moment I asked myself, was I among Indians? Was I among those termed by every one savages? I could scarcely realize it. To think that these men should be thus imbued, and so deeply too, with the principles of religion, was to me overwhelming."
From the late (1869) Report of the Commissioners of Indian Affairs to the Secretary of the Interior I take an extract from McConley's letter, U. S. Indian Agent, page 254, speaking of the Flatheads and Pend d'Oreilles, says " These people possess strong religious feelings as the wellfilled and commodious church of the Reverend Fathers of St. Ignatius' Mission on every Sabbath testifies. The missionary labors of the Reverend Fathers have not been in vain, for many of them are exemplary Christians. I may here remark that the labors of the Reverend Fathers have been very arduous and difficult. Poor and unaided, they have established their mission, built their church and school, and maintained themselves solely by their own exertion. Not only this, but they have been, at the same time, priest, physician and benefactor to these tribes. * * * Still more, in conjunction with the noble Sisters of Charity they educate, clothe and feed the orphans of these tribes without fee or reward. * * * Without their aid and influence, the wrongs inflicted upon these people would long since have driven them to war."
I give the above extract of McConley to draw your attention to these missions and take the liberty of recommending them to you, should the opportunity present itself.
I have visited and traveled among most of the Indian tribes of the upper Missouri river and its tributaries and plains, during the space of about thirty years. I am happy to be able to bear testimony that I have been on all occasions kindly received and entertained by them and have ever found them attentive to religious instruction. It is my candid opinion that much good might have been, and can still be, effected among the Indians, if they are properly and justly dealt with by the whites.