PART IV.
THE GREAT COUNCIL OF 1851 AND PRECEDING EVENTS.
Itinerary from 1847 to 1851 inclusive.
1847.
Father De Smet returned early in January from New Orleans - Was then sent to Europe on business of the Province - Traveled via Washington, Philadelphia, and New York-Crossed the Atlantic (sixth time) - Landed in Liverpool - Went to London and thence to Antwerp - Thence to Termonde - Visited Paris and returned to Belgium.
No dates given.
Distance traveled, 7,705 miles.
1848.
Early in the year Father De Street started on a tour of the principal cities of Holland and Belgium soliciting funds and enlisting recruits for the missions - Embarked at Ostend and crossed to England - Re-embarked at Liverpool and crossed the Atlantic (seventh time) to New York - Visited Washington and Albany, returning each time to New York - Went to St. Lotus via Albany, Troy, Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Lake Erie to Sandusky, by rail to Cincinnati, by steamboat to St. Louis.
Under orders of his superior, Father De Smet left St. Louis about the middle of August for a tour of the Sioux country on missionary duty -Traveled by steamer to Council Bluffs-Thence by land to Fort Pierre, visiting the various tribes en route - Explored the Bad Lands of White river - Visited nearly all the Sioux tribes - About the end of October he took a skiff at the mouth of Little Medicine river and started for St. Louis - Forced by the ice