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YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

WALTER McCLINTOCK
COLLECTION

EDWIN STANTON FICKES
- HIS BOOK _^S»

THE SILVER CREEK CHURCH OF THE '60s AND '70s

CORRESPONDENCE OF

REV. LOUIS BAROUX
MISSIONARY APOSTOLIC
OF MICHIGAN

REV. M. J. DE NEVE
SUPERIOR OF THE AMERICAN
COLLEGE AT LOUVAIN

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH
BY
RT. REV. E. D. KELLY, D.D.
AUXILIARY BISHOP OF DETROIT

HISTORY OF THE POTTAW ATOMIES
BY A ZEALOUS MISSIONARY
PRIEST

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH
OF
FATHER BAROUX

RT. REV. E. D. KELLY, D.D.
AUXILIARY BISHOP OF DETROIT

INTRODUCTION.
Near by a sandy road some miles North of
Dowagiac, Michigan, may be seen the Silver
Creek Church, a pretty little red brick building
which balances itself, so to speak, on the farther
edge of a saucer-shaped cemetery. Over this
grave yard the little edifice acts as a sort of
watchful mother who has tenderly laid away her
loving children for their long night's sleep after
having first signed them with the Cross and
Chant. Occasionally, the music of a Requiem
or a Miserere floats out through the opened
stained glass windows over the consecrated rest
ful tombs. It means that some other child has
wearied of the garish day and its good parent
croons until earth's coverlet has been drawn

6 INTRODUCTION
around the chilly form. "Remember man that
thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return."
Many pretentious monuments may be seen on
the sloping hillside and hollow. Some good
Irish farmers builded better than they knew in
war days and when they gathered their harvests
and got good "town" prices, they could add to
their lands and became wealthy. When a mem
ber of the family died an expensive and showy
monument was thought of as one of the neces
sary things, and as a result much money was
expended by some people who could not think
of offering a prayer for the repose of a departed
soul. Crooked little graveled walks divide the
family lots from one another. Wild brier flowers
out into wreaths or crowns which link them
selves in confusion over the mounds, and large
weeping willows trail their frail, long-fingered
branches on the piping blades of grass.
But there is no monument over the grave of
him who made this situation possible. Father
Baroux had planted both Christianity and Civil-

INTRODUCTION 7
ization in this neck of the woods, he had strug
gled through, and endured with patience, the
hopeless winters of the 50's and 6o's, he had
been the faithful shepherd of untamed flocks ;
he had been a pioneer in advocating religious
education; he had willed his body to be buried
in the little grave yard at Silver Creek beneath
the shadow of the sanctuary which he loved and
served through many years.
When "littla" Father Baroux died there were
found those who aided in carrying out his last
will and testament and he was buried side by
side with the Indians and whites to whom he had
brought religious peace and life. The Mission
still contained many who remembered him, even
if he had been in a distant place for years, and
when the mortal remains of the good missionary
father were brought in through the sand dunes
of Silver Creek, Indians and whites seemed to
vie with one another in showing respect and
homage. The descendants of his "enfants des
forests" loved him equally well with the Celtic

8 INTRODUCTION
children who had drifted into these oak-openings
from the waste and famine of Ireland.
The lack of a monument over the grave of
Fr. Baroux became evident to me last summer
when I passed through this district on an auto
trip to Chicago. I motored through Hartford,
Rush Lake, Watervliet, and the "Irish Settle
ment." I passed by the very house in which I
was born and in which Father Baroux used to
say mass. Then the auto was headed through
Keeler, which is remarkable for its good roads
and wonderful shade trees and we arrived at
Silver Creek. There are a great many diamond
lakes rosaried together in this wide district and
it was a pleasure to follow up the string of beads
so to speak, and count them o'er and o'er, a sort
of pleasure penance on him who had not wor
shipped at the lakes shrine for many years.
One could not help thinking that if the roads
had not improved much since Fr. Baroux's time
the mode of transportation had. At certain sea
sons of the year Fr. Baroux had spent a whole

INTRODUCTION 9
week on a sick-call to some poor Indian in the
parish of Rush Lake. In places the road would
be impassible on account of floods or deep mud,
or possibly snow drifts. In such emergency he
would appeal to the farmers who always helped
out generously. Food was furnished, fences
opened up, and a new pathway found through the
fields. Today the sick call which is made by
auto, trolley or train, demands no such sacrifices
and indeed by means of the telephone we may
sometimes get a neighbor to make the call for us.
if he be not too particular.
But how erect that monument? That ques
tion came into my mind again and again as the
speedometer told the miles. It was a question
that overshadowed that of "tire trouble." Like
Bauquo's ghost, it would not down. Shortly af
ter this Father Laugel of Detroit, placed in my
hands the extensive correspondence which Father
Baroux had sent to the Rev. Superior of Lou-
vain University, and which had been published
in France in 1865. Immediately I said to myself,

10 INTRODUCTION
why not translate this book into English, and
with the proceeds, if there be any, erect a monu
ment over the grave of this brave good priest-
hero?
The Translator.

REV. LOUIS BAROUX

CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION
AMONG THE POTTAWATOMIES OF
INDIANA AND MICHIGAN
Right Rev. Monsignor De Neve.
My Dear Superior:
Since receiving your letter about two
years ago, I have frequently reproached myself
for my silence. I have keenly desired on the
one hand to satisfy your wishes by writing the
history of the tribe of the Pottawatomies con
fided to my charge here in Michigan, but on the
other hand it is distasteful to me to thus come
out of my sweet retirement and exploit myself
in the broad light of publicity.
I believe, however, that duty on my part
impels me to accede to your wishes and entrust

I2 AN EARLY
to you the history of these poor savages. I must
be mindful that in giving you this pleasure I am
not releasing myself from a debt of gratitude.
You, even you, have evangelized these dear
children of the forest during my absence preach
ing to other people in the tropical East Indies ;
you have consoled them ; you have visited them
and your appearance in the midst of them was
an unspeakable good fortune which they will
never forget. Through the inscrutable designs
of Providence I was destined after long suffering
to return to Asia, to pass one year in France
recuperating my strength, and finally to return
to this mission which my enforced absence had
made more dear to me.
And you, Monsieur le Superior, after having
labored with such zeal in this so interesting
Michigan Mission have left us but only to labor
in a similar cause, the preparation of other mis
sionaries in the American College of Louvain.
If you are now far away from the center of your
first Apostolic labors your affections continually

INDIAN MISSION

13

recall you here, and I appreciate the desires of
your heart demanding fresh sacrifices in the in
terest of a country so dear.
In rendering this debt of gratitude I am only
responding to the prayers of my Catholics who
are happy because you have not forgotten them
and who desire that you always keep them in
your remembrance.
During your very short sojourn in America,
it was easy for you, Monsieur le Superior, to un
derstand and perceive at a glance the needs of
our Missions in Michigan. You are now able
to see what an extensive and fruitful field ex
pands itself before the zeal of the missionary
who desires to consecrate his entire existence to
the glory of God. With me, during two years,
you have visited my dear Catholics of Silver
Creek and Nakanek-Kenbess. The piety of the
Pottawatomies has touched you ; their lively faith
has made impressions upon you as I can see by
your letter. It is necessary to understand the
history of their persecutions, to see face to face,

1 4 AN EARLY
the victims of the white man's double dealing, to
consider well their patience and their saintly res
ignation, in order to comprehend the sublimity
and nobility of these newly made Christian souls.
To accomplish properly the task you demand
from me, time and reflection are necessary. Long
drives and various occupations distract me in do
ing a work so long expected by you.
It is more than six years since I first came
among the Pottawatomies. I was young then.
I arrived in America with impressions more or
less erroneous concerning the Indians whom we
call the Red Skins. When I came face to face
with these children of the forest I experienced
an indefinable sensation and one which can not
be expressed in any sort of language. When
we left Europe we had strange ideas of savages !
Our imagination represented them as barbarians.
I often laugh at the simplicity of those who in
1848 believed in my country that my Indians had
devoured me. To a great many people in Europe
Indian or Savage is always synonymous with

INDIAN MISSION 15
MAN EATER. Indeed there are not in Michi
gan savages who would devour one, but there
are nevertheless, in America 300,000 Indians or
more, who are plunged in the darkness of infi
delity. The very interesting letters of Father de
Smet are full of knowledge on the conditions of
these Indians. A great number of their tribes
cultivate a dislike towards one another, they pur
sue one another with unrelenting hate; they are
continually at war and threaten mutual destruc
tion. We find a reason for these wars of exter
mination in the disparity of the tribes, and the
vast solitudes of the forests formerly traversed
by them. They say in France that in 100 years this race
of people will entirely disappear. That is not my
way of thinking. The teachings of the Gospel
will give them a new viewpoint and perspective
and introduce them to civilization, and the race
will perpetuate itself in the oncoming cycles. We
have Catholic Indians whom we do not see decay
ing and race-suiciding any more than the Euro-

1 6 AN EARLY
pean colonies transplanted to these far off shores.
Superficial and unfounded opinions which the
world conceives as incontestible truths only prove
that the Europeans have a very limited knowl
edge of America.
One serious thought often gives me pain;
it is to understand or comprehend the future of
these American states where civilization has pen
etrated, and where we have 300,000 pagan sav
ages in immense as well as distant solitudes. We
have an abundant harvest but the Gospel work
ers are very few in numbers and the spiritual
wants of the civilized states are so great that our
bishops can not supply a sufficiently numerous
priesthood. Hence some few Missionaries must
take the initiative in the conversion and direction
of these Indians in their remote and almost in
accessible districts.
I have been much disturbed by reading a book
which was brought back from Washington by
Simon Pokagon, one of my Indians. It is a
complete exposure of the efforts of American

