
a year previous to this visit, had removed to Portland,
and was anxiously awaiting the arrival of Dr. Jackson, to
consult with him with regard to future work. The recent
tidings from Alaska, which had moved the little circle at
Portland so deeply, had already awakened within her
responsive heart the desire to go there, if the way should
open : and it was soon determined that she should ac-

OUTSIDE THE SYNOD OF COLORADO 301
company Dr. Jackson to Alaska, with the view to the es
tablishment of a Christian school, as the nucleus of a
larger and more fully-equipped mission.
The faithful messenger who was thus waiting for orders
at the gateway of this new possession of the United States
was well aware of the hardships and perils and self-de
nials which this call to duty involved. In the early days
of Western emigration she crossed the plains, from the
Missouri Eiver to Santa Fe, in a stage-coach several
times. On one occasion, she was the only woman in the
coach for twelve days and nights, and a portion of the
way they were pursued by the hostile Indians of the
plains. She had also had a brief experience of mission
ary life among the Nez Perces, before the death of her
husband. Thus through many trials and unusual experiences
of hardships and dangers, Mrs. McFarland was emi
nently qualified for the work which she joyfully accepted
as the answer to her inquiries at the Throne of Grace.
From Dr. Jackson, Mrs. McFarland, and her friends in
Portland, learned for the first time that the Homejjoard,
basing its action upon the encouragementTgiven by the
last assembly, Jiad derided to-opeB-a-missionJnAlaska.
Thus the last barrier to the occupation of the lancTby
these advance agents of the Church, going at their own
charges and on their own responsibility, was removed.
"So to Alaska," as one has put it, "the journey was
made, and at Fort Wrangell Mrs. McFarland, the only
Christian white woman in1 the country, with an Indian
woman as interpreter, with twenty-seven books, no
schoolhouse, and the probability of a boat ' from below '
(the States) once a month, began Christ's work in Alaska.
She became nurse, doctor, undertaker, preacher, teacher,
practically mayor and administrator generally, for all
came to her, and, burdened almost beyond endurance, she

302 SHELDON JACKSON
kept writing for a helper, for a magistrate of some sort,
or an ordained minister. Tribes around began to hear of
her and came for help. One old Indian of a distant tribe
came and said : ' Me much sick at heart, my people all
dark heart, nobody tell them that Jesus died. By and
by, my people all die and go down — dark, dark.' All
honour and remembrance to that noble woman who braved
the loneliness and the dangers, bearing unfurled the ban
ner of the cross!" s
Dr. Jackson and Mrs. McFarland reached Fort Wran
gell on the 10th of August, 1877, and received a warm
welcome from the native Christians, who gladly turned
over the work they had commenced into their hands.
The woman who afterwards served Mrs. McFarland as an
interpreter, was gathering her winter supply of berries a
hundred miles up the Stickeen Eiver, when the news
reached her that the missionaries had come.
Eegarding the interests which they represented as first
in importance, she at once placed her children, bedding,
and provisions in her canoe and paddled home against
heavy head-winds to give the strangers a welcome, and
to offer such help as she was able to give. Says Dr.
Jackson : — " Upon landing at Wrangell and passing down
the street, I saw an Indian ringing a bell. It was the
call for the afternoon school. About twenty pupils were
in attendance, mostly young Indian women. Two or
three boys were present ; also a mother and her three
little children. As the women took their seats on the
rough plank benches, each one bowed her head in silent
prayer, seeking Divine help on her studies. Soon a
thoughtful Indian man, of about thirty years of age, came
in and took his seat behind the rude desk. It was Clah,
the teacher. The familiar hymn, ' What a friend we
1 "Over Sea and Laud," M. K. Bennett.

OUTSIDE THE SYNOD OF COLORADO 303
have in Jesus,' was sung in English; a prayer followed
in the Chinook jargon, closing with the repetition in
concert of the Lord's prayer in English. After lessons
were studied and recited, the school arose, sang the long-
metre doxology and recited in concert the benediction.
Then the teacher said : ' Good-afternoon, my pupils ; '
to which came the kindly response, 'Good-afternoon,
teacher.' As in the Sandwich Islands, and more lately
in Old Mexico, so here, God had opened the way, albeit
under great difficulties, in advance of the coming of the
usual missionary appliances."1
On the 28th of August, Mrs. McFarland took charge of
the school. On the opening day there were thirty pupils,
including Philip (Clah) and the Tongas woman who was
assisting as interpreter. For a time the forenoon of the
school-days was occupied with the ordinary elementary
branches of English studies. In the afternoon school
Philip taught and preached in the Tsimpsean dialect,
which was rendered into the Stickeen language by the
interpreter. As soon as Dr. Jackson had completed his
arrangements for the continuation of the mission, he left
Mrs. McFarland in charge and returned to his own field
of labour in the Synod of Colorado.
A short time before the arrival of this courageous
Christian woman, who was thus left alone in a community
where there were but few white men and upwards of one
thousand Indians, the military force which hitherto occu
pied the Fort had been withdrawn. This was the only
recognized authority within the limits of the land : and
apart from its influence there was no semblance of law,
order, or government. As in the later period of the
Judges in Israel, every man did that which was right in
his own eyes.
Says Julia McNair Wright : —
1 " Alaska," by Sheldon Jackson, p. 142.

304 SHELDON JACKSON
We can dimly imagine some of her feelings when she saw the
vessel carrying Dr. Jackson away, on his return tri^ and his,
as he left her to her fortune. Probably the ^Church in the
United States has never had a greater surmise than when it
heard that work in Alaska was fairly begun, and that a culti
vated Presbyterian lady was left there to begin it.
"What ! " was the cry that assailed Dr. Jackson; "did you
leave Mrs. McFarland up there alone, among all those heathen
— up there in the cold, on the edge of winter ? " " Yes," was
the reply, "I did; and she has neither books, nor school-
house, nor helpers, nor money, nor friends — only a few con
verted but morally uninstructed Indians, and a great many
heathen about her. Now, what will you do for her?" To
this, the writer truthfully adds : " The situation awakened an
enthusiasm that has had few parallels in modern church work."1
When Dr. Jackson returned to his home and reported
what he had done in this informal fashion for Alaska,
there were ominous indications of disapproval in some
quarters, but the Board of Home Missions gave consent
to the continuance of the work as already begun, with the
understanding that no funds were available for this field
from the general fund. Nothing deterred by this, Shel
don Jackson at once undertook to secure a special fund
for the beginning and extension of the work. His appeal,
as in emergencies on previous occasions, was mainly to
the women of the Church, who were now organized in
many of the synods for aggressive work. His public ad
dresses in cities and villages ; at general assemblies,
synods and presbyteries ; at missionary and educational
conventions, together with stirring appeals and deeply
interesting letters from Mrs. McFarland in the Rocky
Mountain Presbyterian, — resulted in securing, between
October, 1877, and December, 1879, a fund, aggregating
over $12,000. From the very beginning of her work,
Mrs. McFarland pleaded earnestly for a "Home-school"
'"Among the Alaskans," p. 116.

OUTSIDE THE SYNOD OF COLORADO 305
in which she could give protection and shelter for the
orphan and defenseless girls whom she had undertaken
to instruct and befriend.
' ' This need, ' ' says Mrs. Wright, ' ' became more and more evi
dent. As soon as Mrs. McFarland's instructions had secured
the personal improvement of the young girls, making them
bright in manner and tidy in dress and person, their superior
appearance attracted the attention of scoundrels who at once
tried to buy them of their heathen parents, and thus, again and
again, promising pupils were carried off for lives of vice and
misery. But now two of these girls disappeared from the
school, and word was brought Mrs. McFarland that they had
been accused of witchcraft and were being tortured. In agony
of mind, she set out to release them. The school implored her
not to go ! ' They are having a devil dance, and will kill
you.' Shustaks, a wicked chief of the heathen element, had
threatened her life, and would now take it. Sarah Dickinson,
the interpreter, threw her arms around her, and, weeping, de
clared she was going to her death.
" The converted Indians, at other times so bold, shrank from
intermeddling with the madness of a devil-dance, and warned
her to desist from a hopeless errand ; but up to the beach alone
hurried that Christian teacher to where her two poor girls were
bound hand and foot, stripped naked, in the centre of fifty
dancing and frantic fiends, who with yells cut the victims with
knives and tore out pieces of their flesh. Forcing her way to
the side of the captives, in spite of threats and execrations,
Mrs. McFarland stood warning and pleading, and threatening
them with the wrath of the United States ; and after hours of
dauntless persistency cowed the wretches and took off the half-
dead girls. During the night one of them was recaptured and
killed." To rescue helpless young women from such atrocities, a
home was provided through the joint efforts of Dr. Jack
son and the writer of the above, Mrs. Julia McNair
Wright. The funds secured for this purpose were the larger part
of the special fund of $12,000, which was collected prior

306 SHELDON JACKSON
to December, 1879. That which remained over was used
to pay the salaries of the missionaries, the number of
whom had been increased up to this date to five. The
first minister commissioned for this field was John G. !
Brady. He reached Fort Wrangell in the spring of 1878,
where he remained a month, celebrated the first Christian
marriage among the Alaskans, and then passed on to
establish a second mission at Sitka. In the spring of
1880, Mr. Brady severed his connection with the mission.
In after years, he filled important offices of trust in the
affairs of government in Alaska, and rendered efficient
service to the state as well as to the Church as governor
of the territory, during three terms dating from June 16,
1897, to May 1, 1906. In him the advocates of law,
order, and fair dealing, and the missionary and educa
tional forces of the country, had a staunch supporter and
a warm, influential friend.1
A few months before the arrival of Mr. Brady at Wran
gell, the native evangelist, Clah, had a severe hemorrhage
of the lungs, and soon after was called to the reward of
the faithful in the "better country."
The records of the Presbytery of Alaska give the fol-
1 At a later date, November, 1903, Dr. Jackson bears this testimony
to Mr. Brady's loyalty to the missionary cause and the efficient service
which he rendered it in other departments of labour and influence : —
"At this time Mr. Brady has a commanding influence for good in
Alaska, both among the natives and among the better olass of whites.
There is no man in Alaska the natives of Southeastern Alaska would
so soon go to when in trouble or in need of advice. He has for all the
past years kept the church at Sitka, for the whites, in existence. He
was made United States Commissioner under President Arthur and
was continued by President Cleveland during three years of his term.
He was appointed governor by President MoKinley and was continued
by President Roosevelt ; and both in private and public life has for
over a quarter of a century done missionary work at his own expense
in Alaska."

OUTSIDE THE SYNOD OF COLORADO 307
lowing accessions to the missionary force prior to Janu
ary 1, 1880 :—
Miss Fannie Kellogg, missionary teacher, opened school at
Sitka, April 17, 1878; Rev. S. H. Young arrived at Wrangell
and took charge of mission August 8, 1878 ; Rev. W. R. Cor-
lies, medical missionary and general assistant, who with his
family served without expense to the Board at Wrangell for
about three years from June 23, 1879 ; Miss Maggie J. Dunbar,
missionary teacher, arrived at Fort Wrangell, July 14, 1879.

XIV
A SUMMER VACATION AND ITS OUTCOME
"Until Sheldon Jackson's voice roused the Church, the interest
taken in this far-off region (Alaska) and its people was but slight. He
laboured incessantly among the churches and through the press, until
he awakened that missionary zeal for Alaska which has given ns the
churches and schools we now have there." — Dr. Bobert W. Hill, Su
perintendent of the Synod of Columbia, 1882.
THE successful inauguration of missionary work
in Alaska, in so brief a space of time, was not
accomplished without serious opposition. On
the mission field there were some who regarded this move
ment as detracting from the work already established in
the Western territories ; and from their standpoint
severely criticised Dr. Jackson for travelling beyond the
bounds of his own synodical territory. One of his
warmest friends who was then, and is now, a leader
among the missionary forces of the West, wrote, under
date of February 14, 1879 :—
I am very sorry, Doctor, that you are diverting attention
from all this necessary and important work in the territories
(Alaska was not even recognized as a territory at that time) by
any further discussion of Alaska. I am thoroughly convinced
that it is amiss to make that enterprise permanent. . . .
If all the people in Alaska were Christians, they wouldn't be
worth so much to the country and the world as one live Chris
tian in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, or Idaho. We need new
missionaries and more teachers. Where's the reason for sink
ing money in Alaska when so many points, important fields
right in the heart of the country are unsupplied I
308

A SUMMER VACATION 309
In the Church at this time there was another element
which strenuously opposed any movement which favoured
the evangelization of the Indian tribes of the country
through the agency of the Home Board, and in keeping
with this position antagonized the effort which was being
made to organize Presbyterian women for the purpose of
aiding in this work. A noted leader in this opposition
was Dr. Wm. C. Gray of The Interior. Eegarding "Jack
son" as therhead andirbnt of both movements, he criticised
his efforts along these lines unsparingly. He described
his long journeys in search of new fields of labour as the
"canterings" of the "wild horsemen of theEockies"
and allowed his riotous imagination to picture the clouds
of dust, which followed him in his swift course from the
Arctic circle to the Mexican Gulf. Eeferring to this op
position, in a letter to the clerk of the Presbytery of
Oregon, under date of July 12, 1878, Dr. Jackson says : —
The treasurer of the Home Board writes that they have re
ceived as the result of my letters and addresses, large contribu
tions, aggregating thousands of dollars as specials to Alaska.
One person sent in a check for six hundred dollars. This cor
dial response from the Church gave the Secretaries encourage
ment to enter upon the work in Alaska ; and but for that
encouragement they would not have taken up this work : for
you are probably aware that there is a large minority in the
Presbyterian Church, led by The Interior of Chicago, who are
opposed to the Board of Home Missions having anything to do
with schools, or Indians. And this minority has made itself
felt in the office of the Home Board in New York City. Be
cause I have such missions under my care and press them vig
orously on the Church he has seen fit to make violent attacks on
me and my work. The sins of the " canterings " consist in the
fact that the Alaska Indians were at one end of the trip. He
will oppose anything in that line that your presbytery will do.
In the later years of his life, Dr. Gray had another
vision of the man and his work and became one of his

310 SHELDON JACKSON
warmest friends and most enthusiastic supporters. After
his election to the highest post of honour in the gift of the
Presbyterian Church, the editor of The Interior wrote, un
der date of May 27, 1897 :—

It would be a poor showing if a man of Dr. Jackson's record
could not now, after forty years of the most distinguished service
of any American missionary, with the solitary exception (if ex
ception it be) of Marcus Whitman, receive recognition. . . .
Dr. Jackson is the most guileless man I ever knew. With a fond
ness for humour, which is probably excessive in me, I used, a
score of years ago, to find food for good-natured satire in the
little missionary, Sheldon Jackson, who had charge of the whole
country from the Rio Grande to British Columbia, west of the
Mississippi River. I used to call him the missionary mustang of
the Rockies, and depict the clouds of dust which followed his
swift career between the tropics and the arctics. Almost any
other man would have taken it seriously and become my mortal
enemy; not so Jackson. Some of his near friends were angry
about it, but he only laughed at it. He has, as I now know, a
quiet revenge ; .he says he has clipped all these descriptions out
and pasted them in a scrap-book, as part of the history of West
ern missionaries. If these descriptions should ever get into that
history, the laugh would be longest and loudest — not at Jack
son, but at myself.
As a result of the pressure brought upon the Board of
Home Missions in the period of which we write, the fol
lowing notification was addressed to Dr. Jackson from the
office in New York, February 3, 1879 : —
At the regular meeting of the Board of Home Missions held
January 28, 1879, the action following was adopted : —
Resolved, — That it is the judgment of this Board that the
interests of home missions would be best subserved by Dr. Jack
son, by his remaining upon his widely extended and destitute
field, — unless when called away by the special appointment of
the Board. (Signed) O. E. Boyd, Recording Secretary.

A SUMMER VACATION 311
Now it so happened that at the very time this deliver
ance was made, Sheldon Jackson was planning to make
another trip to Alaska, in the interests of the work to
which he was committed, and was also desirous of ob
taining a vacation — a rare privilege, which he had never
asked before — for that purpose. In his reply to the
above notification, which was virtually a reflection upon
his course of action, he gave a threefold reason for his
eastward trips, and, with a naivete that is certainly re
markable, in view of the circumstances, presented his
plea for a two months' leave of absence, with the very
purpose in view for which he had been tacitly reproved.
Not only this, but he asks that one or more representa
tives of the Board should accompany him to Alaska, afar
cry beyond his widely-extended field, in order to get an
intelligent conception of the work and its relative im
portance. Not less remarkable than the plea was the
reply made by the Board which reversed its former
action and practically granted all that he asked of it.
His own explanation is given in a foot-note to this cor
respondence : —

Memorandum. — In 1879, there were two parties in the Board
of Home Missions ; the conservative, holding to the old methods
and looking with suspicion upon the new movement (Woman's
Executive Committee) of women ; and the progressive, who
were in favour of the Woman's Executive Committee and be
lieved in keeping the missionaries among the churches for the
purpose of disseminating information.
When the above action was taken the conservatives were in
the majority.
A few months later, the majority was reversed, and I was re
quested to address Eastern churches. (Signed) Sheldon Jackson.
The official action alluded to is as follows : —

312 SHELDON JACKSON
At a meeting of the Board of Home Missions in New York,
February 25, 1879, a communication was received from Rev.
Sheldon Jackson, D. D., explaining the action referred to in
the resolution adopted at the last meeting of the Board ; where
upon it was on motion,
Resolved, — That the Board accept Dr. Jackson's explanation
as satisfactory.

A vacation of two months was granted Rev. Sheldon Jack
son, D. D. (Signed) O. E. Boyd, Recording Secretary.

Another phase of opposition to Dr. Jackson, in the early
development of the work in Alaska, grew out of a con
tested claim with respect to ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
For some time before and after the founding of the
mission at Fort Wrangell the Presbytery of Oregon, re
garding the territory of Alaska as a part of the Synod of
Columbia, assumed the right to supervise and exercise
control over the missionary work within its limits. It
goes without saying that this active emissary of the
Church at large, who had entered Alaska at a_time when
failure had been written upon every attempt to give the
Gospel to its native population, and who was not in any
way amenable to the direction or control of the Presby
tery of Oregon, could hardly have shaped his course so as
to avoid controversy or escape adverse criticism. Had
he turned over the new mission, which he had established
in the name of the Presbyterian Church, into the hands of
Dr. Lindsley and his associates in the Oregon Presbytery
and followed this with a withdrawal from the field, the
contention as to jurisdiction would have ended at once.
But where was the man among the busy pastors of that
body of missionary workers, each intent upon the devel
opment of his own prescribed field, who could or would

A SUMMER VACATION 313
have stood in the gap in this critical period and turned
defeat and oft-repeated failure into victory and substan
tial success. In Mrs. McFarland' s letters, all of which
have been carefully preserved, there is abundant evidence
that, next to God, her dependence was upon Sheldon Jack
son for the means to support her in her arduous work and
to enable her to continue the mission. But for his assur
ance of continued help and support, she would not have
remained in the field. In its dealings with Mrs. McFar
land, at the first, the Board seemed to recognize the
claim of the Presbytery of Oregon, and deferred, as far as
possible, to the judgment of its Standing Committee of
Home Missions, but all the evidence in hand goes to show
that it was nevertheless dependent upon Dr. Jackson for
the securing of funds and the awakening of interest in be
half of Alaska. At a later date, when conflicting inter
ests threatened the very existence of the mission, a care
ful examination of the enabling act under which the
Synod of Columbia was erected was made ; and it was
found that Alaska was not included within its distinctly
defined boundaries. Strangely enough, the very exist
ence of this far-away province as a possible addition to
the ecclesiastical territory of the Presbyterian Church,
seemed to be ignored or overlooked by the Assembly of
1876, when framing the utmost bounds of this great Synod
of the Northwest. At this time, and for almost a decade
preceding it, Alaska was in reality a " No-man's Land "
in its relations to the Church : and the same might be said
of its relations to the state, except in the matter of
revenue and the recognition of a nominal allegiance to the
government of the United States.
The relations of Sheldon Jackson to Alaska were also
anomalous and without precedent. He undertook the
work, in the first instance, because of the crying need of
its long neglected people, on his own responsibility : and

314 SHELDON JACKSON
for seven years of unremitting toil, during which he had
no official connection with either mission or school, he
laboured to the full extent of his ability in the interests
of both. In the commission which he held from the
Home Board, Alaska was not mentioned, nor included,
during the whole of the above mentioned period, nor did
he receive any additional salary as a compensation for
the time, labour and expenses of travel he so freely and
unselfishly gave to the opening up and development of
the country in order that its native population might
enjoy all the privileges and blessings of a Christian
civilization. In the heat of the contention relating to the question
of jurisdiction, it was asserted by the Presbytery of Oregon
that the mission at Fort Wrangell was successfully estab
lished before the first visit of Dr. Jackson. The writer
has carefully examined all the evidence available, bear
ing upon this point, and can find no substantial basis for
this claim. On the other hand, the Presbytery of Alaska,
soon after its organization, prepared an ' ' Official Sketch ' '
of the rise and progress of its mission work, which har
monizes in all its details with the facts already given.
At a later date, when these statements were again called
in question, the presbytery in session at Sitka, July 15,
1895, reaffirmed the official account in the action follow
ing :—

Attention having been called to an article published in The
North and West, of June 20, 1895, by the Rev. W. S. Holt,
entitled "Authentic History of Alaskan Missions," the Pres
bytery of Alaska desire to reply that the said article is mislead
ing and one-sided.
That while acknowledging the interest which Dr. A. L. Linds
ley took in the establishment of missions in Alaska, they do not
recognize him as the "founder of the Alaska Mission," as
claimed by Mr. Holt.
Dr. Lindsley was but one of several gentlemen working at

Pioneer Presbyterian Missionaries in Alaska.
{For names see Appendix, page 482. Group 8.)

A SUMMER VACATION 315
the same problem at the same time. And the Christian public
is right in considering that the one who first commenced active
work, and continuously pushed it on until the present time, is
our co-presbyter, Dr. Sheldon Jackson.
It is conceded that if the facts of a man's life are wanted,
that the man himself is the best authority as to those facts.
Having this in mind, the Presbytery of Alaska, at its first
meeting, September 15, 1884, prepared and adopted, after full
and careful consideration, an official statement of the rise and
progress of the present work of the Presbyterian Church in
Alaska. The history was prepared by the pioneers of the presbytery,
while all the first missionaries were still in Alaska, except the
Rev. George W. Lyon, who was only here a few months, and
every minister present at presbytery except one, and he, upon
his return home signified his approval of the paper.
More than that, the historical statement was submitted to
such of the lady missionaries as were present and had taken an
active part in making the history.
See printed historical statement, entitled "The Presbyterian
Church in Alaska, an Official Sketch of its Rise and Progress,
1 87 7-1884, with the Minutes of the First Meeting of the Pres
bytery of Alaska, Sheldon Jackson, D. D., Stated Clerk. Press
of Thomas McGill & Co., 1107 E Street, Washington, D. C,
1886." Done in presbytery in session at Sitka, Alaska, this 15th day
of July, 1895.

This historical sketch gives the following items also
relating to the ecclesiastical connections of the territory
of Alaska : —

In 1880, Rev. S. Hall Young and Rev. G. W. Lyon peti
tioned the General Assembly in session at Madison, Wis., to
create the Presbytery of Alaska. This petition was joined in
by Dr. Jackson. As there was not a sufficient number of min
isters resident in Alaska to enable the assembly to create a
presbytery, Rev. Dr. Jackson asked the Committee on Church
Polity to recommend that Alaska be attached to the Presbytery
of Puget Sound as the nearest presbytery, and Rev. Dr. Linds-

316 SHELDON JACKSON
ley asked that it might be connected with the Presbytery of
Oregon. The committee recommended as follows : —
" Overture No. 6 is a memorial from S. Hall Young, George W. Lyon,
and Sheldon Jackson, requesting that the General Assembly organize the
Presbytery of Alaska to include all the territory of Alaska ; or, if this can
not be done, to place the ministers in Alaska in connection with the Pres
bytery of Puget Sound. The committee recommend that for the present
no action be taken in these matters." — Minutes of General Assembly,
1880, page 44.
On the nth of May, 1 881, the Presbytery of Oregon over-
tured the General Assembly at Buffalo, N. Y., to define the
ecclesiastical relations of Alaska, laying claim to the jurisdiction,
to which the General Assembly made the following response : —
" That the territory of Alaska be attached to the Synod of the Columbia,
who shall take orders in relation to the presbyterial connection of its
ministers and churches." — Minutes of General Assembly, 1881, page 590.
This shows that the General Assembly did not consider
Alaska as already belonging to the synod, but as unorganized
territory ; therefore, by its own power, the assembly attached
it to the synod.
Alaska having been attached to the Synod of the Columbia
by the General Assembly of 1881, and a sufficient number of
ministers having moved into it to constitute a presbytery, the
General Assembly of 1883, in session at Saratoga Springs,
N. Y., May 25 th, in response to the petitions of all the min
isters in Alaska and an overture from the Presbytery of Oregon,
created the Presbytery of Alaska.
Sheldon Jackson's vacation, which covered two months
of the summer of 1879, was not a period of rest, in the
usual acceptation of the term. It afforded him the op
portunity to make a second visit to Alaska which he was
anxious to improve to the utmost limit, and it was in
reality one of the busiest and most fruitful periods of his
active missionary life. The dominant thought in his mind
at this time was to arouse the Church and the nation to a
sense of responsibility for the welfare and enlightenment

A SUMMER VACATION 317
of this benighted and almost forgotten land. With this
object in view, he made an attempt to secure a represent
ative of Congress and also of the Educational Depart
ment at Washington, to accompany him on this tour.
The Hon. Stanley Matthews, and General Eaton, Com
missioner of the National Bureau of Education, were very
desirous of accepting his invitation, but as the time drew
near for the journey both were hindered from carrying
out their wishes. In his efforts to secure a representative
of the Home Board and of the Woman's Missionary As
sociation, he was more successful. The Board had an
able representative in its veteran secretary, Dr. Henry
Kendall. The Pacific coast had another, in Dr. A. L.
Lindsley, of Portland, and the woman's department was
represented by three of its most active supporters, in their
several stations, Mrs. Sheldon Jackson, Mrs. Henry Ken
dall, and Mrs. A. L. Lindsley. Miss M. J. Dunbar, a
missionary teacher under commission of the Board, joined
the party en route and travelled with them to Fort Wran
gell. The arrival of this company of interested friends
was hailed with joy by the missionaries and the native
Christians. A warm welcome was extended to them at
every point which they were able to visit. "This was
particularly the case," writes one of the party, "with
Dr. Kendall. No late event has so favourably impressed
the Indians as this visit of Dr. Kendall. Of command
ing personal presence, one of the secretaries of a Board
that has its thousand men stretching from Alaska to Flor
ida, coming from the shores of a distant ocean to inquire
after their welfare, bringing the money raised by Dr.
Jackson to erect the Girls' Industrial Home, it is no won
der that the Indians recognized him as the ' Great Chief.'
One after another, their chiefs and leading men called to
see him and express their pleasure at his visit ; one with
great earnestness remarking that he had not slept all night

318 SHELDON JACKSON
for joy. The missionaries, too, were greatly encouraged
by his visit to this field. His large experience and wise
counsels solved for them many a knotty problem. His
patience and kindliness in entering into the details of their
difficulties and trials, his large sympathies, greatly en
deared him to them ; while his hopefulness encouraged
their hearts, strengthened their hands, and stimulated
them to fresh zeal in the work."
The success of the lone mission, established in the face
of so many difficulties and discouragements, nearly two
years before the date of this visit, had more than justified
the expectation, and rewarded the labours of its cour
ageous founder and promoter.
During this brief period, two important stations had
been occupied, the missionary force had been increased,
including Miss Dunbar, from one to six ; and a fund,
approximating $12,000, had been secured for the building
of the home and the support of the missionaries on the
field. The following extracts from the letters of leading mis
sionaries in the field during this period, show how closely
Dr. Jackson was related to every movement contributing
to the success of the mission and how highly he was es
teemed and appreciated by them for his work's sake.
Under date of February 11, 1879, the Eev. S. Hall
Young, missionary at Fort Wrangell, writes : —

"We feel encouraged about the home. Thanks, many, many
thanks for your noble efforts on behalf of our mission. ' ' Later,
March nth, he adds: — "Your letter of February 15th has
caused great rejoicing at the mission. Our hopes now have
eagle's wings. God is better than our fears. The future that
this mission merits seems likely now to be at least proximately
realized. And to you, under God, we give hearty thanks as
the kind instrument of this change for the better in our pros
pects. You have our gratitude far beyond any other man.

A SUMMER VACATION 319
Yov have proved yourself an unselfish, self-sacrificing, earnest
friend of Alaska and its missions. We are all your firm and
grateful friends, and pray always for your success and welfare."
About the same time Mrs. McFarland writes : —
There has been a song in my heart ever since the mail ar
rived bringing us the news of the noble response to the call in
the Rocky Mountain Presbyterian. ... I am sure the
mission owes everything to you. I pray God you may come to
us this summer.
Similar testimony is given, under date of March 21,
1879, by the Eev. John G. Brady, the first missionary sent
out by the Board to the Alaskan field : —
You have done more than any one in stirring up an interest
in Alaska. Nearly all the funds which have been raised must
be accredited to your zeal. I am glad to know that General
Eaton, Dr. Kendall, and yourself contemplate a visit to Alaska
this summer. Your report of affairs cannot but have a good
effect upon the public mind.
At a later date, — August 11, 1881, — Mr. Brady wrote : —
It was you who first brought the needs of Alaska to my
mind and urged my going into the mission work in this field.
This was in November, 1877, soon after you had returned from
your first visit to the territory. It is my belief that you have
done more to interest the sympathy of Christian people in be
half of these natives than all others put together. To deny
your great service, is simply to shut one's eyes against the light.
It is hard to understand why some brethren should so persist
ently and bitterly antagonize you and your efforts to establish
and support missions in this abused land.
The service which Dr. Jackson rendered to the natives
of Alaska was not limited to missionary work on their
behalf alone. From the date of his first visit he sought
interviews with members of Congress and wrote letters to

320 SHELDON JACKSON
influential representative men of the nation, as well as
appeals in the public press, — urging the establishment of
public schools and the formation of a provisional govern
ment for the administration of justice and the protection
of life and property. With a view to securing a basis for
Congressional action, Drs. Kendall and Jackson were
requested by Hon. Carl Shurz, Secretary of the Interior,
to collect information bearing upon the condition and
necessities of the native population and report the same
to the officials of that department. A semi-official char
acter was thus given to the expedition, and in order to
facilitate its work in the regions beyond the ordinary
routes of travel, it was ordered by the Secretary of the
Treasury, — John Sherman, — that transportation should be
furnished to the party from Sitka to Kodiack and return,
on the revenue cutter Rush. For some reason, as it
afterwards appeared, this vessel did not make the trip, as
anticipated, that season, and this part of the programme
was not carried out. The report was made, however, with
respect to the conditions of the sections actually visited,
on their return, and in due time it did become a basis for
favourable Congressional action.
A memorable event in connection with this visit was
the organization of the native Christians, at Fort Wran
gell, into a Presbyterian church, the first Protestant-
church of Alaska. For several months preceding, Mr.
Young, the missionary in charge, had carefully instructed
them in a special class with respect to the nature and
duties of church-membership, and the preparatory exam
inations were searching and thorough.
At the time appointed for the service, August 3d, in
the presence of the visiting ministers and their wives and
a large assembly of whites and Indians, twenty -three per
sons, eighteen of whom were natives, were received and
welcomed as the basis of this new organization. The fol-

A SUMMER VACATION 321
lowing Sabbath, five additional members, four of whom
were Indians, were received upon profession of their
faith. At the former service, Dr. Kendall preached the
sermon, Dr. Jackson offered the constituting prayer, the
Eev. S. Hall Young welcomed and baptized the new mem
bers, Dr. Lindsley read the covenant of membership, and
the Eev. W. H. B. Corlies, M. D., pronounced the bene
diction. Two carpenters working on the church building
and the home, were among the number received upon
confession of their faith.
Under the leadership of Drs. Jackson and Kendall, the
arrangements for the construction of the mission build
ings at Wrangell, including the church and the home,
were made as rapidly as the necessary materials could be
procured. "No one," says Dr. Jackson, "that has not
tried building a thousand miles from a hardware store
and a hundred miles from a sawmill, in a community
where there was not a horse, wagon, or cart, and but one
wheelbarrow, can realize the vexatious delays incident to
such a work. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, the
house of worship was occupied for services on Sabbath,
October 5th, and the home was enclosed before the rigour
of the winter season put an end to outside work.
The arrival of a large canoe from the Chilcat country,
loaded with furs, and bound for Fort Simpson, suggested
to the alert leader of the party, while at Fort Wrangell,
the possibility of e&tending his exploration tour to the
mission stations of the Methodist and Episcopal churches
at Fort Simpson and Metlahkatlah, in British Columbia.
The canoe which made its appearance in the harbour at
a time so favourable for this journey, was about thirty-
five feet long, five wide, and three feet in depth, and was
manned by eighteen Indians. Twelve of this number '
were pagans of the Chilcat tribe, one of whom was a
chief, and another a medicine-man. The rest of the crew

322 SHELDON JACKSON
were Christian Indians from Fort Simpson, and, through
their influence, Sheldon Jackson had no difficulty in ar
ranging for the journey. A comfortable seat was allotted
to him in the centre of the boat, with blanket and pro
visions within easy reach. Thus surrounded by natives,
all of whom were strangers and unable to communicate
with him except by signs, this faithful missionary of the
Cross faced a new and untried experience of travel for a
distance of 250 miles, through tossing waves and swelling
surf and dripping fogs, with the hope of reaching the lost
in other tribes, among whom Christ had not been so much
as named.
Frequently along the way, he tells us, the Chilcat In
dians would break out into singing one of their national
airs, to cheer the rowers. This would challenge the
Christian Indians, who would follow with a number of
the precious hymns of Bliss and Sankey.
One evening, after a large number of these had been
sung, the old chief and shaman inquired, "Who is this
Jesus you sing about?" Then the Tsimpsean Indians
gladly preached Jesus unto them. These Christian In
dians carry their religion with him wherever they go.
They were now returning from a voyage of over a thou
sand miles. They had been on the way for weeks, but
neither wind nor tide nor hunger, nor persuasion of their
pagan companions, could induce them to travel on the
Lord's day.
On this voyage, which occupied six days, but little
time was taken for rest or sleep, and every advantage of
favouring wind and weather was utilized to cover the
most exposed portions of the treacherous watery way
which lay before them. One day's work, for lack of
a suitable landing-place, covered twenty-three consecutive
hours. The bill of fare during this journey consisted of
" biscuit and salmon for breakfast and supper, and salmon

Sheldon Jackson, fidHor. Denver, Colorado, March, i£72,

Vol 1 No 1

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I. Facsimile of the heading of the R. Mt. Pres. (reduced size).
2. A week's canoe voyage along the stormy coast of Alaska.
3. Ice-bound in the Arctic Ocean on the U. S. R. Cutter Bear.
A SUMMER VACATION 323
and biscuit for dinner." But the Indians on the trip only
averaged one meal in twenty-four hours. "One even
ing," says Dr. Jackson, "we passed Cape Fox, and
boldly launched out to cross an arm of the sea, and, once
out, it was as dangerous to turn back as to go forward.
The night was dark, the waves rolling high, and the
storm upon us. One Indian stood upon the prow of the
canoe, watching the waves and giving orders. Every
paddler was at his place, and the stroke of his paddle
kept time with the measured song of the leader, who kept
time with the roll of the waves, mounting each wave with
two strokes of the paddle. Then with a click, each
paddle would, at the same instant, strike the side of the
canoe and remain motionless, gathering strength for the
next two strokes, as the billow would strike the canoe,
causing it to quiver from stem to stern. It was a long,
tedious night that in the rain and fog and darkness, we
tossed in this frail canoe upon the waters, but daylight
found us at an Indian village near the now deserted site
of Fort Tongas."
At this place, Sheldon Jackson had a brief conference
with Kimcoe, a chief of the Tongas tribe who pleaded
earnestly for a Christian teacher for his people. The last
day's voyage is thus described :
" The wind had been against us all the way from Fort
Wrangell. It had rained more or less each day we had
been out, and the storm had continued to increase in vio
lence. Some of the Indians being so exhausted by the
labours of the past night that they dropped asleep at their
paddles, it was thought best to go . ashore and get some
rest. On shore, we tried to start a fire, but the driving
rain soon extinguished it. Taking my regulation meal
of salmon and hard-tack, I spread my blankets under a
big log and tried to sleep. The beating storm soon satur
ated the blankets, and I awoke to find the water running

321 SHELDON JACKSON
down my back. Eising, I paced up and down the beach
until the Indians were ready to move on. After a rest of
two hours, seeing no signs of a lull iu the storm, we re-
embarked, determined, if possible, to make Fort Simp
son. That afternoon, cold, wet and hungry, we ran into
the harbour at Simpson, and received a warm welcome
from Mr. Crosby and the native Christians." During his
stay at this mission, Dr. Jackson had a conference, or
"council," as the Indians term it, with two chiefs of the
Chilcat tribe, who declared their desire to give up their
heathen practices and learn the better way, as soon as a
teacher should be sent to them. A similar request for
help was made by a delegation of Tongas. Thus the
way was prepared, through danger, exposure and unusual
hardships for a fuller development of the work in Alaska.
A few years later, Sheldon Jackson had the privilege
of receiving into the church some of his fellow voyagers
of the Chilcat tribe. One of them was accompanied by
his son, a lad of ten or twelve years. Afterwards, this
boy was educated at Sitka, and Dr. Jackson had the joy
of receiving him into the church on confession of his
faith. This boy, Eudolph Walton, is a successful manu
facturer of native jewelry. He owns a jewelry store in
Sitka, and for many years has been an active ruling
elder in the native church of that place.
From Fort Simpson, the journey was continued by
canoe to Metlahkatlah.
At both of these points, our missionary explorer had
overwhelming evidence of the transforming power of the
Gospel among these long-neglected natives, as well as of
their eagerness to receive the knowledge of the way of
life. And with intensified zeal he returned to arouse the
Church and the nation, to the intent that a similar work
should be attempted among the benighted inhabitants on,
the American side of the line, in Alaska.

