New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington and returned to St. Louis by the same route. Whilst in Washington I heard the roar of the cannon at the battle of Antietam.
University of St. Louis, March 26, 1864.'
Dear and Respectable Doctor:
I come to fulfill my promise and give you my little story of my last mission and long excursion among the wandering tribes of the upper plains of the Missouri, in the Territory of Nebraska and in the eastern portion of the great new Territory of Idaho, or the Region of Flowers.' Idaho lies north of the Territories of Utah and Colorado and west of Nebraska. It covers four degrees of latitude, from 41° to 45° in its eastern half and from 42° to 46° in its western half, and 13° of longitude, from 104° to 1170.
My mission was not as fortunate, nor its fruits as abundant, as I wished, owing to the great and unhappy war waged by the numerous nation of the Sioux, which numbers 30,000 to 40,000 souls in its various bands. They are scattered over a vast territory, stretching from the Upper Mississippi on the east to the Black Hills [of Wyoming] on the west, and from the forks of the Platte river on the south to the Mine-Wakan or Devil's lake, in latitude 48°, on the north.
I had the consolation, notwithstanding, of conferring the holy sacrament of baptism on nearly 5oo persons, most of them little innocents, the sick in danger of death, or savages greatly advanced in age. A number died during my stay among them, and had the happiness to obtain the favors of their regeneration in God. Let me add here my little
5 "Letter to Father Terwecoren, S. J., copied for the album of my friend, Dr. Linton " (p. 61 et seq.]. From the French.
s Idaho is a Shoshone word, signifying " the lustrous rim shown by the snowy peaks as the sun rises behind and over them."