CHAPTER XI

ST. MARY'S MISSION TEMPORARILY CLOSED--FATHER JOSEPH
GIORDA. THE MISSION REOPENED--FATHER
ANTHONY RAVALLI.

We must now chronicle a fact both sad and significant. to the great surprise of many who had become deeply interested in the Flat Heads, St. Mary's Mission, not quite ten years after its establishment, was abandoned. The causes that led up to the event, so far as we have been ale to ascertain, were the following.

Father De smet in his intercourse with the Indians had been rather generous and open-handed; while his successor, Father G. Mengarini, felt obliged to retrench and husband the scant resources of the Mission. The Flat Head Mission had been abandoned. "And I am accused of being the cause of this by my liberalities and promises to the Indians which they (the missionaries) could not sustain." So wrote Father De Smet to his former Superior, the Right Rev. Bishop Van De Velde, in a letter dated St. Louis University, May 1, 1852.

Father Mengarini's economic administration was evidently contrasted with the liberal ways of Father De Smet, and not only found fault with, but seems to have been considered by some as the cause for abandoning St. Mary's.

While we emphatically deny the letter, we must admit that Father Mengarini's course may have been the occasion of some discontent among a few of the Indians, as it was likewise the pretext which evil-doers made use of, to work up what led to the closing of the Mission. But these latter were the real cause of its suppression.

The mischief was done by the wicked tongue of a few whites and half-breeds, a handful of discontents, who, under one pretense or another, expected and even demanded support from

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the Mission, or sought to live off the scant sustenance of the Indians. These whites were eight or ten emigrants on their way to Oregon, who had chosen to spend the winter of 1849-50 in the country of the Flat Heads. They lived as drones on the substance of others, and led notoriously licentious lives, to the scandal of the whole tribe. Three or four half-breeds, whose morals were no better than those of their white-skinned cousins, served as intermediaries to spread discontent among the rest of the community. When they did not receive all they wanted, and when their immorality was rebuked, they took revenge by slandering the missionaries, especially Father Mengarini, for the avowed purpose of poisoning the simple minds of the Indians against them and their work.

It should be added that they could vent their spitefulness without let or hindrance, and say and do whatsoever they pleased. Whom or what could they fear where no authority existed to restrain and punish their evil conduct? Hence the Fathers were at the mercy of their traducers. They were utterly defenseless and had no means of redress.

So successful were the veil tongues that the Flat Heads who heretofore had been so willing, so docile, and so devoted, became estranged and suspicious, to such a degree that all the endeavors of the missionaries for this spiritual welfare went unheeded.

We relate what we have read and heard, and cannot doubt that there was much truth in these statements. Nevertheless, we think the pictures must have been overdrawn. From their past record and from all we have learned of the Flat Heads, so great a change in so short a time carries a certain improbability. It can hardly be accounted for, except on the supposition that his sudden change of disposition was like on of those summer storms, which burst suddenly, but soon pass away.

Be this as it may, early in the spring of 1850, Father Mengarini hastened to St. Xavier's, on the Willamette, to lay matter before Father M. Accolti, the new general Superior of the Missions. As shown by his record, Father Accolti had no great predilection for missionary work among the Indians; and the prospect of a promising Mission in California appeared to draw his attention in that direction just at this time. May it not have been that contemplated Mission in California that

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brought about the hasty closing of the Mission among the Flat Heads. Perhaps we are mistaken, but all appearances seem to point that way.

Having been informed how things stood at St. Mary's Father Accolti directed Father Joset to proceed to the country of the Flat Heads and close the Mission, at least, for a time. A strong measure, without doubt, but it was considered advisable that the Indians might learn to appreciate the value of the missionaries by the loss of their services.

It seems that after this step had been resolved upon, some further information of a nature less unfavorable to the Indians had reached Father Accolti. But on his own declaration, it had come too late for him to countermand orders and stay proceedings, as letters were already on the way to acquaint Father-General with the temporary closing of St. Mary's.
Father Joset arrived at the Flat Head Mission in October and set about the unpleasant task that had been assigned to him. He leased the improvement to Major John Owen, an independent trader in the vicinity, with the provision that they were to revert to the Fathers, should they return with a stated time, the space of three years, as they intended to do. In the meanwhile, everything had to be kept by the lessee in good order.

The bill of lease and conditional sale between Father Joset and John Owen for the consideration of $300, bore the date--St. Mary's Mission Flat head County, November 9, 1850. It is the first written conveyance ever made within the limits of Montana. The bill spoke only of the improvements, since only these, and nothing else, did Father Joset lease to John Owen.

