Author Topic: Stories of Conversion (Read 9753 times)

Persto · « **Reply #55 on:** May 19, 2026, 12:06:33 PM »

Fr. De Smet with Northwest tribal leaders, 1858

Fr. De Smet took his first vows as a Jesuit on October 10, 1823 and was ordained a priest on September 23, 1827.
As a new priest Fr. De Smet was then sent to help found what would became the University of St. Louis. His talents began to show and his superiors sent him to Europe as a fundraiser and recruiter for more missionaries. But on this first trip home he became very sick and in 1835 left the Society of Jesus, becoming a parish priest in Belgium. Within a short time though, he regretted the decision and soon returned to America, reentering the order in 1837.

He then took up missionary work among the Potawatomi Indians at Council Bluffs, Iowa. The labor was trying, but this was what he really wanted to do. He remained there for two years when his legacy as a missionary to the Northwest began with the arrival of Indians from a remote tribe in Montana.

The Flathead Indians sent several delegations to search for Black Robes. They had learned about the Catholic Faith from Iroquois Indians who lived among them. The Iroquois leader, Old Ignatius, taught them about Jesus Christ, the cross, priests, and the Mass.

In 1831, the first delegation of four Indians arrived in St. Louis. They visited General Clark who had met the tribe during his famous Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-1806. Afterwards they visited the Catholic church of St. Louis.
Protestant sources say that the Indians were in search of the Bible and the story of their entreaty for religion spread across East coast publications. Yet, the bishop of St. Louis writes that no one could understand their language. The Indians did, however, know how to make the sign of the cross and showed great love for the cross when shown it. Two of the Indians got dangerously sick and were baptized before dying. They received a Catholic burial in St. Louis. The other two left for home but were never heard from again.

The Protestants were the first to send missionaries. In 1834, the Methodists, Jason and Daniel Lee encountered the Flatheads, but the tribe did not welcome them. Then, in 1835 they met Marcus Whitman at Green River, but were again disappointed. The Flatheads were looking for “long black-robed priests who have no wives, who say Mass, who carry the crucifix with them.”

The following delegations from the Flathead Tribe proves what they were actually looking for. Old Ignatius went with the second group in 1835 and spoke French with the Jesuits about the possibility of sending priests to the Flatheads. Old Ignatius died making a third attempt to reach St. Louis in 1837. Finally, it was the fourth delegation of 1839, led by Young Ignace that brought success upon meeting Fr. De Smet at the Potawatomi mission in Council Bluffs.

Fr. De Smet enthusiastically volunteered to go to the Rocky Mountains as a missionary. With approval, he left St. Louis on March 27, 1840 with Young Ignatius as his guide. The Jesuit marveled at the beauty of nature as he traveled west for the first time. He was pleasantly surprised to find the Flathead Indians well prepared for converting to the Catholic Faith. He shared their way of life, eating roots and wild game. He slept on buffalo hide, wrapped in a blanket. He baptized hundreds before departing to report to his superiors.

After reaching St. Louis, he then went to the East coast to collect money for the new Rocky Mountain Mission. This was the beginning of his work as a promoter of the missions. As quickly as he could, he returned to Montana and on September 24, 1841, founded St. Mary’s Mission for the Flathead Tribe near present day Missoula. The mission was designed as a town or settlement centered around a church, similar to the 1700s era Jesuit mission settlements of Paraguay called Reductions. He hoped to change the Indian lifestyle from that of a traveling hunter-gatherer to a settler farmer.

Fr. De Smet began traveling around the Northwest, meeting various tribes, including the Coeur d’Alene Indians and founded the Sacred Heart Mission for them in 1842. This mission would flourish and eventually become the center of Jesuit missionary activity in the Northwest. The church there, which they began building in 1850, is now Idaho’s oldest building and a state park. The missionary wrote several books which made these missions known to the world.

Over the years, Fr. De Smet saw the nation grow. St. Louis went from a city of 4,000 when he arrived to nearly 500,000 people when he was an old man. He watched with sadness as the white man moved into Indian lands in greater and greater numbers. This invariably led to conflict, and five times Fr. De Smet sought to bring peace among various Indian tribes and the American government. For this purpose he attended the Fort Laramie Council in 1851. A few years later, in 1859, he also helped bring peace in North Idaho and Eastern Washington. He also tried to bring peace among the Sioux and Cheyanne on separate occasions. Each time he refused to receive payment from the US government, wishing to remain independent and free to work for the good of the Indian tribes.

