CHAPTER III.
THE OREGON EXPEDITION OF 1858-g.'
De Smet's resignation not accepted-Indian uprising in the Northwest - New York to Aspinwall - Notes on the Isthmus - Up the Pacific - Acapulco - San Francisco's rapid growth - The Big Trees of Calaveras-Over the bar of the Columbia again-Changes in the country-Indian hostages at Fort Walla Walla -Their piety-They accompany Father De Smet-Journey to the Ceeur d'Alene Lake.
From St. Louis to Oregon.
jpb Y last letter told you of a journey of some sixteen months, in which I accompanied, in the capacity of chaplain, an army corps sent out on a twofold errand; against the Mormons and against the Indians. I gave you an account of the first in the narrative of my three-months' travels across the New Kansas; and promised you information regarding the second, to complete my tale of a journey of 5,000 leagues.
I will briefly indicate the cause of the war waged by the United States upon the western Indians, and then take you with me across the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea to the celebrated Isthmus of Panama.
At the beginning of September, 1858, I sought to resign the post of chaplain which I had occupied in the Utah expedition. The Secretary of War did not see fit to accept my resignation, in consequence of fresh difficulties which had arisen west of the Rocky Mountains. There the Indian tribes had formed a powerful league against the whites; they had surprised Colonel Steptoe and had killed two of
I Written in Brussels in March, 1861, for publication in the Precis Historiques. Published as Letter II in Volume V of the third Belgian edition.