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Attached to St. Mary's at the time of its suppression were Fathers Mengarini and Ravalli, with three Brothers, Claessens, Bellomo, and Savio. They now disbanded, Father Ravalli going to the Mission of the Sacred Heart among the Coeur d'Alenes, and Father Mengarini to St. Francis Xavier, on the Willamette.

To this latter place were also assigned Brother Bellomo and Savio, who reached their destination sagely, but somewhat disgruntled, the first leaving the Society shortly after.

With whatever effects could be transported, loaded on four wagons and three carts, a few head of stock, namely, three cows and some work cattle, Father Joset and Brother Claessens started for the Kalispel Mission, on the shores of Pend d'Oreille Lake. Their course lay through the Coriácan defile, known today as O'keefe's Canyon, and along the Jocko. Having reached Rivais's Prairie, which lies at the angle formed by the Jocko and the south bank of the Flat Head River, the caravan halted and pitched their tents for the winter, a short distance from Antoin Rivais's present home.

Thirty Flat Head lodges, who much regretted the departure of the Fathers, followed the two missionaries and camped in the same prairie till the following spring.

It had been planned by Father Joset and the Brother to pursue the rest of the journey by water; and therefore with the help of several Indians the constructed during the winter a few flat boats, on which at the first rise of the river in the spring they intended to proceed to their destination. Evidently, they did not know that any attempt to navigate the stream, owning to breakers, falls, treacherous whirlpools and rapids here and there in its course, was extremely hazardous.

One of the rafts was wrecked near Horseplains, and few miles below, at Thompson Falls, the remainder met with the same fate. Happily, no lives were lost, but everything else was either swallowed up or carried off by the raging current. As a consequence, Father Joset and Brother Claessens had to make their way to the Mission at best they would, under untold difficulties and hardships.

Some months after this mishap, an Indian happened to find on the river's bank, a small wooden box. He pried it open but immediately closed it again; and having wrapped it carefully

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in a blanket, he took it hastily to the Mission. "Black Robe," said he to the Father, "here are the Brother's people; they got drowned and speak no more." The box, the only relic recovered from the wreck, contained a set of marionettes with which good Brother Savio occasionally amused and instructed the Indians.

Scarcely had the Fathers left St. Mary's than the scales fell from the eyes of the deluded Flat Heads, and they begged most humbly for the return of the missionaries. But the course of events had already altered conditions to such an extent that it was impracticable to grant the request.

The opening of the California Mission had reduced the number of laborers in the Rocky Mountains and otherwise impaired the efficiency of the Missions among the Indians. As expressed by the old saw: Pluribus intentus minor erit ad singula sensus, in all human undertaking and in everything under the sun where all is finite and limited, a gain in one direction is not obtainable without some loss in another. There is no way out of it. How could it be otherwise in the present case? The gain for the whites in California was the loss for the Indians in the Rocky Mountains; and as a consequence St. Mary's Mission could not be reopened until sixteen years later. This is the record of history.

Although left without resident missionaries, however, the Flat Heads were not entirely forsaken during that interval, as they were occasionally visited from other Missions. Still, such visits were few and far between, especially during the first six years after St. Mary's had been abandoned. This was the inevitable consequence o the withdrawal of men from the Indian Mission for the new field in California.

Hence it came to pass that the prospects of the Missions in the Rocky Mountains from 1849 to 1854-55, were very discouraging; while the California Mission entered on a period of remarkable and very successful activity. It has been charged that by branching out into California Father Accolti exceeded his authority. If so, his action may be considered as one of the happy and providential mistakes which, without ceasing to be mistakes on the part of man, are nevertheless permitted

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and made use of by God to work out and accomplish the ends of His divine Wisdom.

Sprung into existence at the initiative of Father Accolti as an offshoot of the Missions under his charge, the California Mission was, like the rest, under his jurisdiction. In 1854, the Indian Missions in the Rocky Mountains which from their beginning to 1851 had been to some extent under the Vice-Province of Missouri, and then for about three years directly under Father-General, were assigned to the Province of Turin. Naturally, the Mission of California was part of the charge and Father Congiato who was appointed August 1, 1854, became the Superior. This arrangement continued till 1858, owing to the rapid growth of the California Mission.