INDIAN MISSION 17
officials to propagate error among these savages.
These proselyters show a zeal worthy of a better
cause, while we Catholics, doing little or noth
ing, look on as the work of Satan progresses.
Is it necessary for me to indict Catholicism?
No, a thousand times, no; that would be an in
justice. For how long a time has not Europe
generously sacrificed large amounts to the prop
agation of the faith and sent out missionaries in
large numbers every day to carry the good news
of the Gospel to the extremities of the world?
Her generous sisterhoods have grasped the su
preme wants of the Catholic world ; they also
have wished to associate themselves in this sub
lime cause ; they wish to share in the merits of
the work of Gospel propagation : associations are
formed under different names to furnish orna
mentations and vestments to the poor churches
of Europe and the missions of the world. One
sees on every side in your country such apostolic
zeal developing itself, shall I say, in ways that
are indifferent? No, that is not my intention,

1 8 AN EARLY
but I grieve to see that with all our zeal and all
our efforts we are not able to do justice to the
work. Thousands of these savages are starving,
and no one is found to give them the bread of
life ; they are thirsty and no one is found to give
them the refreshing waters of salvation. The
number of missionaries is increasing no doubt
but what is that for the whole world! At my
arrival in 1846 we had 700 priests in the United
States and now in 1862 there are 2,600 but what
is that number in a country as vast as Europe
itself ? France alone has more than 4,000 priests
many of whom see with grief the sterility of
their labors. They have beautiful churches, which
are deserted while we in our missions have pious

Note : — This prophecy of the future of the Indian
seems impossible of fulfilment. He lacks the initiative,
the balance and poise which centuries of civilization
have given to the white man.
In 1913 the number of Catholic priests in the United
States had increased to 17,945 and the Catholic popu
lation, according to Archbishop Ireland, to 18,000,000.

INDIAN MISSION i9
and fervent catholics but no churches. Wait pa
tiently and courageously, I can see in the distance
a brilliant horizon expanding. During the three
years when we traversed together these forests
of Michigan, we entertained ourselves with this
subject; the remembrance is still precious to me
and I love to recall all we talked about at that
time. Four years ago, as you remember, this part
of Michigan which you have seen was a deep
wilderness. You have traveled through these
virgin forests for a whole week without finding
any trace of civilization. The savages were the
lords of the country. They then possessed all
the vast territory in the South of Michigan and
in the North of Indiana.
White men coming from the old world de
sired a still greater expansion of territory here.
Their inordinate ambition could not be content
with the possession of more than 300 miles of
country and so the poor Indian had to submit to
the law of greater force. Might is right where

20 AN EARLY
no other principle is recognized ; it was the sur
vival of the fittest, at the expense of all justice.
The Indian was compelled to sell, or have his
land taken away from him by a presumed title
which meant spoliation. Insignificant amounts
were offered, promises made, treaties signed, but
the whole transaction for the most part resem
bled rather a comedy than a serious act and the
poor savage was finally forced to give up his
forests, and to roam over the immense tracts of
the West. If this forced exile had been planned
with dignity, he would be fortunate, but the
white man, from the old world, adds cruelty to
spoliation by making an insolent and cruel sol
diery accompany these unfortunate victims into
their place of exile and to treat them with indig
nity. It does not astonish us today if the United
States is receiving a fitting chastisement for these
injustices !
They say it is better to see civilization pre
vail, and the forests cultivated, than to permit the
Tndian to be master of the forests and to lead the

INDIAN MISSION 2i
life of a useless vagabond. I am perfectly of
this opinion, but first of all make the savage ap
preciate our civilization. It is not by robbing
him with indignity and chastising him with cruel
ty that he will appreciate us. The savage has in
his conscience an idea of justice and rights, of
falsehood and of truth. We have taught him the
vices of civilization and instructed him by our
actions to despise us.
Of late, in Minnesota, the Sioux would per
haps not have committed such cruelties if they
had not previously been the victims of revolting
injustices. When I think of the conduct of the
Europeans in regard to these people, I blush at
our haughty pretentions.
We believe ourselves called to convert them ;
our American agents during their visits take the
liberty of preaching to them, wishing to make
them appreciate our civilization, and in all their
preaching there is one moral only on their lips.
These agents are accompanied and followed by a
large number of merchants and adventurers who-

22 AN EARLY
sell their goods, often of a questionable quality,
to say nothing more, at fabulous prices. Here is
one instance among many others which shows
the profit made by one of these merchants whom
I knew in Indiana. In his jewelry shop he had
some needles which greatly aroused the curiosity
of the savages. For the first time in their lives
these childish people saw a great many attractive
objects. They came to sell a portion of their
land and to receive a certain sum of money ; just
like children who wish to possess and to buy
everything they see, they pressed forward to
make their purchases. The crafty merchant
knows their weakness, he knows that the savage
wishes to have the object of his curiosity at what
ever price it be ; then he asks an exorbitant price ;
each needle is sold for a dollar, that is to say a
little more than five francs. Some of the In
dians, however, are amazed; they cannot under
stand how so small an object can be sold at such
a high price ; but the clever knave is not discon
certed; he replies that the maker of needles is

INDIAN MISSION

23

dead and that these are the last there are in the
world ; then all wish to procure some of them and
the shop is soon exhausted. This is a sample of
the thousand clever tricks resorted to by a great
number of such adventurers, all of whom have
made great fortunes. But Divine Justice sooner
or later takes its course and ruin is inevitable as
I have often seen in this country. Brandy is
sold largely under these circumstances and the
usual consequences are always disputes, blows
and sometimes murders.
It is true, as I have said before, that Protest
ant ministers work diligently to establish schools ;
they preach the Bible, each according to the in
spiration of his imagination, but what result can
come from this confusion of contradictory doc
trines ?
My Pottawatomies were also obliged to suffer
the same as the other Red Skins ; they had to see
their lands taken away and themselves driven
to the Western plains.
In 1827 an agent sent by the government of

24 AN EARLY
Washington made the savages the first proposi
tions. They were at that time divided into five
tribes each having its particular chief. All the
first propositions were rejected as the savages
were wise enough not to be deceived by words
and false promises. The agent seeing his efforts
useless had recourse to another expedient which
reminds one of the history of the foundation of
Carthage from the first book of the Aeneid of
Virgil, verse 366:
Moenia surgentemque novae Carthaginis
arcem,
Mercatique solum, facti de nomine Byrsam
Taurino quantum possent circumdare tergo.
He made a fine proposition to the savages.
He promised them two hundred dollars, that is
to say a little more than one thousand francs, for

Note : — The Colonists according to the classical story-
bought as much land as they could cover with a bull's
hide. By cutting the hide into strips they got a gen
erous site for their town. The legend in all probability
arose from a confusion of the Phoenician "bursa"
citadel, with the Greek "bursa," hide.

INDIAN MISSION 25
a small space just large enough to be covered by
a buffalo hide; not suspecting any trick, these
poor Indians consented willingly to the sale of
this small space on such favorable conditions.
The agreements were stipulated and signed on
both sides and the agent prepared to take posses
sion of his property.
The Red Skins could not understand the folly
of the agent ; they were not able to explain how
a pale face, considered so clever, could pay a
sum so enormous for a few feet of ground. They
laughed at his simplicity to be so duped. Our
sharp Yankee (American) laughed quietly to
himself and prepared to play his trick. He cut
the buffalo skin with care to reduce it to a fine
threat of prodigious length ; then with the aid
of his accomplice he extended it in a way to make
a circle of considerable size. The savages thor
oughly dumbfounded were not able to recover
from their surprise. "Taia" ! they said to each
other. "Taia"! "What do you say to that"? In
vain they wished to protest. The agent set his

26 AN EARLY
stakes, he was now the owner of the land. "What
does he intend to do," said the savages among
themselves. What use can he make of a little
land lost in the woods? It was not any mystery
for our Yankee. He alone knew his plan of at
tack. Gold and silver could not win the savages
but he resolved to try another means. He ar
ranged to build a house on the new property and
become a landlord or rather an inn-keeper. He
distributed whiskey or brandy in profusion and
very soon his aim was accomplished.
Four of these savages fell into the trap set
for them. They became intoxicated frequently
and their will power weakened. Pokagon, one of
the five chiefs had enough strength and courage
in his character to despise these means of corrup
tion. The agent seeing him immovable obtained
a kind of badge for him from the president at
Washington, but this did not succeed either. Our
agent tries again with the four chiefs. He lav
ished brandy on them and these men under the
pernicious influence of whiskey were very willing

INDIAN MISSION 27
to sell a certain portion of their land. Pokagon
was indignant at the weakness of his compa
triots, and his repeated efforts became powerless
against the perfidious snares of our American.
A longer resistance was useless. He was obliged
to submit to sign that infamous treaty, of July
27, 1827, but he imposed one condition, that he
be left in the country with the tribe which he
governed. The agent did not wish to consent to
this restriction but he could not conquer the ob
stinacy of Pokagon, and finally submitted to his
wishes. The first treaty was only a prelude to many
others. They overcame the first difficulties. The
government was patient and prepared the way
for a treaty of much greater importance. The
savages could not withstand the force of conces
sions. A larger tract of land was demanded;
recourse was had to the same means. Brandy
was poured out with profusion and the same
results obtained. The second treaty was signed
at Chicago the 26th and 27th of September, 1833.

