These two volumes are devoted to reprints of Edmund Flagg's _The Far
West_ (New York, 1838), and Father Pierre Jean de Smet's _Letters and
Sketches, with a Narrative of a Year's Residence among the Indian
Tribes of the Rocky Mountains_ (Philadelphia, 1843). Flagg's
two-volume work occupies all of our volume xxvi and the first part of
volume xxvii, the remaining portion of the latter being given to De
Smet's book.
Edmund Flagg was prominent among early American prose writers, and
also ranked high among our minor poets. A descendant of the Thomas
Flagg who came to Boston from England, in 1637, Edmund was born
November 24, 1815, at Wescasset, Maine. Being graduated with
distinction from Bowdoin College in 1835, in the same year he went
with his mother and sister Lucy to Louisville, Kentucky. Here, in a
private school, he taught the classics to a group of boys, and
contributed articles to the Louisville _Journal_, a paper with which
he was intermittently connected, either as editorial writer or
correspondent, until 1861.
The summer and autumn of 1836 found Flagg travelling in Missouri and
Illinois, and writing for the _Journal_ the letters which were later
revised and enlarged to form _The Far West_, herein reprinted.
Tarrying at St. Louis in the autumn of 1836, our author began the
study of law, and the following year was admitted to the bar; but in
1838 he returned to newspaper life, taking charge for a time of the
St. Louis _Commercial Bulletin_. During the winter of 1838-39 he
assisted George D. Prentice, founder of the Louisville _Journal_, in
the work of editing the Louisville _Literary News Letter_. Finding,
however, that newspaper work overtaxed his health, Flagg next accepted
an invitation to enter the law office of Sergeant S. Prentiss at
Vicksburg, Mississippi, where in addition to his legal duties he found
time to edit the Vicksburg _Whig_. Having been wounded in a duel with
James Hagan of the _Sentinel_ in that city, Flagg returned to the less
excitable North and undertook editorial duties upon the _Gazette_ at
Marietta, Ohio (1842-43), and later (1844-45) upon the St. Louis
_Evening Gazette_. He also served as official reporter of the Missouri
state constitutional convention the following year, and published a
volume of its debates; subsequently (until 1849) acting as a court
reporter in St. Louis.
The three succeeding years were spent abroad; first as secretary to
Edward A. Hannegan, United States minister to Berlin, and later as
consul at Venice. In February, 1852, he returned to America, and
during the presidential campaign of that year edited a Democratic
journal at St. Louis, known as the _Daily Times_. Later, as a reward
for political service, he was made superintendent of statistics in the
department of state, at Washington--a bureau having special charge of
commercial relations. Here he was especially concerned with the
compilation of reports on immigration and the cotton and tobacco
trade, and published a _Report on Commercial Relations of the United
States with all Foreign Nations_ (4 vols., Washington, 1858). Through
these reports, particularly the last named, Flagg's name became
familiar to merchants in both the United States and Europe. From 1857
to 1860 he was Washington correspondent for several Western
newspapers, and from 1861 to 1870 served as librarian of copyrights in
the department of the interior. Having in 1862 married Kate Adeline,
daughter of Sidney S. Gallaher, of Virginia, he moved to Highland
View in that state (1870), and died there November 1, 1890.
In addition to his labors in the public service and as a newspaper
man, Flagg found time for higher literary work, and won considerable
distinction in that field. His first book, _The Far West_, although
somewhat stilted in style, possesses considerable literary merit.
Encouraged by the success of his initial endeavor, he wrote the
following year (1839) the _Duchess of Ferrara_ and _Beatrice of
Padua_, two novels, each of which passed through at least two
editions. The _Howard Queen_ (1848) and _Blanche of Artois_ (1850)
were prize productions. _De Molai_ (1888), says the New York _Sun_ of
the period, is "a powerful, dramatic tale which seems to catch the
very spirit of the age of Philip of France. It is rare to find a story
in which fact and invention are so evenly and adroitly balanced." Our
author also wrote several dramas, which were staged in Louisville,
Cincinnati, St. Louis, and New York; he also composed numerous poems
for newspapers and magazines. His masterpiece, however, was a history
dedicated to his lifelong friend and colleague, George D. Prentice,
entitled _The City of the Sea_ (2 vols., New York, 1853). This work
was declared by the _Knickerbocker_ to be "a carefully compiled,
poetically-written digest of the history of the glorious old Venice--a
passionate, thrilling, yet accurate and sympathetic account of the
last struggle for independence." At the time of his death Flagg had in
preparation a volume of reminiscences, developed from a diary kept
during forty years, but this has never been published.[1]
[1] For a list of Flagg's prose and poetical writings, contributions
to periodicals, and editorial works, see "Annual Report of the
Librarian of Bowdoin College for the year ending June 1, 1891,"
in Bowdoin College _Library Bulletin_ (Brunswick, Maine, 1895).
"In hope of renovating the energies of a shattered constitution," we
are told, Flagg started in the early part of June, 1836, on a journey
to what was then known as the Far West. Taking a steamboat at
Louisville, he went to St. Louis by way of the Ohio and the
Mississippi, and after a brief delay ascended the latter to the mouth
of the Illinois, and thence on to Peoria. Prevented by low water from
proceeding farther, he returned by the same route to St. Louis, whence
after three weeks' stay, spent either in the sick chamber or in making
short trips about the city and its environs, the traveller crossed the
Mississippi and struck out on horseback across the Illinois prairies,
visiting Edwardsville, Alton, Carlinsville, Hillsborough, Carlisle,
Lebanon, Belleville, and the American Bottoms. In July, after
recrossing the Mississippi, he visited in like manner St. Charles,
Missouri, by way of Bellefontaine and Florissant; crossed the
Mississippi near Portage des Sioux, and passed through the Illinois
towns of Grafton, Carrollton, Manchester, Jacksonville, Springfield,
across Grand Prairie to Shelbyville, Mount Vernon, Pinkneyville, and
Chester, and returned to St. Louis by way of the old French
settlements of Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher, and Cahokia.