From the very nature of things and persons, the diversity of the work for the whites in California and for the aborigines of the Rocky Mountains was such that practically neither the good of the former nor that of the latter could be attended to, except at each other's expense. The more so, because the number of men available for the work was utterly insufficient. Hence the California Mission and the Mission of the Rocky Mountains handicapped each other, and retarded in divers ways development and progress of both.

A glance at some of the facts of this period will make this clear. Of the five Residences or Missions previously established in the Rocky Mountains, two only, the Coeur d'Alenes Mission and that of St. Ignatius, remained in 1858-59. And it stands on record that even the Coeur d'Alenes Mission would have been closed but for the remonstrances and entreaties of Lieut. John Mullan, U. S. A. No doubt the hostile disposition against the whites, which the natives displayed at this time, and which culminated in the so-called Cayouse and Yakima wars, had its share in bringing about such a reduction in the number of the Indian Missions. But it is no less certain that the pressing need of men to carry on the work in California has also much to do with it.

In 1858 the two Missions were made independent of each other. A new Superior was given to California, while the Indian Missions were left in the keeping of Father Congiato,

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who could now devote all his attention to their development. With this new arrangement, things began to appear more hopeful in the Rocky Mountains, and the outlook brightened still more with the arrival of Father Camillus Imoda in 1859, and of Father Jos. Giorda, in 1860.

Father Congiato remained in charge till the latter part of January, 1862, and during this, as well as during the preceding term of his Superiorship, he visited the Indian Missions in Montana several times and took much interest in their advancement. The good work done by him was now taken up by his successor, Father Jos.Giorda, a man of sterling virtue and of more than ordinary zeal and talent.

Father Giorda's fist endeavors were directed to supplying the field with new laborers, which he did by calling for new men and getting back some of the veterans, one of the latter being Father A. Ravalli. Of the former, not to go beyond the limits of our subject, we shall mention those only who at one time or another did missionary duty in Montana. They were Fathers Urban Grassi, Joseph Caruana, James Vanzina, Pascal Tosi, Francis X. Kuppens, Joseph Cataldo, Jerome d'Aste, Leopold Van Goro, and Joseph Bandini; all men of zeal, devotedness and marks of efficiency in the Lord's vineyard. The names of several of them became household words throughout the length and breadth of our state and will frequently appear in these pages.

The writer, too, might be added to the number if he were worth the count. But, indeed, well worth the counting were several coadjutor Brothers, Pascal Megazzini, Lucien D'Agostine, Achilles Carfagno, and others who have rendered yeoman's service to the Missions by their industry, fidelity and endurance, and became well and favorably known in Montana.

Father Giorda took charge of the field at a most trying time. The rush of whites, consequent to the discovery of gold in different places; and occupied by pale faces; the changes and rapid transformations which the whites were bringing about everywhere; the scarcity of laborers; the specious and plausible reasoning, "that the white man had come to stay, and should be cared for in preference to, or at least as much as the redskins"

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--all of which will better appear in the course of our history--rendered the first period of Father Giorda's administration a crucial and most difficult one. Add to all this the constant and well-nigh interminable journeyings the whole year round through the entire region of the Rocky Mountains, known today as Montana, Idaho, and Washington, and some idea can be formed of the fatigue, toil, privations, and hardships he had to endure in the discharge of his duties.

Having carried the burden a little over four years, he appeared to break under it during the spring of 1866, and in the summer of the same year he was given a successor in the person of Father U. Grassi, who now assumed the direction of the Missions in the capacity of vice-superior.

Since taking charge of the Indian Missions, the yearning of Father Giorda's heart had been the reopening of St. Mary's. It had at last become practicable, and it may be said to have been the last act of the first term of his Superiorship. With the approval of the vice-Superior, he himself made the status, which was to consist of himself, Father A. Ravalli, and Bro. Wm. Claessens; and in September, 1866, sixteen years after its suppression, "dear old St. Mary's," as the two veterans who had lived there before loved to call it, had been restored.

It may be well to note here than an eagle's wing or feather has ever been the emblem of an Indian warrior in the Rocky Mountains. We never saw Alee without his emblem in his band, or hanging from his girdle.

The last Flat Head calling for special mention is Charlot, the son of Victor--but nor of Agnes, who was only his stepmother--and at present hereditary chief of the nation. He is a man of a quiet but firm disposition, a true representative of his race and a thorough Indian.