28 AN EARLY
Pokagon married one of his daughters to a
catholic half-breed of Canada whose father was
French and mother an Indian of the Ottawa
tribe. This man, by name Mr. Mousse, often
spoke of his religion to the Pottawatomies who
were yet heathens and adored the Great Spirit
whom they did not know. I can not do better
than give you an idea of their religious notions
in a language you know. "Bowaowchkagonc,
Potatowennen, Debabadown, Chkoteh, Namken-
elk, Watchipokchenan, Nimamautomam, Kije-
m o n i t o, Tchohekennemacs, Tchakemenetok,
Michpinyek, Kimentoke, Eiapowa, Euekawa, Ni-
jaowenemegot, Gigetal, Ehassomagok, Bababo-
wennen, Eteceh, Maktehkah, Negot-Ekchessess,
Tchakekomeianck, Mina, Kijemnito, Mehgowa,
Kiskeponia, Deteness, Tcho, Nowoplemases."
"I believe I am sinful and that I shall see the
flaming earth opening to swallow me. I adore
the Great Spirit whom I know not ; I adore all
animals in my imagination and in my dreams be
lieving they wish me well. I wish to develop my

INDIAN MISSION

29

conscience by fasting and sacrifices but I am lost
in the deep womb of night."
I remark in the savages, whom I baptize, that
they give evidence of their belief in the above
formula of the Singwoa. Their religion has
nothing fixed or permanent; they have confused
ideas of the divinity ; their perturbed souls are
the victims of foul and strange illusions ; their
existence is miserable and worthy of compassion.
Thus it is easy to understand how these men
duped by a vagabond imagination conceive the
desire of departing from this state of trouble and
anguish. Pokagon took advantage of the treaty to (de
mand a priest and to stipulate that each year a
sum of money should be paid to carry on a
school and so provide for the civilization of his
people. Some weeks after the conclusion of the treaty
the agent brought a protestant minister to the
Indians to teach them the Christian religion. But
Pokagon who had asked for a Black Robe (Mak-

30 AN EARLY
takonia) was mystified when he saw the preacher
with his wife and family. "The agent does not
understand," he says, "I asked for a Black Robe
who could communicate with the Great Spirit
and not for a man, who like myself, is engrossed
with the cares of a family." The preacher wished
to show that he preached the same Gospel, be
lieved in the same Redeemer, and had the same
religion. But Pokagon was not again to be in
fluenced and seduced, and remained so inflexible
in his opinion, that the preacher was not success
ful. Furthermore Pokagon, intelligent enough
to see that the rule worked both ways, in the case
of himself and in the case of the minister with
his family, said to him: "Since the savage is
obliged to look out for the wants of his family,
little time is left to minister to the wants of
others. He has to bring up his children, to train
them, to procure them situations, to overcome all
obstacles; how under such circumstances is one
fitted to give them religious instruction"? Pok
agon finds it difficult to make the Indians under-

INDIAN MISSION 31
stand that such a man can not lead them to the
Great Spirit. The new missionary persists again
and again in his efforts, but in the end is forced
to leave. If we consult the history of the sav
ages for the last 30 years we always find the
same disposition ; they always prefer the Black
Robes. If the protestant ministers succeed in intro
ducing themselves among these people it will be
by the aid of large sums of money and Bible so
cieties. We have only a few catholic missionaries
spread over this territory vast as the ocean, and
receive but scant encouragement in the Indian
Missions. In Europe it is frequently given out
as a final opinion that the savage peoples of the
U. S. are not widely dispersed. This is an error
which passes from mouth to mouth and soon is
looked upon as an incontestable truth by the
whole world.
The Rev. Father de Smet in a letter of Octo
ber 5th, 1845, writes : "The great Indian district
of the United States (if I may so speak) is the

3 2 AN EARLY
only one deprived of spiritual succor and the way
of Eternal life ; it contains several hundred thous
and savages between the Missions of the Rocky
Mountains all deprived of spiritual consolation.
Everywhere the priest travels he is received with
open arms in the midst of these tribes, alas how
sadly neglected and forgotten !" Since that time
a little has been done ; some few missionaries
have been sent and some aid given ; but it is how
ever a poor mission and seems to excite scant
sympathy. Pokagon seeing himself delivered from the
presence of the vexatious preacher, journeyed to
Detroit to request a black-robe of the Catholic
bishop. His lordship listened with pleasure and
sweetness to the message of the savage and
promised he should not be forgotten. The chief
having returned awaited impatiently for two
years the arrival of the missionary. The people
began to murmur and reproach the old chief for
having dismissed the protestant preacher. Poka
gon wearied by these reproaches again stood by

INDIAN MISSION 33
the bishop's side to say : "Great Black robe Kije-
makrakonia, neither do our people of the forest
in any way deceive, nor will I believe on the other
hand that the chief of the Black Robes who
speaks with the Great Spirit is capable, of be
traying us like other white men who with lying
tongues speak against their convictions" ; the
bishop justified his conduct by pointing out to
him that he did not have a sufficient number of
priests up to this time for his immense diocese,
and that he could not personally provide for the
different places, sending in demands of a similar
nature. The faith of the poor pagan chief was
however soon rewarded, as some weeks later
Father Deseille, a young Belgian priest of the
diocese of Ghent, parish of Slydenge, arrived. As
you are acquainted with the excellent family of
this saintly missionary and as you know from his
own lips the history of the Indians and conse
quently of his edifying life, it is not necessary
for me to say, Monsieur le Superieur, that the

34 AN EARLY
choice of Monseigneur was a benediction to these
poor people.
Pokagon, worthy of such favor by reason of
his great soul, his perseverance and untiring ef
forts to procure a black robe, quickly understood
the merit and virtue of Fr. Deseille. When he
sees this man of prayer consecrating his every
moment to the instruction of his people, when he
sees him devoting his days and nights with per
sistent zeal to the salvation of souls, and spend
ing hours in communicating with God by prayer,
he fully realizes that the young priest is an am
bassador of the Great Spirit with a divine com
mission to convert his people. Wrought up by
the zeal of the missionary he wishes to become in
some way his coadjutor. Although of an ad
vanced age, he learns with avidity the prayers
and essential truths of religion and in some weeks
he is able to give instructions to the more ignor
ant and to assist in any way possible the efforts
of the missionary in preparing the Indians for
baptism. His faith and zeal were edifying, for

INDIAN MISSION 35
each morning before sunrise, he mounted his
horse, drove through the village and aroused the
entire populace so that all might attend church
and listen to the instructions of the priest.
God does not fail to hear the ardent prayers
of these generous hearts who live for his greater
glory and honor. The savages, edified by the
life of the Black-Robe, who preached to them a
religion so holy and sublime, both by his example
and word, came by the hundreds to be regenerat
ed in the waters of baptism. Not long since they
had given themselves over to the most extrava
gant superstitions, abandoning themselves into
the hands of jugglers and medicine men who had
imposed rigorous fasts and scarcely believable
practices upon these tribes. One saw occasion
ally a savage, passing by order of the medicine
man, several days in a stupor or dream, because
of sickness. It was thought necessary at the dic
tation of the juggler to withdraw from the com
munity to fast as long as possible. When the
Indian was sufficiently subdued or weakened and

36 AN EARLY
could abstain no longer without danger of death,
he was permitted a little nourishment and the
proportion increased each day as he revived. It
would take too long to enumerate the thousand
absurdities which obtained among them.
These savages regenerated and reclaimed to
civilization by Father Deseille afford the world
a history worthy of the first ages of the Church.
Here in the forests one hears the sacred hymns
of the Church, sounding to heaven; here is that
heavenly dew, grace which has fallen on those
hearts so lately ferocious and has germinated new
life and fructifying virtue. How beautiful is this
Church ever ancient and ever new ! In it we find
the principle of life which does not change; or
it is the tree in the branches of which the world
may find shelter. Exposed to the tempests of
the wicked, it gains strength and durability by
storms. Father Deseille, as yet quite young, was al
ready destined for heaven and was not to enjoy
here below the fruits of his labors. His life, as

INDIAN MISSION 37
that of the just was to be one of trials and suf
fering. His poor savages loved him and had
made amends a hundred fold for his fatigue and
his suffering, but he had to see these poor people
the victims of the white man's injustice, and his
fatherly heart bled at the thought of those in
famous treaties, extorted by violence, trickery and
corruption from the Indians. The priest in his
generous soul became indignant at the imposi
tions practiced on his people and announced in
the language of conviction three significant
events which have been verified to the letter.
Two men had sold their conscience and their
honor to aid the government agent ; they had
received, as the reward of their intrigue against
the savages, considerable sums of money as well
as specified fertile lands. Father Deseille re
proached them for their shameful cupidity. "You
are rich today," he says, "Mr. B., you have a rich
table, your revenue is prodigious, you have
around you the display of a prince, but the day
will come sooner than you think, when you will

38 AN EARLY
be in poverty and will have nothing to put on
your table." His astonished companions deride
such extravagant language.
Divine justice was not long delayed. Mr. B.
so prodigiously rich and surrounded by flatterers,
launches out into huge enterprises and meets with
complete ruin. You know this man, as well as
I, Monsieur le Superieur ; you have seen him in
your mission and you have seen him reduced to
poverty. This Mr. B. had as an associate in his
dishonorable transactions a certain Mr. C. who
was a man of considerable influence. One day
Father Deseille said to him : "Pride and ambition
blind you. You wish to elevate yourself on the
ruins of these poor savages, but God will humil
iate you, the multitude will deride you and you
will find yourself an object of scorn in the coun
try. These prophetic words had their effect late
ly ; this Mr. C. having become insane, in an act
of folly, by which he violated every principle of
decency, ran nude through the streets of South