A SUMMER VACATION 325
Eeferring to this tour and its immediate results, the
editor of the New York Observer wrote : —
Among all the enterprising, pushing, and successful pio
neers in aggressive work, our friend Sheldon Jackson is one of the
best and bravest. He has been named " Bishop of the Outside
World," "Apostle to them that have no other teacher," and he
deserves the titles. In a recent trip to Alaska, with thirteen
Indians, he made a canoe voyage of two hundred and fifty miles
along the coast, in order to visit some Indian villages that he
could not reach by steamer. Writing to us, in a private letter,
he said : " You haven't seen the world until you have visited
this wonderful North Pacific coast. Bayard Taylor or yourself
could adequately describe it, and I think it would tax your
ready pen and descriptive powers to the utmost."
During this and the preceding tour, Dr. Jackson col
lected much valuable information at first hand, relating
to the country and its native population, which was pub
lished in book form in the spring of 1880, under the title,
"Alaska and its Mission on the North Pacific Coast." '
This work, the first of its kind, aroused much interest in
this wonder-land of the Northwest, and was one of the
most potent influences exerted at that time in its opening
up and development along the lines of mission women
and Christian civilization. It was a timely contribution,
also, to the work of the then recently organized forces
operating under the direction of the Woman's Executive
Committee ; and it soon found its way into the libraries
of its auxiliary societies as a book of reference and a
stimulus to its workers all over the land.
1 Published by Dodd Mead and Company, New York.

XV
EXTENSION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE WORK
AMONG THE EXCEPTIONAL POPULATION
(1882-1885)
"The steps of faith fall on the seeming void,
And find the rock beneath." — Whitiier.
BY force of circumstances, as well as by the clear
indications of providential guidance, Sheldon
Jackson became the Apostle of the exceptional
population of the Eocky Mountains and Alaska. The
organization of the Woman's Executive Committee of
Home Missions furnished the long-desired agency for the
prosecution of this work, and with hearty enthusiasm he
presented its cause and sought to extend its area of influ
ence. While he was not officially designated or com
missioned for work in Alaska from 1877 to 1884, he was
recognized by the Church, and also by the Home Board,
as the efficient leader of those who were labouring in its in
terests, and the able advocate of their cause. In this
work, he had also the sanction and encouragement of the
secretaries of the Board, and, as a matter of fact, was the
recognized agent of the Woman's Executive Committee
in the securing of funds and in the founding and establish
ment of all the mission stations in Alaska. In the Gen
eral Assembly of 1880, he was introduced by the moder
ator, at a mass meeting in the interests of home missions,
as " a missionary bishop whose diocese is greater than the
ancient dominion of Alexander." This was literally true
at the time, but in accordance with his earnest request —
326

EXTENSION AND DEVELOPMENT 327
a request which heretofore had not been favourably acted
upon — arrangements were already being made for a divi
sion of his field. The rapid growth of the presbyteries
and the disappearance of the frontier lines in some of the
sections under his care, made it necessary for a readjust
ment of the old relations ; and in the allotment of work
he accepted by preference that portion of his field which
included the Indian tribes and the newer missions which
he had established among the native population of the
territory of New Mexico. From the date of this readjust
ment, Dr. Jackson's work was mainly in the interests of
the woman's work. With the modest title of "Mission
ary" on the face of his commission — which meant to one
reading between the lines — missionary at large, he looked
after the interests of New Mexico and Alaska from Octo
ber, 1879, to January, 1882. During this period he also
delivered hundreds of addresses, secured funds in ever
growing measure for all departments and phases of the
woman's work ; wrote personal letters to every member
of Congress, asking their influence in securing schools and
an organized form of government for Alaska ; edited the
Rocky Mountain Presbyterian — then the organ of the
Woman's Executive Committee ; represented the Home
Board in arranging with the government for contract
schools among the Indian tribes of the Eocky Mountains ;
and, as already noted, acted as agent for the government
in collecting Indian children for the industrial schools
at Hampton and Carlisle.
At its regular fall meeting, in 1879, the Presbytery of
Puget Sound, which occupied the nearest territory to the
Alaskan field, took the following action : —

Resolved, — That the Presbytery of Puget Sound, while record
ing its thanks to Rev. Sheldon Jackson, D. D., for the great in
terest manifested by him in the mission work of Alaska, requests

328 SHELDON JACKSON
the Board of Home Missions to send him to Washington City,
with instructions to prosecute the claims of the natives of
Alaska before the Department of the Interior for a share of the
fund annually expended in the maintenance of industrial board
ing-schools among the Indian tribes of the United States.

This request was evidently in line with his efforts which
took definite shape and were characterized by his usual
directness and persistence, about the beginning of the
year 1880.
While in Washington City, on this errand, a public
reception was given to Dr. Jackson and the Hon. A. B.
Meacham, the well-known advocate of the humane policy
towards the Indians, at the headquarters of the National
Greenback Press Association on the evening of January
26th. "The rooms," says a newspaper correspondent, "were
crowded with representative men and women, including large
numbers of senators and members of the House. Able
speeches were made by Dr. Jackson on Alaska; by Col.
Meacham on the true Indian policy; also by Col. W. P.
Adair, Gen. Pleasant Porter, and delegates from the Cherokee
and Creek nations, respectively. The Indians are men of
great ability and superior culture and they were listened to
with as much interest as were the distinguished speakers of the
white race, who made the principal speeches of the evening.
Dr. Jackson's description of Alaska, of its size, being equal to
the states lying north of the Ohio and south of the Mississippi
River, with a coast line of 25,000 miles, etc., etc., — was very
interesting. His purpose is to secure the passage of a bill or
ganizing Alaska into a territory. This should be done at
once." With the opening of the year 1881, the name of the
missionary paper which he founded, and had edited since
1871, was changed from the Rocky Mountain Presbyterian
to Presbyterian Home Missions, in order to indicate the

EXTENSION AND DEVELOPMENT 329
wider scope of its mission as the organ of the Woman's
Executive Committee.
In the midst of all the varied activities which claimed
his attention, and in the face of many discouragements
and disappointments, Sheldon Jackson was ever mindful
of the promise he had made to the pagan chiefs in Alaska,
while on his canoe voyage to Fort Simpson ; and with
patient persistency he sought for the men and pleaded for
the money to fulfill this promise. In the spring of 1881,
he saw his way clear, with the tacit assent of the Home
Board, to begin the establishment of these missions.
There seems to have been no objection from any quarter
at the time to this undertaking ; nor to the visit to
Alaska, which he proposed to take in order to carry it
out. One of the missionaries who offered himself for this
field was the Eev. Eugene S. Willard, a graduate of the
Western Theological Seminary, class of 1881. He with
his wife and child took the June steamer for Fort
Wrangell, and arrived at Sitka on the 10th of the same
month. Dr. Jackson arrived on the July steamer, and soon
afterwards accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Willard to the al
most unknown country of the Chilcat tribes, where a
station was established at a suitable site and called
"Haines," in honour of Mrs. F. E. Haines, the efficient
secretary of the Woman's Executive Committee of Home
Missions. Says Mrs. Julia McNair Wright in her de
scription of the founding of this mission : —
None of the footprints of civilization greeted the eyes of
these newcomers at Haines : they entered into a wilderness — a
tribe of Indians, a few Indian houses, the short summer wear
ing away, drawing on apace a winter, when there would be five
months of deep snow. In December, the day from sunrise to
sunset would be but four hours long. When they were left at
the station by the last trading boat in autumn, they need look

330 SHELDON JACKSON
for no boats, no white faces, no mails, no supplies of any kind,
until five or six months had passed. Here was isolation, and
the spirit that braved it was high heroism. The Board of
Missions, having no funds for the erection of the necessary
buildings at Haines, Dr. Jackson borrowed money and erected
a house for the Willards. Upon his return to the East, in con
nection with the Woman's Executive Committee, he raised the
money to repay the loan.
Eeferring to this, and other acts of kindness, Mrs. Wil
lard writes under date of August 27, 1881 : —
Dear Friend and Brother : —
I cannot refrain from dropping you a note of thanks, al
though words are so feeble to express our appreciation of what
you have done for us — under God, you have done everything
for us. In the first place, you gained for us our hearts' desire,
the appointment to preach glad tidings to the Chilcats. You
advised and encouraged us by the way. We left home with
the expectation of living in a tent until we could by our own
labour put up a log house. This exposure your loving zeal
and wise energy have prevented by taking upon your shoulders
a burden which I trust will soon be removed by an interested
people at home. The financial burden I mean, for you have
borne so much more than that in the planning and erecting the
building, which has given us such a comfortable home in this
far-away laud. Your coming with us, too, and introducing us
to the very chiefs to whom you had first promised a teacher
years ago, has, I am sure, been most advantageous to the be
ginning of our work here. And your counsel and advice have
been most helpful and comforting to us. That God may bless
you more and more abundantly in your labours of love is the
prayer, with thanksgiving, of your grateful sister in Christ.
(Signed) Carrie M. Willard.
There are few names more deserving of mention and of
high honour among the pioneer missionaries of Alaska
than the name of the brave little woman who wrote these
words. In the years which followed, she cheerfully en
dured privations, sufferings, the oppositions and super-

EXTENSION AND DEVELOPMENT 331
stitions of the ignorant natives, and the cares and anxieties
incident to an outbreak of smallpox, which entered her
own home and prostrated her little daughter, while at the
same time her husband was alarmingly ill, and unable to
assist her in any way. Through this trying experience,
and until Mr. Willard was able to help, there was no one
to give efficient aid and no physician or nurse to be ob
tained within a hundred miles. Before the year closed,
Mrs. Willard was also laid aside by a serious illness,
which for a time threatened her life : and had it not been
for the prompt assistance given by friends in Sitka, who
heard of her condition and arranged for her removal to
that place for medical treatment, all human remedies
would soon have been unavailing.
Undeterred by the extraordinary experiences of trial
and suffering, through which she had passed, Mrs. Wil
lard returned after her recovery to the mission at
Haines, where with her husband she laboured in the
midst of privations and perils with renewed ardour and
signal success for a period of twelve years. Her knowl
edge of medicine and nursing gave her much influence
among the people to whom she ministered, and with re
markable facility she acquired the Thlinget language and
soon learned to talk it perfectly. ' Mrs. J. McNair Wright
records the fact that during the first year in which the
Willards occupied this station, the chief, Don-a-wauk,
who was one of the first to receive Christian baptism, in
fluenced the whole village of Tindestak, where he held
rule, to move down to the mission station, in order to
have the privilege of attending school and of learning
how to be good. ' ' The village consisted of sixteen build
ings and 172 people. The houses abandoned at Tindestak
had cost the Indians much, and to build new ones at
1 A very interesting account of this mission is given by Mrs. Willard
in one of her books, entitled " Life in Alaska."

332 SHELDON JACKSON
Haines would cost much more. These people were really
abandoning all things for the sake of learning about
Christ." While the mission houses were being erected at Haines,
in the summer of 1881, Dr. Jackson, accompanied by Mr.
Willard and the Eev. Mr. Corlies, made a tour of explora
tion through the Chilcat country, including all the vil
lages of the Chilcat and Chilcoot tribes. During this
tour, a second mission was located at Klukwau, one of
the Chilcat villages. To this village two pupils of the
Fort Wrangell school, Louis and Tillie Paul, who had
just been married, were sent in the spring of 1882 to open
a school and hold the ground until a missionary could be
obtained. On the 5th of August Drs. Jackson and Corlies
visited some of the villages of the Hoonah tribe and
located a mission among them. Eeturning southward,
he visited the villages of the Hydah Indians, on Prince
of Wales Island, and located a mission at Howkan.
The immediate results of this missionary tour are thus
summed up in a Portland paper : —
Dr. Sheldon Jackson, who introduced the first Protestant mis
sionaries into Southeastern Alaska, was a passenger down on
the steamer Los Angelos. This is the doctor's third trip in
that section. On this trip he established new missions among
the Hydahs and Hoonahs, located three mission families,
erected substantial buildings at the Chilcat and Hoonah
stations, and fitted up a schoolhouse at Hydah. He visited
fifteen Indian villages, and preached in the majority of them.
The trip among the villages was mostly in canoes.
The visit to the Hydahs was made in a canoe and the
distance travelled in this frail vessel off a coast pro
verbially storm-swept, was estimated at five hundred
miles. For this arduous, perilous, timely, and eminently
successful work, which gave to the Presbyterian Church

EXTENSION AND DEVELOPMENT 333
the whole domain of Southeastern Alaska, and reflected
much honour upon it, as the pioneer Church in this far
away land, Dr. Jackson was not even allowed the reim
bursement of his travelling expenses from the treasury of
the Board. It was a labour of love on his part, not
authorized, strictly speaking, by the terms of his com-
' mission, but undertaken, as were several of his ventures
in the past, without regard to financial considerations or
merely technical limitations. With him, the great com
mission took precedence over all other commissions, and
the voice of opportunity was the call to duty.
After his return from this journey, Dr. Jackson trans
ferred the ownership of the Rocky Mountain Presbyterian,
later known as Presbyterian Home Missions, with its now
greatly augmented list of subscribers, as a free gift to the
Board of Home Missions. The announcement of this
transfer was made in the December number of the paper :
" With the present number, this paper becomes the
property of the Board of Home Missions. It is a con
summation which we have long looked forward to with
interest. A special committee of the Board has had the
matter under advisement for a year past.
" The Rocky Mountain Presbyterian was commenced in
March, 1871, with the design of bringing the Presby
terians of the territories where we were then labouring
into close sympathy with each other and the Church.
For this purpose, we hired two pages of a small monthly
paper, edited by the Eev. Wm. T. Wylie, of Belle-
fonte, Pa. Once started, the plan grew and enlarged un
til, in January, 1873, it was made a medium of communi
cation between the home mission churches of the West
and the giving churches of the East, and its publication
was removed to the office of Messrs. J. G. Monfort & Co.,
publishers of the Herald and Presbyter, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Their moderate charges and kindly assistance enabled us

334 SHELDON JACKSON
both to continue its publication and improve its quality.
In 1879, it became the organ of the newly-formed
Woman's Executive Committee, and from them re
ceived a large increase in circulation. In 1880, it was
changed to its present form, and in 1881 to its present
name. The editorial office, for the ten years of its exist
ence, has been the satchel of the proprietor, the copy of
contents being mailed to the printing office from wher
ever he happened to be at the time. Consequently, some
copies have been prepared in Alaska, others in New
Mexico, Montana, Arizona, Oregon, New York, Utah,
Illinois, California, or Colorado. After mailing the copy,
we had no opportunity of revising the proof or arranging
the paper. And if at any time sufficient copy was not
sent, the foreman of the office would fill up with his own
selections. In this way, articles have been frequently in
serted that would not have been allowed if we could have
supervised the making-up of the paper. We worked un
der great disadvantages, and the wonder is that more
mistakes were not made. It was a labour of love to the
cause, and we did the best we could under the circum
stances. To the many Christian workers who have sent
us words of encouragement and substantial assistance, we
return thanks. The success of the paper demonstrated
the need of an out-and-out home mission paper. If the
Board had had such an organ the Rocky Mountain Pres
byterian would not have been started. And, when started,
it was pushed to success, that the Board might be encour
aged to take a forward movement, and establish what has
long been called for, — a wide-awake paper of its own.
This has now been done, and it gives me great pleasure
to make the Church a present of the paper, its good- will
and subscription list. " (Signed) Sheldon Jackson.
"December, 1881."

EXTENSION AND DEVELOPMENT 335
The reception of this gift was thus announced by the
secretaries of the Board, December 8th : —

The Board of Home Missions, feeling the need of an organ
of their own to furnish the Church with the information called
for regarding the wants and prospects of their work, have
adopted the Rocky Mountain Presbyterian as theirs. Dr.
Jackson, its late editor and proprietor, has very generously
given the paper, with its list of subscribers, without cost to the
Board, and retires from its editorship. The Board will con
tinue the paper in an enlarged and improved form, under the
name of the Presbyterian Home Missionary, holding itself re
sponsible for the views and sentiments expressed in the edi
torials, and as far as possible in the correspondence.

While the secretaries of the Home Board assumed this
responsibility, they were too much overburdened already
to do justice to the interests represented by this publica
tion, and hence it was necessary to secure an assistant at
the outset, who could take in the whole field and make it
a conspicuous success. The man of all others whom they
regarded as specially qualified for this work was its late
editor and owner ; and him they called from the position
he had so long held on the frontier line, to serve the
Church and the Board in this capacity. While this was
nominally the object of his removal to the headquarters
of the Board, in New York City, it was understood that
he would have the privilege, as opportunity was afforded
him, to plead the cause of the Woman's Executive Com
mittee, and also to look after that part of its work which
it had undertaken at his suggestion, and was now rapidly
developing, in behalf of the natives of Alaska. In view
of the exceptional opportunity thus afforded to scan the
whole field from this central watch tower behind the
lines, and the freedom it gave him to exercise his gifts in
behalf of those who had hitherto looked to him for help,

336 SHELDON JACKSON
Sheldon Jackson accepted this call and for a time re
moved with his family to the East.
The date of his transfer to this new department of
labour was January 1, 1882, but for some weeks
previously he had been at work on the January issue of
the paper, in anticipation of the change.
There were few men at this time who were better
known throughout the Church, and his voice has been
heard in every section of the land. In the prosecution
of his work, from 1869 to 1882, he had delivered over
nineteen hundred missionary addresses and had travelled
nearly three hundred and fifty thousand miles. In the vari
ous assemblies of the Church, of the National and State
Educational Associations, at public conventions and
schools of instruction, such as Chautauqua, Mohonk,
Asbury Park, Ocean Grove, and Washington City, he
was honoured as an authority in matters relating to the
vast territories he had explored. And the plea which
he everywhere made for the relief of the degraded and
perishing wards of the nation in the Eocky Mountains and
Alaska stirred the hearts and awakened the sympathies
of thousands who had been lukewarm or indifferent.
His official status at this time is indicated in the report
of a special committee of the Board which was adopted
in 1882 :—
The committee would respectfully recommend that the Rev.
Sheldon Jackson, D. D., be commissioned as the "business
manager" of the Presbyterian Home Missionary ; that the
commission date from October i, 1882; that his salary after
January 1, 1883, be at the rate of $2,000 per annum, and that
the Woman's Executive Committee be requested to provide
one-fourth of his salary.
One of the most valuable adjuncts of the mission at
Sitka was an industrial school for boys, which had been
opened in an abandoned building belonging to the gov-

EXTENSION AND DEVELOPMENT 337
ernment, in November, 1880. This school was burned
to the ground on the 24th of January, 1882.
It was the first home of its kind for the Indian boys of
Alaska, and several of the young lads, who had enjoyed
its privileges, joined in a request to the Home Board,
with the missionaries and some of the influential residents
of Sitka, for its rebuilding as soon as possible. This
request was given wide publicity by Dr. Jackson, and
when the Woman's Executive Committee promptly de
cided to undertake the work of rebuilding, he " took the
rostrum" on their behalf, and by the first of August fol
lowing had secured for this purpose the sum of $5,000.
With this in hand, he set out on his fourth missionary
journey to Alaska. On his arrival at Sitka, in the early
days of September, he selected a new location for the
building on a desirable plot of ground, donated for this
purpose by his friend, John G. Brady, and supervised
its erection. While the location was an ideal one, on a
bluff, thirty feet above high tide, the surface of the
ground was covered with stumps, and it required the
work of one hundred natives for many days to remove
the stumps and grade the land. Some months before,
lumber had been ordered at the nearest sawmill— 175
miles away — but at the last moment information came
that the mill had broken down and that no lumber could
be expected from it for at least a year. Learning that
the winter before a large cannery, six miles north of
Sitka, had been destroyed by the crushing in of its roof
with a heavy fall of snow, Dr. Jackson purchased the
wrecked building as it lay on the rocks, a tangled,
broken, splintered mass, and, with the assistance of Mr.
Brady, at once organized a large force of natives, camped
out at the wreck, rescued and assorted such lumber as
was worth saving and then rafted it down the coast to
Sitka and erected the new building. It was 50 x 100 feet

338 SHELDON JACKSON
in dimensions and three stories high, including an
attic. In the supervision of this work, Dr. Jackson was on
the ground many days for twelve hours a day. At this
season of the year, the rains at Sitka are almost continu
ous, pleasant days being the exception, and most of the
time it was necessary for him to change his dripping
garments at noon, just before dinner, and again before
supper, at the close of the day. As winter drew on, he
sometimes had a force of 200 men at work.
Upon several occasions, the commanding officer of the
United States Steamer, Jamestown, at anchor in the har
bour, sent fifty or more marines ashore with their officers,
to help in roofing the house. Thus the building erected
from the fragments of a wrecked salmon cannery in the
midst of the rainy season was at length completed and
has served as a "Home " for the mission family at Sitka,
and one hundred scholars of both sexes from that date
(1882) until the present time. The entire cost was about
$7,000. During the summer of 1883, Dr. Jackson entered into
a contract with the officials of the United States Post-Office
Department to supply the stations at Haines, Shakan,
Klawack, and Howkan with a monthly mail, to be
carried by Indians in canoes. This was the first mail
service established in Alaska, between the stations on, or
near, the coast. But for this timely mode of intercom
munication the Board would have been obliged to give
up its more remote stations. Thus in various ways this
early and constant friend of Alaska found time, in the
midst, of pressing cares, to strengthen and develop the
good work already begun within its borders. On his
return to the East, he laboured earnestly, as he had
opportunity, to arouse the authorities at Washington to
a sense of their obligations towards its needy and de-

EXTENSION AND DEVELOPMENT 339
pendent people. By correspondence and personal inter
views, he secured the cooperation and support of such
able advocates as Joseph Cook, Wendell Phillips, Presi
dent Bicknell, of the National Educational Association ;
United States Senators Harrison, Teller, Joseph E.
Hawley ; and Eepresentatives James, Johnson, and Ellis.
Benjamin Harrison was a warm personal friend, as well
as a wise and judicious advocate, and, to his influence
mainly, as chairman of the Senate Committee on Terri
tories, the long desired legislation and appropriations to
carry it out were eventually secured. Dr. Jackson also
appeared before committees of the Forty-sixth, Forty -
seventh and Forty-eighth Congresses, and pleaded his
cause in person.
In this aggressive campaign, he enlisted the sympa
thies and secured the cooperation of active men and
women in the various churches, missionary societies, and
educational associations of the country. In his report
for 1883, the Commissioner of Education says : —
Dr. Jackson held public meetings in many of the leading
cities and many of the prominent towns from the Pacific to the
Atlantic, delivering from 1878 to 1884 about nine hundred
addresses upon Alaska. On March 23, 1882, he delivered an
address before the Department of Superintendence of the
National Educational Association, which was printed by this
Bureau, in Circular of Information No. 2, 1882. Of this cir
cular, three editions have been called for, making an aggregate
of 60,000 copies.
During the summer of 1883, he visited the twenty-second
annual meeting of the National Educational Association of the
United States, the second National Educational Assembly, and
the State Teachers' Association of Vermont, New Hampshire,
Massachusetts, and Connecticut, each of which passed strong
resolutions asking Congress to provide a school system for
Alaska. Through these meetings, the teachers whom they
represented became interested, and thousands of petitions, scat
tered from Maine to Texas and from Florida to Oregon, were

340 SHELDON JACKSON
sent to congressmen asking for schools for Alaska. He also
secured the hearty cooperation of the missionary societies of
the Baptist, Methodist, Congregational, Episcopal, Moravian,
and Presbyterian Churches.

In the summer of 1883, all the missionaries at Sitka,
Fort Wrangell, and the stations in the Chilcat country,
eleven in number, united in a request to the Board of
Home Missions, for the appointment of Sheldon Jackson
as superintendent of missions in Alaska. This would
have been an acceptable appointment to him at the time,
for his heart was in the work along the frontier line, but
the Board declined to make it.
In the spring of 1884, he was tendered an appointment
for service as "Missionary to the church and congrega
tion" of Sitka, Alaska, dating from April 1st. This he
accepted, and from this date severed his connection with
the Presbyterian Home Missionary.
Technically, the designation on the face of this ap
pointment limited his field to one location, and gave him
no official authority to act for the country as a whole, but
this did not hinder him from labouring zealously, as be
fore, in behalf of all its educational and religious inter
ests. The General Assembly of the same year adopted
the following complimentary statement with respect
to the management of the paper during his term of
service : —

Gladly recognizing the skillful management which has so
soon secured to the Presbyterian Home Missionary a cir
culation of 28,000 copies, and so certainly rendered it necessary
to every one that would have an intelligent conception of our
home mission work, we believe that it can now be made self-
supporting. Accordingly, the Board is instructed to advance
its minimum subscription price to fifty cents per annum.

EXTENSION AND DEVELOPMENT 341
This assembly, in one of its sessions, "declared it to be
the purpose of the Chureh to call the work within the
bounds of the United States ' Home Work,' and to give
to the Foreign Board the charge of the work outside this
boundary." On its face, this seems to be a very simple solution of a
problem growing out of the advance of the Church into
new and hitherto unoccupied territory, but there have
been few questions at issue in relation to its activities
which have so sadly disturbed its peace or alienated the
minds of its faithful workers. This decision, which was
reached after more than a decade of unnecessary strife and
contention, led to the transfer of all the work among the
Indians to the Home Board and amply justified the far-
seeing policy which was advocated by Sheldon Jackson
from the first. The efficient agency to which was com
mitted the. great work outside the borders of the United
States, found ample scope, from the date of this transfer,
for all its activities and energies in its world-wide field ;
while the Woman's Executive Committee, with its ever-
increasing force of labourers, ministered to the spiritual
wants of the ignorant and needy among the exceptional
population, which, by the ordering of God's providence,
had now come within the bounds and under the care of
the several presbyteries and synods. From this date,
also, it assumed the responsibility and rose to the dignity
of a work of continental magnitude, in behalf of the
spiritually destitute of all races, nationalities, and shades
of colour within the uttermost borders of our national
domain. The church of Sitka, temporarily under the care of Mr.
Alonzo E. Austin, a ruling elder who was active in evan
gelistic work, was visited with a remarkable revival of
religion during the winter and spring of 1884, and, as a
result, about fifty persons, including nearly all the older

342 SHELDON JACKSON
pupils of the school, were brought to Christ. This en
couraging situation and the granting of Dr. Jackson's re
quest about the same time, for an appropriation of $15,000
from the government of the United States, to be expended
in the enlargement of the industrial school at Sitka were
doubtless determining factors in the acceptance of the ap
pointment to the church and congregation at that place.
On the 14th of May, 1884, the House of Eepresentatives
passed the Senate bill providing a civil government for
Alaska. It was signed by President Arthur three days
later. In this enactment, the Secretary of the Interior was
directed to make needful and proper provision for the
education of children of school age in the territory, with
out reference to race, until such time as permanent provi
sion should be made for the same, and the sum of $25,000
was appropriated for this purpose.
Thus, after seventeen years of neglect and delay, a lim
ited form of territorial government was provided for
Alaska, and an apportionment far below the amount in
dicated by the framers of the bill, but still sufficient for a
beginning, if faithfully administered, was made for the
establishment of a public school system. Happily for the
interests of this far-away northland, Sheldon Jackson was,
at length, appointed to inaugurate the work and adminis
ter this fund. This appointment was not made, however,
until nearly a ; year after the passage of the enabling act.
Meanwhile, he looked after the interests of the congre
gation at Sitka, which, as yet, was in a formative shape,
and needed a leader of experience and good judgment.
Thither he removed with his family during the summer
and was enrolled with the missionary force of the country.
With a view to the awakening of interest in Southeast
ern Alaska and its missions, Dr. Jackson accepted an ap
pointment as general manager of a large excursion,

EXTENSION AND DEVELOPMENT 343
which was made up mainly from delegates in attendance
upon the National Educational Society, which met that
year at Madison, Wisconsin, July 15th-18th. With his
usual promptness and accuracy of detail all the arrange
ments for the comfort and safe conduct of the party were
made beforehand. The excursion party, which he accom
panied on the journey to Alaska, included visits to the in
teresting Christian village of Metlahkatlah, in British Co
lumbia, and many points of special interest in Southeastern
Alaska. Dr. Bicknell, the president of the association,
thus expresses his appreciation of this favour at a later
date : — Boston, Mass., December 3, 1884.
My Dear Dr. Jackson : —
Alaska is in my thoughts to-night as I am refreshing my
mind for two lectures next week on "The Land of the Mid
night Sun," and when Alaska comes up you are also uppermost,
for you have done more than all others to bring the land and
its people to the thought of the world. Our trip was a wonder
ful one, and I shall never sufficiently express my gratitude to
you, that you opened the way and led the enterprise to such a
successful issue last summer. All were delighted with the
journey, and have the most enthusiastic words for all that was
seen and heard. How much I admire your self-sacrifice for
that far-off people. . . . Sincerely yours, T. W. Bicknell.
On the 7th of September, Sheldon Jackson, assisted by
the Eev. Eugene S. Willard and Mr. Alonzo E. Austin,
organized the First Presbyterian Church of Sitka, with a
communicant membership of forty-four natives, received
on confession of faith, and five by letter from the families
residing in Sitka. At this time, Mr. Austin, who
had been labouring here as an evangelist with much ac
ceptance, was elected, ordained, and installed as a ruling
elder. On the 14th of the same month, the boarding-

344 SHELDON JACKSON
school for girls at Fort Wrangell was transferred to Sitka,
by direction of the Home Board, and Mrs. McFarland
joined its teaching force, bringing with her twenty-four
pupils. On the 14th of the same month, Dr. Jackson assisted
in the organization of the Presbytery of Alaska at Sitka,
and was enrolled with that body on presentation of a let
ter of dismissal from the Presbytery of Santa Fe. At
this meeting, Mr. Austin was licensed and ordained as an
evangelist. The working force at this date — seven years
after the commencement of missionary work at Fort
Wrangell — was reported as seven missionaries and sixteen
missionary teachers, located at six regular stations in
Southeastern Alaska. The number of scholars in the in
dustrial and day-schools was estimated at five hundred and
twenty-five. In view of the difficulties encountered in
the prosecution of the work, in this formative period, the
results, as thus summed up in church and school, were
grandly encouraging.
Eeferring to this work, in his lecture course in Boston,
in the spring of 1885, soon after Dr. Jackson received his
appointment as General Agent of Education in Alaska,
Joseph Cook said : —
Look at Alaska ! For twenty years a frozen foundling on
our Western borders, we did less for her than Russia accom
plished. The Presbyterian Church, as represented by that
heroic missionary, Dr. Sheldon Jackson, has reached out its
powerful arms to the forbidding regions of the North. After
most mischievous and inexcusable delays on the part of Con
gress, there has been secured, chiefly through Dr. Jackson's in
fluence, a loose territorial organization for Alaska. Dr. Jack
son assists in administering it. He has obtained a large ap
propriation for schools. At the present moment, the Indians of
Alaska, occupying a territory as large as that of the American
Union east of the Mississippi and north of the Gulf States, are
almost exclusively in the hands of the Presbyterian Church.

EXTENSION AND DEVELOPMENT 345
Other denominations have done something in Alaska ; but the
greatest efforts have been made by the denomination I have
named, and which I hope will be allowed to carry out its own
enterprises without much rivalry.
The above mentioned appointment was made under the
administration of President Cleveland, on the 11th of
April, 1885. With this new phase of labour and its re
sults, we shall deal in the chapters which follow.

XVI
THE FORMATIVE PERIOD OF EDUCATIONAL
WORK IN ALASKA
"In recent days, Great Britain has had its Duncan, France its
Petitot, and the United States its Jackson, whose evangelizing
labours, acting through the more successful method — that of inculcat
ing civilization and helpfulness — are a part of the glory of this time."
— Gen. A. W. Greety.
THE enactment which gave to Alaska a restricted
form of civil government, dating from May 17,
1884, created the offices of governor and judge,
at a salary of $3,000 and of district attorney, marshal and
clerk at a salary of $2,500 each. These officers were
appointed by the President and soon after entered upon
the duties of their several appointments at Sitka, the
designated seat of government. An appropriation of
$25,000 was made, in connection with the act for the es
tablishment of civil government, for the education of
children of school age within the limits of the territory,
but the administration of this fund and the duty of mak
ing needful provision for the inauguration of an adequate
school system, was laid upon the Secretary of the Interior.
There seems to have been some uncertainty as to whether
this work was to be done under direction of the Indian
Bureau, or through the Commissioner of Education, and
several months elasped before a definite decision was
reached. On the 2d day of March, 1885, the Secretary of
the Interior assigned this work to the Bureau of Educa
tion, and directed its commissioner to prepare a plan of
operation and initiate such steps as should be necessary to
346

U.S.GEOLOeiCAL SURVEY

BULLETIN NO. 218 PL.t

EDUCATIONAL WORK IN ALASKA 347
secure adequate provision for the education of all the
children of school age, without respect to race or nation
ality, in Alaska.
General John Eaton, the Commissioner of Education,
at this time, had laboured zealously for years to secure
this legislation for Alaska, and year by year had recom
mended an appropriation for the education of its native
children. He made the acquaintance of Dr. Jackson in
1878, and gave him all the assistance in his power in his
efforts to rouse the nation and its representatives in Con
gress to a sense of responsibility for the enlightenment of
its ignorant and debased population. When it was de
cided, therefore, that an Alaskan division should be es
tablished in the Bureau of Education, this noble and
steadfast friend of the cause had no hesitation in recom
mending Sheldon Jackson as the best man within the
range of his knowledge to be placed at the head of it.
The salary allowed for the incumbent of the office at this
time was $1,200.
The peculiar fitness of this appointment, which was
made on the 11th of April, and was accepted without
hesitation, is happily expressed in a congratulatory note
sent to Dr. Jackson by the Hon. T. A. Johnson, then
member of Congress from the state of New York : —
House of Representatives,
Washington, D. C, May I, 1885.
Mv Dear Sir: —
In view of the very great and general interest manifested
in regard to everything pertaining to Alaska, I feel like con
gratulating you on the reward you are now receiving for your
long, unwearied, and very efficient labours on behalf of that
distant portion of our country. When I remember your faith
ful work for Alaska while you were superintendent of Presby
terian missions for the Rocky Mountain territories, your able
and successful efforts to arouse public sentiment in behalf of a
government and schools for Alaska, and your addresses all over

348 SHELDON JACKSON
the country on the subject, taken with what has come under my
personal observation while a member of the Forty-eighth Con
gress and a member of the Committee on Territories and on the
sub-committee having in charge the bill proposing a civil
government for Alaska, I say without any hesitation that in my
humble judgment, to you, more than to any other one man or
agency, is due the success thus far attained in the direction of
the establishing of a form of government, and the improve
ment in the condition of the inhabitants of Alaska. I took,
from the first, a special interest in the bill before our committee
because of the information you furnished and your connection
with the matter. Please accept my sincere congratulations on
your appointment as the first superintendent of public instruc
tion for Alaska, and believe me,
Yours very truly,
F. A. Johnson,
Member of Congress, Twenty-first District, New York.
Rev. Sheldon Jackson, D. D.
There are two noteworthy things in connection with
this appointment, viz. : The smallness of the salary, com
pared with the allowance for other officials appointed by
the government, and the extraordinary difficulties con
nected with the inauguration and development of the
work. The first may be accounted for on the assumption
that Dr. Jackson was expected to carry on his missionary
work, under the direction of the Home Board, in connection
with the school work. This was in keeping with the
policy of the Indian Bureau, which for years had utilized
the labours of missionary agents of the several denomina
tions in building up a school system among the grossly
ignorant and depraved natives on the reservations or in
the newer sections of the Western territories. Some of the
difficulties connected with the administration of this serv
ice may be inferred from statements already made, but
Dr. Jackson had been long enough in Alaska to know that
the task assigned him was as great, if not greater, than
anything he had heretofore attempted. It was a problem

EDUCATIONAL WORK IN ALASKA 349
peculiar to itself, with elements of difficulty which be
longed to the exceptional physical features of the coun
try, and the nomadic inclinations of its inhabitants.
Within its limits, which covered a surface equal to one-
sixth of the area of the United States, — a stretch of 1,400
miles in a direct line from north to south, and 2,200 from
east to west, — there were four districts or distinct groups
of settlements, far removed, and practically isolated from
each other, for lack of the ordinary means of intercom
munication. The Sitkan district in the southeast section
was the most familiar and easily reached. Westward of
this district, across a stormy waste of waters, lies the
Aleutian group of islands. To Kadiak, the nearest point
in this group, the distance from Sitka is 633 miles.
From Unalaska, in the southern section of this district,
is 1,250 miles. This was the farthest outpost of civiliza
tion looking westward to the coast of Japan, 3,000 miles
distant ; while to the south the nearest church or school
was on the Island of Hawaii, 2,000 miles away.
Northward, some 800 miles distant, along the western
coast of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean, extending
from St. Michael to Point Barrow, there are several
groups of the Innuit or Eskimo population of Alaska,
constituting another district and another distinct race of
people. The fourth district was that portion of the interior sec
tion of the country accessible along the course of its navi
gable rivers, the largest portion of which was in the val
ley of the Yukon and its tributaries. To reach Anvik,
one of the mission stations on this river, the nearest route
was by the monthly mail steamer from Sitka to Juneau,
166 miles, thence by canoe manned by natives, to the
head of Dyea Inlet, about 100 miles. From this point
the route led over a dangerous mountain trail for twenty-
five miles, used only for foot passengers, — whose supplies

350 SHELDON JACKSON
were carried by bands of natives, — to the upper waters
of the Yukon. Here the problem of transportation for
the remainder of the journey, a distance of 1,750 miles,
could readily be solved by constructing a raft, and float
ing down the stream.
To reach the northernmost portions of the Arctic settle
ments, where in the next decade schools were established,
a region as far north from Sitka as the state of Florida is
from Maine, was only possible in the summer season by
taking passage on a vessel of the whaling fleet, or in a
government revenue cutter, sent to this region on special
service. Other difficulties scarcely less formidable were antici
pated, or experienced in chartering vessels year by year
to carry teachers and supplies ; in finding properly quali
fied instructors for regions so remote and uninviting ; in
the establishing of schools where the schoolhouses and
teachers' residences had to be erected from material to be
transported from 1,500 to 4,500 miles; in instructing a
people morally depraved, and for the most part pagan
in life and worship : who were too ignorant to appreciate
the advantages of a helpful education, and who in most
of the locations indicated had no knowledge of the Eng
lish language, the laws of health, the sacredness of home
ties, or the refinements and amenities of civilized life.
To the magnitude of the work, as thus outlined, and
the special difficulties environing it, was added the com
plication arising from the lack of funds to carry it on
efficiently, and, — more discouraging than all besides, —
the active opposition of some of the recently appointed
government officials, including the governor, the United
States judge, district attorney and marshal, who from the
date of their arrival in the territory antagonized the work
of the missionaries and sought to belittle their influence
among the people. Their conduct in this respect was in

EDUCATIONAL WORK IN ALASKA 351
striking contrast with the official acts of the commanders
of the naval vessels, who, up to the date of the inaugura
tion of a civil government had represented the majesty of
law at Sitka and in other ports where for the time they
were stationed. In every way that was open to them,
these noble men aided the missionaries in their efforts to
enlighten and elevate the degraded natives of Alaska,
and to protect the helpless young women who ofttimes
fled to them to escape from parents and friends who were
about to sell them to evil men for immoral purposes.
These were the days when the spoils system was in vogue,
when political debts were paid by the appointment of
men to public offices, without regard to character or
special fitness ; and there were many prodigal sons who
sought this far country that they might have more freedom
from wholesome restraints ; and more opportunities to
spend their substance in riotous living. Between this
class, whether in high or low life, and the Christian ele
ment which elevated the standard of purity and right
eousness there was, as in every mission field to-day, a
conflict of interests and an antagonism of forces, which
can no more be reconciled or merged than the conflict be
tween light and darkness, or Christ and Belial. At Sitka,
the seat of government, this antagonism to the missionaries
and all that they represented was open, malicious, and
manifested itself in frequent overt acts. At heart, these op -
posers did not desire to have any part of the school fund
devoted to the education of the natives. The leaders in
the open and public attacks which were made upon Dr.
Jackson and the missionary force who favoured their edu
cation and uplifting, were the United States Judge, Ward
McAllister, Jr., of New York, and the United States Dis
trict Attorney, E. W. Haskett, of Iowa.
During the winter of 1884-85, the district attorney en
couraged the ignorant and naturally jealous Russian resi-

352 SHELDON JACKSON
dents of Sitka in the belief that the mission school was
absorbing funds which ought to be spent in their inter
ests, and that the building in which it was housed was
located on land to which they had a legitimate claim.
At his instigation, the Bussians applied for an injunction,
restraining the officials of the industrial school from
grading their grounds, erecting new buildings, or in any
way improving the property which they held on trust.
This injunction was granted at once by Judge McAllister,
notwithstanding the fact that the school itself was sus
tained in part by the Bureau of Education, under direc
tion of the Secretary of the Interior. In connection with
this movement, successful attempts were also made to
prejudice the natives against the school, with a view to
reducing its numbers and destroying its influence. After
Dr. Jackson had left Sitka for Washington City, on the
March steamer, with a view to accepting the office of
General Agent of Education in Alaska, several overt acts
were attempted, which almost nullified the efforts of the
teachers to continue its sessions or maintain its discipline.
When the reports of these later developments of oppo
sition and petty strife reached Dr. Jackson, in Washing
ton City, he at once addressed a personal letter to Presi
dent Cleveland, setting forth the facts in substance, as
above stated, and asking for such relief as would enable
those who are engaged in this work to carry it on with
out hindrance or molestation. This letter bears date of
April 3d, which was eight days before his appointment as
General Agent of Education for Alaska. It closes with
the following statement and appeal : —
Through the efforts of the district attorney, E. W. Haskett,
and United States Interpreter, George Kastrimetinoff, stirring
up disaffection among the Indians, forty-seven children were
taken out of an industrial training school and sent back to the
filth, superstition, degradation and vice of their former Indian

EDUCATIONAL WORK IN ALASKA 353
life. Thus an institution established at a great expense by a
religious denomination, and supported in part by an annual
appropriation of Congress, through the Department of the In
terior, is crippled, and the desire of the government to civilize
the natives is thwarted by the hostility of United States officers.
For seven years, earnest men and women have been labour
ing in that far-off country amid untold hardships to overcome
native prejudices and secure the children that they might,
through industrial education, be taken out of the degraded con
dition of their fathers and placed in that of intelligent, Ameri
can citizenship : and now to see forty-seven out of the 103 chil
dren gathered in that school, taken out in one month by
drunken officials, under the guise of law, seems very hard to
bear. And in our distress we turn to you for relief, asking that in
your wisdom you may send us a judge that will be in sympathy
with the missionary efforts of the several churches in Alaska ;
and, if not that, at least with the government in their efforts to
civilize the natives and educate their children.

