great difficulty, by granting the Indians an immediate compensation. They have been often disappointed, and place no reliance whatever on promises of agents. Their removal to Jocko reservation, among the Upper Pend d'Oreilles or Kalispels, would best suit the Flatheads, having a common language, but precautions should be taken to prevent the whites from settling on the reservation."
The second mission of the Flathead agency is on the Jocko reservation (Montana Territory), for the Upper Pend d'Oreilles and numbers about 1,500 Indians, all Catholics, including some Kootenai Indians.
The Sisters of Charity have opened a manual-labor school for girls, on the reservation. The average number of teachers is twenty. The Government used to pay $1,200 a year for the maintenance of the teachers and their pupils - for several years past this allowance has been withdrawn by previous agents.
In the Blackfoot agency (Montana Territory), the Catholic missionaries are the only ones who have paid missionary visits to the Indians. I commenced the work thirty two years ago, which has been continued ever since. Over 2,000 Catholics are scattered among the various Blackfoot tribes. The Catholic agent, McCullow, was removed when about commencing a school and church. He was succeeded in the agency by Jesse Armitage, strongly opposed to the Catholic religion, who preached to the Indians. As I learn from good authority his repute in Montana has been far from enviable.
In Idaho, I commenced the Cceur d'Alene mission over thirty years ago; it numbers over 400 Catholics and all are very exemplary. They are industrious and cultivate the soil, but lack instruments of agriculture. If the missionaries had the means at their disposal they would soon have flourishing schools, for the Indians express a great desire to have their children educated. Seltis, their chief, wrote an interesting letter on the subject a few months ago to the Sisters of Providence in Walla Walla.