Letter II.
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE CENTRAL COUNCILS OF LYONS AND PARIS.
University of St. Louis, June 1, 1849.
GENTLEMEN:
A transient visit to some tribes of Sioux, on the Upper Missouri, on my way back from the Rocky Mountains, left in me an ardent desire to see those poor Indians again. I was anxious to judge more maturely of their disposition, and ascertain with greater certainty what hopes might be entertained from the establishment of a Mission among them.- During the course of last summer, my superiors granted me this truly consoling privilege.
In order to reach their villages, I was obliged to ascend the Missouri as far as Bellevue (a village situated in the territory of the Ottos, 610 miles from St. Louis, and then pursue my journey on horseback, over immense prairies, for about twenty-five days. An excursion through the magnificent plains of the great American desert, and, above all, in the vicinity of this noble river, which descends in innumerable torrents from the Rocky Mountains, offers undoubtedly many charms, and might afford material for descriptions replete with interest ; but it would be a theme on which I have had predecessors, and, moreover, it would be giving the letters which I have the honor to address you an extent quite beyond what I dare assume. I will content myself with a sketch by Mr. Nicollet, my own experience enabling me to appreciate the exact fidelity of his picture.
"Consider the boundless extent of a prairie-scan one by one its undulations, and borne as it were from wave to wave, from valley to hill-top, find yourself in presence of the-limitless plain which is spread out before you ; journey onward - hours, days, and weeks will succeed each other, and emotions of ever-varying 'delight will captivate the mind, while they, spectacle of inexhaustible wealth and new beauties will fascinate the eve. Without doubt there will be moments in which the ardors of a burning sun, and the privation of pure water capable of allaying thirst, will force you to remember that the best of earthly joys have their hidden thorn; but these trials are rare and brief. A gentle breeze almost continually refreshes the atmosphere in these vast plains, and the surface is so uniform as to baffle a surprise from the most crafty enemy. The route is one field of verdure, enamelled with odoriferous wild-flowers, whose brilliant beauty has no witness but the azure firmament. It is particularly during summer that the aspect of the prairies breathe gayety, grace, and life, and if there be any one moment in which they may excite all the sympathies of the traveller, it is when an Indian hunter, in pursuit of the deer or bison, animates this immense solitude with his presence and motions. I pity the man whose heart remains unaffected before so ravishing a spectacle!"
My land-journey commenced at Bellevue,- nine miles beyond the Nebraska or Platte River, thence to the mouth of the Niobrarah or Eau-qui-court, ten days march. We met not a single Indian, and no vestige of human habitation greeted the eye. But ever and anon we distinguished small' artificial mounds, erected by the hand of man; irregular heaps of stones, and tombs containing the mortal remains of Indians, carefully wrapped in buffalo-robes. At times a solitary post marked the spot where some brave had fallen in the field of battle - where reposed, perhaps, some ancient Nestor of the desert. These monuments, though with no epitaph to attest lofty deeds or transmit names to posterity, are a tribute of a feeling heart - mute testimony of the respect the Indian bears to the memory of a father or a friend, and of the value be attaches to the glory of his ancestors. Some herds of bison and dense flocks of deer, of several species, that fled at our approach, alone beguiled the tedium of the march.
It is customary to encamp in places where the grass is fresh, which is generally on the border of a stream or pond of clear water. Care must also be taken for the safety of the horses during the night. To prevent all accident, they are hobbled - enfargé, as the Canadian voyageurs say - that is, the two fore-legs are tied together, so as to prevent their straying too far from the camp. Two or three men remain on guard against any surprise from the Indians, too justly renowned as the most expert of horse-thieves. These sentinels also protect us against the bears and wolves which infest the wilderness, and incessantly prowl in the neighborhood of camps. Horses, on perceiving them, take fright and fly, unless the necessary precautions have been taken, and it sometimes happens that the most careful measures prove futile. Thus we, one day, lost a superb stallion of great value. Every evening be was tied to a post, with a long and heavy halter, but in a fright, caused by the approach of wolves, he darted forward with such velocity after the other horses as they rushed by him, that on reaching the end of his halter he broke his neck.
In so long a march, through regions so singularly various, two great inconveniences are sometimes experienced-want of water, and of wood. More than once we bad no other fuel than the dry bison-clung, and three times at our camping-ground water failed us. This is a hard trial for man and horse, especially after travelling all day under the burning sun of the month of August. Another kind of torment, still less supportable when the beat is most intense, is the appearance of fantastical rivers and lakes in the verge of the horizon, seeming to invite the weary traveller to advance and refresh his wasted strength upon their banks. Fatigue and thirst picture in the distance verdure, shade, and coolness awaiting him. The illusion increases the desire of quenching your burning thirst. You hasten onward to reach the goal. Hour succeeds hour; the deceitful mirage heightens in brilliancy, and the panting, exhausted traveller presses on without a suspicion that the phantom flies before him. In an open, elevated region, where the atmosphere is in continual agitation, this effect may be easily produced by the reverberation of the sun's rays from the surface of these vast prairies, throwing the various tints of the verdure upon the deep blue of the firmament.
Besides the difficulties arising from the nature of the ground, there are others which summer always brings with its myriads of insects. Among these, the most to be dreaded is the gad fly, the sting of which will make the gentlest horse bound with rage. Happily for the horse in these plains, Providence has bestowed upon him a defender as skilful as devoted. The starling, unalarmed by the presence of man, which, wheeling ever about the rider, lights on the back of the horse or on his load, to dart with wonderful skill upon the malicious insect which is about to attack his travelling companion.
For ourselves, we were obliged to wage continual war upon the swarms of mosquitoes, and their allies the ° gnats." The latter teased us by day, the former, more cowardly, attacked us by night. These famished enemies, the product of the stagnant waters and decaying plants, at the approach of a convoy, rush from their infected abodes, and accompany it, with their plaintive buzzing, to the spot where the traveller seeks in vain a brief repose after the beat awl hardships of the day. The winged tribe at once sound the, trump of mar, and darting on their, tired victim, sting, harass, and pursue him until they have assuaged their sanguinary fury, and obliged the unfortunate traveller, already sweltering with heat, to seek a stifling shelter under a buffalo-robe or a thick blanket. One day I found myself the object of attack of a swarm of winged ants. They came upon me with such furious impetuosity, that in a few seconds I was totally covered. Then I waved my handkerchief about my head, and soon got my horse to leave far behind us this phalanx of black insects, which filled a space of about a quarter of a mile.
To those who pass their days amid the quiet of domestic joys, surrounded by all the delicacies that abundance can produce, a journey through the prairies may appear a sad realization of human misery and suffering ; but to the man that elevates his thoughts above earthly and passing things, in order to devote himself to the many unfortunate souls who will love and serve the true God when they know him, such a one can perceive in these privations, in even greater perils and difficulties which may bo encountered, only slight annoyances, which lie will prefer to all the delights of indolence or the clangers of wealth. He has meditated the sublime words of our Lord : " The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away;" be recollects that a God become man - " although he was without sin, bore the weight." His sufferings finally teach him, that it is through tribulations and sacrifices that he can enter the kingdom of heaven, and conduct thereto those who may desire to range themselves and die beneath the banner of the Cross.
I have the honor to be, with the most sincere respect and profound esteem,
Gentlemen,
Your most humble and obed't serv't,
P. J. De Smet, S. J.