His conduct during the Nez Percés outbreak gained him the admiration of all, and proved once more the loyal friendship for the whites on the part of the Flat Heads who have always claimed that none of their people ever slipped a drop of any white man's blood. When Joseph, the Nez Percés chief, came into the Bitter Root Valley on his raid and sought an interview with Charlot, the latter not only refused to see him, but sent him word to beware of molesting any settler in that vicinity, and to leave the valley at once. Neither would he accept the proffered hand of Looking glass, because, as Charlot put it, "the blood of the white man was upon it."

But while friendly toward the whites, he surely is not in love with their ways. His aversion, in fact, to any of his people 

It would be hard to tell who were more delighted and overjoyed, Father Giorda and his companions, or the Indians, at the event. But, except for the site and some remnants of the church, everything else had disappeared. The Indians were poor, but no less generous for that, and of their poverty provided the missionaries with meat, flour, potatoes, for their subsistence.

In September, 1868, father Giorda was reappointed Superior of the Missions, but he still made St. Mary's his headquarters when not on his rounds to the different Residences. Here, in the summer of 1869, he ha a very narrow escape from death.

Two drunken Indians, named respectively Pascal and Charles, both Pend d'Oreilles, rode up one day to the Fathers' humble abode and stopped in front of it. One of the pair, Pascal, came quite close to the small window lighting up Father Giorda's room. He looked in, and seeing the Father sitting at his desk, fired at him through the glass, the bullet whizzing by the Father's ear. Aroused by the shot, Father Giorda hurriedly

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rose up, to warn Father Ravalli in the adjacent room, when the Indian fired at him a second time. Brother Claessens heard the shooting, and at his alarm Chief Victor, gun in hand, ran over to protect the Fathers. But in the meanwhile, the villains had galloped off, keeping remarkably well balanced on their ponies, despite their drunken condition. Happily, no other evidence of the shooting was left, but the shattered window pane and the bullets imbedded in the planking that lined the room, just opposite the Father's desk. If aught else, besides whiskey, had anything to do with prompting the outrage, it as never been ascertained.

Father Giorda remained Superior till June 17, 1874; and we but voice the verdict of all when we say that his administration, so prudent and fatherly, won him the esteem and love of everybody, and proved him a model Superior.

The charge of the Missions now passed to Fr. J. M. Cataldo, who has borne it ever since, and who is proving himself a worthy successor in every respect.

In the meanwhile, the immediate care of St. Mary's fell successively to Fr. Joseph Bandini, who had come to the mountains by the way of California and Oregon in 1867; then, to Fr. Jos. Guidi, who arrived in Montana five years later, and who was two months in reaching Fort Benton from St. Louis. Lastly, it fell to Fr. Jerome D'Aste, who held it for a number of years, being a general favorite with whites and Indians because of his devotedness to the welfare of both, and his genial, cheerful ways and simple manners. Fr. D'Aste was in charge when the rebel Nez Percés invaded the valley, and in the common opinion of the people in that section his influence with the whites and the Indians, together with his tact, prudent counsel and his prayers, had much to do with the maintenance of order and peace. for three or four days the tension was at its height, especially at Stevensville and in its immediate vicinity; and no one knows what bloody strife any rash move on the part of either Indians or white would have precipitated.

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At "dear old St. Mary's," as he would always call it, Fr. Anthony Ravalli went to his rest on the Feast of the Holy angels, October 2, 1884. When the peaceful summons came to bid him return to his Maker, Fr. Ravalli was in his seventy-third year, fifty years a Jesuit and forty years a missionary.

His funeral was attended by all the Flat Heads and other Indians from neighboring tribes, as well as by a large number of sorrowing friends amongst the whites, who came from the whole Bitter Root Valley, Missoula, Hell's Gate, and Frenchtown. At Stevensville the U. S. Flag hung at half-mast for nearly a month, and during the greater part of the day on which the obsequies took place all business was suspended. His remains, as he requested, were laid to rest in St. Mary's Cemetery among the Indians; and here a noble monument to his memory has since been erected by the contributions of his friends and admirers from all over the State. Some forty miles north of Missoula, along the Northern Pacific Railway, a station, named Ravalli after him, keeps his memory green, and speaks to all, of those who live there as well as to those who pass through the place from near and far, of the "great good man," as all classes of people loved to call him.

Father A. Ravalli was born in Ferrara, Italy, May 16, 1812. At the age of fifteen, November 12, 1827, he entered the Society of Jesus, and after his novitiate he devoted himself for several yeas to the study of belles-lettres, philosophy, mathematics and the natural sciences. He then taught for a time in Turin, Piedmont, and other parts of Italy. Later on, he completed his course of divinity and after one year more of noviceship, as is customary in the society, took his final vows, April 21, 1844, while on his way to the Rocky Mountains.