After making such arrangements as were possible in a
brief space of time at Washington for the beginning of
educational work in Alaska, Dr. Jackson returned to his
post of duty by steamer from Portland, reaching Sitka
about the middle of May.
The first regular term of court ever held in Alaska was
opened during this month. In anticipation of this event,
the district attorney had been zealously seeking for an
"occasion against this Daniel," who, despite all the
machinations and misrepresentations of his enemies, had
been favoured by an appointment from the government
which greatly extended his influence and gave an official
sanction to the work which he and his associates had
ridiculed and despised. In due time, his fertile but
somewhat muddled brain concocted an ingenious arraign
ment in connection with the building of the industrial
school, on the strength of which he hoped to convict him
of the arbitrary exercise of authority, if not of actual

354 SHELDON JACKSON
crime. By skillful manipulation of the grand jury he at
length secured the finding of five indictments against
Dr. Jackson, one of which was the grave offense of asking
for a hearing before the grand jury.1 This indictment
was summarily dismissed by the court, and the injunction
against work on the school buildings was set aside, but
the remaining four indictments, the gravamen of which
was the obstructing of a public highway with a fence,
certain buildings, etc., were placed on the docket for
trial. The wording of this arraignment, which charged
Sheldon Jackson with " the crime of unlawfully, illegally,
wilfully, maliciously, and with malice, obstructing a cer
tain road or highway," conveys the impression of a bur
lesque accusation in a moot court rather than a bona fide
action in a court of justice of the nineteenth century.
On the basis of this absurd and puerile charge, which if
it had been sustained would have been a case for settle
ment in the office of a justice of the peace, a bench war
rant was issued and the defendant was placed under
bonds, aggregating $2,000, to appear for trial before the
November session of the court. The excessive bail re
quired in this case is a noteworthy feature of this arraign
ment, but in this, as well as in other matters relating to
this action, Dr. Jackson meekly obeyed the requirements
of the law and in the end proved himself to be equal to
the occasion.
Meanwhile, he gave his attention to the schools within
his reach in Southeastern Alaska. Special requests hav
ing been received for an early inauguration of the public
school system in Sitka and Juneau, he gave them his first
attention. In this section, as already intimated, he had
a substantial basis for the inauguration of the work in the
mission schools already established.
1 Several of these jurors were Russians, who did not understand the
English language.

EDUCATIONAL WORK IN ALASKA 355
Referring to this fact in his first annual report, Dr.
Jackson says :-—
The Presbyterian Church was the first of the American
churches to enter this neglected land. Finding no schools,
they established them side by side with their missions, propos
ing to furnish educational advantages until the general govern
ment should be ready to do it. Therefore, whenever the gov
ernment was ready to undertake the work in any village occu
pied by the Presbyterians, they turned over their schools to the
government. As they had a body of efficient teachers already
on the ground, acclimated, experienced in the work, more or
less acquainted with the native language, and possessing the
confidence of the people, it was both more economical to the
government and for the best interests of the schools that they
should as far as possible be reemployed, which was done.
The first public school opened under the auspices of the
government was at Juneau, the principal mining centre
of Alaska, on the first day of June. A log carpenter
shop was fitted up for a schoolroom, and the pupils were
placed in charge of Miss Mary B. Murphy, an efficient
teacher from Oregon. With the concurrence of the
United States commissioner a block of land was selected
in the centre of the town, upon which to erect a suitable
building for school purposes, in the near future.
On the 22d of June, a school for the instruction of
white and Creole pupils was opened in the centre of the
town of Sitka, then the seat of government. In Novem
ber of the same year, another school for the education of
the native children was established in Sitka. On the
first day of September, the Presbyterian schools at
Hoonah, Fort Wrangell, Haines, and Howkan, were
transferred to the government and manned by teachers
secured by its General Agent of Instruction.
For lack of regular communication between Sitka and
Western Alaska, Dr. Jackson was unable to do more for
that section during this season than to send a Polish Jew,

356 SHELDON JACKSON
Mr. Salomon Ripinsky, to Unalaska, where a school was
opened by him in the month of October.
When he was about to leave Sitka by the mail steamer,
on the 19th of August, to establish the above mentioned
schools in Southeastern Alaska, an indignity was sprung
upon him which revealed to the outside world the char
acter and intent of the petty persecutions to which he had
been subjected. When he went aboard the steamer at
this time, he had, with his personal effects, an outfit of
school supplies, including desks and furniture for the
school at Wrangell, and charts, maps, etc., for the
schools at Hoonah, Haines, Juneau, and Howkan. While
the vessel was receiving its cargo and passengers at the
landing-place, there was nothing to indicate any intention
to disturb Dr. Jackson or prevent him from making the
journey with those who stood around him on the deck ;
but when the gangplank was about to be withdrawn he
was arrested by Deputy Marshal Sullivan, and with un
necessary rudeness was hustled off the steamer, in the
presence of all the passengers, locked up in a prison cell,
and denied even the comfort of an empty box upon which
to sit down.1 The ostensible reason for this indignity
was the increase of Dr. Jackson's bail — which at the first
was absurdly excessive in view of the offense charged, —
but this could easily have been done at any time on the
morning preceding the sailing of the vessel without the
necessity for making an arrest. When the steamer had
passed out of sight, Dr. Jackson was taken before the
judge and his bail bond increased to $3,200. After this
mockery of proceedings in the name of justice, he was set
free. As there was only one steamer southward each
month, the immediate purpose of the actors in this out-
1 The deputy marshal who made this arrest, a healthy young man
at the time, was prostrated with typhoid fever and died, a few weeks
afterwards.

EDUCATIONAL WORK IN ALASKA 357
rage, the detention of Dr. Jackson at Sitka, was accom
plished. This studied indignity was witnessed by a
number of tourists, some of whom were lawyers and
ruling elders connected with the Presbyterian Church,
and their report to the officials of the- Home Board and
to the public in general aroused a storm of indignation.
On learning the facts, which were laid before him at
Washington by a special committee appointed by the
Board of Home Missions, President Cleveland promptly
removed all the officials who were connected with this
unseemly antagonism to the school work, including the
governor, United States marshal, and district attorney.
As soon thereafter as it could be done without detriment
to the service, he also removed Judge McAllister. The
return of the steamer, about a month later, brought the new
officials to take the places of those who had been removed.
The new United States District Attorney, Col. M. D.
Ball, by direction of the President gave early attention
to the indictments pending against Sheldon Jackson, and
at a session of the court at which the recently appointed
district judge, the Honourable Edward J. D. Dawne,
presided, the case was presented for trial. After the
reading of the indictments, the court ordered the pro
ceedings to be dismissed.
The setting aside of these indictments and the removal
of the offending officials ended this series of petty perse
cutions in Alaska. A few weeks afterwards the ex-
district attorney, E. W. Haskell, while on a drunken
spree, was thrown from a railway car in motion, and was
instantly killed.
The bitter and uncompromising enmity of the other
officials who had been deposed did not end with the
settlement of the conflict in Alaska, but was now trans
ferred to Washington City. With the backing of power
ful friends and associates in New York City, a determined

358 SHELDON JACKSON
effort was made to have the Senate disapprove the ap
pointment of Judge Dawne and reinstate Mr. McAllister.
To accomplish this end, and also to vent their spite upon
the one whom they regarded as the cause of their polit
ical downfall, petitions were circulated in Alaska, and
also in the East, asking for his removal, and libelous
articles impeaching his ability and defaming his char
acter were published in some of the influential papers of
the country. One of these publications which appeared
in the columns of the New York World, March 1, 1886,
was so vindictive in its spirit that it failed to impress the
sober and more intelligent classes whom its author sought
to influence. There were many friends of Dr. Jackson,
however, among the outside element, as well as among
his own associates, who promptly volunteered to make
sworn statements of facts in disapproval of the covert
insinuations and distorted representations of this over-
zealous writer.
It seems appropriate that one of these statements, made
by Lieut. T. Dix Bolles, of the United States Navy, who
was on duty in Alaskan waters during the period re
ferred to in this article should be included in this
record :• — * Washington, D. C, March 5, 1886.
My attention having been called to the statement published
in the edition of March ist, New York World, in reference to
the removal of Judge McAllister, which article contains also a
fierce attack upon the reputation of Rev. Sheldon Jackson,
Educational Agent for Alaska, said article purporting to be
derived from the papers in the case as filed before your com
mittee, I desire to place myself on record as protesting against
the falsity of much therein stated.
As a naval officer on duty in Alaskan waters in 1881-4-5, I
1 For other papers of a similar oharacter bearing on this matter, see
"Printed Statement of Faots," published by the United States Gen
eral Agent of Education in Alaska, Washington, D. C, 1886.

EDUCATIONAL WORK IN ALASKA 359
am able to speak from personal knowledge, and as an outsider
to the issues, from an unbiased standpoint.
Up to the time the civil government relieved the Navy from
control of Alaskan affairs, the schools, under charge of Dr.
Jackson, had been steadily advancing in scope and usefulness.
Not very long after — in the fall of 1884 — various members of
the civil government, both in their actions and in their conver
sations with me, showed that there was a strong feeling against
the mission schools and their teachers, not simply against
Dr. Jackson, but others. One went so far as to say " he would
break them up."
The district attorney, an intemperate man, even openly by
words incited the Russians and Indians to overt acts of violence
and arson.
The course of Judge McAllister in permitting a woman — not
the mother of the child — to take the child away from the
school where its parents had placed it, was the opening wedge
for numbers of others and led to a loss of almost one-half of the
scholars, many of them young girls, who represented to their
parents just so much coin by the sale of their virtue.
The law was used as a cover to screen personal animosities,
and persistent efforts were made to cripple and demoralize the
schools. Finally an official act of the court, so grossly brutal
and unjust, was perpetrated, that the governor and marshal,
who had before been only too glad to throw difficulties in
Dr. Jackson's way, came out openly with their condemnation,
saying that "such conduct was illegal and improper, passing
beyond decency."
In regard to Dr. Jackson, I can from personal knowledge
say that he is zealous and earnest in his efforts for the good of
the Indians and the educational interests of Alaska, and faith
ful in the discharge of his duties.
I have found him truthful and honest, in fact, an earnest,
hard-working, faithful, Christian man. These virtues being the
antithesis of Alaskan ideas, naturally have produced bitter foes.
Very respectfully, (Signed) T. Dix Bolles,
Lieut. U. S. Navy, late Executive Officer U. S. S. Pinta.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 8th day of March,
a. d. 1886.
[seal.] (Signed) H. J. Ennis,
Notary Public, Washington, D. C.

360 SHELDON JACKSON
Governor Swineford, the newly-appointed executive
officer of the territory, had more tact and good judgment
than his predecessor in office, but at heart he had no
sympathy with the work of the Christian missionaries or
their methods of instruction. His affinities were with
those who traduced and misrepresented Sheldon Jackson,
and it became apparent ere long that he was allied with
them in a systematic and determined effort to secure his
removal from office. This effort was continued with
wonderful persistency of purpose throughout the admin
istration of President Cleveland. It is highly creditable to
the President and his Secretary of the Interior, Lucius C.
Lamar, that these efforts, backed, as they were, by men
and influences so active and powerful, were as persistently
withstood in the interests of righteousness and fair deal
ing. They had their effect, however, in awakening a feeling
of distrust as to the importance of educational work,
and the agencies through which it was being carried on,
in Alaska. Because of these influences, mainly, no ap
propriation was voted for the schools in Alaska in 1885,
and it was only through ceaseless activity and persistent
effort on the part of a few brave spirits, of whom Dr.
Jackson was the recognized leader, that an appropriation
was secured for the subsequent years, during this period.
This condition of affairs made it necessary for the gen
eral agent of the Alaska department to be in Washing
ton City during the sessions of Congress. Inasmuch as
this did not interfere with active work in his field, which
could be carried on only during the summer months, per
mission was granted him to open an office for the transac
tion of business relating to his department in Washington
City. Thereafter, in accordance with this arrangement,
he laid his plans so as to spend his summers in Alaska
and his winters in Washington. For two years after his

EDUCATIONAL WORK IN ALASKA 361
appointment as General Agent of Education for Alaska,
the Home Board withdrew its commission from Dr. Jack
son, but afterwards, at the request of the Secretary of
the Interior, engaged to pay one-half of a salary of
$2,400, thus increasing his allowance to the amount of
$1,200. This mutual agreement is worthy of note as an evi
dence of the close relationship which was recognized, at
this "time, between the agents of the missionary associa
tions and the superintendents of the government schools
among the various Indian or aboriginal tribes of the
country. It was the policy inaugurated by General
Grant, because he was convinced that the work of the
missionary among these wards of the nation was the
basis for effective work by the teacher of the public
school. When he was asked to make a change in this
policy, by men who had no sympathy with religious in
struction, he said, " If the present policy towards the In
dians can be improved in any way, I will always be ready
to receive suggestions. I do not believe our Creator ever
placed different races of men on this earth with a view to
having the stronger exert all his energies in extermina
tion of the weaker. If any change takes place in the In
dian policy of the government while I hold my present
office, it will be on the humanitarian side of the question."
This great leader who had studied Indian life in the
mission stations of the churches, as well as on the plains,
could not be diverted from his purpose by the sneer that
sectarian interests were dominant in the effort to en
lighten and evangelize the aborigines of the land. In
Alaska, as well as on the reservations, it was the mission
ary who first went down among the degraded, the diseased,
the besotted and benighted natives of the country, to
bring the knowledge of a better way and a better life. It
was the missionary who first washed the filthy, clothed

362 SHELDON JACKSON
the naked, reformed the vicious, and gave the hand of
help to the fallen ones : it was the missionary who first
taught them the use of the English forms of speech and
roused within their beclouded minds the desire and ambi
tion to study and work as well as pray. In Alaska, as a
matter of fact, — which can be easily verified, — it was the
Christian Church and the Christian school which prepared
the way among the native population for the government
school and the instruction it gave in morals and good
citizenship. Had the organization of its school system
fallen into the hands of the sceptics and anti- Christian
opposers, who were eager to shape it, when the salary
had become a consideration worth striving for, they would
have found it an impossibility to secure either teachers or
scholars apart from the centres of light and influence
which had been established by the despised missionary
and the faithful self- denying teachers associated with him.
This official correspondence also furnishes a complete
refutation to the charge brought against Dr. Jackson, at
a later date, that he had been for years drawing two
salaries. In Commissioner Dawson's letter, it is made
very plain that he required two parties to pay one salary
in order that it might be increased to what was then re
garded as a minimum living rate. '
" On the strength of this demand by the government,"-
writes Dr. Jackson, "the Board of Missions commenced
in 1888 to pay one- half of the salary, or $1, 200 annually,
until 1896, when the increased expenses of living in
Washington required at least a salary of $3,000. The
government responded by raising their part from $1,500
1 While in Washington City, Dr. Jackson wrote to the Eev. John G.
Brady, afterwards governor of the territory, on the 11th of February,
1887: — "I am out of pocket every month I hold the office (General
Agent of Education), but for the present it is necessaryfor me to hold
on, or the school work would stop."

EDUCATIONAL WORK IN ALASKA 363
to $2,000, and the following year (1897) added another
$500, making their part $2,500 annually. When this
was done, I notified the Board of Missions that I would no
longer need $1,200 from them, but if they would now
give me $500 per year it would make in the aggregate
§3,000, upon which I could live in a moderate way."
This arrangement which relieved the Board of the larger
part of the obligation it had assumed, was continued until
the spring of 1907. At its fall meeting, in 1906, the
Synod of Washington, to which the Presbytery of Alaska
belongs, endorsed the relation which had hitherto existed
between Dr. Jackson and the Home Board and advised
its continuance. There were objections raised, however,
from other quarters, and the Board decided to cancel
the engagement after the above mentioned date.
While warmly attached to his own branch of the Church,
Sheldon Jackson was ever ready to cooperate heart and
soul with those of other denominations of the Christian
faith who were labouring, through their several agencies,
to extend the growth and influence of the kingdom of
Christ. From the very beginning of his work in Alaska,
he saw the necessity for concerted action in the winning
of this great northland, and in his public presentations
of its misery and sore need sought the cooperation of all
the agencies and denominations he could directly or in
directly reach. As far back as the year 1880, when as
yet his own church was the only one that actually occu
pied the field, a meeting of the representatives of several
prominent denominations was called at his instigation, in
New York City, with the approval of the senior secretary
of the Board, to discuss the situation, and, if the way
should be clear, to map out and apportion the field. Re
ferring to this event, which marked a new departure in
the adjustment of home mission work, Dr. Henry M.
Field says : —

364 SHELDON JACKSON
A peculiar beauty was given to the early missions in Alaska,
in the way that different denominations entered the field and
worked together. This harmony was not a happy accident,
but the result of forethought, and of a purpose so high that it
lifted them all above sectarian pride and ambition. The field
was so vast that it would have been impossible even to touch it
at different points, except by concert of action, in which each
division in the little missionary army should select its particular
field of labour on the islands or the coast. This was the policy
of Sheldon Jackson, in which he found a strong supporter in
Dr. Henry Kendall, the secretary of the Presbyterian Board of
Home Missions, who invited the Methodists and the Baptists
and the Episcopalians, represented by their secretaries, Dr.
John M. Reid, Dr. Henry M. Morehouse, and Dr. Alvi Tabor
Twing, to meet together and talk it over. Dr. Twing could
not be present, but joined heartily in the proposed agreement.
The others came, but it was a small affair in outward appear
ance — only three secretaries and Sheldon Jackson — just enough
to sit round a table ; but this little company, meeting in an
upper room, was sufficient to inaugurate a policy of peace, that,
if adopted on a larger scale, would work for the benefit of all
Christendom. And now I see these four heads bending over the little ta
ble, on which Sheldon Jackson has spread out a map of Alaska.
For the first time they see its tremendous proportions, as it
reaches over many degrees of longitude and far up into the
Arctic circle. The allotment was made in perfect harmony.
As the Presbyterians had been the first to enter Southeastern
Alaska, all agreed that they should retain it, untroubled by any
intrusion. By the same rule, the Episcopalians were to keep
the valley of the Yukon, where the Church of England, fol
lowing in the track of the Hudson Bay Company, had planted
its missions forty years before. The island of Kadiak, with the
adjoining region of Cook's Inlet, made a generous portion for
the Baptist brethren ; while to the Methodists were assigned the
Aleutian and Shumagin Islands. The Moravians were to pitch
their tents in the interior — in the valleys of the Kusko Kwim and
the Nushkagak ; while the Congregationalists mounted higher
to the Cape Prince of Wales, on the American side of Bering
Strait ; and, last of all, as nobody else would take it, the Pres
byterians went to Point Barrow, in latitude seventy-two degrees
and twenty-three minutes, the most northern mission station in

EDUCATIONAL WORK IN ALASKA 365
the world. Thus, in the military assignment of posts to be held,
the stout-hearted Presbyterians at once led the advance, and
brought up the rear in a climate where the thermometer was at
times sixty-five to seventy degrees below zero — a situation that
called for no ordinary amount of " grit and grace."
Here was an ideal distribution of the missionary force, in
which there was no sacrifice of principle, but an overflow of
Christian love, which seemed to come as a baptism from on
high. It was not in pride or scorn, but in the truest love, that
these soldiers of the Cross turned to the right and the left, at
the command of their great leader, and marched to their sev
eral positions of duty and danger.1
This "ideal distribution" of missionary forces, so hap
pily described by Dr. Field, — which holds good in most
of its details as a working principle to this day — does not
tell the whole story of Sheldon Jackson's broad-minded
liberality and generous cooperation and helpfulness. He
was the friend and adviser of the officials of all the Prot
estant missionary societies operating within the limits of
his great field ; the friend and adviser of the missionaries,
isolated in some cases hundreds of miles from each other ;
the angel of deliverance or the herald of good tidings to
workers alike in church and school, who were ice-bound
for months, or cut off, in some instances, for an entire
year from communication with home and friends. Thus
in the providence of God he became a non-commissioned
general agent to all the churches except his own, and
served them faithfully, as he had opportunity in his an
nual rounds, without commission or compensation. As
he sailed from shore to shore, and from island to island,
and met the representatives of the several sects, he could
not— to use his own expression — "tell them apart."
Even when he came to St. Michael, sixty miles north of
the mouth of the Yukon, and there met a Roman Catholic
priest, who had come down from the interior a distance
1 "Our Western Archipelago," Dr. Field, p. 145.

366 SHELDON JACKSON
of two hundred and fifty miles to get his yearly mail and
supplies, he says, "My heart went out to him as a
brother." At his suggestion, the Moravian Church, the
first to enter the field after the Presbyterian, established
a mission among the Eskimos in Western Alaska, in the
summer of 1885. In the report of the tenth United
States census the statement is made concerning these resi
dents of Western and Arctic Alaska : —
That no trace or shadow of Christianity has found its way to
their desolate regions ; the dark night of Shamanism or sorcery
still hangs over the human mind. These people share with
their Eastern kin a general belief in evil spirits and powers,
against whom the Shaman alone can afford protection by sac
rifices and incantations.
No philanthropic missionary has ever found his way to this
Arctic coast, and unless some modern Hans Egede makes his
appearance among them in the near future, there will be no
soil left in which to plant the Christian seed.
Such was the dark, but true, picture, as drawn by a
government agent, of the Eskimos dwelling in our own
land, in 1880 ; but even then the dawning of a new day
was at hand.
Their pitiable condition had ofttimes appealed to the
sympathy of Sheldon Jackson, and various plans for
reaching them with the saving influences of the Gospel
had been debated and considered, as he ministered to the
spiritual necessities of those directly under his influence
in the more accessible parts of the country.
Acting, at length, on his own responsibility he made a
visit to Bethlehem, Pa. , in the spring of 1883, and had a
private conference with Bishop Edmund de Schweinitz,
with reference to their sad condition and urgent necessi
ties. At the bishop's request, the substance of the per
sonal appeal made to him at this time, was put into writ
ten form and was read by him at the annual meeting of

EDUCATIONAL WORK IN ALASKA 367
the Moravian Missionary Society, August 23d, of the
same year.
In a printed sketch of the " Beginnings of the Mora
vian Mission in Alaska," its author, Bishop E. Taylor
Hamilton, D. D., says : —
"The commencement of a Moravian mission in Alaska
was quite unforeseen by the members of that church until
within a year of its actual inception ; and the call, com
ing from an unexpected quarter, was a Macedonian cry
from another denomination of Protestant Christians.
"At the annual meeting of the 'Moravian Society for
Propagating the Gospel Among the Heathen,' held on
August 23,1883, at Bethlehem, Pa., its president, the late
Bishop Edmund de Schweinitz, communicated a letter
from the Rev. Sheldon Jackson, D. D., of New York, in
which he urged the establishment by the Moravian Church
of a mission in Alaska among the Indians and Eskimos."
This appeal to a society foremost among all the churches
for its zeal and success in missionary work, and which
dates back to the year 1787, made a deep impression : and
its consideration resulted in the sending of two of its tried
veterans on the frontier on an exploration tour to West
ern Alaska, with instructions to select a site, if the way
should be clear, for a mission. This they accomplished
after a long and perilous journey, and called the name of
the place so selected Bethel.
With a view to awakening a greater and more intelli
gent interest in the work to which they had thus commit
ted the Moravian Church, the officials of the society in
vited Dr. Jackson to make a public address in Bethlehem
on the 10th of February, 1884.
In response to this request he spoke to an assembly in
the great Moravian house of worship. The pews, galleries,
and all the available standing-room of the aisles were
packed with deeply interested listeners. Thus by the

368 SHELDON JACKSON
favour of God and the influence of His Spirit upon hearts
prepared for His service, the Moravian Alaskan Mission,
with all its perils and responsibilities, was enthusiastically
endorsed by the people as well as by their leaders.
The Christian Guardian, of Toronto, Canada, under date
August 30, 1884, gave the following account of this
service : —
A missionary meeting was held at Bethlehem, Pa., at which
the Rev. Sheldon Jackson, the father of ¦ Presbyterian missions
in Alaska, made an address, picturing in vivid colours the dire
needs and glorious opportunities of the work, and calling upon
the Moravian Church to come forward as of old to the help of
the Lord in this far-off Northern land. A deep impression was-
made. The genuine missionary spirit seemed to pervade all
hearts. It was felt to be a call from the Master Himself. The
next morning the entire graduating class of the theological
seminary (eight young men) came forward unsolicited, and
offered themselves for this work, ready to leave parents, home
and the comforts and privileges of civilization, in order to bring
the glad tidings of a Saviour to those Eskimos on the frozen
shore of Alaska.
In 1903, five stations above Bristol Bay were occupied
by the devoted missionaries of this noble Church who
have endured great hardships and privations in connec
tion with their work. The report for that year mentions
an April temperature of 70° below zero.
The editor of The Moravian Mission in Alaska —
"published to commemorate the completion of its first
decade," June, 1895, pays this graceful tribute to Dr.
Jackson and his work : —
" Inseparably associated as the name of Carey with India,"
says the author of " Our Northernmost Possessions," '• or those
of Elliot and Brainerd with the Indian in the East, is the name
of Sheldon Jackson with Alaska. To his faithful Christian
energy and untiring zeal, the people of Alaska owe the intro-

EDUCATIONAL WORK IN ALASKA 369
duction of Protestant missionary work, and the establishment
of schools for their education and elevation. The future Chris
tian civilization of Alaska must and will revere his name as that
of its founder. ' '
The work of education in Western Alaska was delayed
for several months by the failure of Congress to make an
appropriation at the beginning of the year 1886. It was
made at length, in the month of August, but the amount
was only $15,000 and the season was then too far ad
vanced to take advantage of the sailing vessels which in
variably left San Francisco in the spring and returned in
the fall. To avoid the delay of another year in the es
tablishment of schools in that section the schooner Leo
was chartered for the work of the Bureau, which sailed
from Puget Sound with teachers and supplies on the 3d
of September. Four households, with two children, were
included in the working force which boarded this vessel,
and as many Christian homes were established in the new
land to which they sailed, as the harbingers of a better
day and a higher civilization. Says Dr. Field, — "That
surely was a memorable voyage. The little schooner
sailing away into the Northern seas, and passing from
island to island, leaving at each ' a teacher with his
family' was another Mayflower, dropping the seeds of
civilization in the wilderness."
After a tempestuous cruise of more than two months in
Western Alaska, the schooner arrived at Sitka. From
this place, Dr. Jackson continued his journey in the same
vessel to the several points in Southeastern Alaska, where
schools had been already established. This extension of
the trip afforded an opportunity to gather up the mem
bers of the Presbytery of Alaska and take them to Fort
Wrangell. The trip to Wrangell was a long and stormy
one, consuming nine days. The ship was forced to take
refuge in little coves or harbours three times, in conse-

370 SHELDON JACKSON
quence of blinding snow-storms or heavy gales. When
within thirty or forty miles of Fort Wrangell, the vessel
ran upon a submerged ledge of rock and lay in a perilous
condition for twenty-four hours, until floated off by a
high tide. Meanwhile, the members of presbytery, fear
ful that they might be delayed for an indefinite period,
attempted to reach their destination in a little dory. A
few hours after they had left the ship, a storm came up
suddenly and they were compelled to make a landing on
a bleak desolate shore, where for about twenty -four hours
they were detained with an insufficient allowance of pro
visions, and such shelter as a hastily improvised wind-
brake of blankets afforded through the long night. In
the morning, Dr. Jackson and two of his companions
launched the dory in a heavy surf and rigging a sail made
an attempt to reach the schooner. The rest of the party,
benumbed with the cold and distrustful of the little boat
in such a rough sea, decided to walk along the shore in
the same direction, in the hope of rescue from those on
the ship. After sailing before the wind the most of the
forenoon, the schooner hove in sight and took the trio in
the dory on board. Not long afterwards, the exhausted
men on the beach were picked up, and without further
mishap or detention Wrangell was reached and the meet
ing of the presbytery held, in accordance with previous
arrangements. At this meeting, Jackson was made a
commissioner to the General Assembly of 1887. This
cruise as a whole occupied 104 days of exceptionally
stormy weather. Landings were made at twenty-two
points and much valuable information was collected.
The sudden disappearances of Dr. Jackson on some of
these northern tours and the uncertainty as to the time
and place of his reappearing, made it somewhat difficult
for his friends and associates to locate him or address him
in case of need. About the time of his expected return

EDUCATIONAL WORK IN ALASKA 371
from this voyage, Dr. Kendall, the senior secretary of
the Home Board, who, next, to the members of his own
family, was supposed to know the most about his move
ments, wrote thus to him at his Galesburg address : —
I followed you with your load of schoolhouses, school-teach
ers, and Baptist Association, out from Seattle into the great
wide ocean, and waited to know what I should hear next. I
would not have been surprised to hear that you were climbing
the frosty north pole or warming your hands at the crater of
Mount St. Elias, but we have heard of your returning in peace
through Sitka, gathering up a presbytery on your way, meet
ing and organizing at Wrangell, being elected to the General
Assembly, and passing on your way southward. Where you
are now, what you have been doing since, where your wife and
children are, where anybody is by whom we can reach you by
letter, I know not, but I strike in the dark. If this hits you at
Galesburg, or anywhere else, I pray you to give heed to my
requests, and if it hits your wife, and does not hit you, I beg
that she will give me the information as to where you can be
reached, for I have three requests to make of you.
Prior to the year 1890, the work of establishing schools
was necessarily slow. The appropriations were small and
the hindrances, already indicated, were many and per
plexing. There was nevertheless a steady advance.
Schoolhouses were erected towards the close of the dec
ade at several of the points occupied, in Southeastern
and Western Alaska, and contract schools were estab
lished in several places where new missions had been
opened up by the various churches and missionary so
cieties. In 1885, the Friends founded a mission on Douglas Is
land, and the government commenced a system of day-
schools in connection with it. In July, 1886, a contract
was entered into with the Mission Board of the Episcopal
Church, and a teacher was sent out to found a school at
some point in the Yukon valley. A similar contract was

372 SHELDON JACKSON
made with the Moravian Church, to establish a second
mission and school at the mouth of the Nushagak River.
"These schools," says the agent in his report, "with
the one at Bethel, 500 miles from each other, and central
to a population of from 10,000 to 12,000 uncivilized
Eskimos in Western Alaska, were the entering wedges to
the civilization of that whole great region — the beginning
of greater things."
In the same year (1886), the "Holy Cross" Mission
was founded by the Roman Catholic Church in the valley
of the Yukon, and received aid from the government in
the establishment of contract schools.
La 1887, the Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant of
America established a station at Unalakleet and Yakutat.
In the summer of 1887, Sheldon Jackson founded The
North Star, an illustrated monthly paper, printed at Sitka,
with a view to the dissemination of reliable information
relating to the several missions and schools. In the same
year, the industrial school at Sitka was transferred to
the care of the Bureau of Education, and was made a con
tract school.
Another important event in the history of this year,
was the removal of the veteran missionary, William Dun
can, from the village of Metlahkatlah, in British Columbia,
with a company of about seven hundred civilized and*
Christianized Tsimpsean natives, to a new settlement and
mission station on Annette Island, in Alaska.1 This was
a powerful reinforcement to the Christian element of the
country. In 1889, the Methodist Episcopal Church entered Alaska
and founded a mission and contract schools among the
Aleuts of Unalaska. Says the author of "Alaska for
1 In selecting this site,' Mr. Duncan was aided by Dr. Jackson, who
first suggested it to him, and did all in his power to secure it as a per
manent reservation for his Colony by act of Congress.

EDUCATIONAL WORK IN ALASKA 373
Juniors," "I think we owe it to Dr. Jackson that
wherever missionary work is established in Alaska, there
the government establishes a school in connection with
it." The development of the work up to this point made it
necessary to have an assistant and the Commissioner of
Education was authorized to make the appointment.
Upon the recommendation of Dr. Jackson, Mr. William
Hamilton, a representative of the Moravian Church, was
made "Assistant General Agent," and entered at once
upon the duties of his office.
Through all these agencies, operating in unison, the way
was prepared for the better days to come.

XVII
DAYBREAK IN NORTHERN ALASKA
" Ice built, ice bound, and sea-bounded !
Such cold seas of silence ! such room !
Such snow-light ! Such sea-light confounded
With thunders, that smite as a doom !
Such grandeur ! such glory, such gloom ! "
— Joaquin Miller.
" Love has taken the place of fear, and light the place of darkness."
— William Duncan.
WITHIN the period covered by the preceding
chapter, the work of education and evangeli
zation among the natives of Alaska was
limited to the most promising towns and villages of the
southeastern and southwestern sections of the country.
Into the sub- Arctic and Arctic regions proper, for long
the home of the hardy, but uncivilized and sadly-debased
Eskimos, no gospel messenger or Christian teacher had
yet gone.
The special feature of the year 1890 was the planting of
mission schools, supported in part by the government, at
three central stations, representing the largest settlements
on the Arctic coast, from which to reach the nomadic
population of the interior. With respect to the begin
ning of this work the General Agent of Education says in
his official report : —
" In the fall of 1882, Lieutenant-Commander Charles S.
Stockton, U. S. N., who had just returned from a cruise in
the Arctic, called my attention to the degraded condition
374

DAYBREAK IN NORTHERN ALASKA 375
of the Eskimos in Northern Alaska. I brought the facts
to the attention of Dr. W. T. Harris, United States Com
missioner of Education, who entered heartily into the
plan of establishing schools under the supervision of well-
known missionary organizations. As the Moravians had
been so successful in educating and civilizing the Eskimos
of Greenland and Labrador, the oversight of the schools
was first offered to them.
Having their hands full of work among the Eskimos in
Southwestern Alaska, they very reluctantly declined the
offer. I then visited the missionary societies in New York
city, with the following results : —
The Protestant Episcopal Mission Board agreed to take
the oversight of a school at Point Hope, Lieutenant-Com
mander Stockton, U. S. N., being a member of that de
nomination. The Mission Boards of the Presbyterian,
Congregational, Methodist, and Baptist churches, like the
Moravians, declined to accept a station on account of the
impoverished condition of their treasuries. In this
emergency, I made an appeal to Mrs. Elliott F. Shepard,
who agreed to provide the money, if the Woman's Board
of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church would take
the oversight of the proposed school at Point Barrow.
This offer was accepted. ' About the same time, I was
invited to spend a Sabbath with the .Congregational
church of Southport, Conn., and addressed them morning
and evening on the work in Alaska. I told them the
story of the Eskimos and made an appeal for a mission at
Cape Prince of Wales, on the American side of Bering
Strait, with' the result that an offering of $2,000 was
made for this purpose. This was given to the American
Missionary Society of the Congregational Church for the
establishment of the mission at Wales.
1 Mrs. Shephard continned to furnish the salary of the missionary at
Point Barrow for many years following.

