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well as for the harness of their horses and their own clothing. Last year 110,000 buffalo robes, with skins of elk, gazelle, deer, big horn, otter, beaver, etc., and 25,000 salted tongues were received in the warehouses in St. Louis. This may give you an idea of the extraordinary number of buffalo killed, and of the extent of the vast wilderness which furnishes pasturage to these animals.

"We set off from Fort Bonis, which is near the mouth of the Little Medicine River. Our trip was delightful. The weather proved magnificent and the two shores of the Missouri, teeming at this season with an extraordinary quantity of every species of game, offered the most graceful and varied spectacle, while it opened a vast field to the greediness and skill of our hunters.

"At Council Bluffs the sky, which had been hitherto clear and serene, suddenly changed to give place to wind and tempest, and thick clouds of snow, which accompanied us during two days. We took refuge in a dense forest, in order to defend ourselves from the inclemency of the storm. The wild honey which we found there was our principal resource, one poplar alone, which we felled, furnishing us with more than we needed.

"We made but little progress during ten days, on account of headwinds, rain and snow. Before arriving at the mouth of the Grand Tarkio, the Missouri was so covered with floating ice that we, in our frail bark, were exposed to the greatest danger, especially from the many sawyers with which the bed of the river is thickly set, and which discover or conceal their menacing heads on every side. These are trees, or trunks of trees, which the river uproots and washes from its banks, and whose roots get firmly fastened in the muddy bed of the river. As there are no dikes or embankments which can hinder the river from overflowing, it often happens that whole forests are uprooted and swallowed in the waves. These create great embarrassment and obstacles to navigation.

"Prudence forced us to abandon our boat; I therefore hired a farmer's wagon, which brought us safe and sound

to St. Joseph after a drive of two days through a great forest which skirts the Missouri. The steamer which I hoped to meet there had departed on the eve of my arrival and thus the opportunity of a prompt return to St. Louis appeared lost to me. I resolved, however, to exert myself to the utmost to overtake the boat; this to many would appear folly; the idea of running after a high pressure steamboat certainly does appear quite ridiculous. But I relied on the numerous delays of the boat on the different sand-banks, which were more likely to take place, also, as the season was advancing. I calculated well; in twentyfour hours I was on board.

"For four months I had been night and day exposed to the open air, and, as in all my other excursions, with no bed but a buffalo robe. Yet my health had been uninterruptedly good, not even suffering from the slightest attack of cold; but scarcely was I subjected during one day, to the heat of the stove in the cabin of the steamboat, than I was seized with a violent sore throat it being my first indisposition through the whole of my long journey. At length after four months' absence, I arrived without other accident at the University of St. Louis, where, enjoying with my brethren the charms of community life, I soon forgot the little fatigues of my expedition.

"I am, with the most profound respect, and esteem the most sincere, gentlemen,

"Your most humble and most obedient servant,

"P. J. DeSmet, S. J."

CHAPTER IV.

THE FATHER DE SMET MINE.

Father DeSmet visited the Indians around the Black Hills again in 1851 and 1864, and made his last missionary trip to Dakota in 1870 with Father Panken. This gentle

man wrote to the author the following letter, which explains itself:

"ST. LOUIS, Mo., October 12, 1887.

“REVEREND AND DEAR FATHER ROSEN:

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In compliance with your request I send you some items about the missionary excursion of Father DeSmet and myself to the Sioux Indians of Dakoka during the months of June and July, 1870. Father P. J. DeSmet and myself left Sioux City, Iowa, in June, 1870, on the steamer Far West for the Grand Sioux Agency, then the principal agency in Dakota. Our work commenced on the boat with giving instructions to the mates, hands and travelers. Then at every landing place the boat stopped either to wood or to deliver freight, when we spoke to the Indians, settlers and workingmen.

"At one landing place, while the boat was wooding, an interpreter took me to a small camp of Indians who wished to see a blackrobe. When I got there about a dozen small children were brought to me to be baptized. As soon as I was through an elderly Indian, holding a baby in his hands, stood up and with tears in his eyes, said: Blackgown, I wish to speak to you." I answered, Speak, the blackgown listens.' Blackgown,' he resumed, we heard about your coming two moons ago. My wife was then very sick, almost at the point of death. She was anxious to see you and be blessed with water. You did not come. She told me to have this child blessed as soon as you should come. I therefore brought this child to you and had it blessed.' I answered, I hope and trust that the Great Spirit will have rewarded her for her good desire, and that He will reward you also for complying with her request.' "We stopped on going up the river at the Cheyenne Agency, five miles above Fort Sully. The Indians came immediately and surrounded us. Father DeSmet made them a short speech and presented them with a box of tobacco, saying that he was sorry he could not give them any more. The Great Mandan,' a powerful chief, replied:

Blackgown, we thank you; your box is small but your heart is big.'

"On our arrival at the Grand River Agency Indian chiefs greeted us, we smoked the calumet, though it was 4 o'clock a. m. We stayed there over three weeks and baptized over two hundred children and four adults, and we held several councils with Indians. I went to the camp of the Piegi Indians, or Sioux-Blackfeet, to attend a dying girl who was about 19 years old. She seemed to be a good, modest child. I baptized her after some preliminary instructions. When I was about to leave, the mother of the girl lifted up her hands and wished me the favors and blessing of the Great Spirit, and hoped that her daughter would meet me in the same happy land. The girl died the next day.

"On Sundays we held service, Mass and sermon for the Indians and the whites. It was always well attended by both Indians and whites. From Grand River Agency we went on the steamer Peninah down to Fort Sully. We had to land about three miles below the fort. The ambulance came to get us and our baggage.

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During our stay at the fort we visited the Indians at the Peoria bottom, baptized some of them and rectified some marriages. Mass was said daily, confessions heard, and the sacraments administered to the whites.

"We traveled by wagon from Fort Sully to the Crow Creek Agency. At night we slept on the ground. At this agency we did much good among the soldiers. Of one company 35 men went to confession, and they came in a body the next morning to receive Holy Communion. Some Indians asked us to baptize their children; we did as asked, but one of the children dying soon after, the medicine-men profited by the occasion and deterred others from having their children baptized. In this they were but partially successful.

"Whilst there we were the guests of Col. Ilges and Capt. Hamilton. In the meantime there arrived at the camp Gen. J. Hardie, U. S. A., Inspector-General of the

Department of the Missouri. He had the kindness to take us along to the Lower Brule Agency, where we found several troops and Indian camps in the neighborhood. The Indians were several times visited and instructed. Father DeSmet married the interpreter to an Indian woman whom

he had baptized. This good man was a great help to us. Father DeSmet knew him well, having made his acquaintance years before.

"A boat from the upper river arrived and we all went down the river. Father DeSmet had become quite ill and determined to go to Sioux City. General Hardie and