Having accomplished the purpose of his journey, Father De Smet returned to St. Mary's. Both on his way out and back he studied, as was always his wont, the spiritual condition, of the tribes through which he passed and the prospects for establishing missions among them. He found the feeling among the Coeur d'Alènes highly promising and he gave these Indians assurances that he would send them priests that very fall. In fulfillment of this promise he directed Father Mengarini to open a mission and leave it in charge of Father Point and Brother Huet.
With all things arranged as far as his humble means would pertmit, and with assurances to his brethren and the Indians whom he was leaving that he would send them early succor from St. Louis and Europe, Father De Smet set out on his return eastward July 29th. He spent two weeks in the plain of the Three Forks with the Flatheads who were there on a buffalo hunt, and then started for St. Louis by the route of the previous year. He was escorted to the Crow country by twelve Flatheads and had as traveling companions an Iroquois by the name of Ignatius, and a Crow half-breed by the name of Gabriel. His short stay among the Crows was full of interesting experiences, to some of which we shall refer later. He left Fort Alexander with his two companions and also two American hunters and together they made the always perilous journey down the Yellowstone to Fort Union. This is Father De Smet's de scription of their daily routine of travel: "At daybreak we saddled and set out and at about 10 A. M. we halted for an hour and a half, being careful to choose a place which, in case of attack, might offer some advantage for defense. After this brief rest we resumed our course and kept up a trot until sunset. After our evening meal we built a big fire and hastily constructed a hut from the branches of trees to make our enemies, who might be on the watch, think that we were encamped for the night. * * * Then we pursue our route until ten or eleven o'clock at night when, without fire or shelter, we dispose ourselves as best we can for