376 SHELDON JACKSON
On the 13th of March, 1890, Dr. Jackson published a
call for volunteers to man these stations, in several of the
leading papers of the country. In this call, the rigours
of the Arctic winters, the necessary isolation from the
outside world for perhaps a year or more, the difficulties
connected with teaching English among a people who
were as a rule ignorant of it, and the inevitable hardships,
privations, and perils incident to the work, demanding a
missionary spirit of the most patient and heroic type, —
were mentioned and emphasized with a view to the dis
couragement of all who were not of this class.
To the surprise of the general agent, twenty-four
volunteers responded to this appeal, twelve of whom
were women. From this number four men were selected.
For Point Barrow, Prof. L. M. Stevenson ; for Point
Hope, Mr. John B. Driggs, M. D. ; for Cape Prince of
Wales, Prof. Wm. T. Lopp, of Indiana, and Prof. H. R.
Thornton of Virginia.
This elect company, with their supply of provisions for
a year, lumber, and other materials for school buildings,
were shipped on a schooner at San Francisco to Port
Clarence, where they were transferred to a whaler for
their several destinations.
By permission of the Secretary of the Treasury, Dr.
Jackson was given the privilege of making all his visits
to the Arctic and sub- Arctic sections of his field, year by
year, in the United States revenue cutter, Bear. Through
the courtesy of Captain L. G. Shepherd, chief of the Eeve-
nue Cutter Service, and Captain M. A. Healy, com
mander of the Bear, he was accorded many special
privileges on board the ship, and given every oppor
tunity to visit his stations and carry out his plans.
The vessel which thus became identified with the be
ginning of his missionary and reindeer enterprises in
Northern Alaska, has had a long and honourable record

DAYBREAK IN NORTHERN ALASKA 377
as a cruiser in Arctic seas. She was built at Greenock,
Scotland, for the Dundee sealing and whaling fleet and
is regarded as the best vessel in the Arctic Ocean for
work in the ice. It is described as a " barquentine-
rigged steamer, 198 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 18.5 feet
deep, with a capacity of 714 tons." The Bear was sent
to the rescue of the Greeley expedition in 1884, and after
its return with the survivors of the party was turned
over to the Treasury Department and detailed for service
as a revenue cutter in the treacherous and uncharted
waters of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean. Season
after season has she gone north in the spring to enforce
the revenue laws, and practically to do police duty around
the Seal Islands of Bering Sea and the native settle
ments, stretching from Kadiak, fifteen hundred miles to
Attu, and from Unalaska, twelve hundred miles north
ward to Point Barrow. During the first twelve years of
service in these dangerous waters the Bear has rescued
more than half a thousand shipwrecked whalers and des
titute mariners, and not a season passes that does not add
to its list of rescued men from coasting vessels or whalers.
Its record is equally brilliant in the protection of thou
sands of half civilized natives from the rapacity of the
white man and the demoralization of the white man's
rum. In vast stretches of coast (from 10,000 to 12,000
miles is a season's cruise) unknown to civilization, the
flag of the revenue steamer is the only evidence of the
authority of the government ever seen, and the only
protection afforded previous to the coming of the miners
to Nome in 1898. The steamer Bear also furnishes the
only medical attendance which the natives living along
thousands of miles of coast ever receive.
With the noble captain of this vessel, whose purpose
in many things accorded so happily with his own, the
superintendent of these Alaskan missions and schools

378 SHELDON JACKSON
made several trips north of the Arctic Circle, five of
which were consecutive, from 1890 to 1900.
On the first of these cruises, the captain of the vessel
had been directed to take a census of the coast villages
of Northern Alaska. This made frequent stops a neces
sity and gave to Dr. Jackson unusual facilities for reach
ing the larger portion of the people.
The first cruise, typical in many of its details of those
which followed, was westward from Seattle to the Aleutian
Islands, a voyage of about ten days, and thence north
ward into Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean. It in
cluded the Seal Islands and several points on the Siberian
coast. Large ice-fields were encountered at various points
on the northward voyage, making it necessary for the
ship to force its way through grinding masses of moving
ice ; or moored to the more solidified sections to drift
with them for days at a time until a way could be found
to a more open sea.
On the Fourth of July, a little after the hour of noon,
the vessel reached Cape Prince of Wales, at the extreme
end of the Western Hemisphere. Here on a dreary point
of land the day was celebrated by laying the foundations
of the first schoolhouse and mission on the northwestern
coast of Alaska. "From this school is visible, to the
north, the Arctic Ocean ; to the south, Bering Sea, and
to the west, Bering Strait, the coast of Siberia and
Diomede Islands." A schooner laden with building ma
terial and supplies for this point. arrived on the same
day. On the day previous, another schooner with sup
plies for the whalers and the four teachers appointed for
the posts already mentioned in the Arctic seas, had
arrived at Port Clarence in time to transfer Professors
Thornton and Lopp to the Bear. They were thus privi
leged to assist Dr. Jackson in locating the site and laying
the foundations for the school building. Volunteers from

Presbyterian Mission Farthest West.
Bringing Christianity to the Eskimos at Gambell. St. Lawrence Island. Bering Sea. (Within 40 miles of Siberia.)

DAYBREAK IN NORTHERN ALASKA 379
Port Clarence, thirty miles distant ; and a detail of car
penters and men from the Bear worked diligently on the
house which was ready for occupancy on the 12th of
July. On the evening of the same day, the Bear started
northward through Bering Strait. The school at this
point reported a daily average of 138 scholars for seven
months aud 113 for the nine months of the first school
year. At Point Hope, within the Arctic Circle, and about
300 miles south of the land's end northward, the second
schoolhouse of this group, and the first of its kind on the
western shore of the Arctic Ocean, was located and con
structed by the carpenters who had aided in the erection
of the building at Cape Prince of Wales. The building,
ivith timely help given by a detail from the ship, on its
arrival, was completed, and ready for occupancy on the
21st of July.
The following account of the beginning of school-work
in this dreary district of darkness and cold, as quoted
from Dr. Jackson's records by Alice Palmer Henderson,
the gifted author of "The Eainbow's End, Alaska,"
gives a very realistic and interesting impression of the
drawbacks connected with this initial undertaking : —
The school was opened on the ist of October, 1890. The
day brought with it a blizzard and snow-storm that lasted for
nine days. During the morning, the teacher occupied the
schoolroom alone, but as time wore on and no pupils came, he
put on his furs and started for the village to hunt up the chil
dren. He found a boy walking on the beach. Taking him
into the schoolroom, he commenced school. At its close, he
presented his pupil with a couple of pancakes left from his own
breakfast. The effect was equal to any reward of merit. That
boy proved one of the most regular in attendance during the
entire winter season. The next morning four presented them
selves, and from that the school grew to sixty-eight. A mixture
of flour, molasses, and water made a sort of cake, a little of

380 SHELDON JACKSON
which was given to the pupils each evening, proving not only a
very cheap and efficient method of securing regular attendance,
and promoting discipline, as they had to be both present and per
fect in their deportment and recitations, to be entitled to cake.
The scholars usually arrived from six to seven in the morning
and remained all day. The sun disappeared on the ioth of
December and returned on the 3d of January, giving them a
night of twenty-four days. Lamps were required in the school
room from November 12 th to February 9th. During February
and a portion of March, a series of blizzards set in that were
beyond description. The ice was solid across the ocean to
Cape Prince of Wales, 200 miles distant. The effect of the
gales was such that at times it seemed as if the schoolhouse
must be blown away. Snow flew in perfect sheets. The
schoolhouse was located two miles from the village, and yet,
notwithstanding the storm and distance, the attendance was
good. For a few days the teacher hired men to see the little
ones safely home through the storm (the two miles' distance),
but soon found that the precaution was unnecessary ; that they
were accustomed to take care of themselves.
Another problem in connection with the winter schools
in Arctic Alaska arose from the absence of the sun to
mark distinctly the alternate periods of day and night.
Consequently when the school bell would ring at nine
o'clock a. m. it was as dark as at nine p. m. and the chil
dren, without timepieces of any kind to guide them, had
frequently to be roused from their slumbers to the con
sciousness of the beginning of a new day. For this reason,
many of the pupils came to the school at the wrong hour,
or at times without their breakfasts.
From Point Hope the vessel slowly worked its way
northward through immense fields of floating ice to the
Refuge Station at Point Barrow, where a supply of provi
sions is stored and accommodations are provided for one
hundred shipwrecked whalers, in case of need. Along
this Arctic coast, where scores of vessels have gone down
or have been crushed in the ice, more than 2,000 sailors
have been wrecked within the space of ten years. Here,

Aurora Borealis. Presbyterian Mission at Point Barrow, Alaska.
Established by Dr. Jackson, 1890. Northernmost village and mis
sion on the continent.

DAYBREAK IN NORTHERN ALASKA 381
on the 20th of July, Prof. L. M. Stevenson, the teacher
selected for the school to be established at this place,
was landed with his supplies and left alone to begin his
work. Through the courtesy of Captain Healy, a room
for the school was secured in one of the government
buildings. In this dreary and desolate place, which is
farther north than the North Cape in Europe; where
the long Arctic day and night were each nearly three
months long ; where the outlook on the seaward side
both summer and winter was a perpetual ice-field,
stretching northward towards the Pole ; where in the
autumn and spring great whales sported before his
front door and in the winter polar bears prowled around
his dwelling, this courageous herald of a higher civ
ilization and a better life gathered the children and
older people together and gave them their first lessons
in language and the elementary branches of human
knowledge. In a letter recounting the events of this cruise, Dr.
Jackson writes : —
" It is a continual joy to me, that at least in three places
we are this season commencing Christian work, which
will not only light up this life, but also secure to these
long neglected natives an everlasting home, where exist
ence will not be one prolonged struggle of suffering, want,
and hopeless misery."
At Unalaska, on the return journey, a transfer was
made to the revenue cutter, Rush, which was about to sail
for Sitka and other ports in Southeastern Alaska. This
afforded the opportunity to make a tour of inspection
through this region to all the schools then in operation,
except those at Klawak and Metlahkatlah. On the 11th
of November, Dr. Jackson reached his home in Wash
ington, after an absence of seven months, having travelled
in all, by land and water, a distance of 17,825 miles.

382 SHELDON JACKSON
The second annual tour, in 1891, with some divergences
covered practically the same ground, but was taken in
the reverse order. After several attempts — covering
nearly a month in time — to force his way through the ice
pack, in the vicinity of Point Belcher, the captain was
obliged to give up his purpose to visit the station at
Point Barrow only seventy miles distant, and reluctantly
turned southward. Dr. Jackson was near enough, how
ever, to communicate with Mr. Stevenson, who found a
way to the ship and made such arrangements as were
necessary to tide over the long interval of seclusion which
must elapse before the Bear could make another attempt
to reach his lonely station.
On the third annual cruise, in the summer of 1892,
Captain Healy succeeded in reaching Point Barrow,
where the superintendent left a bell for the school and
other supplies which had not been delivered the preced
ing season. The leading event of this year was the in
troduction of domestic reindeer into Alaska, and several
zigzag trips were made for this purp*ose back and forth
between the contiguous sections of the two continents.
An unusual amount of floating ice impeded the progress
of the vessel on these trips, and frequently the captain
was obliged to shift his anchorage or moor the vessel to
the immense floes of ice which bore down upon it. Dur
ing this season, some of the whalers were caught in the
ice-drifts early in April, and were not released from their
imprisonment until June. One vessel of this class drifted
with an ice-pack northward for nearly four hundred
miles. It seems somewhat incongruous with ordinary
happenings to be beset with swarms of mosquitoes in the
midst of floating ice, but this appears to have been a
common experience in these Arctic regions. On one oc
casion when the vessel was at anchorage in the midst of
ice-drifts the swarms of mosquitoes were so annoying to

DAYBREAK IN NORTHERN ALASKA 383
those on board that the captain weighed anchor and
moved farther out to sea.
At a later date, while travelling in an open boat, Dr.
Jackson was driven out from a hastily improvised shelter
during a driving storm of sleet and rain, by a horde of
hungry mosquitoes. When his position outside became
almost intolerable, he returned to the cover and fought
the swarming pests which assailed him with renewed
vigour. A friend who was with him attempted to drive
them out with clouds of tobacco smoke, but failing in this
resigned himself to his fate, and went to sleep. It was
not so easy for the hero of this story to adapt himself to
the situation, however, and he alternated his time be
tween fighting mosquitoes and sitting out in the rain.
The fifth annual cruise to the Arctic, in the summer of
1894, was made by way of Sitka going and returning.
Point Barrow was reached after the usual experiences
with ice-floes and adverse elements, on the 5th of August.
At all the stations visited the mail pouches, with their
precious messages from the outside world, were delivered
and the supplies for the year were landed at seven Arctic
and sub- Arctic missions and schools.
Before the close of the decade in which these missions
and schools were founded, several additional stations were
added, and their combined influence in the elevation of
this rude and semi- barbarous people has been very marked.
It is said that when the mission at Cape Prince of Wales
was established, the village in which it was located was
so notorious for treachery and high-handed wickedness [
that no whaler had dared to drop anchor in its neigh- '
bourhood for ten years. The placing of the missionaries t
there was regarded by the officers of the whaling vessels
as a foolhardy undertaking, from which no good could
result. Very different, however, was the outcome of this
heroic venture in the name of Christ. The school was

384: SHELDON JACKSON
well attended from the first, the simplest truths of the
Gospel were preached to willing listeners, and so great
was the influence of these truths that in some degree the
whole community was elevated and transformed. Here,
as in many other places in Alaska, the work of the mis
sionary made it safe for the trader, the miner, and the
sailor, and yet there were few among these adventurers of
the early days who recognized the value of this work or
even regarded it with approval. In this case the coming
of the missionaries prepared the way for the return of the
whalers, and in all the years following they have an
chored their ships before the village and, landed their
crews in safety.
At Point Barrow, the conditions were different, in
some respects, but the influence of the Church and school
was so marked and salutary that the fortified habitation,
which was built early in the eighties, to protect the resi
dents of the government station from the natives, was
dismantled. And when at a later period more than 200
shipwrecked sailors sought the help and protection of the
village, its inhabitants, influenced by the new teaching
and civilization which had come to them, fed and clothed
these needy sufferers from their own scanty supplies.
In less than eleven years after the founding of a Chris
tian school at Point Barrow, Dr. Marsh, the medical mis
sionary, then in charge of the station, reported a church-
membership of forty-three, with a list of waiting appli
cants, under special care and instruction, numbering
about one hundred. Into the little church building hold
ing about one hundred comfortably, from two hundred to
two hundred and fifty would frequently crowd together
at the morning service, to the great discomfort of the
speaker, who had not been accustomed, like the people of
his charge, to an atmosphere in which, as the missionary
put it, the light burned dimly for want of oxygen.

DAYBREAK IN NORTHERN ALASKA 385
Thus amid many discouragements faithful men and
women manned these far-away outposts in this dreary
land of ice and snow,, changing the current of human
lives, patiently introducing the elements of a higher civ
ilization and winning from these stolid and seemingly
stupid men, women, and children many rich trophies of
redeeming grace.
While we give high honour to these brave and patient
servants of Jesus Christ it should not be forgotten that
the man who, by reason of his long and faithful service
in behalf of the people of this land, has been appro
priately styled "The Apostle of Alaska," was the first
of all the representatives of Protestant Christendom to
plead the cause of the benighted residents of the Arctic
coast and the first to bring to them the inestimable bless
ings of the Christian Church and school. His work in
the making of the future of Alaska and the saving of the
Eskimos of this region from slow starvation and ultimate
extinction, — a work almost coterminous with the giving
to them of the Gospel — by the introduction of the domes
ticated reindeer, will be the subject of the chapter fol
lowing.

XVIII
THE INTRODUCTION OF SIBERIAN REINDEER
INTO THE LAND OF THE ESKIMOS
" When the history of that vast territory in the frozen North shall
have been written by the light of an assured development, the figure
of Sheldon Jackson will loom up .heroic in its pages, as one whose
broad humanity, willing self-sacrifice, indomitable determination and
Christian faith, made him a pioneer of civilization in a land which all
save his few devoted lieutenants shunned till the greed of gold led
them to face rigours and perils far exceeding those embraced in the ap
peals of the gentle and daring missionary." — Mail and Express, New
York, 1897.
WHEN Sheldon Jackson made his first visit, in
the summer of 1890, to the towns and settle
ments of Arctic Alaska, for the purpose of es
tablishing schools and gathering information concerning
the condition of the people, he found that the sources of
food supply upon which the natives had depended for
ages past, were diminishing so rapidly and surely that,
without intervention or help from outside sources, they
would soon be reduced to a condition of hopeless misery
and slow starvation.
On one ice-girt island, visited on this cruise, the in
habitants of a whole village, partly through improvidence
and partly through the wanton destruction of their food
supplies by whalers, had miserably perished a short time
before. At other points, the inhabitants had been reduced to
desperate straits to secure subsistence through the long,
dark winters of isolation from all outside communication
386

INTRODUCTION OF REINDEER 387
or help. In every portion of the vast stretches along the
coasts of the Bering and Arctic Seas the white man, with
his improved methods of slaughter, had relentlessly pur
sued the whale, the walrus, and the seal, driving them
into remote regions beyond the reach of the natives,
as well as cutting them off by a system of wholesale
slaughter. In view of these facts, it was evident to this far-sighted
pioneer missionary, who had long been accustomed to
deal with the aborigines of the land, that some means of
subsistence other than the chase must be provided for the
Eskimos of this great northland, in order to save them
from periodical recurrences of famine and ultimate extinc
tion. In his annual report, after his return from this tour of
exploration, he writes : —
To establish schools among a starving people would be of
little service ; hence education, civilization, and humanity alike
call for relief. The sea could not be restocked with whale as a
stream can be restocked with fish. To feed the population at
government expense would pauperize, and in the end would as
certainly destroy them.
Some other method had to be devised. This was suggested
by the wild nomad tribes on the Siberian side of Bering Strait.
They had an unfailing food supply in their large herds of do
mestic reindeer. Why not introduce the domestic reindeer on
the American side and thus provide a new and adequate food
supply ?
To do this will give the Eskimo as permanent a food supply
as the cattle of the Western plains and sheep of New Mexico
and Arizona do the inhabitants of those sections. It will do
more than preserve life— it will preserve the self-respect of the
people and advance them in the scale of civilization. It will
change them from hunters to herders. It will also utilize the
hundreds of thousands of square miles of moss-covered tundra
of Arctic and sub- Arctic Alaska and make those now useless and
barren wastes conducive to the wealth and prosperity of the
United States.

388 SHELDON JACKSON
A moderate computation, based upon the statistics of Lap
land, where similar climatic and other conditions exist, shows
Northern and Central Alaska capable of supporting over 9,000,-
000 head of reindeer.
To reclaim and make valuable vast areas of land, otherwise
worthless; to introduce large, permanent, and wealth-pro
ducing industries, where none previously existed ; to take a
barbarian people on the verge of starvation and lift them up to
a comfortable self-support and civilization, is certainly a work
of national importance.
In this brief, luminous statement we have the result of
Sheldon Jackson's study of this problem in practical
economics, as well as the basis of his plea on behalf of
these needy and dependent natives. To change them
from hunters to herders to meet their changing condition
and environment, was a conception worthy of a Christian
statesman of the highest type and broadest philanthropy.
To carry it out in the face of ridicule, — for many regarded
it as the visionary dream of a missionary enthusiast — and
difficulties, which to any one but a " missionary enthu
siast," would have seemed to be insuperable, was a task
which called for ability and genius of a very high order.
The report from which the above extract is taken was
approved by the Commissioner of Education and was re
ferred by him to the Secretary of the Interior. In due
course it came before the Fifty-first Congress (1890-91),
and an appropriation of $15,000 was incorporated in " a
bill for the introduction of domesticated reindeer into
Alaska as an experiment, in connection with the indus
trial schools of the country. ' ' Amid the pressure of other
matters, which were regarded as of more importance, this
proposed enactment was crowded out and Congress ad
journed without taking action upon it. At this stage of
the proceedings, as ex-Governor Brady puts it, — "The
occasion demanded a man of peculiar type, and, like
Ctesar, 'He came, he saw,' and, in the opinion of the

INTRODUCTION OF REINDEER 389
friends of this enterprise, has 'conquered.' " Believing
that the best way to interest the members of Congress in
this scheme was to demonstrate its practicability, Dr.
Jackson, with the approval of the Commissioner of Edu
cation, issued an appeal for private contributions to inau
gurate it, during the summer of 1891. This appeal was
published in the Mail and Express, of New York City, the
Boston Transcript, the Philadelphia Ledger, the Chicago
Inter Ocean, the Washington Star, and many of the re
ligious papers of the country. The response was prompt
and generous : the sum total being $2,145. With this
sum, which was expended in the purchase of goods suita
ble for barter on the Siberian coast, Dr. Jackson, with
the approval and authorization of the Secretary of the
Interior, undertook the work of securing and transporting
a small number of reindeer into Alaska.' The details
connected with this initial work were many and perplex
ing ; but with the help and counsel of the officers of the
United States revenue cutter the difficulties, which at
times seemed to be insuperable, were overcome. There
were many things, however, which could only be found
out as the result of actual experience. The reasons for
beginning on a small scale are thus summed up by the
author of the scheme : —
" In the public discussions which arose with regard to
the scheme, a sentiment was found in some circles that it
was impracticable ; that on account of the superstition
of the natives they would be unwilling to sell their stock
alive ; further, that the nature of the reindeer was such
that they would not bear ship transportation, and, also,
that, even if they could be purchased and safely trans
ported, the native dogs on the Alaskan coast would des
troy or the natives kill them for food.
'The purohase of goods for barter was necessary because the Siberians
were ignorant of the use of money.

390 SHELDON JACKSON
' ' This feeling, which was held by many intelligent men,
was asserted so strongly and positively that it was thought
best in the first season to make haste slowly, and instead
of purchasing a large number of reindeer possibly to die
on shipboard, or perhaps to be destroyed by the Alaskan
dogs (thus at the outset prejudicing the scheme), it was
deemed wiser and safer to buy only a few."
"Therefore, in the time available from other educational
duties during the season of 1891, I again carefully re
viewed the ground and secured all possible additional in
formation with regard to the reindeer, and, while delay
ing the actual establishment of a herd until another season,
refuted the objections that the natives would not sell, and
the deer would not bear transportation, by actually buying
and transporting them."
In this initial venture, sixteen head of reindeer were
purchased, kept on shipboard for about three weeks, and
finally landed in good condition at Amaknak Island, in
the harbour of Unalaska. During this memorable cruise,
Captain Healy coasted on the Asiatic side of the Bering
and Arctic Seas from 1,200 to 1,500 miles, calling at the
various villages, enabling Dr. Jackson to hold conferences
with the leading herders of the reindeer and make ar
rangements, wherever practicable, for the purchase of
animals the next season.
On Friday morning, the 28th of August, 1891, the Bear
anchored off Itschan village, where arrangements had
been made for the delivery of four reindeer, the first in
stallment of the herd of sixteen, and Lieutenant Jarvis
was sent off with a boat's crew to bring them to the ship.
In his daily journal, under the above date, Dr. Jackson
says, "Lieutenant Jarvis returned at 1:30 p. m., and at
1 :40 the first deer was hoisted on board. Thus it has been
proven by actual experience that reindeer can be pur
chased alive. This is a great event. It is now to be

INTRODUCTION OF REINDEER 391
tested how well they will bear transportation." The
verification of this test was made on the homeward journey,
ofttimes amid heavy seas and fierce storms, which was
accomplished as far as Unalaska without accident or
the loss of a single one of the little herd. The land
ing of these patient animals — trembling, hobbled and
bruised — September 21st, on American soil, marked the
beginning of a new epoch in the industrial interests of
the residents of our Arctic and sub- Arctic possessions.
It has been justly described as one of the most noteworthy
events of the nineteenth century. As one has put it :
This patient, noble creature now enters prominently into hu
man world-history. With great qualities he has come to stay.
A mighty century closes with the eyes of the world on the two
extremes of the globe, the frozen Arctics and the burning trop
ics, Alaska and Africa. Two noble animals, creatures of bur
den, products of the zone, stand forth prominently — the rein
deer and the camel. In the Arctics, no matter how great the
facilities of transportation by steam and electricity, there will
be points that can be reached only by this animal.1
On his return to Washington Dr. Jackson renewed his efforts
to secure the endorsement and support of Congress in. the further
prosecution of this undertaking, so auspiciously begun. In this
he was ably assisted by the Hon. H. M. Teller, United States
senator from Colorado, who drew up a bill for the considera
tion of the Senate, appropriating #15,000, "to be expended under
the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, for the purpose of
introducing and maintaining in the territory of Alaska, reindeer
for domestic purposes."
This bill was approved by the Senate on the 23d of
May, 1892. It was then placed on the calendar of the
House, but here adverse influences prevailed and it failed
to pass when brought up for consideration and action.
This lack of sympathy and active cooperation on the part
of the representatives of the nation was a disappointment
at the time, but it was not taken seriously by the prime
1 Woman's Home Mission Magazine, M. E. Church, January, 1897.

392 SHELDON JACKSON
mover in this enterprise, who, in confident expectation
of ultimate success, determined to carry out the arrange
ments he had made in the preceding summer for the
transportation of a larger herd of deer to some point on
the American side of the Arctic or Bering Sea. At
Unalaska, where the usual stop was made on the out
ward voyage, he found the reindeer, which he had left on
Amaknak Island, in good condition and apparently as
much at home as if they had wintered on the coast of
Asia. Several fawns were noticed with the herd and in
the following season the number gained by natural in
crease was much larger.1 Thus another problem was
solved and the way made clear for further operations on
a larger scale. The first step in connection with the
permanent ¦ establishment of the reindeer industry was
the selection of a suitable location for a station and in
dustrial school, the main feature of which was to be
instruction in the management and propagation of the
deer by herders of experience secured for the purpose
from the coast of Siberia. At the head of Port Clarence,
in the vicinity of Cape Spenser on the eastern coast of
Bering Sea, a spot was found which seemed to fulfill the
necessary conditions for the purpose, and here, on the
29th of June, Dr. Jackson located and set apart a station
by raising the stars and stripes while the marines fired a sa
lute with rifles ' ' as the flag gracefully filled to the breeze. ' ' '
In honour of the friend and able advocate of this enter
prise it was named the " Teller Reindeer Station." 3
'This little herd which was left to shift for itself was subject to
heavy losses for lack of care and in a few years had disappeared.
2 Reindeer Report of Superintendent Miner W. Bruce, 1893, p. 53.
3 Here in winter the northern lights are often seen, and are some
times startling in their brilliance and magnifioence. The north star
is in such a position that if a pendulum were suspended from it the
lower end would swing almost direotly over the station. — Miner W.
Bruoe.

i. Sheldon Jackson landing the first herd of domesticated reindeer
in America, July 4, 1892. 2. The Herd. 3. The family team.

INTRODUCTION OF REINDEER 393
A few days later, lumber and building material were
landed at this point and a frame house was erected by the
carpenters of the Bear and a detail of assistants. Mean
while, the superintendent of the new station constructed
two "dugouts" for himself and assistants, to be occu
pied during the severity of the winter season. From this
place, the nearest good, harbour to Bering Strait on the
American side, five visits were made to Siberia, during
the season, for the purchase and transportation of rein
deer. On the evening of the 3d of July, the Bear
anchored off the station with its cargo of live stock. The
surf was too heavy for landing that evening, but early
the next morning the ship, which was gaily decorated
with flags in honour of the day, — July 4th, — sent out
its launch with the first load of reindeer ever transported
to the mainland of the continent of America. With this
herd, which numbered fifty-three head, there were four
Siberian herders who remained at the station until the
opening of the next season. On the second trip across
the Strait, two anchors were broken by heavy ice-floes
and at one point on the Siberian coast the ship was held
fast in an ice-pack for a whole week. At every landing-
place on this bleak and dangerous coast difficulties were
experienced, in consequence of dense fogs, drifting ice,
or heavy surf. Under these adverse circumstances, 171
head of reindeer were purchased and transported to the
station at Port Clarence during the summer of 1892.
In the execution of this matter-of-fact enterprise, rather
than in its inception, there is a touch of real romance,
and a degree of real heroism and dogged persistency
which has seldom been surpassed.
During the second session of the Fifty-second Congress,
March 3, 1893, an appropriation of $6,000 was made for
the purchase of additional animals, and the management
of this fund was laid upon the Commissioner of Education

394 SHELDON JACKSON
and was included in the work of the Superintendent of
Instruction for Alaska. Thus, for the first time, the gen
eral government gave its official sanction to, and made
provision for, this reindeer enterprise for the benefit of
Alaska. During the spring of 1893, seventy-nine fawns were
born to the herd at the Teller station.
The loss to the herd since the date of its landing,
mainly from causes which could be avoided in the future,
was twenty-seven. This reduced number, with the in
crease already noted, made a total of 223 animals in good
condition. To this goodly number, 127 more were added
during the summer cruise, which was made in connection
with the care and oversight of the schools. In the season
of 1894, 186 were added by increase and 127 by purchase.
With the introduction of improved methods of treat
ment and care, under the skillful handling of herders
imported from Lapland, the annual loss to the herds was
greatly reduced, and a great advance was made upon the
system of training in the industrial school.
These herders, seven in number, with their wives and
children, were brought over to the United States by
Mr. Wm. A. Kjellman, of Madison, Wis., who had been
selected as superintendent of the Teller Reindeer Station.
During the winter of 1892-93, the superintendent of
the herd trained twelve deer to draw sleds, and with two
teams selected from this number made a very satisfactory
journey to Cape Prince of Wales, sixty miles distant, and
return, in the month of March. On this trip he picketed
the deer at halting-places in the neighbourhood of vil
lages, in which there were from 100 to 300 native dogs,
but in no instance were they molested. Thus another
difficulty that was anticipated by some in connection
with this venture was met and resolved.
In September, 1893, the herd at Teller numbered 346.

INTRODUCTION OF REINDEER 395
In August of the following year, 119 head were taken
from it and entrusted to the care of Mr. W. T. Lopp,
missionary of the Congregational Church, in charge of
the station at Cape Prince of Wales. In the early days
of this enterprise, the only places where reindeer herds
could be successfully cared for with a view to the train
ing of reliable apprentices among the Eskimos, was at
the missionary stations, which had been located in ad
vance of this movement, at the natural centres of native
population, and had the further advantage of pupils
available for this purpose, who were being taught the
use of the English language.
In an official paper relating to the location and distri
bution of the reindeer herds, the Hon. W. T. Harris,
Commissioner of Education, says : —
"It is evident that the missionary stations furnish the
only safe centres for the locations of herds and the es
tablishment of schools of instruction in the rearing of the
reindeer and the training of them to harness. The mis
sions ascertain the capable and teachable youth among
the natives. They are able at any time to furnish a list of
the natives in their vicinities noted for good character.
At each of these stations, twenty or thirty youth selected
from a village population of 300 or more, can be put in
training as herdsmen and teamsters. 'No matter how
large the government appropriation should be, therefore,
it would be necessary to connect the reindeer instruction
and the establishment of permanent herds with these mis
sionary stations." '
In these schools, which thus combined the educational
and the industrial courses of study, some of the brightest
young men were apprenticed for five years under skillful
Lapp or Finn instructors. With careful training under
such influences, the Eskimos make excellent herders and
1 Senate Document, 59th Congress, No. 483, p. 125.

396 SHELDON JACKSON
are thus preparing the way for the extension of this new
industry all over Arctic and sub- Arctic Alaska.
In the contract made with the officials in charge of the
mission stations it was stipulated that the government
would furnish one hundred or more reindeer free of
charge as a loan, subject to recall if the conditions of the
loan were not complied with, for the term of five years.
In return for this favour, the mission was required to
feed, clothe, and care for the native apprentices during
this period, and at its close return the original number of
reindeer loaned them. Of the increase year by year at
least eighty per cent, became the property of the mission.
In some cases, twenty per cent, of the net increase was
given to the instructors. It was found to be good policy,
also, to give to each apprentice the increase of a certain
part of the herd which had been assigned to him, so that
at the conclusion of his term of service he might have
fifty or more deer, to brand as his own. In all the ar
rangements which were made from time to time with
respect to the distribution of the several herds, it was the
settled policy of the government to give an increasingly
large percentage of fawns to the natives as they became
more proficient and skillful in handling the animals en
trusted to their care.
As a result of this policy, the government owned thirty
per cent, of all the reindeer in Alaska in 1905 ; the mis
sion stations twenty-one per cent. ; the Lapps eleven per
cent. ; while the natives had acquired the ownership of
thirty-eight per cent.
The last importation of reindeer from Siberia was in
the year 1902, when, after many discouraging and exas
perating experiences, the largest number which could be
secured out of a possible limit of 300, set by the Russian
government, was thirty. At the close of this season an
embargo was promulgated against the exportation of rein

INTRODUCTION OF REINDEER 897
deer from the Russian possessions and none have been im
ported since that date. The whole number imported into
Alaska previous to this interdict was 1,280. From these
have sprung all the animals in the numerous herds which
are now distributed over Western and Northern Alaska.
The first training schools, as already intimated, were
, located at the mission stations.
In course of time, it was deemed expedient to establish
relief stations not directly under missionary control. To
these were added government stations also, at important
points, which were conducted independently of the mis
sions, but all were under the control of the General Agent
of Education for Alaska. The existence of the three
classes of stations gave opportunity, at a later date, to com
pare the relative value, efficiency, and economy of each ;
and from the data given in the annual reports it appears
that in all these respects the credit balance was on the
side of the mission station. With respect to the economy
of this administration, — a matter which has often been dis
puted by the opponents of the policy advocated by the
Commissioner of Education, — the tabulated statements
show that by far the heaviest item of expense year by
year has been the feeding and clothing of the apprentices ;
and that the government stations apart from the missions
havecostaboutthree times as much as those under their care.
Before the first decade of this industrial venture had
closed, the condition and prospects of the work abun
dantly confirmed the conviction that prompted it and
proved the wisdom, in general, of the plans by which it
had been carried on. During this period, it was shown
by practical demonstration that the trained reindeer
could be depended upon to travel swiftly over long dis
tances, draw heavy loads ; and also to secure his own food
above ground and under the snow, — over a vast extent of
territory north of the agricultural belt in Alaska.

398 SHELDON JACKSON
It is said by those who are familiar with all the differ
ent modes of transportation in Arctic regions, that, on a
long journey, a dog-team cannot haul sufficient provi
sions through an uninhabited country to feed themselves.
For such journeys, the superiority of the reindeer is
evidenced by the fact that one accustomed to the harness
can travel with 200 pounds on a sled over mountains and
plains without road or trail for days or weeks at a time ;
and all the while keep in good condition by browsing on
the moss or lichen, which he finds at halting-places by
the way, by digging down to it with his shovel-like hoofs
through the snow.
The reindeer furnish their owners with food, clothing, and
shelter, and nearly all the necessaries of life. The flesh, blood,
and entrails are eaten. The skin makes the garments, beds,
and tents. The skin of the leg, which is covered with fine
short hair, makes the boots. From the antlers are made many
of their implements, drill bows for lighting fires, knife handles,
etc. The sinews of the deer make the native thread, and a
most excellent thread it is. The bones, soaked in oil, are
burned for fuel, and in addition to all this the deer furnishes
his master with the means of transportation and indeed to a
large extent assists in forming the character of the man.1
Thus the introduction of domesticated reindeer into
Alaska has opened up new avenues of commerce and
travel over vast stretches of ice and snow ; furnished a
new food supply to a starving people ; developed new in
dustries of an exceedingly practical character and is to
day rapidly solving the problem of the perpetuation and
civilization of the Eskimos in our great northland pos
sessions. It has been said with truth that if Dr. Jackson
had done no other thing than this, his name would
deserve the praise of all lovers of humanity.
1 " Notes on Reindeer," by Captain C. L. Hooper, U. S. Revenue
Cutter Corwin, Senate Document No. 204, pp. 113-114.

INTRODUCTION OF REINDEER 399
The first practical test of the endurance of reindeer in
Alaska, and their adaptability to winter travel, was made
in the winter of 1896-97, under the direction of Mr.
W. A. Kjellman, superintendent of the station at Teller.
Starting from this station on the 10th of December, with
nine sleds and seventeen head of reindeer, he travelled
southward to a station on the Kuskokwim Biver, about a
thousand miles distant. " The course, while travelled by
compass, was a zigzag one over unbeaten tracks, in order
to better learn the extent and abundance of moss pastur
age. Scaling high mountain ranges, shooting down pre
cipitous declivities with toboggan speed, plodding through
valleys filled with deeply-drifted snow, laboriously cut
ting a way through the man-high underbrush in the
forest, or steering across the trackless tundra, never be
fore trodden by the foot of white men ; gliding over the
hard-crusted snow, or wading through slush two feet deep
on imperfectly frozen rivers, unknown to geographers,
were the experiences of the trip." ' .This list does not
exhaust the experiences of the journey, however, which
has been fitly characterized as " the most remarkable one
ever made by reindeer." One day there came an " arctic
blizzard," against which neither man nor beast could
stand upright. The reindeer were blown down — one was
literally swept off the mountainside, — the loaded sleds
were overturned, and the men, throwing themselves flat
and thrusting their big hunting knives into the ground
between the rocks, clung to their handles and to one an
other, to keep from being blown away. About a week
after this extraordinary experience, the party encountered
a succession of blinding snow-storms and were reduced
to such straits that they were obliged to cut the railing
from their sleds for fuel. When the last of these storms
had passed away, the temperature fell to 73° below zero,
1 Report on Introduction of Reindeer for 1903, p. 20.

