cations. If my name appears on the list of Monseigneur of St. Louis, as the Reverend Father Provincial assures me, it is, I take it, with the idea of filling up the list, on which ordinarily three names are entered. In sincere conviction of my lack of virtues and talents for such a task, and believing that your Paternity will be consulted in so important an affair, I consider myself perfectly safe against such a danger. Nothing in the world, with God's favor, could part me from my vocation and from obedience to my superiors in which my only desire is to live and die.
St. Louis University, Nov. 6, 1866.
Dear General MEAGHER
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After I left you at Fort Benton my occupations have been somewhat arduous and laborious. I made several long visits and stays among the various Indian bands I met along the Missouri, particularly at Fort Berthold, at Sully and at the Yankton agency, near Fort Randell. The result of my intercourse with the Indians has been very consoling to me. I baptized over 5oo children and a good number of adults. Among these was the old chief of the Yankton Sioux, surnamed Pananniapapi, or the Man Who Strikes the Ree. His band consists of about 3,000 souls. Should my health permit I intend to establish a mission among these Indians, in the coming spring, and if possible and practicable, shall visit most of the Sioux tribes in the interior north and south of the Missouri, in company with Pananniapapi and some of his braves. I have made all preliminary regulations with them to that effect.
I learn with the greatest pleasure and interest the pleasant and agreeable visit you have made with Mrs. Meagher to St. Ignatius Mission and rejoice that my wagon has thus been of some use to you. I am sorry indeed to hear of the