Under President Grant, Protestant Indian agents took over the administration of most Catholic Indian schools and missions. In Yakima, Washington, Catholic missionaries were forbidden to enter the land where they previously had a mission. It was there that a Methodist minister asked a Catholic Indian chief how much it would cost to convert to Protestantism. “A big price,” he responded. So the minister started offering $200, then $500 and $600. Each time the chief said that it was much higher. Frustrated, the minister told him to state his price. “The price of my soul,” was the answer.[

https://teacheroflife.com/fr-peter-de-smet-founder-of-the-jesuit-rocky-mountain-mission/

Persto · « **Reply #56 on:** May 19, 2026, 12:29:14 PM »

The vision in 1740 of Chief Circling Raven of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe changed history. Chief Circling Raven spent his last years looking for the Black Robes. He searched mountains and canyons but never found them. He died without ever seeing them, but the tribe didn’t give up hope. They kept the story alive through songs and stories for over a hundred years, with each generation telling the next about the men in black robes.

Father Pierre-Jean De Smet started St. Mary’s Mission with the Flathead tribe in Montana in 1841. While traveling for supplies in 1842, he met Chief Twisted Earth, who told him about his father’s century-old dream of the "Blackrobes. " The Coeur d’Alene people welcomed the Belgian missionary with great joy.

During his first visit, De Smet baptized 24 adults and many children. The tribe saw his arrival as the answer to Circling Raven’s dream from 102 years earlier. De Smet sent Father Nicholas Point and Brother Charles Huet to make a lasting mission for the tribe. They built the first Mission of the Sacred Heart along the St. Joe River in 1843. The mission quickly grew into more than just a church.

It became a community center where the Coeur d’Alene people gathered and learned. Hundreds of tribal members moved near the mission, built log cabins, planted crops, and started a new way of life.

The St. Joe River flooded every spring, badly damaging the mission buildings.  Father Joseph Joset picked a new spot on higher ground in 1846. They moved everything to a hill overlooking the Coeur d’Alene River near today’s Cataldo. Brother Huet put up a short-term chapel made of cedar bark at the new location.  Families packed up and moved to the safer site, and the mission kept working from this new home away from the flood-prone river. The cedar-bark chapel fell apart in 1847 when its roof caved in. A second makeshift building also failed in 1849. These problems showed they needed something stronger and more lasting.

The mission kept going despite these setbacks, holding church services in whatever shelter they could find. The community asked Father Antonio Ravalli from Montana to come help them build something that would last.  Father Antonio Ravalli came from Ferrara, Italy in 1850 to help with the building project. He knew a lot about building, including woodworking and bricklaying.

Ravalli had studied church design in Rome and seen famous buildings like the Vatican. He drew plans for a church that looked like the Italian cathedrals from his homeland. The design called for a building 90 feet long, 40 feet wide, and 30 feet tall. Building started in 1850 with the simplest tools: axes, drills, rope, pulleys, and a pen-knife. About 300 Coeur d’Alene tribal members worked with two missionaries to build the church.

They used no nails in the whole building. The workers made a homemade saw to cut down huge pine trees.
Tribal members hauled rocks and logs using handmade carts they built themselves. Every piece of the building came from local materials gathered by hand. The walls went up by weaving saplings between logs and filling gaps with grass and river mud. Inside, they got creative with decorations. Fabric from the Hudson’s Bay Company covered some walls. They painted designs on newspaper from Philadelphia for other areas. Workers made hanging lights out of tin cans. The pretty blue ceiling came from pressed huckleberries instead of paint. Every part of the building showed their cleverness and creativity.

The Mission of the Sacred Heart stood finished in 1853 after three years of hard work. Father Ravalli carved wooden statues by hand with just a knife, making them look like marble. Visitors were amazed by the European-style church standing in the wilderness.  The mission became an important stop for settlers, miners, and traders traveling on the Mullan Road. It served as a supply station, post office, and place to stay for tired travelers crossing the area.

The 113 years between Chief Circling Raven’s vision and its fulfillment became a famous story among Northwest tribes. The mission served the Coeur d’Alene community for more than 30 years before relocating in 1877.

The building survived as Idaho’s oldest structure. The government named it a National Historic Landmark in 1961.
Today, visitors can see this remarkable building at Coeur d’Alene’s Old Mission State Park, where the story of Chief Circling Raven’s prophecy continues to amaze people from around the world.