400 SHELDON JACKSON
"causing even the reindeer to break loose from their
tethers and tramp ceaselessly around the tents for warmth."
Near the close of the journey there was one long stretch
where, contrary to information, no moss was found.
Hence, it was necessary to push on continuously for four
days and three nights, without a morsel of food for the
deer until a wooded tract was reached, where trees were
cut down that the deer might feed on the black moss
which hung from them. On this terrible march, five of
the deer fell dead or helpless in their traces. The return
journey was made to Teller without serious adventure.
Thus a round trip of 2,000 miles on sledges, the longest
on record, was made over an unmarked and unknown
route, in the worst and most inclement season of the year.
With a better knowledge of the route some of these dread
ful experiences might have been avoided, but the experi
ment served its purpose in proving the capabilities of the
deer for making such a journey, in case of necessity.
Not long after the return of this expedition, a case of
urgent necessity did arise, which afforded another prac
tical test of the endurance of these hardy animals and
their value in connection with relief expeditions to those
who were exposed to deadly peril, and beyond the ordi
nary reach of human help.
In the month of October, 1897, reliable information
was received at Washington that eight whaling ships
were ice-bound near Point Barrow, and that about 300
seamen on board these vessels were in danger of perishing
from hunger unless succour could reach them early in the
spring. To meet this emergency, President McKinley
called a special session of his cabinet and invited Dr.
Jackson to attend it and give his views as to the best
method of relief. In brief his suggestion was to send the
revenue cutter, Bear, then under the command of Cap
tain Tuttle, to some point on the coast of Bering Sea,

INTRODUCTION OF REINDEER 401
within reach of Point Rodney and Cape Prince of Wales,
where reindeer herds were stationed, and thence to pro
ceed overland with, dogs and reindeer, driving a herd be
fore them to be slaughtered for food at the end of the
journey. This suggestion was regarded as the most
feasible plan of relief submitted, and in substance it was
adopted. An expedition of this kind by sea and land, to
the farthest limit of the continent in the dead of winter,
was fraught with great danger, however, and the officials
of the Department of the Treasury, to whom this under
taking was committed, called for volunteers. The officers
of the Bear, and other Arctic explorers who had been
associated with them in former cruises, promptly re
sponded to the call. From this volunteer force, Lieu
tenants D. H. Jarvis and E. P. Bertholf and Dr.
S. J. Call, surgeon of the vessel, were selected for the
leaders of the overland portion of the journey.
On the 29th day of November, the Bear started in a
blinding snow-storm from the harbour of Port Townsend,
on this perilous journey. The objective point in Bering
Sea was Sledge Island. When within seventy-five miles
of the island, the ice closed in upon the vessel so closely
and so firmly that the attempt to reach it was given up.
After beating about in search of an open passage for a
time, the vessel was headed for a village on Cape Van
couver. A landing at this point meant an increase to the
overland journey of about 800 miles, but it seemed to be
the only place where the rescue party could be put ashore
at that season of the year. When this part of her mis
sion was accomplished, the Bear returned to Dutch Har
bour, Unalaska, for the winter. From a village in the
vicinity of the landing-place, Lieutenant Jarvis secured
a guide and some dog-teams, and, on the 18th of Decem
ber, started northward for the reindeer stations already
mentioned. After many days of hardships and peril

402 SHELDON JACKSON
these stations were reached and a herd of 435 deer, of
which eighteen were broken to harness, were secured.
At Cape Prince of Wales, Mr. W. T. Lopp, the mission
ary in charge, and Artisarlook, a superintendent of one
of the herds, were persuaded to accompany the party.
From this place, Lieutenants Jarvis and Bertholf, with
Dr. Call, continued the journey northward with dog-
teams, depending upon reindeer meat to feed the dogs,
when they could not secure fish. Missionary Lopp, with
his herders, took charge of the deer. Thus equipped,
the party pushed on through the Arctic night and cold
and storms, driving the animals intended for food before
them. This portion of the j ourney , by the route travelled,
was not far short of a thousand miles.
On the 29th of March, the destitute whalers were
reached, after an overland journey of three months and
twelve days, and their immediate wants were supplied.
The relief came none too soon, for bad sanitary conditions
and the lack of proper food had brought the imprisoned
men to the verge of great suffering, and sickness of a
dangerous character had already broken out among them.
A supply of fresh meat from the reindeer herd, improved
sanitary conditions, imposed under the authority of gov
ernment officers, and the revival of hope in the breasts
of the men soon wrought a marvellous change in the situ
ation. About 245 of the herd were slaughtered for food.
No further inconvenience or suffering was experienced
up to the arrival of the Bear in the early summer with a
full supply of stores and provisions.
With a view to forestalling a calamity of this kind in
the future, a permanent reindeer station was established
in the vicinity of Point Barrow. The ultimate cost of
this relief expedition was nearly $100,000, or almost one-
half as much as the total of the appropriations made by
Congress for the introduction of reindeer into Alaska.

INTRODUCTION OF REINDEER 403
Had there been a herd of deer in the vicinity of this dis
aster, as there has been ever since, relief could have been
afforded at once, and the necessity for a journey so long
and perilous and an expense so enormous would have been
avoided. In a special message to the Fifty-fifth Congress, Presi
dent McKinley paid this well-deserved tribute to the
leaders of the expedition : —
The hardships and perils encountered by the members of the
overland expedition in their great journey through an almost
uninhabited region, a barren waste of ice and snow, facing
death itself every day for nearly four months, over a route
never before travelled by white men, with no refuge but at the
end of the journey, carrying relief to 275 distressed citizens of
our country, all make another glorious page in the history of
American seamen. They reflect by their heroic and gallant
struggles the highest credit upon themselves and the govern
ment which they faithfully served. I commend this- heroic
crew to the grateful consideration of Congress and the Ameri
can people.
Referring to this expedition and the comments in gen
eral which had been made upon it, the governor of
Alaska, the Hon. John G. Brady, stated in his annual re
port to the Secretary of the Interior, 1899 : —
Who has ever seen a single notice of this event to the credit
of the reindeer, the missionary, or the native ? Attention was
called last year to the heroism of the officers. It will surely
compare with any act of bravery that has occurred within re
cent years, and we think that Congress should not allow an
other session to pass without giving them due recognition also.
It should be noted in this connection that the governor
had in mind the fact that on this remarkable journey the
herders and drivers were all Eskimos, and that ih addi
tion to the splendid service rendered by Missionary Lopp
the party were aided and sheltered at every mission

404 SHELDON JACKSON
station visited en route, as well as at the mission at Point
Barrow. Nor should it be forgotten in the telling of the
story that Mr. Lopp and his companion, instead of re
turning as did the others in the Bear, made the journey
in reverse order over the same desolate wastes of ice and
snow with a dog-team, as reindeer could not be spared
from the herd at Barrow, reaching his home after an ab
sence of nearly five months. During all this time, Mr.
Lopp had left his heroic wife and dependent children
alone at the station, the only white persons among 400
natives. His confidence in them was not misplaced, how
ever, for during his absence Mrs. Lopp received nothing
but courtesy and kindness.
An interesting adventure in reindeer sledding, of which
Sheldon Jackson was the principal actor, is thus described
by Mrs. Alice Palmer Henderson : — '
Reindeer driving must be most exhilarating. They go
straight ahead, over any obstacle, up hill and down dale with a
determination to " get there " worthy of a ward politician,
which reminds me of Dr. Jackson's experience. It was a dis
mal, drizzly day, and the six miles back to the cutter seemed to
stretch into sixty. He decided to ride back on a sled over the
wet and slippery tundra. With a Lapp at the head of each deer,
for the reindeer were fresh, to steady them, he started. There
was a little ravine ahead, perhaps ten feet wide ; the deer took
matters into their own hands by leaping across. Now the
worthy doctor is not a rider to hounds, besides, the reindeer
had not informed him that they meant to " take the ditch," so
they and their reverend driver parted company hurriedly, and
without words of farewell. The doctor turned a fantastic somer
sault, in no wise comporting with the dignity of the moderator
of the Presbyterian Assembly — the onlookers insist it was a
double somersault — and landed unhurt, but greatly surprised,
on some bushes in the bottom of the ravine. Decidedly it gave
him quite a turn. "Now, doctor," said I, when he told me
about it, " honestly, I won't tattle, but was your language
seemly to one of your cloth?" "I made no remarks what-
1 " The Rainbow's End, Alaska," p. 205.

INTRODUCTION OF REINDEER 405
ever," he replied. " I was bereft of speech or breath to frame
it. The young lieutenant who had accompanied me from the
Bear just threw himself down in a transport and howled. As
soon as I got together enough fragments of breath to join in, I
did so. It was one of the funniest things I ever saw, if the joke
was on myself."
There is nothing in the records of the Bureau of Educa
tion to show that its efficient agent in Alaska had availed
himself of this new mode of transportation in visiting his
Arctic missions and schools after this humiliating experi
ence ; but it did not repress his enthusiasm in advocating
the general use of these nimble animals for a like purpose
when driven by people who knew their peculiar ways and
had learned the knack of handling them in the crossing
of difficult places.1
With the incoming of a host of adventurers, after the
discovery of gold in the Klondike and along the valley of
the Yukon, the matter of transportation became an im
portant consideration. As the result of several tests,
wherever reindeer could be obtained, it was found that
they could draw a much heavier load than the dogs which
were broken to harness, could travel farther in a day, and
could be taken on long journeys without the necessity for
making any provision beforehand for their own food
supply. In his annual report to the Secretary of the Interior, in
1889, Governor Brady says : —
The great question is how to get more of these animals.
Since the excitement at Cape Nome began, the whites are be-
1 As a fitting sequel to this story it should be said that the sled was
righted after this flying leap, and the rest of the way the reindeer took
their Alaskan friend over the tundra, across the mountain, up and
down the steep sides of the ravines and landed him safe and sound on
the beach in an astonishingly short time. — Home Mission, Monthly, March,
1897, p. 107.

406 SHELDON JACKSON
ginning to understand what utility is in a reindeer. There is
great competition now for the purchase of the skin for clothing.
The price has gone up from $1.50 to $8 and #10 for a summer
pelt. The meat brought in from Siberia by schooners was sell
ing at $1 per pound. The draft animals were used last winter
in conveying government stores to Cape Nome, and in hauling
for the missionaries, who had claims on Anvil Creek.
During the same year, Hank Summers, a pioneer
resident of Northern Alaska, when asked by a reporter of
the Sitka Alaskan, what he thought of the reindeer experi
ment, said : —
The reindeer are the salvation of that northern country. I
have used all kinds of animals that could be gotten into that
country ; but I will never use anything else hereafter but the
reindeer. They are just the proper animal for our use, and the
government did wisely when it acted upon the suggestion of
Dr. Jackson and secured the reindeer. They are breeding
quite rapidly and find an abundance of food.
When asked how the natives took to the reindeer, Mr.
Summers replied : —
They are more than delighted with them ; and why should
they not be? They furnish them with milk — a luxury they
have never had before, and they furnish them with the best
mode of conveyance they have ever had on land. The flesh
keeps them from starving, while the hides furnish them with
clothes. And they know how to handle them, also, being
much more expert than the Lapps. In fact I would not have
any one else to handle them for me, and hire no one but natives.
Yes, I cannot say too much in praise of the reindeer. They
are a decided success.
When Mr. Summers' attention was called to the facts
that all the papers in Alaska except the Alaskan, "had
scored Dr. Jackson and the government for bringing the
reindeer into Alaska, and Governor Brady for favouring
the plan, and that one grand jury had gone so far out of

INTRODUCTION OF REINDEER 407
its way as to endeavour to besmirch the character of Dr. '
Jackson for his work in securing them, and denounced
the experiment as a wilful waste of money," he smiled and
said : —
They simply do not know what they are talking about. They
are talking at random. I have been mining and packing along
the Yukon, the Bering Sea, Kotzebue Sound, and in the
Arctic Circle for fifteen years, and have never found anything
so useful for packing, hauling, or for food as the reindeer.
They are a Godsend to the country, and any one who says dif
ferently simply does not know what he is talking about. Won't
you come and have an " eye-opener " ?
"No, thank you," said the reporter, " your informa
tion has been considerable of an eye-opener. I had a
faint idea that the grand jury knew something about rein
deer, but I was evidently mistaken." '
Dana Thomas, another man of wide experience ia mat
ters relating to transportation, wrote to Dr. Jackson, from
Kotzebue, Alaska, July 1, 1904 : —
Personally, I was not particularly enthusiastic over the rein
deer when I first landed here two years ago, but I am " wiser
to-day than yesterday," and have not the slightest doubt now
that the introduction of domestic reindeer into Alaska will, within
a few years, be the main source of the greatest good to not only
the natives but the whites as well. I venture the assertion that
the reindeer will in the near future bring more wealth and hap
piness to the people of this district than all the gold and silver
that is delivered from Alaskan mines.2
Such testimony from practical, far-seeing, unprejudiced
men, furnishes the best reply to the foolish assertions and
slanderous reports so persistently circulated concerning
Dr. Jackson and his work in Alaska.
Another important work for which the reindeer were
'Reindeer Report for 1899, p. 157.
2 Reindeer Report for 1904, p. 116.

408 SHELDON JACKSON
found to be specially adapted was the carrying of the
United States mail to remote villages on the Arctic coast
and along the interior routes between newly-opened
trading-posts or mining camps. In 1899, Dr. Jackson
secured the establishment of the first Reindeer Post Route
in the United States.
It extended from St. Michaels, on the coast of Bering
Sea, to Kotzebue, within the Arctic Circle. The contract
called for three round trips during the winter. The route
was through a dreary wilderness in which there was no
sign of beaten trail, and the distance going and returning
for each trip, was 1, 240 miles. To the satisfaction of all
parties, this service was rendered according to contract.
In autumn of the same year another contract was given
for a semi-monthly winter service between Nome and
Eaton station, a distance of 240 miles. Five successful
trips, four of which were with deer and sleds, were made
over this route after the first day of March. ' ' On the sec
ond trip the reindeer passed dogs and a bicycle that had
passed Eaton two days before the deer started ; reached
Nome, rested thirty hours, and started on the return trip
before the dog -team arrived. " x At later dates, several new
routes were established by the post-office department, in
cluding one between Kotzebue and Point Barrow. By
way of Point Hope the distance between these places,
both of which are within the Arctic Circle, is 650 miles.
The first round trip — 1,300 miles — was made with a team
of reindeer continuously, there being no relay stations on
the route. This was found to be too fatiguing for the
team and for a time dog-teams, which could be changed
at the villages along the route, were used. As soon there
after as relay stations could be established, the service
with reindeer was resumed. The privileges which this
1 Reindeer Report for 1900, p. 24.

INTRODUCTION OF REINDEER 409
service brought to the teachers, government agents and
traders, along this route are continued to this day.
As a result of these practical tests it has been ascer
tained that reindeer, when used in relays of about fifty
miles apart, can travel with a sled carrying 200 or 300
pounds from thirty to fifty miles a day. Hence to meet
the changing conditions of the country, and provide for
the transportation of mail, passengers, and a limited
amount of freight, chains of reindeer stations, about 100
miles apart, are being gradually established, along all the
important lines of travel on the eastern coasts of Bering
Sea and the Arctic Ocean ; up the Yukon, Koyukuk, and
Kuskokwim Rivers ; and far into the interior, where the
trader and the miner have established their posts or loca
ted their camps. Along one or two of these trunk lines,
which are furnishing increased facilities for reaching and
civilizing the native population, as well as for the devel
opment of the resources of the country, the "Reindeer
Express" is now racing from stage to stage with well-
filled pouches of mail ; and it is safe to say that this is
but the beginning of these improved modes of transpor
tation. A recent writer who has been studying this prob
lem may not be far wrong when he says : —
It is hardly possible that, owing to the large snow-drifts, any
known form of transportation will take its place. And if the
mineral industry continues to grow, fifty thousand teams of
reindeer will not supply the needs of the inhabitants.1
As a result of these practical tests, adverse criticisms, based
upon ignorance and prejudice, have been refuted, and the voice
of calumny has been silenced. It has been proved, says a
government official, to the satisfaction of every fair-minded per
son, who has taken the trouble to post himself on the subject,
that reindeer are an unqualified success, both as a means of
1 William N. Armstrong, article in Southern Workman, April, 1904,
p. 215.

410 SHELDON JACKSON
transportation and as a source of supplies for most of the neces
sities of life in the Alaskan country.
The solving of this problem in the interests of a needy,
dependent people, has awakened great interest in scien
tific and commercial circles in foreign countries, as well
as in the United States. Many letters of inquiry or of
congratulation have been received by Dr. Jackson or the
department which he represents, from eminent men in
England, Germany, Denmark, Canada, Labrador, and
other countries.
To the Secretary of the Interior, under date of May 25th,
1900, a distinguished barrister in Canada, who has fol
lowed the development of the reindeer enterprise with
much interest, wrote : —
Your work in Alaska, through Dr. Jackson, appears to be
ideal in every respect. At three different points I have written
Canadians to look carefully into his work, and find that it is
highly prized in the mining camps as among scientists.
Our coast line from 142 degrees to the north of Nelson, some
3,000 miles, is without a single school, and I hope to do some
thing for the poor Eskimo through schools and the reindeer.
As a result of similar investigations and inquiries a
number of reindeer purchased in Norway have already
been successfully introduced into Dr. Grenfell's immense
' ' parish ' ' on the bleak coast of Labrador. In every step
of this undertaking the officials of the " Royal National
Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen" availed themselves of
the experience and counsel of Dr. Jackson and with hearty
enthusiasm he responded to their desire for information
and assistance.
The following letter from the secretary of this mission
is interesting as showing Dr. Jackson's relation to this
project and the appreciation manifested for his kindly
services and suggestions : —

INTRODUCTION OF REINDEER 411
Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen,
Head Office, Bridge House, 161 Queen Victoria
Street, London, 19th December, 1907.
Dear Doctor Sheldon Jackson : —
You will rejoice to hear that the reindeer were successfully
started on their voyage across the Atlantic on Saturday last
(Dec. 14, 1907). The arrangements went off without a hitch
of any kind, and as they seem to be experiencing extremely
mild weather on the other side of the Atlantic, there is no
reason to anticipate trouble in landing the deer on their arrival
at St. Anthony, North Newfoundland.
I handed in the information about this departure of the
steamship Anita, with the deer on board, to Reuter's Agency,
and they promised to cable the news across to America, so it is
possible you are already aware of the information I am sending
you, but T am so exceedingly grateful to you for all the interest
and trouble you took, that I feel I must send you a special line
to ensure your having early intimation of the successful issue
of my efforts in connection with Dr. Grenfell's reindeer scheme.
You will be specially interested to learn that I have reen
gaged a couple of your Alaska Laplanders.
Believe me to be, — Faithfully yours,
(Signed) Francis H. Wood, Secretary.
Thus on the eastern coast of North America the good
work inaugurated by Sheldon Jackson on the western
coast of Alaska, is being reproduced and extended by
Dr. Grenfell, the heroic medical missionary and pioneer
evangelist of Labrador.
In summarizing the tangible results of the reindeer en
terprise in Alaska, two facts should be taken into the
account, viz. : —
1. That the deer landed at Teller Station, Port Clar
ence, on the 4th of July, 1892, and those added to them
during that summer,— 171 all told— were the beginning
of the present herd in Alaska. No additions were made
to it by natural increase from the herd which was im
ported from Lapland.
2. That the whole number of deer purchased in Siberia

412 SHELDON JACKSON
and transported to Alaska from that date (1892) to the
present time is 1,280.
In. the annual report of the Commissioner of Education
for 1906, the latest complete report to date the average
annual increase of the several herds by fawns from 1893
to 1906 is quoted at forty-four per cent. The following
items taken from this report are interesting as showing
the distribution, ownership, number of deer sold for food,
etc. : —
Total number of deer in Alaska, distributed at fifteen
central stations, ...... 12,828
Number of reindeer sold by owners, butchered, or died,
, 1892-1906,  S>314
Number of sled deer, broken to harness at the several
stations, ....... 628
Receipts for authorized sales of male deer to butchers
and others for 1906, ..... $10,574
The ownership of reindeer in Alaska in 1906 was given
as follows : —
Government, 3,321; Missions, 2,549; Laplanders, 1,787;
Eskimo, 5,153; White men, eighteen. The 5,153 deer re
ported above were owned by ninety-nine Eskimos, but it is
estimated that the total number of Eskimos devoting their time
to the management and care of the herds is about 400.
The advance sheets of the annual report for 1907 give
the total number of reindeer at the several stations on
July 1st, as about 15,840.
The statistics for the year 1908 cannot be received or
tabulated before the autumn season, or the beginning of
the next year, but at the present rates of increase the
total number should be about 18,000 by the 4th day of
July, 1908, the sixteenth anniversary of the landing of
the first herd at Port Clarence.

INTRODUCTION OF REINDEER 413
These figures indicate, beyond all question, or doubt,
that the reindeer industry is now well established in
Alaska. It has become a part of its educational system
and has the hearty support and good-will of every one of
the ministers and teachers in the thirty-eight or more
missionary settlements which now dot the surface of the
habitable portion of the territory of Alaska. It has
awakened energies and ambitions which hitherto have
lain dormant ; it has furnished an object lesson to the na
tives in economizing their possessions and is doing its
part alongside of the Church and school in transforming
" the starving, dying Eskimos into well-fed, self-support
ing, and self-respecting American citizens."
Referring to this practical phase of home mission work,
the well-known pastor of the New York Avenue Presby
terian Church, Washington, D. G, said in a recent ad
dress : —
The work of home missions brings something else beside
apocalyptic visions for a spiritual rhapsody. It is practical.
One of our most devoted and honoured home missionaries, Dr.
Sheldon Jackson, saw in the Russian reindeer a substitute for
an improvement upon the Alaskan dog for travel, and the full
answer to the Alaskan's isolation and hunger and destitution.
It meant the endurance and development of the Alaskan.
In the face of indifference, jeer, and hostile attacks, and at
personal sacrifice, he imported the reindeer and at last con
firmed him as the exact need and promise for that country.
We hear a good deal about the Alaskan reindeer to-day, and
we will hear more to-morrow. The politician is as eager now
to claim, as he was before to repudiate and hinder. Do not let
it be forgotten that this advance in civilization is due not to
the politician, but to one Presbyterian missionary — and its
merit has so commended itself to Dr. Grenfell, of the Labrador
Mission, that he announces his intention to secure for Labrador
what Dr. Jackson secured for Alaska.1
'Extract from home mission address, by Dr. Wallace Radoliffe,
Feb. 17, 1907.

414 SHELDON JACKSON
With appreciation as intelligent and hearty, the late
Dr. Teunis S. Hamlin, of the Church of the Covenant, of
the same city, wrote : —
I regard Dr. Jackson as the hero par excellence of our fron
tier religious life. His courage, faith, and persistence are
remarkable. He has a statesman-like grasp, and in the matter
of the reindeer has made " good " against the doubt and cavil
of leading public men. He is easily the old Hebrew prophet
redivivus as to Alaska in education, politics, and religion.
"The future of the Alaskan natives," says Mr. Ed
ward B. Clark, "seems to be provided against want by
the forethought of this missionary who, in the face of
ridicule, had the courage of his convictions so strongly
developed that he kept everlastingly at his work until
the end was crowned with success. It seems probable
that the Eskimo, because of the reindeer, will be saved
from the fate of other aboriginal people whose land has
been invaded and industries interrupted by the all-con
quering Caucasians." '
As a fitting close to this chapter, we add the testimony
of Mr. Robert Stein, of the United States Geological
Survey: — "The brightest prospect for all Alaska lies
perhaps in the eminently successful experiments of Dr.
Sheldon Jackson to introduce the tame Siberian rein
deer." *¦
'Article entitled "How Jackson Saved the Eskimo," Technical
World Magazine, Maroh, 1907, p. 26.
2 Article in Review of Reviews, June, 1898, p. 699.

XIX
STRENUOUS LABOURS AND MEMORABLE EVENTS
(1895-1898)
"If a great thing can be done at all, it can be done easily ; but it
is that kind of ease with which a tree blossoms, after long years of
gathering strength." — John Ruskin.
"If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon — or
make a better mouse-trap than his neighbour, though he build his
house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door." —
Emerson. FROM the reindeer excursus, which has carried us
far afield, we come back in the order of time to
the events belonging to the latter half of the dec
ade of the nineties. In the spring of 1895, Dr. Jack
son delegated the supervision of the summer's work in
Western and Arctic Alaska to his assistant, William
Hamilton, and with a view to inaugurating some special
work in the Sitka district, gave his personal attention to
that section of the field.
A notable episode on the journey to the Pacific coast,
where he had arranged to take a steamer for Sitka, was
a conference, assembled by previous appointment, with
some of the leading ministers of the Presbytery of Utah,
which resulted in the founding of Westminster College,
at Salt Lake City. In common with his brethren, who
were labouring amid many discouragements in that por
tion of the mission field, where he himself had toiled at
the foundations for so many years, Sheldon Jackson was
impressed with the urgent necessity for a Christian col
lege to crown the work of the four Presbyterian acad
emies, and twenty or more mission schools already estab-
415

416 SHELDON JACKSON
lished in Utah. For the purpose of giving a start to
this enterprise, he offered to deed to a board of trustees
who should be chosen by the presbytery, under certain
conditions, some valuable real estate located in Wash
ington City. This offer was accepted with hearty thanks,
and the following spring the property was transferred to
a board of trustees so appointed. With characteristic
energy, Jackson went to work as he had opportunity, to
add to this gift by public and private appeals, so that
the work of organization might be commenced at the
earliest possible moment. For some years following, he
provided funds for the support of a president, and also
succeeded in securing for the institution, or in diverting
to its use, — many thousands of dollars.
In recognition of this generous and timely aid, apart
from which this important work would doubtless have
been long delayed, Dr. Jackson was acknowledged by the
official action of the trustees as the founder of the col
lege, and is so designated in its official records.
Without waiting for costly buildings and elaborate
equipments, the friends of this enterprise in Utah secured
a charter, in which provision was made for a liberal and
extensive range of studies, and began the work of organ
ization and instruction in a modest way, with such mate
rials and equipments as they could command at the time.
The able and devoted pastor of the First Presbyterian
Church of Salt Lake City, Dr. R. G. McNiece, who had
laboured and prayed through many years for the inaugu
ration of this crowning work of our educational system
in Utah, gave up his pastorate in order that he might
devote all his energies to its interests, and the Hon. John
Eaton, formerly the United States Commissioner of Edu
cation, who was also deeply impressed with its immediate
importance, consented to serve for a time as its first
president.

***"***/*r'rrr"';i^t*j^v*firTfnr,rif,ffinfrtiff < irnririrrirT~rwrrtim*i •f-7f "1 ¦

-i *i nil i

~i rs ~i -i

Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah.
I. Woman's Building. 2. Converse Hall (Administration Building)..

STRENUOUS LABOURS 417
Through many difficulties and grievous disappoint
ments the friends and supporters of Westminster College
worked on in faith and hope towards the day of better
things which is now dawning. A few years ago, its
existence and permanent location were assured by the
gift of a new and attractive site of twenty-one acres in
the southeastern part of the city. This generous offering
was made by Col. Wm. M. Ferry, of Park City, Utah.
Upon this beautiful site the main building of the college,
a handsome structure admirably adapted for its purpose,
has been already erected. The funds required for the
erection of a beautiful residence hall for young women
have been recently secured and the building is now in
process of erection. A similar building for young men,
to cost a like amount — $25,000 — has also been promised.
With the consent of the Woman's Board the Salt Lake
Collegiate Institute, on the fulfillment of certain condi
tions, is to be permanently attached to the college as a
preparatory department, and the presbytery has provided
a course of study, graded from the mission schools up
through its four academic schools and the college. Thus
all the departments of educational work under the care
of the Church have been brought into harmony.
The special feature of the tour of 1895, of which the
founding of Westminster College was but an incident,
was the location of the site for a central village and
mission school for the Cape Fox and Port Tongas
Thlingets. For eighteen years, the natives of this por
tion of the country had been pleading for a school ; but
as they were much scattered it was made a condition of
securing this privilege that they should come together in
one settlement. In the winter of 1886-87, Professor Sax-
man, with two natives, one of whom was the young evan
gelist, Louis Paul, were drowned while searching for a
suitable location for this settlement, and for the time, the

418 SHELDON JACKSON
enterprise was abandoned. Negotiations were reopened
with a view to the consummation of this project after the
arrival of Dr. Jackson, and a council of the tribe held on
the 5th of July resulted in the choice of a location for
the proposed village at the lower end of Tongas Narrows.
The place was visited soon afterwards, carefully looked
over and the erection of a building large enough to in
clude a schoolroom and a residence for a teacher was
commenced and almost completed during the following
month. The new settlement, whose location was thus
assured, was named Saxman, in honour of the govern
ment teacher who lost his life in the attempt to bring
about this long desired consummation. The establish
ment of a government schoolwas the first step in the
direction of permanent occupation of the village, but
little in the way of real union, substantial progress, or
the spiritual enlightenment of its inhabitants was accom
plished until the summer of 1898, when the Rev. Edward
Marsden, a full-blooded native minister, who had received
his early training at Metlahkatlah and the industrial
school at Sitka, was commissioned by the Board of Home
Missions for this field. He was then but twenty-four
years of age and yet had been graduated with honour at
Marietta College and Lane Theological Seminary. Mean
while, as he had opportunity, he had studied law and
medicine. His varied attainments are thus described by
Mrs. Alice Palmer Henderson, who cites him as a con
spicuous example of the work which Sheldon Jackson
and his associates have done and are doing for
Alaska : —
" He is an intellectual giant, yet, like Nehemiah of old,
'works with both hands earnestly.' He has thoroughly
mastered several trades, is a carpenter, shoemaker,
cooper, and musician. He composes, and adapts scores
from piano to cornet. He played at the World's Co-

STRENUOUS LABOURS 419
lumbian Exposition. Like a Japanese he watches and
tries everything."
It was the aim of this young pastor from the first to
build up a settlement which should embody all the ameni
ties and advantages of a practical Christianity, and his
work, which he still carries on, albeit amid many dis
couragements, has effected a wonderful transformation in
life and character as well as in the comforts and physical
well-being of the community which he influences and over
which he practically holds rule.
In the Home Mission Prayer Calendar he is aptly
described as "the preacher, teacher, lawyer, doctor,
nurse and business adviser of his people." He began his
work by clearing several acres of ground, the building of
houses of a modern type, the construction of a new steam
boat wharf and the organization of a town government.
Following these in due course were the erection of a saw
mill, the establishing industrial works of various kinds,
the organization of a church, the erection of a house of
worship and the building of a steam launch, "for mis
sionary relief expeditions, itinerary work and business."
In his report for 1901 he says : — ,
Although the work has its discouragements and dark side, we
will pass these by for we are so glad to report that the light of
God has really entered the hearts of these people. They are
awakened and the word of God is searched earnestly and care
fully studied. Every night we have prayer-meetings in the
homes of the people. We have also singing classes. One Sun
day a whole family, father, mother, and six children, came
forward to be baptized. All our services are well attended.
To those who do not look beyond the temporal results
of mission work, this is success. It cannot be limited to
this, however, for its reach goes far beyond. Surely the
outcome of that summer's work, and the wonderful

420 , SHELDON JACKSON
transformation wrought by a Christian education upon
the young native who followed it up, ought to be a suffi
cient justification of the motives and patient labours of
the noble men and women, who, in the face of opposi
tion and prejudice, have sought to bring the light to
those who were sitting within the region and shadow of
death. In the spring of 1896, Dr. Jackson was selected to rep
resent the work of the missionary force of the country
at the front in a great " Home Mission Rally " which was
held in the Carnegie Music Hall, on the 3d of March,
under the auspices of the Presbytery of New York. The
meeting was called for the purpose of reducing a crush
ing debt, — the accumulation of several years of financial
depression, — which at that time amounted to the sum of
$234,000. It was one of the most remarkable assemblies
of its kind in the history of the Presbyterian Church.
Every portion of the great hall from floor to the topmost
height of its four galleries was filled to overflowing. The
platform was occupied by ministers of the presbytery,
members of the Mission Boards, visiting ministers and
distinguished guests and it is estimated that fully 4,000
persons awaited the signal for the opening of the service.
The President of the United States, Grover Cleveland,
who had accepted the invitation to preside over this vast
assemblage, Dr. Jackson, Dr. Talmage, Dr. Thompson,
secretary of the Home Board and one representative out
side the Presbyterian fold, Booker T. Washington, were
the speakers of the evening.
The address of Dr. Jackson, which followed the earnest
and deeply sympathetic words of President Cleveland,
was an able presentation of the needs, the possibilities,
the vast extent, and the marvellous transformations al
ready wrought in that portion of the land which was or
now is known as home mission territory. In contrast

STRENUOUS LABOURS 421
with the wondrous progress which had been made, a
series of successes not excelled even by the apostolic
church, he described the reaction which had come over
the Church, the sinking of hearts on the mission fields,
because of the halt that had been called in the midst of
unprecedented success in spiritual advances, and the sad
results which attended the closing of mission schools and
the sending back to heathenism and vice the children who
were being trained ih the principles of righteousness
and purity in heart and life.
This meeting did not accomplish the object to any great
extent which its promoters had in view, but it did give
the cause which all the speakers, who so ably presented
it, desired, a prominence and an uplift which in the end
were productive of good results.
During the summer of 1896, the usual tour of inspec
tion to Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean was made, by
way of Sitka and Unalaska. This trip, which included
a sum total of 18,465 miles, occupied a little more than
five months. At the entrance to Port Clarence, which
was reached in July, heavy ice-floes, the original ice of
the previous winter, extended eight miles out to sea and
obstructed the passage of the vessel. The station at this
point, off which the captain expected to anchor in a few
hours, was not reached until nineteen days thereafter,
most of which were spent in beating about amid fogs and
ice-drifts in the hope of finding a way of entrance. For
the first time in fifty years at this season of the year the
whalers were unable to get into the harbour of Port
Clarence and were obliged to take refuge on the lee side of
King's Island.
At Cape Blossom in Kotzebue Sound Mr. David John
son and his native assistant of the Swedish Evangelical
Union Missionary Society were landed in a heavy surf on
a desolate coast, to begin a new mission among the people

422 SHELDON JACKSON
of that section. ' ' Mr. Johnson was left among these wild
people," says Dr. Jackson, "without a house to shelter
him, without anything wherewith to build a house, with
no protection of courts, policemen or government within
3,000 miles, with nothing but a few pounds of provisions
for the winter, throwing himself upon the barbarous peo
ple among whom he expected to work. His strong, heroic
faith made an impression upon the officers and crew of
the ship."
On the morning of the 8th of August, the Bear, after
threading its way through ice-floes of enormous size,
reached a position opposite the whaling station at Point
Barrow, but an impenetrable barrier of ice, the piling of
berg upon berg, closed the way of approach to the place
of landing. After five days, measured by the watch, —
for the sun was shining at the hour of retiring as well as
at the hour of rising — the ship reached a position from
which the supplies for the station could be landed, and
was moored to a grounded iceberg six miles long and
about half a mile wide. This giant mass of polar ice had
drifted in from the sea eleven months before. Among
the items of supplies landed at the time for the lone mis
sionary at this station, mention is made of fifteen tons of
coal, 150 gallons of coal-oil, four boxes of navy crackers
and sixteen sacks of flour.
From Unalaska to Sitka, the return voyage was made
on the United States revenue cutter Wolcott. A storm of
exceptional violence, lasting for about a week, made this
portion of the voyage very uncomfortable for all onboard,
and at times it was doubtful whether the vessel would be
staunch enough to weather the gale. The modern ex
pedient of "oiling the waves" brought temporary relief
from the surge of the billows which threatened to engulf
it and a partial immunity, at least, from serious danger.
Out of eight trips made across this broad expanse of the

1

1
m^mmI k *"" ¦
:
Sheldon Jackson's fur suit for summer use in Alaska.
STRENUOUS LABOURS 423
North Pacific, between Sitka and Unalaska, Sheldon Jack
son reckons only one during which he was free from sea
sickness. In the year 1897, a new direction was given to his trav
els by the discovery of rich deposits of gold at Dawson
Ci*y and other points up the valley of the Klondike.
These discoveries had already attracted attention to the
Yukon River, which offered the easiest and safest route to
the Klondike regions, and settlements were already spring
ing up at many points along the line of this route. To
reach these new settlements and make provision for the
supply of their needs, this general agent of Church and
state with his accustomed foresight and alertness planned
a tour of exploration up this mighty river from St. Mi
chaels to Dawson, in connection with his annual tour of
visitation to Western Alaska and the coasts of Bering
Sea. At the request of the Secretary of Agriculture, he also
undertook the additional labour of investigating the agri
cultural capabilities of the Yukon Valley, in connection
with this proposed journey. At its close he presented an
official report of his investigations to the chief of that de
partment. On the eve of his departure for this far country, of
which as yet so little was known, Dr. Jackson was nomi
nated as a candidate for Moderator of the General Assem
bly, which met at Winona Lake, on the 20th of May.
This nomination was warmly supported in addresses of
rare eloquence, and when the hour of decision came he
was elected to this office, the highest in honour and in
fluence within the gift of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States, by an exceptionally large majority. This
distinguished honour and the interesting incidents and
events associated with it merit something more than a
passing notice, for in the person of this representative

424 SHELDON JACKSON
of the dauntless workers on the frontier the cause of home
missions was honoured and exploited as never before in
the history of the Presbyterian Church.
Before the meeting of the assembly there had been a
friendly discussion in the leading denominational papers
with respect to the merits and special fitness of six emi
nent men whose names had been proposed by zealous
friends and advocates for the office of moderator. The
honoured names mentioned in this connection were Dr.
Robert F. Sample of New York, Dr. Wilbur Chapman
of Philadelphia, Dr. Henry Minton of San Francisco, Dr.
Sheldon Jackson of Alaska, and Ruling Elders John
Wanamaker and Ex-President Harrison. As the time
drew near for the decision, the contest was narrowed by
the withdrawal of all the names on this honour list except
those of Dr. Henry Minton and Dr. Jackson. Five days
before the election the Pittsburg Dispatch made the fol
lowing forecast, which proved to be a very accurate rep
resentation of the actual situation : —
The Rev. Dr. Henry Minton will be urged on the ground
that the office should go to the Pacific coast. His personal fol
lowing is large, and the Washington and Jefferson men will
support him solidly, unless Dr. Sample of New York should be
named and divide the vote. Dr. Minton is well backed up by
the Pacific coast, the Pennsylvania and the Kentucky delega
tions, and his prospects are roseate. Rev. Dr. Sheldon Jack
son, whose name is talismanic, and whose career of forty years
in the home mission work, mostly in the Rocky Mountains,
reads like a romance, will be placed in nomination by one of
the leading orators of the Church, " the Plumed Knight," in a
speech which the friends of Dr- Jackson hope will carry the
assembly off its feet, and place Dr. Jackson in the moderator's
chair with a whirl. In the life and work of this distinguished
missionary there is basis for a fervid speech.
In all the forecasts of this friendly but spirited contest,
it was conceded that Dr. Minton was a very formidable

STRENUOUS LABOURS 425
opponent. His eminent ability was recognized by all, and
his winsome personality had attracted and retained a host
of enthusiastic friends in the East as well as in the West.
Dr. Gray of The Interior was one of the first to propose
and advocate the nomination of "the little missionary
delegate from Alaska." In one of his confidential moods
this sprightly journalist left on record some interesting
facts relating to a "camp-fire" which was held by the
Jackson men, on the arrival of the delegates, to consider
the situation : —
Arriving on the grounds, Dr. Spining soon appeared. The
situation apparently was that the whole earth, including the prin
cipalities and powers in high places, were for Dr. Minton. We
were told that Pennsylvania was solid for him. New York City
certainly was. All of New Jersey wanted Minton. The Pacific
slope was for him as one man. General Harrison was for him,
and as he was on the H's and would vote early in the roll call,
his influence would be felt, though he desired only to vote his pref
erence, and influence nobody. On Wednesday the candidacy of
the popular Dr. Chapman was promoted and the word went to all
of Jackson's leading friends that the people had left our David
and were following after — but I must not follow the illustration.
It only works part of the way — I will only say that Chapman is
good-looking and the rank and file of Israel like him very
much — and we all liked him too. These discouraging words
were carried to Dr. Spining, who replied : " Shut up 1 Jack
son will be the moderator." The combination for Dr. Minton
did look irresistible, and it was more formidable than we sup
posed because we imagined that the evangelist Chapman would
be more favourable to the missionary than to the theological
professor. There was a man whom I had heard talking on the train as I
went down, but had not obtained his name, and set about
searching for him. About half-past ten Wednesday night
General Eaton came and said he had found him — that he was
the Rev. Richard M. Hayes, D. D., of Oregon, but that he had
gone to bed. We went to the Woman's Building and asked to
see him. He sent word that he had retired and would see us
in the morning, but like Peter we "continued knocking."