INDIAN MISSION 39
Bend. A little later he perished by a miserable
accident. Five years ago, Mr. Mousse, my interpreter,
and my savages frequently recounted for me
these two marvellous events and recalled Mr. B.
and his family history. They also related that
Fr. Deseille had frequently said that the United
States would be punished, the savages would be
revenged, such injustices demanded some chas
tisement ; that they would see two presidents in
the country, the states would be at war, much
blood would be shed, the country ruined and fin
ally that God would punish America. Four years
ago if you recall we spoke of the different proph
ecies of Father Deseille; we were, up to that
time, free from troubles and revolutions ; our re
public seemed to enjoy perfect calm; we felt it
was decqjtion ; that it was like the calm which
precedes a great tempest. However a storm was
beginning. It has come upon us unexpectedly
like a thunderbolt. That which seemed to me
five years ago an imaginary fear, has now devel-

40 AN EARLY
oped into a reality. Two presidents are in power,
and 200,000 people have been ruined in the South.
Fatigued by the continuation of his painful
ministry, heart-broken by so much iniquity, Fr.
Deseille soon weakened under a fatal malady.
Pressed by the severity of his trouble he con
sulted a physician in South Bend who did not
diagnose his case properly and administered to
him a very violent remedy. Father Deseille soon
comprehended his condition, and said to Mr.
Mousse his interpreter: "The doctor has given
me a fatal dose of medicine ; send to Chicago and
Logansport, Indiana, for two priests to give me
the last sacraments." He asked for two priests
thinking that the chances of disappointment
would be less. His desire to see a brother priest
was so great that whenever he heard a slight
noise he would say: "See if that is a priest who
is coming." Day and night he repeats the same
questions to those who watched by his side ex
pecting each instant the approach of death. Their
hearts were torn with fear and hope; they were

INDIAN MISSION 41
discouraged at seeing death hovering so near by.
Finally after many hours of anxiety the Indians
reappeared at the mission; they had only heart
rending news. One of the priests whom they
visited was sick with a similar disease, the other
had departed for a distant mission, the time of
his return being uncertain. This was a new cross
which God has reserved for our saintly mission
ary ; there was no hope to receive the last conso
lations of a dying Christian ; he who was most
generous of spiritual consolation to a thousand
souls approaches death after the manner of his
adorable Master in the Garden of Olives, with
out any one to console him or to aid him. Our
Lord touched by the saintly submission of the
dying man inspired him to give a final mark of
his love by drawing himself to the foot of his
rude altar. Prostrate before the tabernacle he
long delayed, that his dying heart might still
farther articulate to his Saviour. The angels
without doubt admired the ravishing spectacle
of our young missionary, pausing for the mo-

42 AN EARLY
ment to prostrate himself before an altar erected
in the solitude of the forests. His poor chil
dren, who would soon be orphans, were grouped
about him. They were in consternation and their
oppressed hearts could not contain their grief so
vivid and so overwhelming. Their sighs and
tears gave evidence of a deep and overflowing
emotion. They see for the last time their Black
Robe prostrate before the altar, praying for them
and recommending them to the Great Spirit. Ah !
what must have been the fervor of the prayers
of that heart burning with love ! This last prayer
was one of ecstasy so that those who were pres
ent could not understand how he could kneel so
long. His love and his faith sustain him. Before
quitting this earth and separating himself from
those who are weeping for him, he is doubtless
asking for a thousand favors and pouring forth
prayers which only the affection of a father could
suggest. Finally he raises himself a little and
throws a last look at his people, whose eyes,
dimmed with tears, are immovably fixed upon

INDIAN MISSION 43
this august and unusual sight ; he blesses them
and falls before the altar. This great effort
brought a collapse and our saintly missionary
after some moments carried into heaven his life
of grace and prayer September 26, 1837.
It is utterly impossible to depict the scene
of desolation, or the mourning and grief of the
unfortunate savages. They have lost him who
was more dear to them than the world, a father
who loved them with the affection of a child.
His death was a frightful misfortune; they could
not think of the possibility of his loss. They
were yet in a state of delusion, they could not
think he was dead, they prayed and wept, not
daring to come near the remains. The day fol
lowing, the news of his death had spread and
many people came up from South Bend to ob
tain information. They found the Indians
grouped around the body in deep consternation,
but none of them had interfered with it in any
way.

44 AN EARLY
"Why have you not prepared the body for
burial?" asked the visitors. "But how can we?"
said the Indians, "since we are not permitted to
touch a priest?" They had such great respect
for the ambassador of the Great Spirit that no
one dared to undertake this final duty to the
dead. The interpreter, who from similar mo
tives, did not wish to take such liberty on him
self, finally consented to perform this act of su
preme importance and our saintly missionary
was buried beneath the very Church wherein he
breathed his last.
I always recall with happiness that I had the
consolation of offering up the holy mass in this
same Church on this same altar during the win
ter of 1846. This Church, if I may so call it,
was about 50 feet long and was so low that one
could touch the ceiling with his hand; at the far
end was space for the Sacristy which was open
to the winds, the altar was about 15 feet across
the front. I have often found it covered with
snow, and during mass, my hands not accus-

INDIAN MISSION 45
tomed to the rigor of winter in these parts, be
came benumbed; but I do not complain; on the
contrary I think God has accorded me a signal
favor in selecting me as the successor of that
saintly missionary.
More than two years afterwards they moved
the remains of Father Deseille into the new
Church which was constructed a short distance
from the other. I had the consolation to both
see and touch the body which had been the cause
of so many benedictions. I passed many hours
contemplating this figure still eloquent in the
silence of the tomb. The body was well pre
served ; death without its retinue of decomposi
tion seemed to favor him, that we might have a
more abiding faith. The sight affected me to
such a degree that it will always remain with
me as a most forceful remembrance.
Divine Providence however had pity on these
poor people. Soon another priest was sent to
them, a Father Petit, a young man of merit who
had given up a brilliant calling in his own coun-

46 AN EARLY
try. This worthy successor of Father Deseille
continued his good work. The savages, still
weeping over their first spiritual father who had
regenerated them in the faith, consoled them
selves on seeing the other Black-Robe, an envoy
of the Great Spirit, possessing the same virtue
and endowed with the same spirit of faith and
charity. The pious missionary came up to their
expectations. Have not the Pottawatomies seemed to enjoy
in peace the benefits of civilization in the practice
of Christain virtue? but alas! this good fortune
was not to be continued. The Indian, as the rest
of men, is weak, his days are numbered and his
life full of misery.
Homo natus de muliere brevi vivens tempore
repletur multis miseriis.
As I have already said the Indians had the
weakness to sell all their land and had consented
to go into Missouri. The patience of the govern
ment was exhausted and yet the Indians seemed

INDIAN MISSION 4?
to think themselves beyond the reach of danger ;
but this illusion of some years was to end.
In 1838 strict orders came from Washington
to carry out the treaties ; agents arrived ; and fin
ally soldiers came to drive the Indians from their
country. The government demanded with rigor
ous scruple that the Indians carry out their part
of the treaty, but did not take care to fulfil its
own part of the contract. Moreover, the In
dians had not yet received the 3,000,000 francs,
$600,000 owed them for 30 years by the govern
ment. Pokagon had stipulated that the sum of $70,-
000.00 should remain in the hands of the govern
ment, the interest of which should be used yearly
for the support of a school and the support of
religion and a priest. But the government ig
nored both interest and principle. It is a fact
that innumerable efforts were made to induce the
Indians to go into the non-catholic schools, where
they would receive a gratuitous education, but
these schools are directed by Presbyterians who

48 AN EARLY
are bitterly opposed to the Catholics. My good
Indians by the grace of God have resisted all
their efforts, but they have no resources for
school and churchy nothing to support their
priest, while the protestant ministers are paid
generously for their work among the Indians.
Pokagon wished a Black- Robe ; the protestant
minister had been dismissed with his wife and
family. The Indians were to suffer. The gov
ernment would fulfil its obligations, but it will
be on the condition that the Indian will adopt the
religion which the agent wishes to impose on
him; that he should become a Methodist or a
Presbyterian, it mattered little provided he dis
continued his Catholicity.

Note : — We can see from the above what fallacy it
is to say that religious training or education is an after
thought or a modern department of education. Why
even the poor Indian, dug up out of the forest so to
speak, demanded religious education even as an infant
asks for milk! Religious education begins when the
mother teaches her child to pray. Religion is not
a theory, but a condition which should be made to

INDIAN MISSION 49
Returning to our subject, Fr. Petit was aware
of the whole extent of the trouble when he wrote
his family at Rennes as follows: "I now have a
hopeless outlook, for my Indian mission is soon
to be destroyed. It is a dark background to the
tableau of my present life. I will console the
Indians in their tears when they go into exile.
I will see the destruction of their Altar and their
Church. I will erect a cross over their tombs
that these saintly mounds may not be desecrated
by heretical profanations. Then it will be neces
sary to say adieu to them for they will never re
turn, those whom I love and who love me so

confront the creature all through life. Religion is the
adhesive element which with the flowing liquid-like
grace of God, binds the various potencies of life solidly
together into a structure at once spiritual and useful.
It avails nothing to say there are bad Catholics, not
any more than to say there are bad lawyers and bad
physicians. A doctor who is not true to his profession
is a contradiction. A bad Catholic is a contradiction.
If he is a Catholic, he is not bad, and if bad he is not a
Catholic.

