of peacemaker. I am waiting for the interpreters' reply; if it. is favorable and my health permits, and above all under the wise direction and with the permission of the Reverend Father Provincial, I propose to visit those warlike tribes in the course of the coming summer. My only object would be to announce to them the word of the Lord, with the words of peace, and to put an end, by wholesome advice, to the massacres of the whites and thereby prevent the entire extinction of the Sioux nation, which must be the final result of this unfortunate and cruel war.
In union of your holy sacrifices and prayers I have the honor to be, with the most profound respect.
Very Reverend Father-General:
WILL add a few lines to my long letter (journey of 1863) to inform your Paternity that no definite decision relative to my renewing my missionary work among the Indians in May has yet been reached. When I was in Washington the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs seemed very desirous that I should repeat my visit to the Sioux this spring, and even offered to pay my traveling expenses. It is going to be very difficult to obtain peace with those terrible savages. I have not compromised nor engaged myself in any way with those high officials.
My health is returning gradually. Meanwhile I have written to two Sioux interpreters, trusty men, raised among those tribes, to consult them and obtain information regarding the present state of the Sioux country with respect to the war, as to the disposition of the Indians in regard to peace, and whether my presence among them could be of any use, to either the Indians or the whites, in the capacity
1 The four letters next following are from the personal letter-books of Father De Smet, the first three being translations from the French. [RT21
St. Louis University, March 14, 1864.
My very dear Silvie:
I cannot express to you the joy and consolation that your good letters have brought me. They are the first I have received from the family, and I am exceedingly grateful to you. I am glad to see that your uncle Francis and dear Paul have received mine of December 24th. I do not get any answer; I know not to what I must attribute the delay; I own to you that the delay pains me deeply. * * *
I cannot hide from you, dear Silvie, that my health has been wavering for some months past, and begins to be threatening. I am broken down with all sorts of troubles I suffer particularly with my head; it is seldom that I can leave my room. In case my health should permit, I will have to make an effort to take the road again, to undertake a very long and dangerous journey among the Indian tribes. In the present difficult circumstances, the Indians being in a state of war, the Secretary of the Interior begs me to go and visit them in the capacity of peacemaker, etc. The interests of our missions, the security of the whites in