426 SHELDON JACKSON
He came down, agreed to make the seconding speech, and then
said, " Brethren, we must spend part of this night in prayer."
That was assented to as the only politics available in such an
emergency. If we could get God for Jackson, we would not
be afraid of the combination — and it appears that we did. I
am quite sure that it was the praying which resulted in the
touching of the lips of Spining and Hayes with such divine
fire. The nomination proper seems to have been a spon
taneous tribute of regard from the ruling elder of a home
mission church in Wisconsin. It was not on the pro
gram, as arranged by Dr. Gray and his friends, but was
all the more effective and impressive on that account.
After the nomination of Dr. Minton by Dr. J. Wilbur
Chapman in an able address, — himself a favourite candi
date in the minds of many delegates, — and a speech sec
onding that nomination by Dr. Henry Ward, of Buffalo,
there was a slight pause, broken, however, by the rising
of this almost unknown representative, Elder H. J. Mor
rison, who said : —
Mr. Moderator: — I nominate Dr. Sheldon Jackson. I have
no set speech to make in his behalf, but merely wish to say that
I first met him in 1878 at the General Assembly in Pittsburg,
and for nearly twenty years have followed him in his work. I
wish that this General Assembly may be known as the " Mis
sionary Assembly," and to help to make it so, I want the great
est home missionary to preside. I hope Dr. Sheldon Jackson
will be elected moderator.
After this nominating address, one of the shortest, per
haps, on record, Dr. Spining was recognized and came to
the platform to make his plea for the election of Sheldon
Jackson. Dr. Gray, who secured a revised copy of the
address and published it a short time afterwards, "just
as it was delivered," introduced it with the following
statement : —
"The address was impromptu, and grew out of imme-

STRENUOUS LABOURS 427
diate circumstances. The appropriateness of the opening
paragraph will only be perceived when it is explained
that a pretty strong pressure was made to have Dr. Jack
son withdraw, to save him the humiliation of a light sup
port. . . . We make bold to express the conviction
that this speech of Dr. Spining has never been equalled
as an example of impromptu eloquence in any modern re
ligious assembly, and by very few in the forum of the
legislators." Dr. Spining's Address
Moderator, Fathers, and Brethren : — Once upon a
time when Mr. Beecher was absent, his committee on pulpit
supply ventured to engage a certain Congregational " rough
diamond " from the backwoods of Missouri to fill the pulpit of
the great preacher for a single Sabbath. A moment before
service they took him aside, reminded him that he was soon to
find himself before an audience which represented the brains,
wealth and culture of America, and kindly exhorted him not
to be afraid, but to go ahead and deliver his message. Upon
entering the pulpit he stepped to the front, shaded his eyes
with his hand, scanned his audience critically, and began as
follows : "So this is the congregation of the great Mr.
Beecher ! Your deacons have just cautioned me not to be
frightened, but to go ahead and preach as I would to my own
people. Now, you bald-headed sinners and gray-haired saints,
I- want you to understand in the beginning that if any one in
this house is scared he isn't on this platform, for I have a mes
sage from my Master to deliver to you, and I intend to deliver
it in the fear of God."
It is with a feeling ,akin to this that I venture to take the
platform for a few minutes in presence of this vast audience,
to present the claims of Dr. Sheldon Jackson for the highest
honour the Church can confer, not only on account of his
splendid and incomparable services in the field of missionary
activity, but because he is the incarnation of that aggressive
and consecrated missionary spirit to which I believe the Master
would give expression in all the deliberations of this assembly.
Too long have we been standing with the angel of the backward
look — too long flailing the earth and blinding our eyes with the

428 SHELDON JACKSON
dust of a dying controversy. In the meantime, our missionary
forces at home and abroad have had their supplies cut off; our
Church Boards have all been wounded and crippled ; appro
priations in every direction have been cut down ; the humiliat
ing order of halt and even retreat has passed to the frontier ;
outposts for which we have fought, and upon which we have
expended the toil and treasure of years in heroic effort, have
been surrendered; unhappy dissensions too long prolonged
have wrought distrust and weakened fraternal bonds; hard
times have tightened our grip on our purse-strings and weak
ened our faith in God ; spiritual stupor has come upon us and
the Delilah of self-indulgence has sought to bind us hand and
foot with cords of avarice, indifference and worldliness, so that
the condition of the great Presbyterian Church to-day is like
that of a slumbering giant awaiting the cry, "Samson, Sam
son, awake ! The Philistines are upon thee ! "
If I know anything of the Church at large, the Church we
represent — the prayer of those who get nearest to God — it is
that we should turn our faces from the past towards the future,
and from controversy to conquest. In this connection I ven
ture to say that no man in this assembly has done more to win
this land for Christ than Sheldon Jackson — little Sheldon Jack
son. True, he is diminutive in stature, but I think it is evident
that Providence cut him off short that he might fit the Indian
ponies which were to carry him over thousands of miles of
mountain trails, that he might be able to sleep in barrels, buck-
boards, stage-boots, kyacks and hollow logs, in his "journey
ings often " over the great mountains, plains and waters of the
West ; that he might accommodate himself to the narrow
quarters of the cabin of the miner, the mud hut of the Mexican,
the hovel of the Alaskan, the tepee of the Indian, and the scant
accommodations of the prison cell — all of which he has done
in planting the standard of the cross over that western country.
" 'Neath the mantel of a century,
Lo, a mighty empire lies,
On whose brow millennial glory
Of the Church of God shall rise."

Naturally, he should be our standard-bearer. Is the loyalty
of this man called in question? Let us test it not by the
sounding brass and tinkling cymbals of party shibboleths and

STRENUOUS LABOURS 429
factious strife, but by the apostolic tests of hardness endured,
of life imperilled, of fidelity in the face of imprisonment and
death, of unwearied activity and of splendid achievement.
The great state of New York claims the honour of his na
tivity; Union College gave him his classical equipment, while
Princeton moulded his theology, and now points with pride to
his heroic career as an example of her missionary spirit.
Forty years ago, when many of us were in our cradles, he
crossed the frontier of the Mississippi as a trusted standard-
bearer of the cross, and from that time to this he has been
charged with the responsibility of laying the foundations of a
colossal church in Minnesota, Iowa, Dakota, Nebraska, Mon
tana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and
far-off Alaska. He has been one of that noble band of pio
neers who carved presbyteries out of the wilderness and erected
synods before the foundations of civil government were laid.
Penetrating thousands of miles into the barbaric night of that
great empire which lay between the Mississippi and the Pacific,
the Gulf of Mexico and the remotest habitation of man within
the Arctic zone — carrying the Bible in one hand and our Con
fession in the other — he has gathered hundreds of congregations
and founded a hundred churches on the Word of God and
"according to the pattern shown us in the mount." Deeds
speak louder than words, and these churches which lighten up
the wilderness and make glad the solitary place are to-day roll
ing up the long-meter doxology from the plains of Minnesota,
the rock-ribbed mountains of Colorado, and the ice-bound
shores of Alaska, praising God for the loyalty of this " one
man " to the " Old Book " and to our Confession.
Has he executive ability and experience in handling difficult
questions ? The Church has already answered this question,
and the United States government has shown its high estimate
of his ability by entrusting him with the formation and super
intendence of its whole educational system in Alaska. If it
may be objected that this is a secular position, I answer that he
is still a missionary of our Board, and I would God that more
of our educational system throughout the land were taken from
the hands of unbelief and placed in the hands of Christian men.
It detracts nothing from the glory of the Church that many of
her faithful servants have been honoured by the state with
positions of great responsibility. If it does, then let us strike
off the first and most illustrious of all the names in the roll of

430 SHELDON JACKSON
our moderators — the name of the Rev. John Witherspoon,
President of Princeton College, member of the Continental
Congress, and signer of our immortal Declaration of Independ
ence. In Sheldon Jackson we have not only the untiring
missionary who has travelled 600,000 miles — a distance equal
to twenty-four circuits of the globe in the prosecution of his
work ; not only the educator who has founded a great institu
tion of learning in Utah and endowed it with his patrimony,
but we see in him the elements of the broad-minded statesman
and great-hearted philanthropist, one of whom the future his
torian will write : "In a time of famine and distress, when
their food supply was gone, he crossed the ice regions of the
North, penetrated into the fastnesses of Siberia and saved the
native races of Alaska by introducing large herds of reindeer
for their subsistence and support." Sir, this deed alone en
titles him to the admiration of mankind, and will yet place his
name in the Pantheon of philanthropy with all the honours of
an uncrowned king.
Mr. Moderator, it is high time that the Church should show
her appreciation of the splendid services of her home mission
aries, by placing the highest honour within her gift upon the
head of one of her battle-scarred veterans. How often within
recent years has this honour gone to the seminaries ; how sel
dom, proportionately, has it fallen to the great body of pastors,
and in not one single instance has it ever gone to a home mis
sionary. If it is a legitimate object of ministerial ambition, are
we to understand that service counts for nothing and there is
no direct path to it from the home mission field.
Sir, it is recorded in Holy Writ that King Ahasuerus, in a
wakeful hour, in reading the chronicles of his kingdom, stumbled
across the record of the unrequited services of Mordecai, and
touched with a feeling of gratitude cried out : "What honour
or dignity hath been put upon this Mordecai ? " The cham
berlains answered, " None." " What shall be done to the man
whom the king delighteth to honour? " was the next question.
We all know the answer, and that Mordecai was made prime
minister of his kingdom. In 1879, trie Church was looking
over its work in the foreign field, and came across the grand
record of Dr. H. H. Jessup, who had been in the forefront of
the battle on foreign fields for more than a quarter of a century.
The same old questions raised by Ahasuerus came up, and Dr.
Jessup was made prime minister of the Presbyterian Church for

STRENUOUS LABOURS 431
that year. The result was a great quickening of interest in
foreign missions.
The Church is now on its knees praying for peace and fra
ternal love — for a great quickening, a spiritual uplift which
shall bring us face to face again with a perishing world and
with the work we have to do for its redemption. One of the
means to this end will be the election of a missionary leader of
this assembly.
Brethren, I had a dream to-day, which was not all a dream.
In my vision I saw a corridor reaching from this platform back
and upward to the first century. Out of a door in that century
came a man of small stature ; bronzed, scarred, and weather-
beaten ; a dim halo of glory was about him, and while he wore
the panoply of a soldier of the cross — he carried above him a
tattered flag — like those of veteran soldiers returning from war.
Upon it I read the names Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi and
Rome, and as he reached this platform, I said to myself, Surely
I cannot be mistaken, this is none other than the Apostle Paul,
the great missionary to the Gentiles. I ventured to inform
him as to the character of our assembly, and to assure him that
the system of theology in which we believed was that which he
had outlined as being in conformity with the Word of God.
He seemed deeply interested, and after speaking to him of the
growth of our Church and of our missionary work I offered to
introduce him to some of the distinguished members of this
assembly. "Here, for instance," said I, "is Benjamin Har
rison." "Yes," he replied, "a worthy successor of Wash
ington — a Christian statesman, and an elder beloved. I would
like to meet him, but not now, I will see him later." I said,
"Here is also General Wanamaker." "Yes," he answered,
" I know his record from that of a poor boy, to wealth and
high public position. I know his evangelical spirit, his liber
ality, his personal work — and that he hath built us a grand
synagogue where Christ only is preached. I long to meet him
— but wait awhile, I will see him later." I said, "Here also
is James A. Mount." "Yes," he answered, " he is governor
of the great state of Indiana. An elder in a little country
church — has ordered his household in the fear of God, has a
daughter in the foreign field and a son a home missionary. I
long to meet him — but not now, I will see him later."
"Here," said I, "is our moderator, Dr. Withrow, who has
just swept the Gospel harp with a master hand and filled our

432 SHELDON JACKSON
souls with the music of divine charity." "Yes," he replied,
"he is a man after mine own heart — a beloved disciple — I
must see him, but not now, I will see him later." I then re
marked that we had some notable Christian women here.
Mrs. James, Mrs. Pierson, and many others. "Yes," he
answered, "they are all beloved helpers in the Lord — I must
meet them also, but not now, I will see them later." "Who
then," said I, "do you first wish to see?" He looked care
fully over the assembly and then answered : " Is there not a
little bronzed missionary from Alaska here — a man about my
size — a man of weak eyes and insignificant bodily presence — a
man in whom the apostolic zeal of ancient times has found
expression in the New World, and who has had the care of all
the churches in the regions beyond ? "
"Ah," I cried, " I know who you mean," and not waiting
to hear another word I sought, found, and presented Sheldon
Jackson. "True yoke-fellow and brother beloved," said Paul, "we
are physically small — God made us short that we might accom
modate ourselves to circumstances and magnify His grace. I
rejoice that primitive zeal still flames in the Church, and that
here and in foreign lands are thousands of standard-bearers of
the cross who may not rest until the nations that sit in dark
ness have seen a great light — and the world is filled with the
knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea ; ' be thou faith
ful unto death and let no man take thy crown.' "
Moderator and brethren, here my vision ends, and I believe
in my soul that if this assembly elects this missionary leader as
its standard-bearer, that act will be as a trumpet call to mis
sionary endeavour, and our whole beloved Church will mark
time in a forward movement towards the conquest of this and
all other lands for Christ.
It is related that when an iron brigade on a field of battle
wavered and turned to retreat, there appeared before them an
old revolutionary soldier with cocked hat, knee-breeches and
flint-lock musket. The fires of '76 flashed in his eyes, and
with a front of iron he faced the enemy. Then it was that
some one cried, "The spirits of the heroes of Lexington,
Trenton, and Bunker Hill are with us. About face — Double
quick — Charge!" and that brigade swept the field as a hail
storm beats down a field of grain.
Oh ! that the inspiration of prophets, apostles, and martyrs,

STRENUOUS LABOURS 433
of heroic soldiers of the cross in all ages might come upon us,
that a vision of the glorious Master Himself pointing to the
home and foreign field might now arrest our retreating steps —
turn us with united front towards the enemy, and lead us on
to that final victory in which
" Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
Doth his successive journeys run ;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more."
The address of Dr. Hayes, of Oregon, was an able and
eloquent plea in favour of Dr. Jackson from the home
mission view-point. In his concluding words, he said : —
I would not say one word against the other candidates, I
could not if I would. But among the very many able, faithful
ministers of our beloved Church, there is one whose whole
record of forty years of service stands for home missions. A
man whose work is known from the Mississippi to our farthest
northern boundaries; a man whose name is a household word
from where the orange blossoms waft their fragrance in sunny
Southland, to where the icy crags point their glittering spires
heavenward in far-off Alaska; and from where the heaving
billows of the Atlantic Ocean dash into ten thousand sparkling
rain-drops on New England's rock-bound coast to where the
shining sands of the Golden Gate are laved by the waters of
the mighty Pacific.
Before the taking of the vote Dr. G. W. McMillan,
President of Richmond College, Ohio, took the platform
and spoke with much feeling on behalf of his old time
friend and college mate, pleading earnestly, as did those
who preceded him, for a recognition of the home mission
work of the Church in that assembly. In his peroration
Dr. McMillan said : —
Brethren, I verily believe that Dr. Sheldon Jackson is the
greatest missionary the world has ever seen since the Apostle
Paul went far hence unto the Gentiles and died upon the

434 SHELDON JACKSON
scaffold. ... If ever the General Assembly is to recog
nize the home missionary cause and to honour the missionaries,
it is now. Their necessities are greater than they have ever
been, and I pray God they may never be so great again. They
offer you their greatest missionary and they can never offer you
a greater. At the conclusion of the roll-call by synods, the an
nouncement was made that Sheldon Jackson having re
ceived three hundred and thirteen votes, a clear majority
of seventy -five — was duly elected.
When he was brought into the auditorium by the com
mittee sent to notify him of the assembly's action, all who
were present — a congregation of about 2,000 persons —
rose en masse and received him with a storm of applause.
The result of this election, while somewhat disappoint
ing to the friends of Dr. Minton, was only a temporary
waiver of their just claim on his behalf, and, not long
afterwards another assembly honoured that claim, and
gave him a like reception in the city of Philadelphia.
The Hon. John Wanamaker, another of the proposed
candidates, was appointed Vice -Moderator of the Winona
Assembly by Moderator Jackson ; while a third, the Rev.
Dr. Sample, was made the Moderator of the 111th As
sembly, which met two years later at Minneapolis.
From every quarter of the land congratulations were
sent to Dr. Jackson or his family following the announce
ment of his election. Many were from men on the fron
tier who saw in this action of the assembly the promise
of a better day. One of these congratulatory messages
was from Dr. Thomas H. Cleland, one of the trio who
knelt with him, in the hill-top service of prayer at Sioux
City, near the close of the sixties : another was from one
of the three courageous men — the Rev. John L. Gage —
who together held the ground on the line of the Union
Pacific a few months later, until reinforcements came :

STRENUOUS LABOURS 435
others, more highly prized even than messages from
senators, ex- moderators, college and seminary profess
ors, and secretaries of Church Boards, — were from ap
preciative friends and associates of other denominations
or from natives of Alaska who had experienced the up
lifting power of the Gospel, which had been brought to
them through his instrumentality.
From Cambridge, Mass., under date of May 23d, Miss
Frances E. Willard sent this cheering message : —
Honoured and Dear Brother : —
I never wrote to a moderator to rejoice that he had at
tained that high position in the great Church of the presbyter,
but you are one of my heroes. You have stood for all our Gos
pel means, not in a luxurious parish or splendid college, but out
yonder on the edge of things where God's most friendless chil
dren turn towards you the eyes of pathos and hope. Most of
all have those down-trodden women of Alaska been blessed by
work that you have done or have inspired, and not a woman
lives who has a brain to think who can fail to look upon you as
one of the blessed reappearances of the primitive man of Christ,
in an age that needs such men more than it needs gold or tariff.
God bless you and nerve your brave arm for even stronger
strokes of grace against the accursed liquor traffic and every
other form of cruelty, is the prayer of
Your Christian Sister,
Frances E. Willard.
With an enthusiasm as hearty, Miss Alice C. Fletcher,
Fellow of Peabody Museum, Harvard University, writes
to Mrs. Jackson : —
I have written "the honour shown" your husband, but I
think the chair of moderator was never so honoured aswhen it
was filled by Dr. Jackson. I count it one of the honours of my
life that I have been permitted to know him so well, and tolove
him for his grandeur of Christian spirit. I am so glad that the
Church has done the right thing in so recognizing his great
work, and I trust that the prayer of his heart may be answered,
and that there will be a great awakening of the missionary
spirit, for, as General Harrison said in his speech when present-

436 SHELDON JACKSON
ing the gavel, it is a revival of the spirit of the Master among
His followers.
My love to you, dear Mrs. Jackson, for you too share in the
doctor's labours and fame, and to your daughters.
Sincerely your friend,
Alice C. Fletcher.
At this date Alaska was blessed with a Christian
governor, Hon. John G. Brady, who wrote : —
I have just read the news of your election as Moderator of
the General Assembly, one of the noblest bodies of men on this
earth. I am not only glad, but rejoice that you have been
crowned with this honour towards the closing years of your
wonderful life.
The gavel to which Miss Fletcher refers in the above
quotation, was presented to the moderator on behalf of
the Synod of Indiana, by ex-President Harrison. It was
made up of oak, poplar, black walnut, beech and maple
taken from the material and furnishings of pioneer
churches and schools. Hence it was fitting, as the
speaker intimated, that it should be presented to one
whose life had been so much associated with pioneer
churches. In one of these churches, the first Presbyterian
church in Indiana, and likewise the first Protestant
church, the father of General Harrison was the first per
son to receive the ordinance of Christian baptism.
At a later date Dr. Jackson was presented with a gold-
headed cane made of wood from the pulpit of the Reho-
both church in Maryland. The following letter accom
panied this gift : —
Seventeenth Century to Nineteenth Century
Presbyterianism Greeting.
Rev. Sheldon Jackson, D. D., L. L. D. : —
The Presbyterian Church of Rehoboth, Md., one of the
group of churches organized near the close of the seventeenth
century by Rev. Francis Makemie, a pioneer Presbyterian mis
sionary of the seventeenth century, on the eastern coast of

STRENUOUS LABOURS 437
America, sends greeting and a historical cane to Dr. Sheldon
Jackson, a pioneer missionary of the nineteenth century on the
western coast.
This cane is made of wood from Makemie's old pulpit in the
church at Rehoboth, Md., cut in times before the Revolutionary
War. The church in which it stood was organized in the days
when King Charles II ruled over the land, and only thirty-five
years after the Assembly at Westminster had sent forth our
Confession of Faith and Catechisms. Very truly yours,
Emerson G. Polk,
Ruling Elder of Presbyterian Church,
Rehoboth, Md. ; Commissioner of Presbytery
of New Castle to General Assembly of
i8g8.
The General Assembly of 1897 was convened at a time
when wise counsels and discreet actions were needed to
meet emergencies which threatened the unity and crip
pled the energies of the Church, and happily for the cause
and for the interests of all concerned it was characterized
throughout its sessions by a spirit of harmony, consecra
tion and missionary zeal which bore down all incipient
distrust and revived the love and devotion of former
days. The benign influence of Dr. Withrow's message
at the opening of its session when he "swept the Gospel
harp with a master hand and filled the souls of his hear
ers with the music of a divine charity " was a most
timely and important factor in bringing about this result :
the trumpet call of the several speakers in the nomination
addresses to missionary activity was doubtless another,
but the third was as certainly the spirit of the new
moderator as evidenced by his first official act in calling
upon Dr. Minton, his defeated opponent to unite with him
in constituting the personnel of the working machinery of
the assembly. This was an act of generosity unprece
dented in the history of our ecclesiastical bodies. The
angels, said the editor of the New York Observer, must

438 SHELDON JACKSON
have beea pleased as they hovered over the scene when
Moderator Jackson and Dr. Minton laboured together to
select the committees. We shall not wonder if allitera
tion has its way in the near future, and Moderator Minton
holds the gavel.
Referring to the same thing the editor of The Interior
said, " The significance of this is that if Dr. Minton had
been elected his friends could not have been better satisfied
in the constituting of the working machinery than they now
are. There was immediate and perfect confidence and co
operation between the brethren who in the matter of per
sonal preference appeared but an hour before to be upon
opposing sides."
The assembly adjourned on the 21st of May, and by
the 1st of 'June its moderator, having meanwhile made a
hurried trip to Washington, was speeding across the con
tinent by fastest trains, to make a connection with a ves
sel awaiting him at Seattle.
On the 12th of June, he embarked on the steamship
Portland at Seattle for Unalaska and St. Michaels, at the
mouth of the Yukon River. The last named port was
reached on the morning of the 27th of June. The next
day the Yukon River steamer Portus B. Ware arrived
from Dawson with a half-million dollars worth of gold-
dust from the Klondike and Yukon mining camps. It
was the arrival of this steamer with its treasures at Seattle
which made the Klondike region so famous and attracted
to it thousands of gold-seekers from all parts of the world.
On the trip up the river in this vessel, which left its
wharf at St. Michaels on the morning of July 5th, Dr.
Jackson was accompanied by Mr. W. A. Kjellman,
superintendent of the reindeer station at Teller. One
object of the journey was to learn from actual observation
the extent of the supply of reindeer moss along the course
of the Yukon valley with a view to the establishment of

STRENUOUS LABOURS 439
reindeer routes from certain points on the upper reaches
of the river to the mining camps in the interior. For
this reason he desired to have the assistance of one who
was an expert in such matters. This wonderful river,
which has its sources among the high mountains of
Canada sweeps northward to the Arctic Circle and thence
by a series of graceful curves southwest to its outlet in
Bering Sea. For three hundred miles above the head
of the delta it is so wide that at some points upon one
bank the other cannot be seen. At other locations higher
up it widens out into a lake-like expanse eighty miles
wide and it is navigable for light steamers for 2,000 miles.
The fur traders were the first adventurers along the line
of this great waterway and many of the older settlements
were originally trading posts. The objective point of
Dr. Jackson's long journey was Dawson, in Canada,
1,652 miles above St. Michaels. At the several stopping-
places opportunity was afforded him to look after the in
terests of the schools and churches, and much valuable
information was secured with respect to the location of
missions in the newer sections towards which the rush
of adventurers had already commenced. Dawson was
reached on the morning of the 25th of July. On the
evening of the next day, the steamer started on the return
trip down the river. Soon after leaving Circle City, so
called because of its nearness to the Arctic Circle, the
vessel was stranded on a sand-bar, where it lay in help
less condition for nineteen days. At the end of this
period of waiting and suspense, a steamer coming down
the river was hailed, came alongside, and to it the pas
sengers were transferred for the remainder of the journey.
Mrs. Alice Palmer Henderson, a fellow voyager on this
Yukon tour, gives some interesting impressions of Dr.
Jackson as a traveller : — *
1 "The Eainbow's End, Alaska," p. 220.

440 SHELDON JACKSON
' ' I have travelled with him, " she writes, ' ' for weeks at a time,
and I have never seen him idle for a moment. He never hur
ries, but just persists. Evidently he was always so. He is a
bad sailor, and dislikes the constant travel, but I don't think
anybody ever heard him volunteer the information. Whatever
he has to do, he accomplishes without reference to liking or
disliking. Yet he always finds time to be helpful to others.
How many times when I was ingloriously seasick has he amused
my tiny daughter, cutting out paper dolls with small folding
scissors from his pocket — he carries everything, I never saw
such a man — or drawing pictures, or submitting to 'bear
hugs ' with the utmost patience. Not a person aboard, I
think, but received some little courtesy from him. Up the
Yukon one of the ladies lost her comb and was in despair.
The doctor said nothing but disappeared and returned with a
comb. ' I always carry several,' he explained. Another
time it was insect powder ; another, absorbent cotton, and so
on ; there seemed to be nothing he had not, and always in
sufficient quantities to spare, even patience. At every stop he
obtained earth, flowers, shrubs, etc., for the Agricultural De
partment at Washington, and was running over with infor
mation." At St. Michaels, Jackson took passage on the Bear and
made the round of the schools and stations on the coast of
Bering Sea. Beturning to St. Michaels he was trans
ferred with his belongings to the revenue cutter Corwin,
bound for San Francisco. On the first day of November
he arrived at Washington, thus completing in safety an
interesting and wonderfully diversified journey of 21,735
miles. In less than two months after this home-coming, Dr.
Jackson was requested to go to Lapland as a "special
agent" of the War Department, for the purpose of pur
chasing and shipping to the United States as many head
of reindeer as in his judgment should be needed to trans
port supplies for the relief of a large number of miners
in the upper reaches of the Yukon valley, who were re
ported to be short of provisions and in danger of starva-

STRENUOUS LABOURS 441
tion. This meant a midwinter journey to a point nearly
four degrees north of the Arctic Circle in Europe, but
without hesitation he signified his readiness to go.
On the 18th of December, Congress voted a relief fund
of $200,000 of which $40,000 was set apart for the pur
chase of reindeer, with all the necessary equipments for
the comfort and efficiency of the relief expedition on the
overland journey, by way of the Chilkoot pass, to its
destination in the Yukon valley.
On the 20th of December, General Alger, the Secretary
of War, notified Dr. Jackson of his appointment for this
difficult and dangerous mission and requested him to get
ready to go at the earliest possible moment. Lieutenant
D. B. Devore, U. S. A., was detailed a day or two later to
accompany him as disbursing officer and assistant. On
the 23d of the month, he reported to the Secretary of War
for duty in response to this emergency call and on the
evening of the same day left his home for New York City.
The day following was devoted mainly to conferences
with trans- Atlantic steamship companies with a view to
making arrangements for the transportation of the rein
deer, when purchased, to the United States. On the even
ing of the same day he went aboard the steamship Lucania
and at 6:30 on Christmas morning was on his way to the
objective point of this long journey. Before the emer
gency had arisen which hurried Sheldon Jackson away
from home and friends at the opening of the holiday
season, Mr. Kjellman, superintendent of the reindeer herd
in Alaska, had been dispatched to Lapland to procure a
number of Lapp herdsmen and was engaged in the fulfill
ing of this mission when he received a notification by
telegraph from his chief in New York of the changed
conditions. This was followed by instructions to engage
and send out all the assistants he could use to expedite
the purchase of the reindeer and secure herdsmen to ac-

442 SHELDON JACKSON
company them. Owing to this fortunate coincidence much
valuable time was saved. At London, which was reached
at ten p. m., December 31st, it was decided that Lieuten
ant Devore should remain until he could charter a steamer
for the transportation of the deer and that Jackson should
push on with all speed to some point in Norway where he
could supply Mr. Kjellman with money to pay his agents.
As the result of a conference with leading officials in
London it was also decided that it would be best to secure
a steamer not engaged directly in the cattle trade and
transport its cargo of animals, attendants and equipments
direct from Lapland to New York. One' of the three days
which Dr. Jackson spent in London was the Sabbath.
On the morning of that day he attended a communion.
service in Dr. Munro Gibson's Church at St. John's Wood.
By request of the pastor he assisted in this service and
after the distribution of the elements was introduced to
his people, to whom he gave a few words of greeting, as
the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presby
terian Church in the United States. For one in his
position, the errand upon which he was going must have
seemed to them a very unusual one, and certainly it was
out of the line of precedent and custom in his own land
as well as the lands where more conservative ideas of
rank and dignity prevailed.
On the 3d of January, he resumed his journey, travel
ling as fast as boat and train could carry him through
England, Holland, Denmark, and a portion of the long
stretch of Norway to Trondhjem, one of the best markets
in Norway for the purchase of reindeer moss. Here one
day's stop was made to complete arrangements which Mr.
Kjellman had inaugurated for the purchase of several
hundred tons of this moss and its shipment on the steamer
which Lieutenant Devore had chartered and ordered to
this port on its upward voyage. Upon the arrival

STRENUOUS LABOURS 443
of the train and mail from Christiana at midnight,
the journey was resumed by vessel to Hammerfest, the
northernmost city on the globe. Here a transfer was
made to a smaller vessel which steamed up the Alton
Fjord at the head of which lies the village of Bosekop,
the terminus of the long j ourney. In this latitude the sun
is not visible from November 20th to January 21st. The
date of Dr. Jackson's arrival was January 13th and hence
it was not only Arctic night for several days of the jour
ney, but also through most of the days which he spent at
Bosekop. On the 16th of January Mr. Kjellman arrived
from the interior, having been delayed two days on the
mountains, where he had been lost in a blizzard. For
nearly two nights previous and the intervening day he
had been riding without sleep or rest. He reported the
welcome news that 500 trained reindeer with sleds,
harness, and fifty Lapp drivers, had been secured and
would soon be on their way to Bosekop for shipment.
To secure this outfit, Mr. Kjellman had found it neces
sary to send out seven agents far into the interior, in the
darkest and , most inclement season of the year, and the
aggregate distance travelled by them in reindeer sledges
on this errand was 3,000 miles. When the mission of the
several agents was ended it was found that the expedi
tion was made up of 538 reindeer, 418 sleds, 511 sets of
harness, and sixty-eight Lapp drivers, with their wives
and children (113 in all). The return voyage with some of
the events immediately preceding it has been most
graphically described by Dr. Field of the Evangelist : — '
" Such," he writes, referring to the above list, " was the unique
shipment that was to be brought to the port where the ship had
arrived from Glasgow, and was waiting only for the Lapps and
the deer to embark on their voyage across the sea !
'Editorial column of Evangelist, March 10, 1898.

444 SHELDON JACKSON
" At this last moment the Lord put our good doctor to a final
test of faith — for there came the most tremendous blizzard he
had ever seen ! The air was filled with the blinding snow, and
the winds howled around the little house where he sat and
shivered, for nothing could withstand that wintry blast. Of
course it was hopeless to look for the Lapps, who would have to
cross high mountains, that were swept by winds, which seemed
to come from the very North Pole itself ! Dr. Jackson is never
utterly downcast, but as he heard the storm gusts around him
he did really wish that this blizzard would blow itself out, and
in this mood he rose and walked to the window, where he
scratched away the frost so as to peer out, when he saw some
thing that seemed to be alive, and behold the Lapps themselves
— every man of them, with their wives and children — had come
over the tops of the mountains, while the drivers were in high
glee at their performance ! And not only were the hardy men
there, but the women, too, and not the smallest chicken of a
baby suffered from this wild baptism of sleet and snow !
"Then to transfer the whole company of men, women and
children, with a herd of 538 reindeer, was no light task. But
in due time it was done, and all sailed away from the shores of
dear old Lapland !
" Now their troubles were over ! Not quite ! for they were
still in high latitudes, as their course took them within a hun
dred miles of Iceland, and when they got thus far, it seemed
as if all the wild forces of the frozen north came out against
them. 'Never, never,' says Dr. Jackson, 'in all my voyages
on the Pacific Ocean, did I see anything like it. How the
tempest howled and the winds blew ! Day or night there was
little sleep. Only cat naps, snatched in the lull of the storm.'
" ' Oh, yes ! ' I said, as I heard the story, ' I have been there :
I have crossed all the oceans, and know what a storm at sea is.
But there is always this satisfaction that the fiercer the tempest,
the shorter it is, for it blows itself out ! So, of course your
storm off Iceland didn't last long ? ' 'Oh, no,' said the quiet
doctor, ' only nine days ! ' I dropped the subject.
" After all these storms on the land and the sea, the Lord did
at last bring them to their desired haven, and the good ship
entered the harbour of New York, with the loss of but one deer,
and that not from the sea, but from fighting ! for two deer that
were in one pen on the deck had a little 'difference,' and
butted with heads and horns (what remained of them, for they

STRENUOUS LABOURS 445
were sawed off) ; one poor deer received his quietus, and was
'rocked in the cradle of the deep,' and sank in the waves.
But all the rest were landed safely on the wharf in Jersey City,
and put on board of a train specially provided for them."
During the continuance of this tempestuous voyage,
which lasted twenty- three days, Dr. Jackson was neces
sarily exposed to many hardships and unpleasant expe
riences. No mention of these is made in his official re
port, but in his diary of events some facts are briefly
mentioned which suggest more than they appear to set
forth. During the worst of the storms the old ship be
haved beautifully, he says, but it was wet, dirty and un
comfortable. While he and his assistant had the privi
leges of cabin passengers, all of the available spaces on
deck, as well as above and below them, were utilized for
deer pens, the odour from which at times was very offen
sive. On the hurricane deck, directly above, there were
130 deer which were drenched day after day and night after
night, while the storms lasted, with the breaking waves.
Between the lurches of the vessel much of the waste
water, so continuously dashed upon the occupants of this
deck, percolated through the floor, and dripped from the
ceiling of the stateroom. There were times when the
water, swashed back and forth on the floor of the room,
making it necessary to put in a temporary floor above the
water, while to this was added the discomfort and peril
of a damp mattress for an entire week. This dampness
was caused by the condensation of the breath on the cold
walls of the room, and for this there was no remedy.
Through a series of physical discomforts and humiliating
experiences such as these the Moderator of the 109th Gen
eral Assembly returned from his first visit to Europe.
The most that he had seen of it was in glimpses from the
windows of swiftly-moving trains or the decks of ice-
coated steamers. Before him day and night on this per-

446 SHELDON JACKSON
ilous journey in every moment of consciousness there
was one dominant thought — How to reach at the earliest
possible moment the imperilled men in the Yukon valley
with the necessaries of life by means of the herd of trained
deer which he was commissioned to bring from far-away
Lapland. With this one thing before him he endured
hardness, risked exposures and cheerfully gave up his
own preferences and prerogatives. The celerity with
which he accomplished this mission, in view of all the
difficulties, was little short of marvellous.
Starting out on this errand in response to an emergency
call he sailed away from the harbour of New York, in the
gray dawning of Christmas morning, with but a vague
idea of the means to be used or the agencies to be em
ployed. Some two months later he was back from the
farthest north of human habitation in Europe, at the
entrance of the same port, in a chartered vessel, with
broken prow, battered sides, and crushed life-boats, in
which were the full complement of the reindeer he was
commissioned to bring ; moss in abundance for their sus
tenance until the pastures of Alaska should be reached ;
a full outfit of sledges and harness and a brave little col
ony of Laplanders, Norwegians and Finns, who were hur
riedly summoned from home and native land to join
forces with this impromptu expedition. The next day
after the arrival of the vessel off Sandy Hook the deer
were unloaded and the day following they were on their
way to the seaport of Seattle, on the Pacific coast, under
the charge of an officer of the army. Here Dr. Jackson's
connection with and responsibility for the expedition, as
special agent of the War Department, ceased, and he re
turned to his home and regular work in Washington.
It was included in the plan of relief, as originally out
lined, that the reindeer purchased in Lapland should be
sent without delay across the country to Circle City, or

STRENUOUS LABOURS 447
some other point in the Yukon valley, but before they
had reached the coast of Alaska information had been
received that the miners had a sufficient store of supplies
to tide them over until the opening of the spring season,
and hence the rescue feature of the expedition was aban
doned. It was deemed best, however, to take the deer
directly to the Yukon valley for freighting purposes, and
with this in view, arrangements were already being made
to transfer the herd to the Department of the Interior.
On the 10th of March, nine days after he had reached his
home, Dr. Jackson was directed by the Commissioner of
Education, under instructions from the Secretary of the
Interior, to go at once to the Pacific coast and resume
charge of the Lapps and the reindeer, it having been
arranged that they would be turned over to him on his
arrival by the officer of the army in charge. Leaving
Washington on the 11th, he overtook the herd at Seattle
on the 16th of March. The deer were then being loaded
on a steamer which should have been at the wharf on
their arrival by train eight or nine days before. Owing
to this delay and a still more serious delay at the Haines
Mission, Alaska, where the deer were landed on the 27th
of March, the supply of moss was exhausted several days
before the overland expedition could move. The substi
tution of alfalfa and grass for their ordinary winter forage
weakened them and unfitted a large number for travel.
When the attempt was made, at length, to reach the moss
pasturage at the head of the Chilkat valley, about sixty
miles distant, many lagged behind for lack of strength,
and day by day the death roll from weakness or starva
tion grew to alarming proportions. If the arrangements
for transfer at Seattle, and the necessary provisions for
the herders at Haines had been made in advance by those
to whom these details had been committed long before,
the herd could have been driven without any great loss to

448 SHELDON JACKSON
Circle City or any other point in the Yukon valley. As
it turned out nothing could be done but make the best of
the situation and carry forward by slow marches as many
as possible, until permanent pasturage could be reached
on the north summit of the Chilkat Pass.
At Skagway, near the entrance to the pass, Dr. Jack
son left the herd in charge of an assistant and took pas
sage in a steamer bound for Seattle. Thence he returned
to the East, arriving at his home in Washington, on the
23d of April. The total loss to the herd from starvation
before the moss pastures were reached was 362. After
wards in the early stages of the long journey to Circle
City, a number died that were unable to recover their lost
vigour, and at the end there were only 141 remaining out
of the herd of 528 which were landed at the Haines Mis
sion. These survivors were in excellent condition, how
ever, at the date of their arrival, and at a later date were
exchanged for an equal number of Siberian reindeer be
longing to the Episcopal mission on the Yukon, which
were then at the Eaton Reindeer Station.
The disastrous ending of this expedition which promised
so well at the outset, was not chargeable in any way to
the Bureau of Education or its general agent in charge
of the work in Alaska. And yet it has often been quoted
as an illustration of the folly or useless extravagance of
those who were responsible for the introduction of the
reindeer industry among the Eskimos of that country.
Referring to some public statements based on this false
assumption, the Hon. John G. Brady, the governor of the
territory at the date of these occurrences, says in his an
nual report for 1899 : —
The purchase of several hundred reindeer in Norway and
Lapland and their shipment across the Atlantic and the con
tinent, and by steamship again from Seattle to Haines Mission,
and the dying of a large percentage of them at that point, and

STRENUOUS LABOURS 449
all the subsequent evils, had nothing whatever to do with the
problem of the introduction of domestic reindeer into Western
and Northern Alaska for the use of the Esquimos. When
editors and writers raise the cry of " failure " and " fad " they
simply show that they are not acquainted with the facts, or, if
they are, that they are prejudiced and are not willing to stick
to the truth.
Equally false and misleading were the statements, made
and circulated through the public press, that Dr. Jack
son was responsible for the reports that American miners
were in imminent danger of starvation while as a matter
of fact, as one writer puts it, "the Yukoners had enough
to eat and indigestion besides." * Aside from the well-
known facts that these reports came to the government
from various sources, it goes without saying that the
action taken by President McKinley' s Cabinet in organ
izing a relief expedition and by the Congress in voting a
fund of $200,000, must have been based upon something
more than a rumour for which one man, and he a mis
sionary, was responsible. There is evidence also in the
records of the War Department that in the fall of 1897
starvation was imminent at Dawson and was felt to be so
by the residents there. This danger was so great that a
thousand men sold out their supplies and came out of the
country over one of the passes before the winter came on.
It is also a matter of record that seven hundred persons
went down the river to Fort Yukon where they were fed
during the winter and spring from government supplies
by the commander, Captain Ray. Furthermore, it ap
pears from official reports that at least two hundred of
the residents died of scurvy or other diseases caused by
the scarcity of wholesome and nourishing food supplies.
About the time of his return to Washington, Sheldon
•Article in January number of Appleton's Magazine, 1906, by
Rex E. Beach.