5o AN EARLY
much ! ! ! God alone knows the sufferings of my
heart!" "Then the Black-Robe chief, the Prophet
Told his message to the people,
Told the purport of his mission,
Told them of the Virgin Mary
And her blessed Son the Saviour,
How in distant lands and ages,
He had lived on earth as we do,
How He fasted, prayed and labored;
How the Jews the tribe accursed,
Mocked Him, scourged Him, crushed Him,
How He rose from where they laid Him
Walked again with His disciples
And ascended into Heaven."
"I will send a Prophet to you
A Deliverer of the nations,
Who shall guide you and shall teach you,
Who shal'l toil and suffer with you.
If you listen to His counsels,
You will multiply and prosper;
If His warnings pass undeeded,
You will fade away and perish." Hiawatha.
The following selection from the "Memoirs
of Bishop Brute by Bishop Bayley" will be found
of historical service. The book is to be found in
the library of St. Mary's College Notre Dame,
Ind. Translator.

INDIAN MISSION 51
"From Chicago we went around the end of
Lake Michigan to the river St. Joseph and the
mission of the Rev. Mr. De Seille at the Indian
Village of Pokagon, situated just outside our
diocese and in that of Detroit. This mission was
established many years ago by the venerable Mr.
Badin. Mr. (Father) De Seille has lived for
three or four years at Pokagon's village. He
has there, and in the neighborhood, more than
650 Catholic Indians baptized. A large number
of their huts are built around the Chapel, which
is constructed of bark with a Cross erected be
hind and rising above it, and filled with rudely
made benches. The Indians begin and end their
work without hammer, saw or nails ; the axe be
ing their only implement, and bits of skin or
bark serving to fasten the pieces together. The
room of the missionary is over the Chapel, the
floor of the one forming the ceiling of the other.
A ladder in the corner leads to it, and his furni
ture consists, as did the prophet's, of a table and
chair, and a bed, or rather a hammock swung on

52 AN EARLY
ropes. Around the room are his books, and the
trunks which contain the articles used in the
Chapel, as well as his own apparel. He spends
his life with his good people sharing their corn
and meat, with water for his drink, and tea made
from the herbs of his little garden. He abjures
all spirits, as all the Catholic Indians are forbid
den to touch that which is the bane of their race,
and he would encourage them by his example.
I attended at the evening Catechism, Prayers and
Canticles, and in the morning said Mass, at which
a large number assisted. Through the Interpre
ter I addressed a few words to them.
On Thursday evening we arrived at South
Bend, a little town beautifully situated on the
high banks of the St. Joseph River. It is grow
ing rapidly owing to its many advantages. Cross
ing the river we visited St. Mary of the Lake,
the mission house of the excellent Mr. Badin who
has lately removed to Cincinnati. He had a
school there kept by two sisters who have also
gone away, leaving the place vacant. The 625

INDIAN MISSION

53

acres of land attached to it, and the small lake
named St. Mary's, make it a most desirable spot,
and one soon I hope to be occupied by some pros
perous institution. Rev. Mr. Badin has trans
ferred it to the Bishop on the condition of his
assuming the debts, a trifling consideration com
pared with the importance of the place.
On Friday morning we left for the Tippe
canoe river and the village of Chickakos. The
Indians had heard of our coming, and had sent
some of their number in advance to ascertain our
movements. They gave notice of our approach
to others who had camped out a few miles to
wait for the Bishop, and make a more worthy
escort for him. The Chief Chickakos was there
and directed their movements. Coffee had been
prepared at a small village only three miles from
the principal one. We dismounted, ind sitting
on mats of woven straw partook of their kind
cheer. Then we crossed the river, and soon ar
rived. On our way Mr. De Seille pointed to a
poor mother sitting on the bank with an infant

54 AN EARLY
child lying in her lap who had been recently bap
tized and was now near death. He told me that
it would be a great consolation to her if I would
give her my blessing, and tell her of the happi
ness awaiting her little angel. I did so, and could
see by her silent and resigned expression that she
felt comforted.
Chickakos' Village is not so large as Pokagon,
yet the Chapel is nearly as large. It is, however,
without ceiling, and without a room for the mis
sionary overhead, the mission being of later
standing, Mr. De Seille had baptized about 120
persons, of whom I confirmed 16. He was to
remain there two weeks to prepare many more
for baptism and some for their first Communion.
He said he found some difficulty in preparing
the Indians for their first Communion on account
of his not being sufficiently master of their lan
guage to make use of the proper terms in treat
ing of the Holy Eucharist. He begins to under
stand it now, yet when he speaks to them he pre
fers to do so through his interpreter, a Canadian

INDIAN MISSION 55
woman born of an Indian mother, a truly excel
lent and deserving person. She is 70 years of
age and yet preserves a strength and activity
truly wonderful. She followed us on horseback,
and was very ready to assist us. On our arrival
all assembled at the Chapel, and Mr. De Seille
introduced me to them as their Bishop, the head
in these parts of all the other 'Robes Noires'
(Black Robes), the name which they have given
to the Catholic Priests, or Jesuits, for it is all
one to them. He added that I had no one above
me, on earth, but the Great 'Robe Noire' beyond
the high seas, the Chief of all the Christians, in
the world, meaning the Pope. He said that every
'Robe Noire' that would come to them must come
as sent by the Bishop, and then be received ; oth
erwise they should have nothing to do with them.
The Chief Chickakos said a few words in reply
to show that they were well pleased, and prom
ised that they would meet together the next
morning to give a more special expression to
their feelings. Accordingly on Sunday morning,

56 AN EARLY
having informed us that they were ready, Mr.
De Seille and myself sat upon two little stools
in the Chapel, and some twelve of the leading
men came in and took their seats upon some of
the opposite benches. Chickakos made the speech,
and I was very much struck with the concluding
sentence of it, when, raising his eyes and his arm
towards Heaven, and then pointing to the
ground, having previously expressed their con
fidence in Father De Seille, and in me, and their
readiness to receive me as their Bishop, and their
desire to show it by presenting me with half a
section, 320 acres, of their land, he said that 'God,
when He would return from Heaven to visit our
Earth would see that ground, to which he point
ed, which they were giving me, and that it would
prove to Him their sincere devotion to His holy
religion and the messengers he had sent to se
cure its blessings to them.' To this I replied
through the good interpreter. We then made
our preparations for Mass, and the administra
tion of the Sacrament of Confirmation. Before

INDIAN MISSION 57
Mass six children were baptized by me. My in
struction was on prayer, and the gifts of the Holy
Ghost. Mr. De Seille told me that he had ob
served in them all such a deep sense of the emi
nent privilege of prayer, and the dispositions it
required, such as are not found, as often as they
should be, among the best instructed Christians
of more favored countries. I saw most unequiv
ocal evidence of it in their behavior in the Chapel,
and the affecting, earnest way in which they lis
tened to the instructions, repeated their prayers,
and sang their hymns, and I was very much edi
fied. Of the 16 that I confirmed, one was an old
Chief who since his baptism had led such an
innocent life, that he had not been observed to
commit any fault, or give way to impatience, or
any other imperfection.
We slept on the benches of the Chapel and
some of the straw from the floor, wrapped up in
our great coats after the manner of the good
Father De Seille. Our food was boiled corn,
fish, venison, and wild turkey, minced together

58 AN EARLY
in one dish, and some cranberries broken and
mixed with sugar. Our drink was water. Coffee
was not to be had although this was the principal
village. In the afternoon Vespers were sung in Otta
wa, and as I should have mentioned before, by
the aid of printed books. Many used them, as
they are very quick in learning to read, and have
retentive memories. Some knew the whole con
tents of their Prayer books. They contain all
the usual daily prayers, and exercises for Confes
sion and Communion, a pretty long Catechism,
and a large number of Canticles, with many of
the principal Hymns and Anthems of the Church.
Among others they have the 'Pange Lingua' and
the Psalms for Vespers translated in Ottawa.
I was to leave them after Vespers, so before
we began, they came to sign the deed of the land
presented to the Church, which we had drawn up
in as legal a form as we could, putting the indis
pensable condition that the act was subject to
the approval of their temporal Father at Wash-

INDIAN MISSION 59
ington, as they call the President of the United
States. Although many know how to read, none
know how to write, so Chickakos and some of
his friends made their marks on the paper, and
two Canadian traders who were present, signed
their names as witnesses. It remains now to be
ratified by the President.
After a few parting words, and giving them
my blessing, we mounted our horses, and were
escorted for some miles by a large number,
Chickakos at their head, who before leaving us,
dismounted from their horses, and asked their
Bishop's blessing again. Mr. De Seille was to
remain two weeks there giving instructions, and
preparing the Indians for Baptism and First
Communion. Some time after I received in Vin-
cennes two long letters from that excellent Mis
sionary, giving me a most interesting account of
the exercises of the two weeks which he had
spent there, at the end of which he had baptized
80, and admitted 30 to their First Communion.
He said that the coming of a Bishop, 'a chief

60 AN EARLY
man of the true prayer,' as they called him, and
head of the Robes Noires,' had excited much joy
among all the Indians."
Force was now to be used and the U. S. Gov
ernment sends its army. The Indian, dismayed
at the sight of the General and his soldiers, ter
rified at the formidable appearance of the cannon
and menacing bayonets, anticipating dire results,
fled into the forests. General Tipton, seeing him
self disappointed, fumed and frenzied; he imag
ines that the Pottawatomies have taken this ac
tion at the instigation of Fr. Petit and Mr.
Mousse, the interpreter. He complains bitterly
to Monsignor Brute* and requests the withdraw
al of the missionary. Then he exercised his ven
geance on the interpreter, by burning his house
and making away with his fodder, his horses and
his cattle. This spirit of vindictiveness and mal-

* Bishop Brute was the first bishop of Vincennes,
Indians. At this writing, 1913, it is called the Diocese
of Indianapolis.

