Finally, on the 21St of November, in the afternoon, we reached the mission after a long ride, and I had the happiness of embracing my dear brethren in Jesus Christ; among them, the Reverend Father Alois Vercruysse and Brother Francis Huybrechts, both Belgians. who have been laboring in our missions for fifteen years with indefatigable and truly apostolic zeal.
The bad season had commenced, and it was not long before the snow had filled all the passes of the mountains, and heavy ice began to float on the rivers and lakes. I was therefore compelled to abandon, for the time being, my project of going to the mission of the Flatheads and Pend d'Oreilles, who are located six days' journey to the northeast, in one of the loftiest valleys of the Rocky Mountains.
At the beginning of winter, the snow piles up on the plateaus and in the mountain gorges to a great depth. They never become practicable, either for ordinary footwear or for snowshoes, until after a good thaw and rain, followed by a hard freeze; only then can the intrepid traveler venture upon a passage. Without this precaution, a
man is risking his life. It is rare for a foolhardy or imprudent adventurer to escape the danger. I tried it in 1845. I then crossed, on snowshoes, the Saskatchewan Mountains at the sources of the Columbia, for a distance of about ninety miles, over snow five to twenty feet in depth. I shall never forget the good and brave savages who served me as guides at this time; but for them, certainly I should never have gotten out of the bad place I had so rashly engaged
myself in. The danger that I ran on this occasion has made me more prudent. On my last journey, of which I am giving you the account, I therefore remained at the Sacred Heart Mission from November 21, 1858, to February 18, 1859. In this time we had forty-three days and forty three nights of snow, more or less abundant. There were seven rainy days, twenty-one of cloudy weather, and sixteen of clear cold weather.