450 SHELDON JACKSON
Jackson received another appointment from the Secretary
of War authorizing him to act as the special agent of the
War Department in paying the salaries and looking after
the interests of the Laplanders whom he had secured for
service in that department under contract until Janu
ary 31, 1899. With the consent of the Secretary of the
Interior he undertook this work in connection with his
annual tour of inspection in Alaska. On the 17th of
May he left Washington City on this errand, arranging
for a stop at Winona Lake in order that he might fulfill
the obligations which rested upon him as the retiring
Moderator of the General Assembly. On the 19th of
May he preached the opening sermon and presided until
his successor was chosen.
The sermon was based upon the emphatic word of
command given through Moses to the people of Israel
after the crossing of the brook Zered, — "Begin to possess
that thou mayest inherit the land" (Deut. 2:31). The
central thought of this stirring sermon, which well ac
corded with the ruling passion of his own ministerial life,
was the taking and holding of the magnificent domain —
"stretching from ocean to ocean and from tropical gulf
to frozen North," which God has given to His people by
promise and providential orderings, — as an actual posses
sion and a base of operation for the conversion of the world.
Sheldon Jackson's year of service as Moderator of the
General Assembly was probably the busiest of all the
busy years of his eventful life. His midsummer tour,
upon which he started at the close of the Assembly of
1897, included the Klondike, in the upper reaches of the
Yukon valley, the usual round of stations on the coast
of Bering Sea, and at one or two points touched the
Arctic Circle on the north.
His midwinter tour, undertaken less than two months
later, carried him into the darkness of the Arctic night,

STRENUOUS LABOURS 451
and up to the farthest limits of civilized life on the conti
nent of Europe. On the one, in addition to his duties as
the superintendent of schools, reindeer stations and mis
sions, he found time to gather valuable information and
material for the use of the Department of Agriculture,
acting under appointment as its special agent : on the
other he served the War Department as its special agent,
also, in an enterprise involving more unusual labours
and perplexing experiences than any other undertaking,
within the same period of time, in his life. During the
same eventful year, he made his second tour to Alaska,
under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, re
turning from Skagway, its farthest limit, about three
weeks before the opening of the General Assembly of
1898. The aggregate of the distances travelled on these jour
neys was 37,624 miles.
How this ubiquitous itinerant managed to keep abreast
of the correspondence growing out of all these varied
relations and activities, which met him at several previ
ously designated points en route, is a mystery which the
writer does not pretend to solve. Many things are pos
sible, however, to the man who "never hurries, but just
persists," While he held the office of moderator, Dr. Jackson
received the honourary degree of LL. D., from Richmond
College, Indiana, and Union College, New York, his
alma mater.
As for banquets and junketing parties, the usual ac
companiments of the office, all but one or two had to be
ruled out, because of the difficulty of locating or reaching
the man in whose honour they were to be held.

XX
EDUCATIONAL AND MISSIONARY WORK
(i 898-1908)
"Our brave missionaries are making history for us. They are the
pioneers of civilization, and if what they have done be not recognized
now, it will be hereafter. When we are all dead and gone, and our
Western Archipelago is no longer a wilderness ; when church spires
rise out of the primeval forest, and the sound of the church-going
bell is heard over these woods and waters ; then will the historians
of that day seek among the graves of the fathers to whom Alaska
owes its schools and churches, and no name will be held in more
grateful remembrance than that of Sheldon Jackson. ' ' — Rev. Henry M.
Field, D. D., " Our Western Archipelago," p. 149.
AFTER the adjournment of the General Assembly,
Dr. Jackson continued his journey across the
continent to Seattle. At this point he arranged
for the transportation of a number of Lapps who had
been left at Fort Townsend, to the reindeer headquarters
near Unalakleet. On their arrival at this station they
were assigned to duty with the herds at such places as
the deer were likely to be used to carry the mails or to
transport goods to points not easily reached by the ordi
nary modes of transportation.
When the term of enlistment of these men had expired
some reenlisted for service with the herds, some returned
to their native land, but the larger number remained in
the country and sought employment in the mining camps
of Nome and vicinity or staked out claims and, went to
work on their own account. It has been stated on re
liable authority that at least two-thirds of the number
thus engaged made fortunes in the Cape Nome fields.
452

Sheldon Jackson
Golden Wedding, May 18, 1908

Mary Voorhees Jackson
Golden Wedding, May 18, 1908

EDUCATIONAL WORK 453
When he had completed the task assigned him by the
War Department, in connection with these wards of the
government, Dr. Jackson gave the remainder of the season
to the work of his own department. After visiting some
of the stations on the Bering Sea coast he made a trip
to Siberia for the purpose of securing enough reindeer to
replace those which had been borrowed from the station
at Cape Prince of Wales by the rescue party, sent to the
imprisoned whalers, at Point Barrow. While not so suc
cessful as he had hoped to be, he managed to secure 161
for that purpose. When the deer were safely landed at
Port Clarence the vessel sailed for St. Michaels by way of
Unalakleet. Here, on the 21st of August, connections
were made with a steamer for Seattle. Thence the jour
ney was continued by rail to Washington.
In the summer of 1899, Dr. Jackson made a detour
westward to the peninsula of Kamchatka in connection
with his annual visit to Bering Sea. The route taken
by the Bear on this voyage was almost directly west from
Unalaska and for much of the way skirted the northern
coasts of the Aleutian Islands. The first landing place
in this portion of the Russian possessions was Petro-
pavlovsk (Peter and Paul), the capital of Kamchatka.
The object of the detour was to secure a larger number of
reindeer, if possible, than the government agents had
been able to purchase in Siberia. From Petropavlovsk
the vessel sailed northward, stopping wherever there was
any prospect of securing deer, to Karaginski Island at
the upper end of the peninsula. Thence the vessel was
headed in a northeasterly direction along the Siberian
coast to Gambell on the Island of St. Lawrence. The
voyage to Kamchatka was a disappointment, so far as
its main object was concerned, but after several ineffec
tual attempts eighty-three deer were secured and safely
landed at Port Clarence. The farthest point north which

454 SHELDON JACKSON
was reached by the Bear on the cruise of inspection
which followed this venture, was Cape Blossom in
Kotzebue Sound, a few miles beyond the crossing of the
Arctic Circle. The return journey was made by way of
Southeastern Alaska. On the way to Petropavlovsk a
day was dropped out of the ship's calendar on the 13th of
June, at the crossing of the 180th degree of west longitude,
and was regained on the 11th of July, in the vicinity of
Cape Navarin. The tour as a whole covered a distance
of 18, 859 miles.
While absent upon this long cruise a cowardly attack
was made upon Dr. Jackson by a little coterie of vindic
tive enemies at Juneau, Alaska. The immediate occasion
of this outbreak was a sensational report of the United
States Grand Jury on the conduct of educational matters
in Alaska. The prime mover in the vindictive and over
wrought accusation brought against the General Agent of
Education at this time, which differed but little in spirit
from the conspiracy of 1885, was a former official of the
territory, who had long sought an opportunity to combine
the element which decried all attempts to elevate the na
tives against him, with a view to securing his removal
from office.
Referring to the newspaper comments based upon the
alleged finding of the grand jury the editor of the Chicago
Interior said : —
We note that certain parties in Alaska have taken advantage
of Dr. Jackson's absence upon the high seas to attack him and
his work with bitterest malevolence and falsehood. They
parade figures which catch the eye, concealing facts which
would show the utter absurdity of their charges. They have
secured the publication of this libelous report throughout the
length and breadth of the republic by securing its distribution as
press news. We have long known the character of the men
who have opposed Dr. Jackson, and we know how some of
them have disgraced their official positions. But it need only

EDUCATIONAL WORK 455
be said that thirty odd years spent on the frontier have abun
dantly qualified him for taking care of himself. Upon his re
turn from the present expedition, whither he has been sent by
the government which knows and trusts him, he will give par
ticular attention to his enemies should he deem the game worth
the candle. Meanwhile we caution all our readers how they
accept these libels, sent out through press agencies for purposes
best known at home ; and all that we need say for Dr. Jackson
personally is that he has by a long life of purity, courage and
generosity made a thousand enemies among the vicious, and
ten thousand times ten thousand friends among those who can
appreciate honour, courage and self-sacrifice.

When the time came for the investigation of the state
ments, so recklessly promulgated, they were found to be
unsupported by reliable evidence and were not deemed
worthy of serious consideration. In the absence of any
official statement the Commissioner of Education regarded
the alleged report of the grand jury as "a hoax." This
he was justified in doing because it did not deal with
specific charges or with a statement of specific facts after
the prescribed form for such reports. Referring to one
item of this alleged report, the importation of reindeer
for the benefit of the Eskimo, he says, in an open letter
to the editor of the Post Intelligencer of Seattle : —

Aside from the evident lack of knowledge as to the condition
of government schools in Southeast Alaska and to the policy of
the government, I do not believe that a grand jury could be
found in any state, territory or district, which would go out of
its way to criticise an experiment which it could not by any
possibility have any personal knowledge of in the way of in
spection or otherwise. The reindeer experiment which is pro
vided for from year to year by the general government is car
ried on at a distance of from 2,100 to 2,700 miles by sea from
Sitka, and the experiment, instead of being a failure, as stated
in the alleged grand jury report, is a success in all the main
particulars.

456 SHELDON JACKSON
In reply to the insinuation in this report that the Gen
eral Agent of Education for Alaska had misappropriated
government funds, ex-Governor Sheakley, who for about
ten years preceding had been a member of the School
Board for Alaska, by appointment of the Secretary of the
Interior, asserted publicly and without fear of contradic
tion, that Dr. Jackson had never handled any of this
money, and for the simple reason that it was always paid
out by voucher directly from the office of the department.
Some of the most vigorous protests against these unjust
and unfair criticisms were made by the officers of the
revenue cutters in which Dr. Jackson was carried from
point to point in the prosecution of his work.
In reply to one of these letters of protest written by
Captain W. F. Kilgore, United States Steamer Perry,
Dr. Harris, the Commissioner of Education, says : —
I write to thank you for your letter of October 20th, Sitka,
relating to the attacks made upon Rev. Sheldon Jackson.
Your letter is the best document I have received. The attacks
upon Dr. Jackson are so constant and so venomous that I am
very glad to get a letter from an officer in a different depart
ment of the United States service, and from one like yourself
whose words have weight and convincing effect. For ten years
or more I have heard complaints of all kinds against Dr. Jack
son but I have never in any case found that the charges would
bear investigating, and I could adopt no words better than your
own to describe my impressions of the man, after working with
him as a co-labourer for many years, namely, that he is a man
of the highest integrity, and honest in his dealings with his fel
low men.
While these foolish and baseless charges were thus set
aside, and utterly failed of their avowed purpose, they
did nevertheless influence many persons who were igno
rant of the facts, and who perhaps never saw anything
from official or other reliable sources, in reply.

EDUCATIONAL WORK 457
On the 23d of April, 1900, Jackson left his home for
another long cruise in Bering Sea and along the coast of
Siberia. The outward j ourney was made by way of South
eastern Alaska to Sitka and thence along the North
Pacific coast to Unalaska. After he had made his usual
tour of inspection among the several missions and schools
of instruction, the vessel was headed for the Siberian coast
for the purpose of securing some additional reindeer for
the government herd. On this errand, the ship forced its
way through ice-packs and dense fogs as far northward as
Kolyachin Bay, Arctic Siberia. Owing to the prevalence
of a fatal epidemic which in some places had swept off
from one-fourth to one-half of the inhabitants, the usual
market places were abandoned and those who remained in
the coast towns were too much discouraged to aid in
securing deer from the herds in the interior. As a result,
only twenty-nine reindeer could be secured at this time.
This tour occupied nearly five months in time and
covered a stretch of 16,587 miles. It was Sheldon Jack
son's last cruise to the Arctic Ocean. In the summer of
1901, and again in the summer of 1902, he inspected the
school and reindeer stations on the northern shore of
Bering Sea, delegating to Mr. Hamilton, his assistant,
the work in Arctic Alaska. This limitation of his field
of active labour was made necessary by the development
of a serious and painful internal disorder, — aggravated
by many years of hardship and exposures — which in its
incipient stages dated back to the year 1886. There were
but few of Dr. Jackson's most intimate friends who knew
that his health was so seriously impaired ; and, in the
midst of his abundant labours, he gave no sign of this
constant and at times excruciating suffering. While con
tinuing instant in season and out of season, doing the full
measure of each day's work as it came before him, there
never passed a day, perhaps, since the date men-

458 SHELDON JACKSON
tioned, in which he could' say that he was free from
suffering. In the spring of 1903, the disease assumed a more acute
form and his condition was such that his physician inter
posed when he began to arrange for another summer tour
and warned him not to make the attempt. Recognizing
the wisdom of this kindly warning, he remained at home.
Since that date he has given up the field work into the
hands of Dr. Hamilton : and, while keeping his hand
over it in all its phases and developments, has given his
time, despite his illness and infirmity, to the office and its
daily demands in Washington City.
During this period of enforced retirement and acute
suffering, a new phase of the opposition which had so
persistently assailed him in the past, an echo of the former
attack appeared under sensational head-lines, first in the
columns of the New York Herald, in the summer of 1906,
and afterwards in most of the leading papers of the
country. In substance, it professed to be the report of the un
earthing of a scandal connected with the management of
the schools and reindeer stations of Alaska, by Mr.
Frank G. Churchill, who had been sent out to that coun
try on a special mission of inspection and investigation
under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, in
the summer of 1905. The object and animus of the pub
lic attack of the Herald under this guise may be inferred
from the fact that the writer of the article in question
had access to the full and conclusive reply made to the
allegations of Mr. Churchill by Dr. Harris, the Commis
sioner of Education, which was bound up with them in
the same public document, by express order of the
United States Senate. Ignoring this, he framed his
sensational charges upon a report which had been already
discredited in several of its details by those best qualified

EDUCATIONAL WORK 459
to judge of its value. In answer to the charge that the
government had been wronged in the distribution of the
reindeer herds and in the contracts made with mission
stations, it was shown conclusively that the purpose of the
department was to distribute the deer among the natives
as rapidly as possible, consistent with their ability to care
for them, and not to accumulate herds for its own use or
profit. In accordance with this policy it was shown that
in 1905 the natives had earned and were actually caring
for thirty-eight per cent, of all the deer in Alaska, while
the government still retained thirty per cent., the re
mainder being distributed in the industrial schools at the
mission stations, or among the Lapp herders as a com
pensation for their services.
In reply to the charge that the deer had been expen
sively and inefficiently handled at the mission stations,
the Commissioner of Education promptly furnished the
proof from statistics in his office, that the cost of main
taining the herds at the mission stations had been much
less than at the government stations, and also that the re
sults had been more satisfactory. It is a significant fact
in this connection that after Congress had received and
considered the report of Mr. Churchill, recommending
that the reindeer herds in Alaska be taken away from
the mission stations, action was taken, in direct opposi
tion to this recommendation, — "directing that all rein
deer owned by the United States in Alaska shall, as soon
as practicable, be turned over to the missions in Alaska,
to be held and used by them under such conditions as the
Secretary of the Interior shall prescribe." J
The insinuation that the Presbyterian missions had
been specially favoured in the apportionment of reindeer,
was also promptly met with the official statement of the
Board, through its president and secretary — "that the
1 Senate Document, 59th Congress, No. 483.

460 SHELDON JACKSON
Presbyterian Church had never owned a deer or claimed
to own a deer in Alaska." At the close of this state
ment, which deals with the charge made against it only,
these officials say : — " Dr. Jackson needs no defense be
fore the Presbyterian Church or any other denomination at
work in Alaska. The entire Christian public so regard
his disinterested patriotism, his far-seeing statesmanship,
and his splendid service in the cause of missions for half
a century, that the criticisms of the special agent will only
recoil." At the annual meeting of the Synod of Washington,
which includes the Presbytery of Alaska within its
bounds, action was taken, October 5, 1906, expressive of
the "righteous indignation and disapproval of the un
warranted and unjust and untrue charges and criticisms
made by Mr. Frank Churchill, concerning the work and
character of Dr. Sheldon Jackson and our Presbyterian
mission in Alaska. ' ' Inasmuch as these charges had been
fully met and refuted by the Board of Home Missions and
the Commissioner of Education, no further action was
taken, except to endorse the Board of Home Missions in
continuing the relation that had hitherto existed between
it and Dr. Sheldon Jackson and to advise its con
tinuance." 1
Thus by the parties immediately concerned every
charge of mismanagement, favouritism or misuse of public
funds, made in Mr. Churchill's report, was met and re
futed. In the report itself, which was carefully prepared and
contained much valuable information, the evidence of
prejudice, hasty generalization and personal enmity were
so apparent that no action was taken upon it by Congress,
except to order its publication, together with the reply
1 For refutation of the charge that Dr. Jackson received a double
salary, see Chapter XVI, p. 362.

EDUCATIONAL WORK 461
made to its charges and adverse criticisms by Dr. Harris,
the Commissioner of Education.
In the hope of obtaining relief from acute and almost
continuous periods of suffering, Dr. Jackson submitted to
a surgical operation in the spring of 1907. This opera
tion was performed in the Hahnemann hospital, Phila
delphia. Out of this valley of the shadow of death he
came safely, but owing to the lack of recuperative power
in his system, it became necessary to undergo another
operation in Washington, a few months later. As a re
sult of these trying experiences, his sufferings have been
greatly relieved, but at the expense of his physical strength
and vigour.
In his home life, although often severed from its enjoy
ments and amenities, Dr. Jackson has been greatly
blessed. Two daughters of this little household were
taken to the better country in early childhood, and two
yet remain, whose presence and companionship are the
more precious because of this separation and bereave
ment. One of them, Delia Sheldon Jackson, is a member of
the Washington bar ; the other, Elizabeth Leslie Jack
son, is an artist of exceptional ability who has painted
many choice specimens of the flora of Alaska, as well as
a large number of highly prized water-colour studies in
this and other lands.
It is a notable fact that four of the most important events
in the life of Sheldon Jackson took place, by providential
ordering, in the month of May, namely : —
His birth, licensure to preach the Gospel, ordination,
and marriage. The day of his birth, May 18th, coming
in the midst of the beauty and freshness of the vernal
season, happily synchronizes with his wedding day. In
the present year of grace, — 1908 — Dr. and Mrs. Jackson
had the rare privilege of celebrating the fiftieth anniver-

462 SHELDON JACKSON
sary of their wedded life. The " Home " celebration of
this golden jubilee was attended by a goodly number of
invited guests, while from many warm friends, both far
and near, hearty congratulations and good wishes were
sent. While keenly alert as ever to the interests of the great
missionary and educational work which he has been per
mitted to build from the foundation upwards for God and
humanity in Alaska, Dr. Jackson has decided to give the
care and responsibilities of the important office which he
has filled for so many years into other hands, and has
tendered his resignation to the Commissioner of Educa
tion, to take effect at the close of the fiscal year, June 30,
1908. The work which he took up when no one else seemed
to be willing to take it has now become an honoured
service and an object of desire. To this work in its two
fold manifestations — the crowning work of his busy life —
he has given thirty-one years of almost continuous la
bours : and there are few, if any, influences for good in
that far-away land that do not owe their initiative or de
velopment to him. He has appealed to and worked in
harmony with the Moravian, Presbyterian, Baptist,
Friend, Methodist, Congregational, Episcopal, Swedish,
Orthodox Russian, and Roman Catholic churches in the
establishing of schools and missions and reindeer sta
tions : and, in the dark hours of his affliction, some of the
most touching expressions of sympathy and concern re
ceived by himself, or his family, have been from friends
and fellow labourers in other denominations.1 In every
habitable portion of this widely-extended and strangely -
1 In the Prayer Calendar of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Union
of Friends, Dr. Jackson was made the subject of speoial prayer for
May, 1907, "in view of his great work in spreading the knowledge of
the evangel in Alaska."

Presbyterian Mission and Industrial Training School, Sitka.
Boys* Building. Girls' Building. Museum. Church. Industrial Buildings. Manse. Cottages. Hospital.
Mt. of the Cross.

EDUCATIONAL WORK 463
diversified land may be seen to-day the monuments of his
tireless energy and unselfish devotion.
In Southeastern Alaska, the field of his first labours,
the Presbyterian Church now has four churches for the
white population and twelve churches with 982 com
municants, and twenty-five preaching stations among the
native population. It maintains through the agency of
the Woman's Board, a well-equipped industrial school
and a hospital at Sitka, supports on this field thirty
missionaries and teachers, and influences for good through
all these agencies some 5,000 natives.
Of this section it was literally true, when written, if not
of the whole land, by one of Dr. Jackson's associates and
faithful fellow labourers : —
"There has not been, I believe, from the first, a mission
started, a school opened, or a teacher sent, that has not
been due to the consecrated energy of this true apostle of
Alaska, whose wise counsels, loving sympathy, and sub
stantial help continues to bless them all." '
"What the missionaries have achieved," says Amory
H. Bradford, "fills the brightest page in the history of
Alaska. Others have gone there for selfish purposes ;
they have sought wealth, and have had as little care for
the natives as for the rocks or the rivers. The schools
are nearly, if not quite, missionary schools ; the hospitals
are missionary hospitals. Two names are conspicuous in
the story of missions in Alaska ; namely, Sheldon Jack
son "and William Duncan. Unless I am greatly mistaken,
they will be remembered longer in that land than the
names of any other men who have ever lived there. The
schools, church, museum, hospital at Sitka, will long keep
green the memory of Jackson, on whom the General As-
•Mrs. Eugene S. Willard, author of "Kin-da-Shon's Wife and Life
in Alaska."

464 SHELDON JACKSON
seinbly conferred no added honour when it made him its
moderator." '
While Sheldon Jackson has fairly earned a "rest under
the trees" on this side of the river, it is not at all likely
that he will avail himself of that privilege so long as there
is work to be done or strength remaining to do it.
As for the writer he will be content with telling the
story of his busy life within the bounds of the half-century
already rounded out, preferring to lay his wreath of ap
preciation at his feet now, rather than on his tomb, if
that were permitted him, hereafter.
"'A Visit to Alaska," Outlook, September 17, 1898, pp. 184-185.

XXI
SUMMARY OF LABOURS AND RESULTS
(i 858-1908)
"To think : to aot : to work : to wait :
Faith strong, heart true, whate'er one's fate
Content, come guerdon soon, or late:
Suoh life's worth living."
THE details of the preceding chapters, dating from
the spring of 1858, cover a fully rounded half-
century of widely-extended labours and phe
nomenal activities.
Prom the malarious regions of the Indian Territory
where for a short time he laboured as a foreign mission
ary among the Choctaws, Sheldon Jackson found his way
to a healthier field on the frontiers of Minnesota and Wis
consin. Thence after a decade of faithful service, the
memory of which is still an inspiration to those who have
succeeded him in that region, he passes to the frontier
line of Iowa and the rapidly growing settlements of
Nebraska. Thence for a dozen years or more he "mar
shals the advance guard of the Church along the slopes
of the Rocky Mountains " from the north border of Mon
tana to the north borders of Mexico. Still later, as one
has put it, "we find him the apostle of Alaska, sailing
away into wintry seas to brave the forces of lawlessness
in their farthest stronghold, and to save a simple race
from extinction."
In extent his field of labour has ranged over the broad
areas of nine states and four territories, as now consti-
465

466 SHELDON JACKSON
tuted, but when he crossed the Mississippi River for the
first time, California was the only state west of the Mis
souri River. Over this vast stretch of country, then
known as " The New West," — the larger half of our na
tional domain, — he journeyed from point to point day by
day and ofttimes night by night with marvellous patience
and persistency, following the farthest of the immigrant
trails, to new settlements and mining camps, preaching
the gospel of peace where godlessness and anarchy reigned
and establishing missions at every important centre and
strategic point.
Many of Dr. Jackson's itineraries were tours of explo
ration, and to one unaccustomed to the immense areas cov
ered by our Western territories, the most of them foot up
an aggregate of distance which seems to be incredible.
Each of his trips to Montana, while a resident of Col
orado, included a round of about 1,500 miles. Southward
to Arizona, the round trip was fully 2,000 miles. During
thirteen continuous years he travelled in the prosecution
of his work 345,027 miles, an average each year of 26,540
miles. In 1876 he travelled by stage-coach from Col
orado through New Mexico, Arizona and a portion of
Southern California to the Pacific coast. In 1877 he
journeyed in the same fashion from Utah northward
through Idaho to Portland, Oregon.
While engaged in the purchase of reindeer for the gov
ernment, 1890-1900, he made one trip to Petropavlovsk,
the capital of Kamchatka, and thirty-two trips to North
eastern Siberia, eight of which were north of the Arctic
Circle. On each of his twenty-six journeys to Alaska he
travelled from 17,000 to 20,000 miles, and five times he
accompanied the officers of the United States Revenue
Cutter Service to Point Barrow, the northernmost settle
ment on the Western Continent. In one year, as already
noted, he travelled 37,624 miles, crossing the Arctic

SUMMARY OF LABOURS 467
Circle in the summer on the Western Continent and in
the winter following, the same circle — and going far be
yond it — on the Eastern Continent.
The aggregate sum of all his journeyings in the inter
ests of his work during the past half-century is but little
short of one million miles !
The modes of travel on these journeys varied with the
time, the circumstances and the habits of the people in
the various sections of the country. In the early days of
his ministry he travelled from point to point horseback
or on foot, regarding himself as fortunate if he could get
an occasional lift on his way in a neighbour's wagon or
cutter. In later years, he journeyed, as he had oppor
tunity, by rail and stage-coach, by buckboard and army
ambulance, by lumber wagon and mule team and ox cart,
by broncho and reindeer sledge, by freight and construc
tion train : or on water routes by steamship and dug
out, by launch and canoe, revenue cutter, war vessel,
schooner or cattle-ship.
With wonderful patience, persistency and self-denial he
adapted himself to hardships, physical discomforts, the
tortures of close confinement in cramped positions in
stage-coaches or on buckboards, hemmed in with baggage
on every side : or the companionship of rough, dissipated
and reckless men. Some of these trips were continuous
for five and six days and nights and one journey in a
Mexican ox cart lasted through ten wearisome days — go
ing and returning — of bumping and jolting over execrable
roads or dimly outlined trails.
On these itineraries by land and sea, perils were ofttimes
braved as well as discomforts endured. The dapgers in
cident to travel in new and sparsely-settled countries
were every-day experiences for years, but to these were
added many of an extraordinary or unusual kind. One
long summer day he held a rifle on his knee as the mule

468 SHELDON JACKSON
teams which drew his coach raced between stockade forts,
at intervals on the line, in momentary expectation of an at
tack from the savage Shoshones, who were known to be on
the war-path in their immediate vicinity. Once he rode
through a region in which hostile Apaches were murder
ing scores of defenseless people, escaping the scalping
knife by a few hours only. A little later, on the return
journey, he and his wife narrowly escaped death from a
band of infuriated men whose friends had been murdered
by the Apaches. At another time the steamer on which
he was travelling was the target for the rifles of hostile
Indians as it drew near the shore on the upper reaches of
the Missouri River. Once there was only the touch of a
finger between him and death as a dozen revolvers were
pointed at him, and five times the stage-coach was robbed
by highwaymen just before or after he had passed over
the route. On one journey among the high mountains,
the horses and the carriage in which he was riding went
down over a precipice by a swift plunge, several hun
dred feet, into the bed of a stream ; while he escaped, not
an instant too soon, by leaping out, as he realized the
impending danger. At other times he was compelled to
flee from prairie fires which threatened to cut him off
from places of safety ; or from roaring flames which
leaped from pine to pine along the slopes of the moun
tains. There were perils also, seen and unseen, in crossing
snowy ranges at altitudes varying from 10,000 to 13,000
feet ; perils in canoe voyages of hundreds of miles along
the stormy coasts of Alaska, and perils of frequent occur
rence amid the grinding ice-floes and treacherous ice
packs of the Arctic Ocean, where whaling vessels were
crushed or wrecked every season. Three times while on
these northward journeys the press dispatches reported
the death of Dr. Jackson, and once his obituary was writ-

SUMMARY OF LABOURS 469
ten and published by the enterprising editor of the
Chicago Interior.
The variety and extraordinary range of his activities
may be summarized in part as follows : —
Prom 1869 to 1898 he prepared and delivered be
tween 3,000 and 4,000 addresses in the interests of
his work. In 1872 he established and for ten years
edited the Rocky Mountain Presbyterian and at a
later period established and edited the North Star.
In 1880 he published a valuable work on Alaska and
the missions on its North Pacific coast ; and later a
"Handbook on Alaska," which passed through several
editions. Since 1881, he has made twenty -one annual re
ports on education in Alaska, and since 1890 sixteen
reports on the introduction of domestic reindeer, both
being government publications. He has also rendered
efficient service in the executive committee of the Inter
national Sunday School Association ; and at one time or
another has held membership in forty or more religious,
philanthropic, historical, or scientific societies. In addi
tion to all this, as a necessary feature of his work, in its
manifold phases and necessities, he has conducted an
overwhelming amount of correspondence with individuals
and societies.
On many of his long journeys and exploration tours,
Dr. Jackson secured specimens of rare minerals, native
pottery, wood and bone carving, curios, and handiwork
of various kinds, characteristic of the different countries
and nationalities within the range of his field of study
and observation. The greater part of these valuable col
lections has been given to the Sheldon Jackson Museum
of National History in Sitka, Alaska. Another collec
tion, consisting of minerals and New Mexican pottery, was
donated to the museum of Princeton University.
In connection with his field work Dr. Jackson organ-

470 SHELDON JACKSON
ized the first Presbyterian churches in the territories of
Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Arizona and Alaska ; assisted
in organizing the Synods of St. Paul, Colorado, and
Washington, and the Presbyteries of Chippewa, South
ern Minnesota, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Utah and
Alaska, having previously organized most of the churches
comprising them. He has served also as a commissioner
to seven General Assemblies ; as Moderator of the 109th
Assembly and of the Synods of St. Paul and Colorado ;
also as Stated Clerk of the Synod of Colorado and the
Presbytery of Alaska. In 1879, and again in 1880, he
was commissioned by the government to collect Indian
children in New Mexico and Arizona and conduct them
to the schools at Hampton and Carlisle. At later periods
he served as special agent of the War Department for the
purchase of reindeer in Lapland, and of the Agricultural
Department in connection with a tour of exploration up
the valley of the Yukon.
Some of the most important features of the field work
which engaged his attention and drew heavily upon his
time were the exploration of new and practically un
known fields ; preparing the ground in such places for
occupancy ; harmonizing diverse elements and organiz
ing them into churches or missions ; securing for them
acceptable ministers ; counselling with reference to church
sites and plans ; securing donations of land and funds for
the erection of houses of worship ; establishing schools
among the exceptional population ; strengthening, en
couraging and supplying feeble churches ; enlisting sym
pathy and help from outside sources for needy fields and
needy missionaries ; ministering to the sick and the dying
and, as he had opportunity, preaching the Gospel in des
titute and out-of-the-way places to which the missionary
pastor had not yet come.
The results of this personal work are evident to-day, at

SUMMARY OF LABOURS 471
many points, within a magnificent and rapidly growing
domain, which covers more than one-half the area of the
entire territory of the United States.
About one hundred Presbyterian churches have been
organized in this region as the direct result of his labour,
and there are probably as many more which owe their
origin and early development to his timely assistance and
fostering care.
One who knew him intimately said in a recent address
on "Union College in the Ministry" : —
Dr. Jackson's restless activity, ardent zeal, unflagging energy,
and marvellous executive talent did wonders for the extension
of religion and the organization of churches in the territories.
He was pioneer, prospector, administrator, all in one. No man
was more quick to see an opportunity, or more efficient to seize
if. . . . There is little of our territory, from the Missis
sippi River to the Aleutian Islands, over which he has not
travelled on religious and humanitarian errands, and the whole
broad expanse is dotted with monuments of his wisdom and
energy.1 A striking exhibition of the progress of the Presby
terian Church in the "winning of the West " is given on
the face of the map, prepared under Dr. Jackson's direc
tion and oversight (page 92), which shows at a glance
the line of frontier churches on our Western border in
the year in which he entered upon his active labours.
In the immense area west of the Missouri River there
were at that time but seven presbyteries, thirty-five min
isters, thirty-one churches, and 1,019 communicants.
As a result of the prompt, courageous and timely
work done by such inspired and inspiring leaders as
Timothy Hill, Sheldon Jackson, George F. Whitworth,
Thomas Praser, Henry S. Little and their faithful, self-
denying associates, there are now on this ground sixty -
"The late Dr. Tennis S. Hamlin, of Washington City, June 27, 1895.

472 SHELDON JACKSON
four presbyteries, 1,401 ministers, 1,839 churches, and
125,000 communicant members.
In the nine states and three territories in which Dr.
Jackson and his pioneer associates laboured, comprising
Western Wisconsin, Southern Minnesota, Western Iowa,
Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Southern Idaho,
Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Alaska, there have
been organized six synods, thirty-one presbyteries, 886
churches, with 77,105 communcants. These churches
have received 120,153 members on confession of faith
and their offerings for missionary and other religious
purposes have reached a sum total of $20,364,475.
"This record," says Charles Halleck, a veteran editor
and well-known writer, referring to Jackson's part in this
great work, " is undoubtedly without a parallel in the his
tory of man, not only in its religious and philanthropic
aspects, but in the extent of the itinerary, the diversity
of labour and the multifarious services rendered on the
side of one's fellow man. Every region which Sheldon's
feet have pressed has been blessed and benefited. His
elemosynary and executive work in Alaska was abso
lutely the chief corner-stone of its Christian civilization
and good order, as well as the salvation of its natives,
body and soul, and in more recent years the helpful pro
moter of material comfort and commercial dispatch (by
his reindeer scheme), in the rigorous sub- Arctic winters.
"But his work for Alaska is only the half of a lifelong
service for the betterment of man. For a quarter of a
century, he was one of the chief factors in the making of
the ' New West. ' Keeping pace with the new settlers
pouring into the farming regions, camping with the pio
neers who laid out new railway centres, scaling the
mountains and penetrating the cafions with the pros
pectors and miners, he everywhere rallied the friends of
order and religion, of schools and temperance, of Sabbath

SUMMARY OF LABOURS 473
observance and good citizenship. While public senti
ment was yet plastic he shaped it for weal and for civic
righteousness, and left his impress upon that half of the
United States which lies west of the Mississippi River." *
It has been said with truth that few men live to see
themselves appreciated or their work rewarded as has
Dr. Jackson. The statements and statistics above given
are a sufficient proof of that assertion. He has encoun
tered persistent opposition, endured the reproach of good
men, who could not understand his motives or enter into
his heroic conception of duty, and he has been hounded
by evil men whose machinations he has thwarted, as few
men in public life have ever been. But on the other
hand, admitting freely such faults, mistakes and imper
fections as are common to men in character and work, he
has to a very high degree enjoyed the confidence of his
fellow labourers, has won the hearts of not a few who
once spoke slightingly of him, and has endeared himself
to multitudes, many of whom have never seen his face,
for his work's sake and his persistent labours of love in
the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom. As he drew
near the end of his half-century of labour he was made
the guest of honour of the Presbyterian Ministerial Asso
ciation of Philadelphia ; of the New York Presbyterian
Union ; of the class of 1858, at the commencement of the
Princeton Theological Seminary, and of the Presbytery
of Albany, in which he was ordained to the gospel min
istry fifty years ago.
Among all the kindly words of appreciation which
were sent to him in the midst of his work, the truest,
perhaps, to the life, have been the words already quoted,
of Frances E. Willard : — a tribute as spontaneous as it
was hearty and sincere — "You are one of my heroes.
¦Formerly editor of Forest and Stream: author of recent monograph
on Alaska.