INDIAN MISSION 61
ice, more worthy of a tiger than of a human be
ing, satiated for a time, finally impelled the Gen
eral to seize the savages who had lately managed
to escape. The soldiers ran through the forests
with a fury worthy of the General whom they
doubtless looked upon as their model. They suc
ceeded in seizing a great number of prisoners
whom they confined in the church. These people,
condemned to a forced exile, had before them the
prospect of a terrible journey. The General had
already made known to them his hostile disposi
tions and the soldiers doubly irritated by reason
of their escape took revenge on them by mal
treatment. This Church where they had passed
happy days in prayer and in singing the praises
of God, resounded now to their cries and lamen
tations. There they were herded in shambles and
faced death. The Indians at other times so ter
rible in their vengeance now submit themselves
to all these outrages with Christian resignation.
They recalled that vengeance pertained to God

62 AN EARLY
alone who would render to each one according to
his deeds.
They are now to leave their prison, the order
for departure is given, cannon precede them and
follow them, the soldiers, bayonet in hand, escort
them as if they were malefactors. General Tip
ton understood that in order to avoid new diffi
culties, he should have the services of a priest.
He wrote again to Bishop Brute imploring him
to return Fr. Petit. The saintly bishop quickly
accorded this sorrowful consolation to the young
missionary and came himself to inform him. "In
the morning," we are now reading in the Rela
tions of Fr. Petit, "Bishop Brute arrived from
Chicago and came to my room in South Bend.
He was very kind, offering all the consolation
which wells up in the heart of a father. I was
tranquil even though crushed and overwhelmed."
"I departed." "The poor Indians, driven by the
bayonet, soon contracted disease and many died ;
some crowded into the transport wagons and
died therein of fever and thirst. These condi-

INDIAN MISSION 63
tions like a sword pierced my heart. The Indians
arrived finally in Danville, Illinois. I found their
camp a scene of desolation, sickness and death."
(Annals of the Propagation, July, 1839.)
The Pottawatomies finally arrived in Mis
souri, the place of their exile, but their path was
marked by the graves of a great number of vic
tims. These tombs are an eloquent criticism on
a people braggart of a civilization which permits
the barbarity of inhuman savagery.
Who can read without being greatly touched
the strong complaint of Singowa, one of their
chiefs: "We have a Black-Robe, we have built
a house of prayer to Tchiktanoeh, we are dis
persed ; we are building another to Chichibeho-
wedebek, our land is sold, our families ruined,
our house of prayer is our prison, driven as
captives even to Danville. I obtained my liberty
with many others but we are now poor and death
has cast us over the earth; misery follows us,
pain consumes us, white men persecute us, we

64 AN EARLY
are despised as worms of the earth, we are re
pulsed as if our bones were stripped of flesh."
The last victim of abuse and disease had fal
len ; Father Petit, who had followed the Indians
to console them, was crushed by grief and tor
ments of every kind; his heart deluged in an
ocean of bitterness, had not long to survive.
Fever slowly weakened him to a noticeable de
gree ; for six weeks he slept upon the ground, for
the most part sharing on the long journey all the
privations of his dear Indians whom cruel sol
diers and disease painfully pursued; the evils
which they suffered he felt in his own heart as a
sword. As soon as the Indians had arrived in Mis
souri and Fr. Petit entrusted them to the minis
trations of the Rev. Jesuit Fathers his mission
was accomplished. Exhausted and sick, he re
ceived every possible care at their hands and after
some weeks of repose he desired to return by
slow stages to his own bishop. More mindful of
returning to his bishop who very much needed

INDIAN MISSION 65
him than of the loss of his health, he departs
from Missouri for Vincennes, Indiana.
But Father Petit soon discovers that he has
deceived himself. On arriving at St. Louis his
exhaustion was complete. In consequence of his
frightful marches and the nights which he had
passed lying on the ground, he had developed
several wounds on his body. He died a martyr
to his charity. His last moments were touching
and edifying to those who visited him.
God, who wished without doubt to reward
such great merit acquired in such brief space of
time, called him to Himself on the 10th of Feb
ruary, 1839, at the age of 27 years and some
months. Bishop Brute accompanied the remains
to the grave. This saintly bishop whose memory
is held in such wonderful veneration in the Uni
ted States, distinguished himself as did Bishop
Chevrus, the first bishop of Boston, by his knowl
edge, his piety, his zeal and his humility. When
Bishop Brute learned that one of his mission
aries was sick, he brought him near him, and

66 AN EARLY
acted the part of domestic and nurse for him,
doing the cooking, chopping the wood, and per
forming the most menial services. What a beaut-
tiful spectacle it is to see these two saintly bish
ops giving in an irreligious country an enviable
example of humility and charity.
A great injustice had been committed: the
Indians had been dispersed ; the crime was con
summated ; vengeance was reserved to the Lord ;
it has not come unexpectedly and today we find
it most severe and terrible.
Pokagon in spite of certain conditions in the
treaties of 1827 and 1833 found himself the tar
get of persecutions from the Government agents.
He had reserved the right to remain in the coun
try with his tribe but they wished to intimidate
him and came upon him several times with an
armed force to drive him West. The Govern
ment often regretted having made any concession
to the chief and so had recourse to corruption.
They offered $50.00, that is to say, 250 francs, to
every person who would succeed by persuasion,

INDIAN MISSION 67
fear or any species of fraud, in making an In
dian join the Pottawatomies in Missouri. Twice
with my own eyes have I seen well dressed men
attempting to obtain this prize, by making them
selves, in the language of the savages, merchants
of human flesh ; but all their efforts and threats
failed before the innate love of the Indian for
the forest in which he was born.
In the space of five months they had lost two
priests and four chiefs and their tribe had been
driven away. Pokagon saw himself isolated in a
lonesome forest, and the remembrance of calami
ties which had come upon him and his people
overwhelmed him. He sees far away for more
than a dozen leagues on every side the land
which he had sold, tilled and inhabited by people
whose homes augment his vexation. The chief
could not be comforted in the presence of such
reverses ; his life had become miserable ; he ar
dently desired to depart from this world of cor
ruption and iniquity, so that he might see the
Great Spirit whom he had loved and served so

68 AN EARLY
faithfully ever since he had known Him. His
desires were soon gratified as God called him
from this earth on July 8th, 1842, at the age of
62 years. It is a little more than six years since I had
the pleasure of coming among the Indians. Mis
sionaries had stopped in their midst from time
to time. Sundays they congregated at the house
of prayer but there was a dense ignorance on
fundamental points of religion because of this
irregularity. During several months of the year
they were absent hunting and fishing. I can
easily see how necessary it is forthe Indians to
live a more consistent and regular life, to elim
inate their vagabondage, to put off and avoid
their grotesque habits, in a word to put off the
old man and put on the new. If I had certain
resources it would be easy for me to carry out
all my plans, but I can not command resources,
superior to those by which I am surrounded. I
have neither the feathers, nor the face, nor the
skins of animals for apparel, but in every other

INDIAN MISSION 69.
way misery has nearly transformed me into an
Indian. Like them I have had for a habitation a hut
about twelve feet square, constructed from the
trunks of trees, or logs, placed horizontally one
upon the other. The door was so low that I had
to stoop about six inches to enter. I had the
furnishings of an Indian, a small three-legged
chair on which to sit, a straw bed on which to
sleep and a small board, or table, on stilts on
which I might eat and write. I was without a
lamp or candle stick for reasons which you un
derstand. I was not able to afford the luxury
of a light. The roof of my cabin was so gener
ous as to let in the light and even rain and snow.
In that cabin which you have seen I passed
my first two years. It was neither closed nor
locked but one slept tranquilly knowing he was
as poor as his neighbors.
I recall now a singular remark, or rather a
reproach, made to me by a non-Catholic lady,
who said to me with over-much scorn,

70 AN EARLY
"Why is it that all you Catholics are so poor?"
"Do you not know," I said to her, "that the king
doms of this world with their riches belong to
the devil, who offered them to Our Lord if He
would adore Him? It seems that the devil loves
you in a special manner, since he has shared so
generously with you, and in your vain glory, you
despise us."
But it does not follow, Monsieur le Superieur,
that I was destitute of pretention and ambition
in my little Indian palace. In the long winter
evenings when alone, poking the fire, I built cas
tles. I formed a thousand different projects; I
cut down the woods, I cultivated the virgin land,
I obtained magnificent harvests, I built a Church.
My Indians, influenced by the progress around
them exchanged their feathers and skins of wild
animals for hats and boots and shoes. I presume
you will laugh at my dreamy reveries, but can a
poor man keep from building castles in the air
when he is alone through the long winter even
ings? What else can he do?

INDIAN MISSION 71
And yet I never lost courage, but always
hoped against hope. My Indians possessed a
certain number of horses which were of little or
no use to them. These horses ran wild so to
speak in the forests. "Why do you not exchange
these horses," I said to them, "for oxen and
wagons. Why not utilize these animals, which
frequently die in the woods from hunger during
the rigors of winter or are stolen from you."
This proposition was welcomed at the camp of
Pinouwane, the son of the old chief and soon the
general assent of the tribe was given.
The feathery headgear rapidly disappeared,
they began to see destitution at their doors and
that their only resource consisted in the cultiva
tion of the ground as the whites were doing. I
organized societies and for the first time the sav
age threw away his gun for the ax and the plow.
I had not accomplished a great deal but I did not
stand as an idle spectator of this progressive
movement. The Black- Robe must everywhere give the

72 AN EARLY
example and so each morning for several months,
with an ax on his shoulder he went at the head
of his new regiment around the lake by shifting
pathways that had never yet been disturbed by
agriculture. In six months we had, so to speak,
changed the aspect of the community and if pro
gress had been made in a material way, it was
not at the expense of the spiritual. For several
months after each day's work, we gathered in the
Church for prayers and instructions of which
they were much in need.
Such labor and fatigue were not without rec
ompense and the second year an abundant har
vest crowned our efforts. One day I was sur
prised to see coming to my door a distinguished
looking person with his suite. They had a bag
half full of something stretched on a pole. This
fine looking individual was none other than Pin-
ouwane, the purpose of whose visit I could not
fathom. But he quickly made me understand by
his discourse why they had presented themselves,.
with what proved to be flour for me.

