CHAPTER IV.
A SECOND ACCOUNT OF THE JOURNEY OF 1840.1
The start from Westport again - Andrew Drips - The Cheyennes willing to receive missionaries - The polyglot mass at the rendezvous -How the Flatheads and Pend d'Oreilles welcomed him-They learn their prayers and many receive baptism-The return journey eastward - The Crows - Michael Insula - Across the desert and down the river.
Reverend and Dear Sir:
PRESUME you are aware that in the beginning of Off last spring I was sent by the Right Reverend Bishop of St. Louis, and my Provincial, on an exploring expedition to the Rocky Mountains, in order to ascertain the dispositions of the Indians and the prospects of success we might have if we were to establish a mission among them. It is truly gratifying to me to have so favorable a report to make. My occupations do not allow me to enter into all the details; I shall therefore be satisfied at present with giving you a brief sketch of my journey and its result.
I started from Westport on the 30th of April, in company with the annual expedition of the American Fur Company, which for this year had appointed the rendezvous on Green river, a tributary of the Rio Colorado of the West. Captain Drips, who commanded the caravan, treated me on all occasions with the most polite attention. On the sixth day of our journey I was seized with the fever and ague, and have been subject to it for nearly five months. Nothing particularly worth noticing occurred during the journey, except when we halted in the village of the Cheyennes. I was introduced to the chiefs as a minister of the Great Spirit: they showed me great deference, and I was invited
1 To the Reverend F. J. Barbelin. Dated St. Louis University, February 4, 1841. Published as Letter I of the Letters and Sketches. [260]