474 SHELDON JACKSON
You have stood for all our Gospel means, not in a luxuri
ous parish or splendid college, but out yonder on the
edge of things where God's most friendless children turn
towards you the eyes of pathos and hope."
For this Christlike ministry, " on the edge of things,"
Sheldon Jackson will be remembered and honoured in all
the days to come, as well as in this present time.
All honour to the noble men and women who seconded
his efforts and aided him in this self-denying work ; for
on their support he was, under God, dependent for suc
cess ; but to him will be given, as justly his due, the
honour of leadership in its beginnings over a larger ex
tent of territory than was ever committed to any mission
ary of the Cross since the days of the Apostle Paul.
H it be true that the sure index of advancing civiliza
tion is the extent to which it is pervaded by the in
fluence of Christianity, the missionary of the frontier —
the man with the Book — deserves much more of the
nation and the writers of its history than he has ever re
ceived. It is certain, also, that there are many in the
Church of to-day who have no adequate conception of
the magnitude of the work which has been done by the
veteran host, so rapidly passing away, who manned the
outposts on the frontier in the latter half of the nine
teenth century, "keeping pace with the new settlers,
camping with the pioneers," roughing it with the
miners, enduring daily privation, suffering and re
proach, that the blessed evangel might be given to the
regions beyond ; and that the evil influences already at
the front might be supplanted and overcome by that
which was elevating in its influence and saving in
its power over heart and life, body and soul. It was
given to these men who saw the vision of a better day
afar to face imperial opportunities and meet unusual re
sponsibilities, which staggered the mind and awed the

SUMMARY OF LABOURS 475
soul. Yet with strong faith and a lofty courage which
have never been surpassed in the annals of the Church
militant, they went forward battling for God and right
eousness, with the brave motto on their banners : — " Our
whole land for Christ 3 " and in the confident assurance
of victory in the end. The history of the advance of our
missionary vanguards from stage to stage, over frontier
lines beset with perils at every step, if as fully written
out as the history of the other great movements relating
to the " winning of the West," would be one of the most
thrilling and romantic stories of modern times. And to
no single denomination, perhaps, of all those who had a
part in this moral conquest of the land, has the Great
Head of the Church given a nobler, wiser and more cour
ageous band of leaders than to the denomination to which
Sheldon Jackson belongs. A little more than a century
ago the blue pennon of our time-honoured Church waved
from the summit of the Alleghanies, while earnest men
peered anxiously forward into the almost unknown
regions beyond. In the opening decade of the century
following, it reached the farthest limit of the "New
West." It floats to-day over the summit of the Sierras
and waves responses to embattled hosts of the army of occu
pation from the Atlantic to the Pacific. A well-known
living preacher has said: "If the pulpit ever wears
out, by much preaching, the eleventh chapter of Hebrews,
we can find a new roll-call of heroes in the record of home
missions. Nor is there any volume on chivalry or knight-
errantry that will surpass these wondrous volumes." It
is one of the hopeful signs of the times that the home
mission studies of the young people of the Church are to
be concentrated upon the lives of the missionary pioneers
during the coming year. Than this, no course of studies
could be more inspiring nor is there any other section of
the history of the Church so full of stirring events, thrill-

476 SHELDON JACKSON
ing adventures and splendid achievements as that which
deals with these devoted men and the great work which
they were privileged to do. With all that has been done
in the past, there still remains very much land to be pos-

There are moral wastes of vast extent within the limits
of our presbyteries and synods beyond the Mississippi
yet to be reclaimed. There are entrenched forces of evil,
such as Mormonism, with its debasing bondage and blight
ing influence, paganism with its degrading forms of wor
ship, anarchism and lawlessness, superstition and igno
rance, yet to be met and conquered. Westward and north
ward, there are multitudes of our exceptional population
yet to be reached and in the Southland a great host in the
dark belts among ten million of the Negro race — in some
respects the most needy and the most deserving of our
sympathy and help of all the exceptional people of the
land, — are yet to be reached and evangelized.
To-day we are facing a larger field of labour than the
men of the nineteenth century faced, — a field into which
the unevangelized of every nation are coming,— afield in
cluding every clime, as well as the men of every clime,
from Alaska's icy mountains to the palm-decked islands
of the sea. And still, as in the past, the magnitude of
the work exceeds our ability to overtake it. " Oh, for
more Jacksons," we may well pray, to follow up Jackson,
" to build up what he began," and to lay the foundations
of that which is new in other fields of labour, yet to be
opened. With the passing of the old-time frontier, associated as
it has ever been with heroic deeds and romantic adven
tures, "The old order changeth and yieldeth place to the new."
This has ever been the law of the kingdom, as well as
the law of the natural world.

SUMMARY OF LABOURS 477
New issues must be met with new men and new methods,
but it is also true and a grandly encouraging truth that
that which has been done for God shall abide forever-
more, bringing with it in its time a rich recompense of
blessing in this world as well as in the world to come.
It is scarcely possible to conceive of a grander recom
pense to human efforts than that which has already
followed as the direct result of the arduous, self-denying
work of our missionaries on the frontier. Their achieve
ments fill some of the brightest pages in the annals of
the state, as well as of the Church ; and the transforma
tions which they wrought, through the agency of the
Holy Spirit, are as marvellous in their time and place, as
were the Acts of the Apostles, under the same inspiring
influence and guidance, nineteen centuries ago.

POSTSCRIPT
IN the preparation of this work it was the purpose of
the writer to tell the story of Sheldon Jackson's
wonderful career of activity and achievement within
the limits of the half century which followed his ordina
tion and appointment to missionary service on the West
ern Frontier.
The record of these busy years closed with his retire
ment, in consequence of greatly impaired health, from all
his official duties and responsibilities, in the spring of 1908.
It seems fitting, now that this faithful servant of Jesus
Christ has finished his course and entered into the joy of
his Lord, that mention should be made of some of the in
cidents which belong to the few remaining days of his
earthly life.
After the acceptance of his resignation of the office of
General Agent of Education for Alaska, which took effect
on the 30th day of June, 1908, Dr. Jackson gave his atten
tion to some details of his office work and private affairs
which required his personal attention, with a view to
setting his house in order, and in so far as was possible to
perfect that which was still lacking in connection with
his great life-work.
Busied with these matters he remained in Washington
until midsummer, when he went with Mrs. Jackson to
Gloucester, Mass., for an outing of two or three weeks by
the sea. Returning by way of Amsterdam, N. Y., where
a few days were pleasantly spent with relatives and friends,
Mrs. Jackson was prostrated by a serious illness, which,
notwithstanding every effort made to arrest it, resulted in

POSTSCRIPT
her death. Accepting this sore trial of bereavement with
out murmuring as the ordering of the Heavenly Father,
in whom he had learned to trust so fully and implicitly,
he again took up the burden of service which seemed to
be appointed for him, in the interests of the cause which
was so close to his heart, and for which he had already
laboured and suffered so much. In the month of October
he attended the Indian Conference at Lake Mohonk, where
he was always a welcome guest. He also made addresses
by previous appointment at Minaville, N. Y., at New
London, Lincoln University, and Oxford, Pennsylvania.
In the last named place he delivered an impressive and
long to be remembered address at the popular meeting
held in connection with the twenty-sixth anniversary of
the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Synod of
Pennsylvania. From Oxford he went to Carlisle where he spoke on the
same theme in the Second Presbyterian Church. Return
ing to Carlisle later in the season with his daughters, he
spent the holidays in the home of his brother-in-law, Dr.
George Norcross. At one of the services which was held
in the Second Church he assisted in the baptism of eight
Indian children. He was privileged to take part also in
the celebration of the Fortieth Anniversary — January 3,
1909 — of the pastorate of Dr. Norcross.
In February he went to Asheville, North Carolina, for a
brief season of recreation and rest. After two or three
weeks' sojourn in this place he went back to Washington.
On the third day of March he addressed the Woman's
Home Missionary Society of the Presbytery of Baltimore.
The meeting was held in the city of Baltimore. On his
return journey he was exposed to the rigours of the wintry
storm which swept over that portion of the country and
prevented the public inauguration of President Taft. The
result of this exposure was a severe cold from which he

POSTSCRIPT
never fully recovered. As soon as he was able to travel
safely Dr. Jackson returned to Asheville. In the genial
climate of this justly famed resort he seemed for a time to
gain in strength and in some respects his physical condi
tion was greatly improved.
On the 14th of April he delivered an address on Alaska
before the Presbytery of French Board and the Woman's
Presbyterial Society with something of his old time
earnestness and vigour. This was Sheldon Jackson's last
appeal in behalf of the Home Mission cause, and all who
were privileged to hear it were strangely moved and
deeply impressed. Towards the close of the month of
April his sufferings from the internal malady, which had
so long distressed him, became more acute and it seemed
to be necessary for him to submit to another operation.
This was performed in the Merriwether hospital at Ashe
ville on the 27th of April and from its effects he never re
covered. At the early dawning of the Sabbath, May 2d, his freed
spirit passed from the cares and strifes and sorrows of this
world to the better country where the inhabitants never
say I am sick and all the weary ones find rest. "He
made a brave effort to fight death," says Dr. Clarence G.
Reynolds, pastor of the Asheville Church, — who watched
by his bedside during his last moments, — " but as he felt
the end was near he quietly told his nurse not to give him
further stimulants. As she protested, and said the orders
of the doctor were to give him his medicine, he replied,
' My orders are that I am not to take it. I am going to
die.' Then, like a majestic liner passing beyond the
horizon, he passed out of this life."
Impressive funeral services were held in the church at
Asheville and in the Church of the Covenant of Washing
ton City; and, at Minaville, N. Y, by the side of his
faithful wife, the mortal remains of Sheldon Jackson

POSTSCRIPT
were laid to rest, on the fifty -first anniversary of his or
dination by the Presbytery of Albany.
Dr. Jackson was a commissioner from the Presbytery
of Alaska to the General Assembly, appointed to meet in
Denver on the 20th of May, 1909, and for several months
before his death had been making arrangements for a re
union of the survivors of the pioneer missionaries, who
had been associated with him throughout the Rocky
Mountain section, in the early days of its settlement and
development. In this Assembly he will be missed because his seat will
be empty, but it has seemed good to the Master whom he
served to oall him to a place in the " General Assembly
and Church of the First-born, which are written in
heaven." Of him we may now confidently say : —
" Servant of Christ well done
Praise bes thy new employ
And while eternal ages run
Rest, in the Saviour's joy. "
Lincoln University, Pa.,
May 7, 1909.

APPENDIX

Some of those who were associated
with Sheldon Jackson in pioneer work
Associates and Helpers
(Group i, facing page 28.)
1. Rev. Benjamin H. Pitman,* Pastor of Presbyterian
Church, Esperance, N. Y. He admitted to the church on
confession of faith Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Jackson, and baptized
their children, Sheldon and Louise. 2. Rev. J. Trumbull
Backus,* D. D., LL. D., forty-one years pastor of the Presby
terian Church, Schenectady, N. Y., 1832-73. Counsellor of
Sheldon during his college days and led him to unite with the
church of Esperance. 3. Rev. George F. Whitworth,* D. D.,
pioneer in Oregon and Washington, 1853-1907. Assisted in
the organization of the First Presbyterian Church, Portland,
Oregon, 1853, and was the first Presbyterian minister north of
the Columbia River, 1854. 4. Mrs. E. T. Throop Martin.*
Collected the money for the building of the missionary vessel
Morning Star, 1856; organized the "Woman's Santa Fe
Missionary Society," 1867; "The New Mexico, Arizona and
Colorado Missionary Association," 1868; "The Ladies'
Union Mission Association," 1879. 5. Mrs. James Lorimer
Graham,* President of the New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado
Missionary Association, 1868, and of the "Ladies' Board of
Missions," 1870; also Vice-president of "The Woman's
Executive Committee of Home Missions." 6. Hon. James
Sheakley, United States Commissioner at Wrangell, Alaska,
1887, Governor of Alaska, 1892-97. 7. John Eaton,*
LL. D., Brevet Brigadier General, United States Volunteers
(Civil War) ; United States Commissioner of Education,
1870-86. Interested in the education of Alaskan natives.
?Deceased. 479

480 APPENDIX
8. William T. Harris, LL. D., a distinguished educator and
active in the development of schools and the introduction of
domesticated reindeer into Alaska. United States Commissioner
of Education, 1 889-1 906. 9. Rev. John Louis French.
Helpful in securing transportation. 10. Rev. Robert William
Hill, D. D., Superintendent of Missions in the Northwest,
1878-81, and for Indian Territory and Oklahoma, 1887-95.
n. Rev. Samuel Ellis Wishard, D. D., Superintendent of
Presbyterian Missions, Kentucky, 1883-87, and of Utah, 1890-
1907. 12. Rev. Thomas Carter Kirkwood, D. D., Superin
tendent of Presbyterian Missions, Colorado, 1889-19 — .

Pioneer Presbyterian Missionaries
{Group 2, facing page 85.)
Western Wisconsin. — 1. Bradley Phillips,* 1849-77. 2-
Wm. W. McNair,* D. D., 1849-65. 3. Stuart Mitchell,*
D. D., 1855-68. 4. John Frothingham,* D. D., 1860-69.
Minnesota. — 5. Charles Thayer, D. D., 1855-89. 6. John
C. Caldwell,* D.D., 1856-90. 7. Aaron H. Kerr,* D. D.,
1857-90. 8. James Frothingham, 1860-65. 9- Robert
Strong, 1861-65. 10. Wm. R. Mercer,* 1861-70. 11.
George Ainslie,* 1862-85. 12. John L. Gage, 1862-69.
13. A. J. Stead,* 1867-1907. 14. R. B. Abbott, D. D.,
1869-19 — . Iowa. — 15. John Armstrong,* D. D., 1865-77.
16. D. S. Tappan, D. D., LL. D., 1868-99. Nebraska— 17 .
J. T. Baird, D. D., 1864-19—. Wyoming.— 18. Wm. G. Kep-
hart,* 1869-73. 19. F. L. Arnold,* 1870-89. 20. Wm. F.
Hamilton,* D. D., 1871-86.

Pioneer Missionaries in Colorado
( Group 3, facing page 126. )
1. Lewis Hamilton,* 1859-81. 2. A. R. Day, 1862 — .
3. C. M. Campbell, 1864. 4. E. P. Wells, 1868-75, 1882-
87. 5. W. Y. Brown, D.D., 1870-86. 6. H. B. Gage,
D.D., 1870-86. 7. J. G. Lowrie, D.D., 1871-86. 8.
Robert Laird Stewart, D. D., S. C. Presbytery of Colorado,
1873-79. D. E. Finks, 1873-86.
*Deceased.

APPENDIX 481
Pioneer Presbyterian Missionaries
(Group 4, facing page IQ3.)
Arizona.— 1. Chas. H. Cook, D.D., 18 70-1 9— 2. J A
Merrill, 1876-78. 3. Wm. Meyer, 1878-81. Utah.— 4.
M. Hughes,* 1869-70. 5. Josiah Welch,* 1871-77. 6.
S. L. Gillespie,* 1874-96. 7. J. P. Schell, 1873-74. 8.
J. M. Stevenson, D. D., 1881-19— . 9. J. M. Coyner,* 1875-
85. 10. R. G. McNiece, D. D., 1877-19—. n. Calvin
Park,* 1878-86. 12. G. W. Martin, D.D., 1879-19—. 13.
G. W. Leonard,* 1881-85. *4- Josiah McClain, 1885-19—.
Montana.— 15. L. B. Crittenden,* 1872-92. 16. Miss
Mary G. Crittenden,* 1872-19—. 17. Wm. C. Rommell,
1872-76. 18. J. D. Hewitt,* D. D., 1876-79. 19. C. L.
Richards, 1877-83. 20. M. L. Cook, 1877-82.
Pioneer Missionaries
(Group 5, facing page 222.)
Colorado.— x. T. E. Bliss, D. D., 1871-19— . 2. J. F.
Stewart, 1871-19 — . 3. Alex. M. Darley. 4. W. P. Teits-
worth, 1873-81. 5. J. L. Merritt, 1874-80. 6. G. M.
Darley, D. D., 1876-19—. 7. J. M. Reid, Ph. D., 1877-19—.
8. H. L. Janeway, 1878-80. 9. W. C. Beebe, 1878. New
Mexico. — 10. D. F. McFarland,* 1866-74. "¦ J- A.
Annin,* 1869-80. 12. J. Menaul, 1870 — . 13. J. M.
Roberts,* 1872-82. 14. G. G. Smith, D.D., 1874-95.
15. W. W. Curtis, D.D., 1875-76. 16. H. K. Palmer,*
1877-78. 17. J. M. Shields, 1878-19 — . Oregon and Wash
ington. — 18. R. M. Hayes, D. D., 1890-19 — . Nevada,
Colorado and California. — 19. J. P. Egbert, D. D., 1873-76.
20. Elder Charles E. Walker.*
The Woman's Executive Committee and Board of Home
Missions
(Group 6, facing page 256.)
1. Mrs. A. Green,* President, 1878-85. 2. Mrs. D. R.
James, President, 1885-19—. 3. Mrs. F. E. H. Haines,*
Secretary, 1878-86. 4. Mrs. M. E. Boyd, Treasurer, 1878-
90. 5. Mrs. D. E. Finks, Secretary, 1886-92, Editor, 1886-
*Deceased,

482 APPENDIX
19 — . 6. Mrs. C E. Walker, Secretary, 1886-89. 7- Mrs.
Geo. Norcross, Vice-president, 1878-19 — . 8. Mrs. Wm.
Thaw, 1878. 9. Mrs. W. N. Paxton, Secretary, 1878. 10.
Mrs. ,S. F. Scovel,* Vice-president, 1878-98. n. Mrs. J.
McNair Wright,* 1878. 12. Mrs. Kate P. Bryan,* Vice-
president. Board of Home Missions. Presbyterian Church
(Group 7, facing page 283.)
1. T. L. Janeway,* D.D., Secretary, 1862-68. 2. Henry
Kendall,* D. D., Secretary, 1861-92. 3. Cyrus Dickson,*
D.D., Secretary, 1870-81. 4. Wm. C. Roberts,* D.D.,
LL. D., Secretary, 188 [-86, 1892-98. 5. Wm. Irvin, D.D.,
Secretary, 1887-93. 6- D- J- McMillan, D. D., Secretary,
1890-98. 7. C. L. Thompson, D. D., LL.D., Secretary,
1898-19 — . 8. O. D. Eaton,* Treasurer, 1874-97. 9-
G. L. Spining, D. D. 10. H. R. Wilson,* D. D., Secretary
(Church Erection), 1869-86. 11. D. C. Lyon,* D. D.,
Superintendent, Wisconsin, 1858, and Minnesota and Dakota,
1867-85. 12. J. W. Allen,* D. D., Superintendent, Missouri,
1873-80. 13. T. Hill,* D. D., Superintendent, Kansas,
1868-87. i4- T. Fraser,* D.D,. Superintendent, Pacific
Coast, 1868-87. 15. G. L. Little,* D. D., Superintendent,
Nebraska, 1878-83. 16. H. S. Little,* D. D., Superintendent,
Texas, 1879-1906.
Pioneer Presbyterian Missionaries in Alaska
(Group 8, facing page 313-)
1. Mrs. A. R. McFarland, 1877-98. 2. J. G. Brady,
1878-1906. 3. S. H. Young, D.D., 1878-88, 1897-19—.
4. A. E. Austin, 1879-98. 5. E. S. Willard, 1881-94. 6.
Mrs. Willard, 1881-94. 7. J. L. Gould, 1882-19—. 8.
J. F. McFarland,* 1882-93. 9- wm. A. Kelly, 1886-19—.
10. S. A. Saxman,* 1886-87. "• L. F. Jones, 1892-19 — .
12. Miss Esther Gibson, 1894-19 — . 13. V. C. Gambell,*
1894-98. 14. J. H. Condit, 1896-19—. 15. H. R. Marsh,
1897-19—. 16. S. R. Spriggs, 1899-19—. 17. E. O.
Campbell, 1899-19—. 18. J. W. Kirk, 1899-1906. 19.
P. McKay,* (Clah) native. 20. Rev. Edward Marsden
(native). ?Deceased.

INDEX

Abbott, Dr. R. B., 70, 75
Abbott's summary of Jackson's
work in Minnesota, 70-72
Ainslee, Rev. George, 75, 79
Alaska, area, 349 ; exceptional
physical features, 349-350 ; neg
lected and almost unknown for
a decade after its transfer to
United States, 286-288, 313; de
plorable condition of natives, 287-
288 ; providential opening for
mission work, 287-295, 300-304;
establishment of first mission,
302 ; extension and enlargement
of work in Southeastern Alaska,
394, Chapter XIV ; efforts to
secure territorial form of govern
ment and public schools, 303,
328> 339, 342. 345 ; Jackson ap
pointed General Agent of Educa
tion in Alaska, 347 ; establish
ment of schools, 339, 342, 344,
Chapter XVI ; missions and
schools in Western Alaska, 369—
37 1 ; in Northern Alaska, Chap
ter XVII ; relation of missions
to government schools, 348, 355,
362, 374; Moravian missions,
366-368 ; cordial cooperation
with all Christian denominations,
364-365, 462; location of de
nominational missions, 371—372,
379, 381 ; introduction of rein
deer, Chapter XVIII; growth
and disposition of herds, 392—
397, 409, 412; some results of
school and missionary work, 344,
45 2- 463. 472
Alaska, Presbytery of, 315, 316,
344, .369; official sketch of
origin and growth, 314, 316

Alexander, Mrs. A. J., 259
Allen, Rev. John W., 14, 154
Alta, Utah, mining camp, 206, 207
Andrews, Mrs. M. R., letter of,
58,78
Apaches, 233, 248, 250
Arizona, Territory of, 129, 227 ;
added to Synod of Colorado,
129; establishment of missions,
233> 235 ; journey to collect chil
dren of Arizona tribes, 245, 247,
252; transfer of Indian tribes
from care of Dutch Reformed
Church to Presbyterian Church,
245
Arnold, Rev. F. L., 174, 176
Baird, Rev. A. K., 14
Barrow, Point, 364, 376, 380-382,
383-384, 402, 466
Bear, United States Revenue Cut
ter, 376-377; cruises in Arctic
waters, 377, 378, 382-383, 390,
401, 421-422, 440, 453
Bell, Rev. Lancet G., 14
Benton, Fort, 183-184
Bering Sea, 390, 408, 453
Bolles, Lieutenant T. Dix, 358
Boyd, Mrs. O. E., 274, 275
Brady, Hon. John R., 306, 3 19,
337. 403. 4°5
Brainard Church, Easton, timely
gift of, 173
Brigham, Utah, 213, 214-215
Brown, J. S., letter of, 294
Brown, Rev. Dr. W. Y., 124
Cache Valley, Utah, 215
Campbell, Rev. C. M., 126
Cape Prince of Wales, 364, 378,
380, 383. 395

483

484

INDEX

Cheyenne, Presbyterian Church of,
m, 112, 120, 174
Cheyenne, Wyoming, no, 112
Church Erectio.n, Board of, 120,
121
Churchill Report, 456-460; reply
to allegations in, 459-460
Circle City, 439, 448
Clah, native evangelist (Philip Mc
Kay), 292, 303, 306
Clarence, Port, 392, 393, 412, 453
Cleland, Rev. T. H., D. D., 96, 100,
106, 434
Cleveland, Grover, Ex-President,
352, 357. 3°°. 420
Colorado, 140, 141, 155; pioneer
work in, 125-127, Chapter
VIII; results, 168-169
Colorado Presbytery, 125; original
bounds, limited at later date, 127,
130; divided, 1 68- 1 69
Colorado Springs, 128, 145 ; Pres
byterian Church of, 146, 149
Colorado Synod, 122, 123, Chapter
VII; Arizona added, 129; area,
1 30; altitude, 131; exceptional
population, 132
Cook, Dr. Charles H., 247, 253-
254
Cook, Joseph, 344
Corinne, 116, 200
Coyner, Prof. J. M., 205
Crittenden, Miss Mary G., 185
Crittenden, Rev. Lyman, 185
Crowl, Rev. Dr. Theodore, 167
Darley, Rev. Alexander M.,
'55. 241
Darley, Rev. George, 156, 159,
160-163
Darley, Mrs. George, 156, 157-158
Denver, in 1870, 141-142; resi
dence of Sheldon Jackson, 146;
churches of, 123-124
Des Moines, Presbytery of, 98
Dickson, Dr. Cyrus, 137, 267
Dodge, Fort, Presbytery of, 99
Duncan, Rev. William, 288-289,
372, 463
Eaton, General John, 347, 416

Eaton Reindeer Station, 41 1 , 448
Edwards, Rev. George, 189
Elliott, Rev. J. C, 100, no
Emigration, periods of, 14; after
Civil War, 88, 95
Eskimos, of Alaska, 366 ; missions
among, 372, Chapter XVII
Exceptional populations, 132, 257-
259
Field, Dr. Henry, 149, 364, 369
Finks, Mrs. Delos E., 278, 279
Fletcher, Alice C, 435, 436
Fraser, Rev. Thomas, 136, 236,
267
Fremont, General John, II, 193,
246
Frothingham, Rev. James, 44, 68
Gage, Rev. John L., 68, 1 1 2, 434
Gallatin Female Seminary, 85
Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, 453
Georgetown, Colorado, 146
Gillespie, Rev. George, 213-215
Golden, Colorado, 146
Graham, Mrs. Julia, 260, 262, 263,
269
Grant, U. S., President, 361
Gray, Dr. William C, editor Inte
rior, 309, 310, 426
Greeley, colony of, 1 46; Presby
terian Church, 146
Green, Mrs. Ashbell, 275, 276
Grenfell, Dr., of Labrador, 410,
4". 4'3
Haines, Alaska, 329, 331, 338,
355, 447. 448
Haines, Mrs. F. E., 276-277, 329
Hamilton, Rev. Lewis, 122, 126
Hamilton, William, assistant gen
eral agent, 373, 414, 457
Hamlin, Dr. Teunis S., 414
Harris, Hon. W. T., Commissioner
of Education, 375, 379, 395, 456,
45?
Harrison, Benjamin F., Ex-Presi
dent, 339, 431, 435-436
Hayes, Dr. R. M., 425, 433
Healey, Captain, Revenue Cutter
Bear, 376, 382, 390

INDEX

485

Helena, Montana, 1 16, 179, 182
Henderson, Mrs. Alice P., 37, 379,
404, 418, 440
Herald, N. Y., sensational article
on Churchill Report, 458-459
Herron, Mrs. W. H., 273
Hill, Rev. Timothy, 14, 136, 267
Hill-Top Prayer-meeting, 100
Hope Point, 375, 379
Howard, General O. O., 287, 294
Hughes, Rev. M., 200, 201
Idaho Springs, 145
Idaho Territory, 298, 299
Iowaj Forward Movement, 92-
122, Chapter VI
Iowa, Synod of, 89, 96 ; request of,
94
Iowa, Western, missionary work
in, 96, 112, 121, 146
Jackson, Hon. Samuel, 17
Jackson, Mrs. Delia S., 18
Jackson, Delia Sheldon, 461
Jackson, Elizabeth Leslie, 461
Jackson, Louise (Mrs. Norcross),
20, 28
Jackson, Mrs. Mary, 38, 42, 46,
147, 148, 315
Jackson, Samuel Clinton, 18, 20,
21-25
Jackson, Sheldon, ancestry, 17-18 ;
birthplace, 18, 19; removal of
family to Esperance, 19; dedica
tion to God and missionary serv
ice in baptism, 21 ; removal of
family to homestead farm, 23;
school days and early influences,
25 ; long journeys to Esperance
church, 24, 25 ; preparatory
schools, 27 ; Union College, 27 ;
public confession of faith, 28;
soul- winning in- college days, 29 ;
devotion of life to work on for
eign field, 29, 35 ; physical con
dition not promising in youthful
days, 31, 36; no training in
athletics of modern type, 29-32 ;
graduation from college, 32;
Princeton Seminary, 32; col
porteur, vacation of 1856, 32;

licensure, 33; agent American
Systematic Beneficence Society
(summer of 1857], 33, 34; re
vival of 1859 and its influences,
34, 35 ; commissioned by For
eign Board for work at Spencer,
Indian Territory, 38; gradu
ation, ordination and marriage,
38 ; journey to Spencer, 42-44 ;
school and missionary work, 44-
47, 50 ; serious illness from ma
larial fever, 47-48; resignation
and retirement from mission, 47,
50; commissioned by Home
Board for La Crescent, Minne
sota and vicinity, 52 ; extent of
missionary circuit, 54, 55,71,73;
exposures and perils, 57-61, 71,
72, 80; agent United States
Christian Commission, Army of
Cumberland, 65 ; voluntary la
bours to supplement insufficient
salaries of his associates, 66-68,
103, 284 ; Rochester and regions
around, Chapter VI ; Western
Iowa and regions beyond, 96-
121 ; pioneer work in Synod of
Colorado (1869-1881), Chapters
VI-VII; editor of Rocky
Mountain Presbyterian (1872-
1882), 333, 335; missionary
work in Nevada and Idaho,
298 ; in Texas, 285 ; voluntary
work in and for Alaska, 300-
325. 337-3395 superintendent of
missions in Alaska (1 884- 1 907),
340-345, Chapters XVI-XX ;
special work for and among ex
ceptional populations, leading to
organization of Woman's Execu
tive Committee, 205, 210, 216,
323, 228, 231-242, 254, 258;
prime mover in organization and
development of Woman's Board
of Home Missions, 326, 335,
336-337, 34', Chapter XII; busi
ness manager Presbyterian Home
Missionary (1882-1884), 335,
340 ; special government agent
to collect Indian children for
schools at Hampton and Car-

486

INDEX

lisle, 243-253 ; reindeer project
and its outcome, Chapter XVIII,
458 ; journeys to Siberia for pur
chase of reindeer, 466 ; midwin
ter journey to ; Lapland for pur
chase of reindeer under direction
of War Department, 440—450 ;
address at Carnegie Hall, N. Y.,
429 ; moderator of 109th General
Assembly, 424-426 ; honorary de
grees, 151, 451; Klondike tour
by way of Yukon River, 423,
438 ; expedition to peninsula of
Kamchatka, 453 ; last cruise to
Arctic Ocean, 457 ; impaired
health necessitating surgical
operations, 457, 461 ; resignation
and retirement from official
duties and responsibilities, 462;
celebration of golden wedding,
461; public recognition of half
century of missionary service,
473 ; summary of labours, 465-
466, 470 ; of missionary journeys,
466; of hardships and perils,
467-468 ; oppositions and perse
cutions, 356, 454, 458 ; range of
activities, 469; direct and indi
rect results, 47 1 ; testimonies
and reminiscences of associates
and contemporaries, relating to
the man and his work, 27, 28,
35- 58, 66, 68, 69, 70, 79, 80,
103, 106, 108, 133, 135, 144,
15°, '54-155, l64, 169, 174, 179,
186, 208, 212, 215, 236, 249, 252,
254, 286, 325, 330, 339, 344, 347,
364, 368, 371,4", 4I3>'4I4, 427.
433. 435, 439, 443, 456
James, Hon. Darwin R.r 339
James, Mrs. Darwin R., 276
Jarvis, Lieutenant, 390, 401-402
Jemez, Pueblo of, 236, 243
Kamchatka, 453-454
Kendall, Dr. Henry, Secretary
Home Mission Board, 137, 153,
178, 199, 238, 267, 269, 277-278
Kephart, Rev. William, 1 26
Kilgore, Lieutenant, 456
Kirkwood, Dr. Thomas, 1 70

Kjellman, William A., 394, 399,
438, 441. 443
Labrador, introduction of reindeer
into, 410, 413
La Crescent, 52, 72
Ladies' Board of Missions, N. Y.,
262, 268
Ladies' Union Missionary School
Association, 260
Leadville, 165, 166-167
Lee, Dr. E. Trumbull, 144
Lee, John D., 193
Lindsley, Dr. A. L., 293, 299, 300,
3'4, 3*7. 321
Lyon, Rev. David, 84
McFarland, Rev. D. F., 222
McFarland, Mrs. A. R., 300, 305,
3'3. 3'9. 344
McKinley, William, President,
400, 449
McMillan, Dr. D. J., 133, 186,207,
209-212
McMillan, Dr. G. W., 35, 66, 433
McNiece, Dr. R. G., 204, 416
McNulty, Rev. Joseph, 80
Mallory, J. C, 293
Marsden, Rev. Edward, 418-420
Marsh, Dr. H. R., 384
Martin, Mrs. E. Throop, 260
Menaui, Rev. John, 228, 230
Merrill, Rev. J. A., 235
Metlahkatla, New, in Alaska, 372
Metlahkatla, story of, 289, 418;
visits to, 321, 324, 343
Minaville, N. Y., 19
Minton, Dr. H., 424, 426, 434
Missionary outposts in 1858, 92.
(See map)
Missouri River, Presbytery of, 99,
101, 102
Montana, Presbytery of, 130, 182
Montana, Synod of, 189, 191
Montana, Territory of, 177, 192;
missionary tours in, 116, 152,
179, 185
Moravian missions, Alaska, 366,
373

INDEX

487

Mormonism in Utah, 194
Mountain Meadow Massacre, 195
Mount Pleasant, Utah, 208-209
Nebraska, missionary work in,
92, 103, in
New Mexico, Synod of, 255
New Mexico, Territory of, 219 ;
mixed races, 220 ; missionary
tours, 222, 224, 232, 236, 238,
Chapter XI
Ouray (San Juan), 158, 159
Paden, Dr. William M., 204
Palmer, Dr. Henry K., 240
Parks, Rev. Calvin, 216
Passes, free, as aids to missionary
work, 133-134
Paul, Louis, 332, 417
Paxton, Mrs. W. N., 273-274
Pueblo, Colorado, Presbyterian
Church of, 143-145
Pueblo Indians, 220-221
Pueblo of Laguna, 227-230, 236,
339, 243
Pueblo of Zuni, 236, 240, 243
Radcliffe, Dr. Wallace, 413
Raven fund, 66-69, io3> 284
Rawlins, Wyoming Territory, 117,
172
Reid, Rev. John G., 169
Reindeer, introduction into Alaska,
Chapter XVIII ; adaptation to
arctic and sub-arctic sections,
39'. 398, 406-407, 408; distri
bution and care of herds, 394-
396, 397, 459 ; practical tests of
endurance in winter travel, 399-
408, 409 ; value in rescue work,
398, 401, 498 ; reindeer mail
routes, 408, 409 ; number im
ported from Siberia, for breeding
purposes, 397 ; number at several
stations July I, 1907, 412
Reunion of Old and New School
churches, 98, 124
Rice, Mrs. M. M., 78
Rochester, Minnesota, 741; Presby

terian Church of, 74-77, 80;
Female Institute of, 78

Salt Lake City, 192, 197, 199,
203 ; Presbyterian Church of,
203-204
Salt Lake Collegiate Institute, 205
Sample, Dr. R. F., 150, 424, 434
San Juan, mining camps of, 156;
perilous missionary visits to, 158-
163
Santa Fe, 128, 221-222; Presby
tery of, 127-128, 130, 223
Saxman, native village Alaska, 418,
419
Schurz, Hon. Carl, 243, 320
Scovel, Mrs. S. F., 257, 275
Sheakley, Ex-Governor, Alaska,
456
Sheldon, Dr. Alexander, 18
Shepherd, Mrs. Elliott F., 375
Shields, Dr. J. M., 243
Silver City, 224, 225, 22p"
Sioux City, 100, 183
Sitka, 315, 329, 344, 353, 355;
mission and schools, 315, 337,
338, 34i, 342, 343
Smith, Rev. George G., 227, 230,
231
Smith, George Grantham, 178
Spining, Dr. George L., 425, 426 ;
nominating address of, 427
Stevenson, Prof. L. M., 381, 382
St. Paul, Synod of, 84, 85, 87, 91
Strong, Rev. Robert, 69, 79
Synodical missionaries, 136
Synodical Home Mission Commit
tees (Woman's), 267

Tappan, Dr. D. S., 108
Taylor, Rev. T. F., 243
Teller, Hon. H. M., 339, 391
Teller Reindeer Station, 346
Tenney, President E. P., 133
Thompson, Dr. Charles L., Secre
tary Home Mission Board, 420
Thompson, Rev. Mr., 248
Transcontinental Railway, 93, 102,
197

48S

INDEX

Utah Presbytery, 130, 217, 218
Utah Territory, 192, 193, 194 ;
Mormon occupation of, 192;
pioneer work in, Chapter X;
establishment of mission schools
in, 205, 210, 216, 218
Watson, Mrs. A. G., 79
Welch, Rev. Josiah, 202, 203, 204,
205
Wells, Rev. E. P., 124
Westminster College, Salt Lake,
218, 416
Westward movements and migra
tions, 12, 88, 95
Whitman, Dr. Marcus, 14,145,310
Willard, Mrs. Carrie M., 329, 330,
33'
Willard, Rev. Eugene S., 329, 332
Willard, Frances E., 435, 473
Wishard, Dr. S. E., 199, 202, 205

Woman's Board of Foreign Mis
sions, 261
Woman's Executive Committee of
Home Missions, Chapter XII
Woman's Home Mission work in
early days, 257
Woman's Union Missionary School
Association, 227, 231, 260
Woman's Union Missionary Society
of New York, 259, 261, 262.
(See Ladies' Board of Missions,
268)
Wright, Mrs. J. McNair, 303-305,
329, 332
Wyoming Territory, 170; pioneer
work in, 102, III, 112, 113, 130,
Chapter IX
Young, Brigham, 192, 195, 197,
199, 201, 209
Young, Rev. S. Hall, 315, 318,321

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