INDIAN MISSION 73
"My father," he said to me, "if our families
can eat bread today we owe it to you. I see you
are our best friend by advocating the use of the
plow rather than the gun. Formerly our chil
dren wept when we returned empty handed from
the chase. Today I have in my cabin abundant
nourishment for them." The idle dreams of an
idle man began to be realized. I had taken the
first step, it was necessary to take a second.
My Indians had a peculiar habit of decorating
themselves in the feathers of birds, and this prac
tise I had ridiculed. "The Great Spirit," I said
to them, "gives you proper covering. Why do
you appear thus and change your appearance to
that of a bird? Do fine feathers make a man?"
They soon began to replace their improper wear
ing apparel "par le pantalon." I gave them sev
eral weeks to prepare to purchase with their furs
decent and conventional garments.
A Sunday was appointed on which I pro
posed to admit to the Church only those who
were dressed as Europeans. This innovation

74 AN EARLY
which took them by surprise, gave them a sub
missive appearance in Church, but on leaving
they abandoned themselves to their usual light-
heartedness. The idea of making them look like
Europeans appealed to them to be so novel,
strange and comical that I could not refrain from
breaking out into laughter and forming more or
less grotesque notions as to the issue.
On the day appointed my new gentlemen pre
sented themselves in grand civilian dress ; you
would say "with the ease and good manners of a
Parisian, with the air of high society." You will
think it more than exaggeration. They were em
barrassed, ashamed; they laughed freely at their
own awkwardness and ridiculed one another with
that French gaiety and naiveness you so well un
derstand. This first day, the ensemble seemed a
masquerade by reason of its costumes. I shall
never forget it. It has been associated with so
much amusement, we have all laughed over it
with such light hearts, that the day is never re
called except with pleasure. They soon took to

INDIAN MISSION 75
their new costume, as we see them today and
you yourself recall with what grace and dignity
they act. When I speak to them, of their feath
ers and their ancient savage attire, they laugh at
their old folly and could not be induced to give
up their new and exceedingly satisfactory cos
tume. You have often remarked, Monsieur le Su-
perieur, during your sojourn with these Indians,
that their intelligence is more developed than is
ordinarily supposed in Europe. The savage is
represented as coarser, with a certain natural
cunning, which is classified rather as instinct than
intelligence. Such ideas, more or less superficial,
open my eyes to the fact that the original Ameri
can is neither known nor appreciated. Public
opinion is doubtless based on certain notions
which the Europeans have received of the Indian
religion and superstitions. So excessive and
monstrous, they say, is the cult of the savage,
that his religious ideas do not reveal a great de
gree of intelligence. But they must remember

76 AN EARLY
that the savage is yet plunged in the darkness of
paganism and that man whoever he may be, who
is not enlightened by the Gospel, will have fool
ish ideas about the Divinity. In your Europe of
progress and civilization in this 19th century are
there not men whom society has honored with the
title of Savants and geniuses who wish to found
a pagan religion on the ruins of Catholicity? I
see little difference between the religion of the
aforesaid Savant and the Savage. The latter is
unrefined and without literature, his ideas of be
ing and of chaos he can neither explain nor de
fine ; while your new makers of the world have
the happy faculty of producing voluminous
works full of Utopias and dreams which are un
intelligible to any one.
Meanwhile these books are devoured, thous
ands of men are fed on these delusions and their
imagination afflicted with unnatural and degrad
ing ailments, corrupts the heart and prostitutes
the intelligence. During a trip in Europe I had
occasion several times to hear from these new

INDIAN MISSION 77
leaders of materialism and agnosticism with their
commonplace phraseology on the Supreme Being.
I paid strict attention. I wished to satisfy my
self and to be able to recall an idea and to form
a conclusion from their verbiage, but their lan
guage was a jumble of words. Thousands of
these idle people roam the boulevards foolishly
displaying their so-called knowledge ; they were
men of talent and genius but now hollow idols
receiving the incense of their dupes. What pro
found contempt I have brought into my forests
for these reformers! To what degree of abase
ment has not man the centre of this same civili
zation fallen if he can not distinguish the super
iority of the sublime doctrines of the Christian
Revelation from such foolish dreams?
The pride of these quasi reformers has cor
rupted their hearts, prostituted their intelligent
faculties and clouded their judgment. They have
plunged into materialism and their life is not dif
ferent from an animal. They desire to throw
off 1 uman dignity believing that they have only

78 AN EARLY
brute instinct in a superior degree. These men
have become, so to speak, debauched and wish to
degrade and drag down the human race into the
abyss from which they can not extricate them
selves. But the Savage understands his misery
and, more wise than the materialist, desires to
extricate himself from the darkness of paganism
in order that he may know and love and serve
the true God. I think I understand the view
point of many of the French.
It is not necessary for them to "Cross the
Sea" in order to find Savages. Without depart
ing from their own country, without going very
far, they may see that same sorrowful spectacle.
Around them are thousands of men whose ideas
of religion are more obscured than that of pa
gans. Monsieur le Superieur, you have seen my
Indians, you have spoken and reasoned with

Note : — The auto bandits had Paris terrorized in
191 1 and 1912. It is estimated (1913) that there are
86,000 people leading criminal lives in Paris.

INDIAN MISSION 79
them, and you are convinced with me that their
judgment and intelligence are much superior to
the intellectual faculties of those brainless crea
tures whose only merit consists in hawking com
monplace literature. The savage ignores soph
istry, he does not study a vain philosophy, but he
has a sense of right, a sane judgment, a facile
imagination and a desire of conducting himself
worthily in the sight of God, whom he knows.
In a word such is my fixed opinion after all these
years passed among the Indians. The savage
has developed into a Catholic of esteem and hon
or whilst your reformers have degraded them
selves and shamed their human kind.
When you have assembled the savages to hold
counsel, have you not admired, as well as I, with
what decorum and what dignity they gave their
opinion without ever interrupting each other or
deviating from the question? In our councils
how many times does it not occur that we Euro
peans ramble and deviate from the point. The
savage can serve us in this and many other ways

8o AN EARLY
as a model. In his home you see no frivolity ;
follow him to church, in any company, in his fam
ily, and everywhere, you always see him ap
pear with dignity ; he knows perfectly how to be
master of himself in joy as well as in sorrow ;
he has always the same composure. Now if we
look at him from a religious point of view, can
he not still serve as a model? I have passed
happily these years in their midst. I have always
seen them so pious and so devout that I have
never been under the necessity of rebuking them
by word in church even for the least irreverence.
There is no need, Monsieur le Superieur, to tell
you of their faith when they prepare themselves
for the reception of the sacraments. Some among
them have so great a love of God and so great
a fear of offending him that they watch with the
most scrupulous attention over all their thoughts,
words and actions. This is the savage whom
Catholicism has made. When your reformers,
your deists and your materialists specify their
disciples, what have they? Where do you find

INDIAN MISSION 8 1
them ? Frequently at the head or in the ranks of
the revolutionists, the socialists, and the disturb
ers of public order.
Cannot the Indians after they have passed
through the way of trials and tribulations hope
to live in peace on the fruit of their labors? The
time of their trials unfortunately, is not yet pass
ed ; new difficulties must arise ; they have to be
driven once more from their wigwam to lose the
fruit of their labor and see themselves without
means and without support.
When Pokagon settled at Silver Creek the
place of my present residence, he bought a sec
tion of land of seven hundred and forty acres
(which they occupy today), with money coming
from the sale of a section which was his own
property. He had previously sold a section which
belonged to all the tribe; but instead of buying
immediately another section, he kept the money
and bought provisions to feed all the tribe during
the winter. In the spring they all settled at Sil
ver Creek. Thus they left Indiana to pass into

82 AN EARLY
Michigan. He allowed each family to choose its
own portion of land, to build its cabin, and to
live there in peace. The aged chief not foresee
ing any difficulty, did not give any title to them
before his death. The son of the chief at the
instigation of a state agent, his neighbor, deter
mined to force the savages to pay him an annual
rent or else to pay the price of their supposed
property. The Indians, who had always believed
themselves owners of this little patrimony, were
not willing to listen to those demands which
seemed to them unjust. The troubles became
more and more serious until wearied by these
continual annoyances, they resolved to move eight
leagues farther away to Nekanekkenbess. They
chose Singowa for their new chief. They bought
new property and each family received a portion
of land with its title which left them safe from all
persecution. This Indian mission was thus broken up.
Two-thirds of the Pottawatomies left in 1851.
At that same time some hundred or so Irish

INDIAN MISSION 83
settled in my mission, as if for a compensation
to replace the Catholics who were forced to de
part. I take care not to neglect the poor Indians
so shamelessly driven away ; I visit them fre
quently to encourage and console them.
The wife of the old chief Pokagon also lived
in my Indian village. Like him she was bap
tized and preserved her first fervor to the end.
In her last illness she prepared for death with
the most edifying resignation. I, myself, was ill
at the time. Several times during the day she
sent to see if it were possible for me to rise and
go to hear her confession and administer the last
sacraments. The evening of her death, message
after message was sent. I was unable to refuse
such ardent entreaties. I was so weak that it was
necessary to help me to get into a cart. I lay
down upon a little straw and thus proceeded to
the presence of the dying woman. After receiv
ing the last sacraments and thanking me she told
me she was glad to leave this world and join
those who had preceded her.