With a longing for the Indian Missions from the first year of his religious life, Father Ravalli, whilst preparing for the sacred ministry, sought to improve himself in all knowledge which would render him the more efficient in civilizing the savages. Hence, to the study of philosophy and theology he added that of medicine. Further, making himself an apprentice in the artist's studio and in the shop of the mechanic, he learned to handle with considerable skill the chisel and brush of the former, as well as the tools and implements of the latter. In

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company with Father De Smet, as we related, he arrived in Oregon in August, 1844. He thence passed to spend the winter among the Kalispels, where he learned the secret of living without many of the so-called necessities of life. In September, 1845, he went to Colville, but scarcely a month after, he was recalled and assigned to St. Mary's to fill the place let vacant by the death of Father Zerbinatti.

From the Coeur d'Alenes Mission, whither he repaired at the closing of St. Mary's he returned to Colville. While here, news was brought to him one day that an Indian woman had quarreled with her husband, and driven to despair by jealousy, had hanged herself to a tree by means of a lariat. Father Ravalli hastened to the spot and, cutting the lariat, quickly freed the woman's neck, which, upon examination, he found unbroken. Although the body was still warm, pulsation at the wrists and at the heart had entirely ceased, and to all appearances life was extinct. He stretched the woman on the ground, and began o breathe into her mouth and also to move her arms up and down, so as to impart, artificially, to her lungs the movement of natural respiration. He kept working in this manner about three-quarters of an hour, when a slight change, a mere suspicion of color, appeared on the lips and face of the woman. Encouraged by this sign, he continued his endeavors, and soon after clearer indications of returning life became noticeable. A little while later, the woman, to the astonishment of everybody, commenced to breathe, very faintly at first, then more freely, and more regularly. Finally, she opened her eyes, and was soon on her feet and walking about. She lived to be an old woman. This unusual, yet simple occurrence won for Father Ravalli among the Indians near and far the name of the greatest medicine-man that ever lived.

From Santa Clara, California, whither he had been transferred in 1860, and where he filled, for a time, the imprint office of Master of Novices, he returned to the mountains in 1863. The gold-digging period in Montana had now set in, and miners were pouring into the country form all parts in search of the precious metal. There were at the time few physicians in these mountains, and as Father Ravalli did possess considerable medical knowledge and skill, he was much sought after, both as

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priest and physician. While at St. Peter's Mission, at hell's Gate, and at St. Mary's, as long as he was able to move about, he went from place to place, from one mining camp to another, a true Samaritan, relieving the ills of life and doing good to everybody; and many a white man as well was Indian owed limb and life to the medical ability, tender nursing and self-sacrificing devotedness of Father Ravalli. He never felt more happy than when, as a priest, he had brought some rusty old sinner to make his peace with God, or when, as a physician, and after journeying twenty-sixty, a hundred or more miles, he had alleviated, at the cot of his own ease and comfort, the ills of some fellow-being, irrespective of race, condition or creed, and with no preference, except for such as were poorest or the greatest sufferers.

His child-like simplicity could not but endear him to everybody; and, while intensely affectionate, he was no less sincere and constant in his affection. To a pious lady who had asked him, whether during the many years he had spent in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains, he had not felt some desire to see once more his native country, his old relatives and friends: "Yes, said he, "and I could have had the pleasure. But then," continued he, "the sacrifice would not have been complete." And lowering his head over his breast, he wept and sobbed like a child.

It was while returning from one of those errands of mercy, just referred to, that he himself fell sick at the ranch of Mr. Thomas Foley, a few miles from Missoula. No father or mother could have bestowed greater care on a son then Mr. and Mrs. Foley did on Father Ravalli. He suffered intensely for over two months, and at one time, there seemed to be left hardly a thread of hope for his recovery. He rallied, but his constitution never regained its former vigor and strength. His last sickness continued four long years. Though a great sufferer himself, he went about doing good to all, affording comfort and medical assistance almost to his dying day.

Naturally of a cheerful and happy disposition, his conversation was always bright and pleasant, and many a witty saying of his,

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many an amusing joke and story, became stock-in-trade throughout the country. Father Ravalli was tall and portly. His well-built frame, broad forehead, prominent roman nose, sharp features, all combined to render his appearance peculiarly impressive. In the opinion of those who knew him, he should have had several years more of useful, active life, but God willed otherwise.

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