little doubt that in the course of next spring either myself or some other Black-robe of my friends will leave St. Louis for the Upper Missouri with the intention to carry out the long-projected missions. By the first occasion that will present itself I will send you some good controversial works, which will enable you to resist and confound all the enemies and opposers of the old and true Church of Christ. All their objections are only quibbles, calumnies or lies and are easily refuted. I am sorry indeed to be so much occupied at present; I would like to write to you a long letter. In a few days I will leave for Europe and may be back in St. Louis about New Year.
I hope my friend, Mr. Denig, will have received the letters and books I forwarded to him by Mr. Mackenzie before he left for Red river. Please remember me most kindly to him in your letters and let me know his address, so that I may communicate with him directly. Remember me to all
kind friends at Fort Union and in the upper country. Assure the good Indians who know me that I do not forget them and pray often for their welfare.
Rest assured, etc.
St. Louis University, July 1, 1857.
Sirs:
I have the honor of acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 9th of April ultimo. My absence in Europe, until recently, will account for the lateness of this acknowledgment. In answer to your request for information on the important question proposed, I refer you to the map which I constructed at the request of Colonel D. D. Mitchell in 1851, which was sent to Washington together with the treaty. What reliance you can place on that map, you can best judge from a simple statement of facts. During the ten years I spent in the Indian country I occupied myself occasionally in drawing maps of the countries through