84 AN EARLY
All the savages love to visit those who have
reached the threshold of eternity; they love to
hear and meditate on their last words. It is like
a sacred charge which they keep in their families.
All were eager to visit for the last time the
wife of their chief for whom they justly grieved.
Simon Pokagon, the youngest of the children,
wrote the last recommendations of his mother
and these were preserved as a precious will. He
gave me a copy of the writing and here are the
contents :
First word. I am going to see my dead chil
dren to whom I will be united.
Second word. It is dangerous to love this
world. God has opposed it.
Third word. My children, love God with all
your heart, all your mind, and all your strength.
This is the first and the greatest commandment.
Fourth word. God wills to see me.
Fifth word. My children, you must all go
to confession and baptize your children.

INDIAN MISSION 85
Sixth word. The Great Spirit is in Heaven,
he is a good Father to us.
After having pronounced these last words she
rendered her soul to God at eight o'clock in the
evening, Oct. 3, 1S51.
I have never seen anything more touching
than the last moments of a savage.
It would take too long to relate the last wills
of all to whom I have administered. It is al
ways the same spirit of faith which animated
them. What has impressed me the most is that
perfect calm, admirable resignation, that ardent
desire with which they leave the world to go to
God. They are animated by all these saintly dis
positions because their life has been entirely spir
itual and wholly detached from the goods of the
world. My greatest desire is to die like my sav
ages, and be animated by the same dispositions
whenever it is necessary for me to leave this life.
If my Indians are so cruelly tried I also ought
to receive my share of tribulation. I have been
established in this mission for so many years that

86 AN EARLY
my life has been united to theirs. I partake of
their sorrows and consolations, and we, if I may
so speak, have become necessary to each other,
and this union makes for our mutual happiness.
But what am I saying, where is happiness to be
found here below ? Is not the world a valley of
tears? Is it not when you believe you have ob
tained the object of your desires that a cruel dis
appointment comes to shatter all your expecta
tions in order to prove that there is nothing last
ing under the sun. In the month of September,
1852, I received a letter from my superiors in
France which obliged me to depart immediately
to found another mission in the diocese of Decca,
in eastern Bengal. To tell you all the anguish
of my heart when I received that news would be
impossible. The breaking of the heart cannot be
expressed in human language.
All my Catholics, Irish and Indian, under
stood the full extent of the sacrifice. They felt
it keenly and the general grief only increased
mine. It was finally necessary to be resigned

INDIAN MISSION 87
and say farewell which we regarded as the last.
It is useless to recall to you the history of my
voyage to Asia, useless to speak of the dangers
I encountered on land and on sea, and the serious
maladies which forced me to abandon the country
after having resided there over four years.
You know already the particulars of the voy
age around the world and the illness which re
called me to France to recover my health at the
close of 1857.
I have never lost the remembrance of Amer
ica. My affection for my mission in Michigan
has followed me even to Chittagong, on the bor
ders of the Birman empire. Frequently when I
looked at the departure of the last rays of the
sun, I would say to myself: "At this moment the
sun is rising over my mission in the new world,
they are going to their labors while I am going
to rest."
Thanks be to God, my stay in France was ben
eficial and soon it was permitted me to entertain
the hope of returning to America. Finally my

88 AN EARLY
prayers were answered. I have been able to re
spond to those very pressing invitations, to those
of Bishop Lefevre of Detroit, and all my Catho
lics, to return again to attend to my old missions
which you visited regularly each month with a
zeal so fruitful.* With what pleasure I recall
again my arrival at Silver Creek the 9th of Feb
ruary, 1859, after seven and a half years of ab
sence. The remembrance of my departure, the
memory of all the vecissitudes, serious accidents,
cruel maladies; all these produced in my mind
and heart such lively and strange impressions
that I was scarcely able to believe in the reality
of what I saw before my eyes. I very soon, how
ever, adapted myself to my new situation. I met
again all those whom I so heartily, loved. I have
been so frequently disappointed, so frequently
deceived in my expectations that I fear yet that
my presence is but an illusion.

Note : — Fr. DeNeve attended Silver Creek during
the absence of Fr. Baroux.

INDIAN MISSION 89
I believe I am destined to pass a good many
years near you. I hope to keep you for a neigh
bor and see you enjoy the fruit of your labors ;
but this may be no more than an illusion too.
It has been necessary for you also, Monsieur
le Superieur, to make a painful sacrifice; to aban
don the flourishing missions which you came to
found and return to Europe to start another work
still more important.
I have seen with pleasure the American col
lege at Louvain which satisfies an urgent need of
our missions in the new world. In France we
have the house of foreign missions, but it is es
pecially designed for the missions of Asia. In
Rome we have the college of the Propaganda
and a college for North America. But a great
many young of Belgium, Holland and parts of
Germany, will be able to go to Louvain without
great expense of travel, whereas a journey to
Rome would be too costly for a great many sem
inarians. Perhaps it may be objected, that we have the

90 AN EARLY
Jesuits and many other religious societies who
send priests into our country. These religious
societies devote themselves to the propagation of
the Gospel with admirable zeal ; but the majority
of their members consecrate their lives to the ed
ucation of the young or to conducting retreats ; a
small number are occupied exclusively in the gov
ernment of a parish. Frequently a bishop gives
a religious community the care of many parishes
which are not too far from their houses. They
go to these parishes on Sunday but return di
rectly to their headquarters after having per
formed the functions of their ministry. A mis
sionary, who is only able to pass through, so to
speak, will be only a traveller, not a parish priest.
Secular priests have also been sent by the
bishop who visited a great number of missions
from time to time, but all those visits do not sat
isfy the needs of the people. It requires a resi
dent priest to accomplish any solid and perma
nent good. Besides the administration of the
Sacraments and instructions, schools under the

INDIAN MISSION 91
surveillance of the pastor are necessary. It is
sometimes important to regulate family difficul
ties, console those who are in pain, visit the sick,
and perform other works of charity which the
non-resident missionary will not be able to per
form. So the religious communities of Europe have
an especial mission to perform as the parish
priest has his own. America has need of com
munities and parish priests to work for the pre
servation and propagation of the Gospel. Cath
olics here are continually in contact with Pro
testants. It is more necessary than in Europe to
have a resident priest, in order to clear away the
doubts of Catholics, to settle the objections, which
they hear and preserve them from the continual
danger of letting themselves be won over by per
nicious insinuations. For the past sixteen years
that I have been in Protestant countries I have
been consulted a thousand times by my Catholics
who frequently demand the solutions of the ob
jections which they hear.

92 AN EARLY
The bishops have understood the necessity
and they have wisely determined to have an es
tablishment in Europe to educate and train priests
for their dioceses. It is without doubt a difficult
work, you have encountered obstacles, but you
have the encouragement of our bishops and the
bishops of Belgium; you have the confidence of
all who know you and the good wishes of all
those who desire the greater glory and honor of
God. We wonder at the large number of mis
sionaries sent out and the number of seminarians
in preparation. We pray God to give you in
creased facilities so that you may not have to
neglect any worthy vocations.
Belgium seems destined by divine Providence
to assume a large share in the propagation of
the Gospel in these western missions of the new
world. In several dioceses, and in Michigan in
particular, the most of the Clergy are Belgians.
The Very Rev. Father de Smet, so justly cele
brated for his work among the Savages of Amer
ica is slao from Belgium, as well as a great num
ber of Jesuit Fathers who accompanied him.

INDIAN MISSION 93
Your country has also given us our bishop of
Detroit, Mgr. Lefevre and many others distin
guished for zeal and piety.
The American College of Lauvain will be, I
hope, in the designs of God a means destined to
accomplish wonderful things with us and God
can not fail to bless a country so generous in its
work for the missions. How consoling it is to
see your missionary putting forth such wonder
ful efforts to counterbalance the work of satan.
Before your departure from America you saw
the plan of the Church which I contemplated
building in Silver Creek. This Church is 60 x 30
feet, and has been completed some time. On
September 29, 1861, the Bishop came to bless it
and to confirm "J2 persons. It is a great consola
tion to have this Church. We lack one thing,
and that is a Catholic School.
With profound respect,
L. Baroux,
Missionary Apostolic.
Silver Creek, Michigan,
September, 1862.

94

AN EARLY

Note : — Father Baroux had at the above date an
efficient helper in the person of a well educated Indian
by the name of Topasfa who became his choir leader and
interpreter. The zealous little missionary also suc
ceeded later in establishing a Catholic School in Silver
Creek. One of his teachers was a Miss Julia Howard,
a graduate of the University of Michigan. This same
estimable and highly cultured lady afterwards taught
many years in the Ann Arbor public schools and is
fondly remembered today by hundreds of her pupils.
The correspondence now deals with the history of
the late Civil War. The details of that great struggle
are well known to all and need not be presented here.
E. D. Kelly,
Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit.
Ann Arbor, Michigan,
August 21 st, 1913.

INDIAN MISSION

95

Note: — Father Baroux whose correspondence is
translated above was born at St. Michel, France, March
25, 1817. Aug. 13th, 1845, he became a novice at Notre
Dame and made his profession in the Holy Cross order,
March 17th, 1848. He died Sept. 14th, 1897.
By proximity Notre Dame put him in touch with the
Indian missions at Bertrand, Pokagon and Silver
Creek. He organized the Indian mission at Rush Lake
and Saugatuck and procured money from the Society of
the Propagation of the Faith for the Churches in these
two places.

YALE UNIVERSITY

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