The Life of Father De Smet, SJ: Apostle of the Rocky Mountains by Rev. Fr. E. Laveille

Author:Rev. Fr. E. Laveille [Laveille, Rev. Fr. E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: TAN Books
Published: 2015-11-19T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XIV

THE FORT LARAMIE COUNCIL (1851)

Discovery of Gold in California—The White Invasion—The American Government Invites the Tribes to a Conference in which Fathers De Smet and C.Hoecken are to Take Part—Cholera on Board the St. Ange—Father De Smet's Serious Illness—Father Hoecken's Death—His Health Hardly Reestablished, Father De Smet Visits the Indians during an Epidemic of Smallpox—A Journey across the Wilderness—The Highway to the Pacific—The Great Council—Points Submitted for Deliberation—Father De Smet's Successful Efforts—An Era of Peace for the Redskins—Return to St. Louis—Visit to St. Mary's Mission.

FATHER DE SMET had filled the office of Procurator and Assistant to the Vice-Provincial for six months, when he was offered an opportunity of visiting the Indians. Gold had just been discovered in California, and thousands of immigrants crossed the desert, lured by the promise of the new Eldorado. In a few months these traveling hordes had cut a large route from Missouri to the Pacific. San Francisco, which in 1848 had but five hundred inhabitants, in two years increased to a population of 25,000. The Indians, notably the Cheyennes, viewed with irritation the "Pale Face" invasion of this territory, which had been guaranteed to them by the United States Government, and sanguinary conflicts were feared.

Colonel Mitchell, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs stationed in St. Louis, conceived the idea of a Council, in which all the Eastern tribes would be represented, and in which, furthermore, they would be offered an indemnity for land taken by the whites for a highway and the forts that would be constructed along the route. It was decided that the Council should take place at Fort Laramie in the summer of 1851.

The Superintendent, charged with negotiating the affair, sought advice and assistance from Father De Smet, who had not only crossed the plains many times, but understood the nature of the different tribes. He knew his influence over the Indians to be more powerful than the promises and threats of any Government. "Should your present duties permit," writes the Superintendent, "I would like very much for you to take part in the Fort Laramie Council. Your maps and drawings of the prairies and mountains, as well as any information you can furnish with regard to their habits, the history of the country, in fact, all that concerns the Indians, will be of valuable assistance to us, and will be greatly appreciated by the Government."1

Here was an occasion for revisiting the Sioux and other tribes on the Upper Missouri. Father De Smet at once accepted, and Father Christian Hoecken, the apostle of the Potawatomies, obtained permission to accompany him. The latter, in joining this expedition, was to crown a life of self-sacrificing devotion with a heroic death.2

On June 7th, the Fathers embarked on the St. Ange, a steamboat going up the river to Fort Union, about 2,000 miles northwest of St. Louis. Their intention was to visit the Indians camped along the river, and then cross the Yellowstone valley to Fort Laramie upon the upper course of the Nebraska. The St. Ange was commanded by Captain La Barge, an intimate friend of Father De Smet.

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