presided at the great Indian council, assured me, on his recent return to St. Louis, that all the tribes of the upper Missouri are devoted to us. He would gladly use his influence with Government for the success of our missions among them. Before setting out for the council, he expressed the wish that I should accompany him to the great Indian assembly.
In a letter from Father Congiato, dated at Santa Clara, November 29th, that superior of the missions of California and Oregon, speaks of his visit to the missions in the mountains. It lasted three months. The following is an extract:
" The Fathers do much good in that remote region. Like his venerable brother, who died on the Missouri in 1851, Father Hoeken does the work of several men. He has succeeded in uniting three nations and a part of the Flatheads to live together under his spiritual direction.
"All was going on wonderfully well when I was in Oregon; now all is on fire. The Indians who live on the banks of the Columbia, from Walla Walla to the Dalles, have joined the Indians of northern California to make war on the Americans or whites, and commit great depredations. One of the Oblates (Father Pandory) has been massacred." The last tidings which I received from the Mission of St. Paul at Colville, inform me that your Indians express their horror for the excesses committed by the Indians, and show no disposition to join them in the war. Pray for your fellow missionaries in Oregon."
Several papers in this country ascribe the origin of this war to the cruelties perpetrated by some whites on a peaceful and tranquil band of Indians. I do not think that our Indians will take the least part in the difficulties which have arisen between the Americans and the Indians of the Columbia. They will doubtless follow the advice of their missionaries, who will divert them from such a great danger and so sad a misfortune. Moreover, they are at some distance from
4 This was a false report.-Editor, Western Missions and Missionaries.