CHAPTER II.
COMMENTS ON THE SITUATION.
Dangers of the Missouri - Kickapoos, Sauks, Iowas and Otoes - Hindrances to conversion of Indians on the frontiers - The Pawnees prefer Catholic priests - Their opinion of liquor - The Omahas come and dance - The Indian Question in 1838 - Notes on the country - Missionary progress.
Reverend and Very Dear Father: (1)
Knowing the great interest that you take in the Indian missions, I propose to give you some details concerning those which we have just undertaken, adding various Indian traditions and a few observations upon the manners and customs of these peoples. In these remote regions, we necessarily meet with numerous privations; but the Lord never lets himself be outdone in generosity; he repays a hundredfold the slightest sacrifice made for him; and if our privations are great, our consolations are much greater. I thank Divine Providence daily for having put me in these countries.
I set out from St. Louis on the 10th day of May, in the company of our Reverend Father Superior [Verhaegen](2) who was to visit the Kickapoos, and Father Helias, who was going to found a new mission among the Germans
(1) To the Father General, dated, Nation of the Potawatomies at the Council Bluffs, July 20, 1838. Translated from the French of Father De Smet's manuscripts. A portion of the letter was published as Letter XXVII, Missions de 1'Orégon.
(2) Peter Joseph Verhaegen, a Belgian, one of the young men who came to America in 1821 and to Missouri in 1823, with Father De Smet; died at St. Charles July 21, 1868, at the age of sixty-eight. Father Verhaegen was very closely connected with Father De Smet throughout their lives. He was a finely educated man, and was first president of the St. Louis University, first vice-provincial of Missouri, provincial of Maryland and first president of St. Joseph's College at Bardstown.