Persto · « **Reply #57 on:** May 19, 2026, 12:35:54 PM »

Persto · « **Reply #58 on:** May 19, 2026, 01:41:18 PM »

Chief Andrew Seltice one of the very first converts with his daughter

Andrew Seltice of the Couer d'Alene tribe (Schitsu’umsh) was one of the very first converts to Christianity in 1844 at the St. Joseph Mission. Exactly when the wise and beloved man who would become chief of the Coeur d'Alene Indians was born is open for debate. All agree it was before 1829 in the Spokane Valley. He was born into the Schitsu'umsh tribe, the son of Moses Seltice, a Coeur d'Alene Indian, and Julia Rosa Komshinal, a Spokane Indian, and a descendant of Sitting Bull, a chief in Spokane Valley. He called himself Andrew Seltice (from the family) of Emotes. Many changes and transitions were to come during his lifetime. He was married to Julia Rosalia Tsjumskunnagwei at the same mission. The Black Robes and the mission would play a major role in the future of the tribe.

After the Northern Indian Wars of 1858, Chief Vincent, Andrew Seltice and other tribesmen quickly stepped forward to sign a peace and friendship treaty with the United States. They never again went to war against the U. S. government. However, this treaty did nothing to protect their ancestral lands. With the help of the Jesuits at the mission, the Coeur d'Alenes wrote letters asking for the government to honor their treaties and their tribal lands. It would take 43 more years to gain legal and binding title to their lands.

In 1865, Andrew Seltice, admired for his intelligence and wealth, became head chief, succeeding Chief Vincent. He was slow to anger and quick to make peace. His wealth came from his large herd of cattle and horses he raised. He was also known for his honesty, friendliness, courage and generosity.

He lived on the west side of Lake Seltice, now called Saltese Flats. Encouraged by Father Joseph Joset, Vice-Provincial of all Pacific Northwest missions, the Coeur d'Alene Indians set up permanent homes and farmed their land. Chief Seltice raised oats, wheat and vegetable crops. He built the log house with a rock fireplace his family lived in, as well as barns and split-rail fences for his animals.

Chief Seltice's wife, Julia, mother of their 12 children, died in 1867. He married again the following year to Julia Marie Chenzie, daughter of Eugene and Juliana Tecomtee. Together, they had 11 children, making Chief Seltice the father of 23 children.

Every summer on July 1, Chief Seltice invited 500 Indians to gather on the shores of Liberty Lake for a feed. They had horse, foot and canoe races and athletic competitions. Prizes were awarded to the winners. Three large steers were prepared to feed everyone. They also served bread along with camas, vegetables, fruit, dried huckleberries and thornberries to eat. After the competitions and races were over and everyone was full from the dinner, many spent the night to listen to Tecomtee's beautiful lyric tenor voice echo across the lake as he sang the "Prophecy Songs" of Circling Raven. The young men, sitting along the shore, would join in with the songs they knew well.

With help from the Jesuits, Chief Seltice helped bring the Coeur d'Alene's from a hunting and gathering society to an agricultural tribe. Before the 1850s, they gathered berries, dug camas bulbs and caught fish in the plentiful lakes, rivers and streams for their food. They hunted buffalo in Montana until the buffalo no longer were plentiful as well as mule deer and elk closer to home. By the 1850s, at least part of the tribe was farming.

Chief Seltice believed the way of life for his people had to change to survive with the influx of settlers. In the 1870s, they began to prepare for the move to an area that could sustain the entire tribe through agricultural means, not far from where they traditionally dug camas. The US government had still not given them title to their land. In 1877, Seltice moved to the DeSmet area of Idaho. He continued to keep his cattle and horses in the Spokane Valley area to graze and feed for a few more years as he developed his farm to fully support them.

Stephen Liberty, for whom Liberty Lake is named, became a friend of Chief Seltice. In 1887, Chief Seltice, his brother-in-law Peter Wildshoe, Stephen Liberty and others traveled to Washington, D.C., hoping for a treaty settlement. Again, it was not ratified. Liberty became a translator for the Coeur d'Alenes, traveling several times to Washington, D.C., on their behalf.

Chief Seltice invited Steven Liberty, Patrick Nixon, Joseph Peavy and Julian Boutelier and their families to be adopted as part of the tribe and to live on the reservation, which they accepted. They became known as "White Indians." Seltice also invited the Spokane Indians to settle on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation, too.

In 1891, the tribe finally received title to part of their ancestral lands now known as the Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation. It took until June 2, 1924, for a law to be passed allowing the American Indians to become citizens in their own country. After serving his beloved people as chief for 37 years, Chief Andrew Seltice died on April 20, 1902. He was buried at the church cemetery overlooking the DeSmet Mission.

http://libertylakesplash.com/news.asp?id=22015

Persto · « **Reply #59 on:** May 20, 2026, 11:37:21 AM »

https://youtu.be/yvwoLmuteu0?list=PLZxjSVBay4WyIC1Ph1eNcmTLW1N7nVNZm

CathInfo.com

Author Topic: Stories of Conversion (Read 9753 times)

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