Background
Pierre Jean De Smet was born on January 30, 1801 at Termonde, Belgium.
(The Shelf2Life History of the Pacific Northwest Collectio...)
The Shelf2Life History of the Pacific Northwest Collection is a refreshing set of pre-1923 volumes that examine the pioneers, explorers and natives who roamed and settled in this lush coastal region. Covering a diverse landscape from the ocean to the prairies to the mountains, these titles study botany, geology and mineralogy from the prehistoric period up to the early 20th century. Complete with biographies on the peace-making missionary Father Pierre Jean De Smet and the influential ?father of Oregon? Dr. John McLoughlin, this collection provides insight into everyday challenges these notable figures encountered in their struggles to create new communities. The Shelf2Life History of the Pacific Northwest Collection allows readers the opportunity to take an expedition down meandering rivers and past towering evergreens to discover a region with a rich cultural and natural history unlike any other.
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(The story of a Jesuit novice who ran a school for Native ...)
The story of a Jesuit novice who ran a school for Native American children from 1824 to 1830 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. He established Catholic missions among the Native American tribes of the American northwest and British Columbia. The author traveled with the Flatheads through Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, and even secured a treaty between the United States and the Sioux tribe.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1589762584/?tag=2022091-20
Pierre Jean De Smet was born on January 30, 1801 at Termonde, Belgium.
At the age of 14 he entered the seminary at Malines.
On September 21, 1821, he arrived in the United States to enter the novitiate of the Jesuit order at White Marsh in Maryland. Two years later he was a member of a group that traveled overland to St. Louis whose purpose was to establish a new novitiate in the West. At his ordination as priest in 1827 he expected assignment as missionary among the Native Americans, but other pastoral assignments and serious illness delayed his dream for another decade.
Father De Smet's long missionary work among the Native Americans began in 1838, when he was sent among the Potawatomi Indians to found a mission. On this journey he began to keep the journals and write the long letters that were published later in book form and became the literary basis for his reputation. In 1840 he set out on the first of several long expeditions across the Northwest to evaluate the possibilities for missions among the Flathead and Nez Percé Indians in the Oregon country.
During 1841-1842 Father De Smet returned to Oregon, explored more of the territory, and established several missions. Finding that Canadian priests had already begun work in the Willamette Valley, he agreed to collaborate with them in extending the system of Catholic missions. He traveled to New Orleans and eastern cities and then went to six countries in Europe to solicit badly needed funds and personnel in 1843. Father De Smet returned directly to Oregon with several priests, nuns, and supplies the next year by sailing around Cape Horn. In future years he made many journeys through the West; he eventually crossed the Atlantic 19 times.
The entire region from St. Louis to the Pacific Northwest became his domain. Father De Smet was the leading "black robe" (Jesuit) to the Native Americans, and he was so respected that he was the only white man trusted by them. In turn, he loved the Native Americans and sought to keep white traders, settlers, or government agents from abusing them. Both the U. S. government and Native American tribes used him as mediator. He was especially important in this regard in 1851 at Ft. Laramie and in the Yakima War (1858-1859); he also undertook a number of peace missions to the Sioux. Eventually, he came to distrust government dealings with the Native Americans as much as he had earlier deplored Protestant missionary efforts among them.
Father De Smet's superiors increasingly recognized his appeal and thrust him into the work of propagandist and fund raiser for the Native American missionary work. Not as happy doing this as when working among the Native Americans, he nevertheless served faithfully until his health failed. He died at St. Louis on May 23, 1873.
(The Shelf2Life History of the Pacific Northwest Collectio...)
(The story of a Jesuit novice who ran a school for Native ...)