During this journey Flagg wrote for the Louisville _Journal_, as
already stated, a series of letters describing the country through
which he travelled. Hastily thrown together from the pages of his note
book, this correspondence appeared anonymously under the title,
"Sketches of a Traveller." They were, however, soon attributed to
Flagg, and two years later were collected by the author and published
in two small volumes by Harper and Brothers (New York, 1838), as _The
Far West_. These volumes are in many respects the best description of
the Middle West that had appeared up to the time they were written.
Roughly following the journals of Michaux, Harris, and Cuming by
forty, thirty, and twenty years respectively, Flagg skillfully shows
the remarkable growth and development of the Western country. His
descriptions of the Ohio, Mississippi, and Illinois rivers are still
among the best in print, particularly from the artistic standpoint.
His account of the steamboat traffic is valuable for the history of
navigation on the Western rivers, and shows vividly the obstacles
which still confronted merchants of that time. Chapters xi, xii, and
xiii, dealing with St. Louis and its immediate vicinity, are the most
detailed in our series, while the descriptions of St. Charles and the
Illinois towns through which Flagg passed, are excellent.
The modern reader cannot but wish that Flagg had devoted less space to
his youthful philosophizing, but the atmosphere is at least wholesome.
Unlike Harris, whose criticism of Western society was keen and acrid,
Flagg was a man of broad sympathies, possessing an insight into human
nature remarkable for so youthful a writer--for he was but twenty
years of age at the time of his travels, and twenty-two when the book
was published. Although mildly reproving the old French settlers for
their lack of enterprise, he fully appreciates their domestic virtues,
and gives a faithful picture of these pleasure-loving, contented,
unprogressive people. His description of the once thriving villages of
Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher, and Cahokia, are valuable historically,
as showing the decay settling upon the French civilization after a few
years of American occupation. Our author's interview with the Mormon
convert, his conversations with early French and American settlers,
his accounts of political meetings, his anecdotes illustrating Western
curiosity, and particularly his carefully-recounted local traditions,
throw much light on the beliefs, manners, and customs of the Western
people of his time. _The Far West_ is thus not only a graphic and
often forceful description of the interesting region through which the
author travelled, but a sympathetic synopsis of its local annals,
affording much varied information not otherwise obtainable. The
present reprint, with annotations that seek to correct its errors,
will, we think, prove welcome in our series.
In the _Letters and Sketches_ of Father de Smet, we reprint another
Western classic, related to the volumes of Flagg by their common
terminus of travel at St. Louis.
No more interesting or picturesque episode has occurred in the history
of Christian missions in the New World, than the famous visit made in
the autumn of 1831 to General William Clark at St. Louis by the
Flathead chiefs seeking religious instruction for their people.
Vigorously exploited in the denominational papers of the East, this
delegation aroused a sentiment that led to the founding of Protestant
missions in Oregon and western Idaho, and incidentally to the solution
of the Oregon question. But in point of fact, the Flathead deputation
was sent to secure a Catholic missionary; and not merely one but four
such embassies embarked for St. Louis before the great desideratum, a
"black robe" priest, could be secured for ministration to this
far-distant tribe. Employed in the Columbian fur-trade were a number
of Christian Iroquois from Canada, who had been carefully trained at
St. Regis and Caughnawaga in all the observances of the Roman Catholic
church. Upon the Pacific waterways and in the fastnesses of the
Rockies, these Iroquois taught their fellow Indians the ordinances of
the church and the commands of the white man's Great Spirit. John
Wyeth (see our volume xxi) testifies to the honesty and humanity of
the Flathead tribe: "they do not lie, steal, nor rob any one, unless
when driven too near to starvation." He also testifies that they
"appear to keep the Sabbath;" and that their word is "as good as the
Bible." These were the neophytes who craved instruction, and to whom
was assigned that remarkable Jesuit missionary, Father Jean Pierre de
Smet.
Born in Belgium in 1801, young De Smet was educated in a religious
school at Malines. When twenty years of age he responded to an appeal
to cross the Atlantic and carry the gospel to the red men of the
Western continent. Arrived in Philadelphia (1821), the young Belgian
was astonished to see a well-built town, travelled roads, cultivated
farms, and other appurtenances of civilization; he had expected only a
wilderness and savages. Two years were spent in the Jesuit novitiate
in Maryland, before the zealous youth saw any traces of frontier life.
Then the youthful novice was removed to Florissant, Missouri, not far
from St. Louis, where the making of a log-cabin and the breaking of
fresh soil furnished a mild foretaste of his future career. Still more
years elapsed before the cherished project of missionary labor could
be realized. In 1829 St. Louis University was founded, and herein the
young priest, who had been ordained in 1827, was employed upon the
instructional force. Later years (1833-37) were spent in Europe, while
recruiting his health and securing supplies for the infant university.
It was not until 1838 that the first missionary enterprise was
undertaken by Father de Smet, when a chapel for the Potawatomi was
built on the site of the modern Council Bluffs. There, in 1839, the
fourth Flathead deputation rested after the long journey from their
Rocky Mountain home; and at the earnest solicitation of the young
missioner, he was in the spring of 1840, detailed by his superior to
ascertain and report upon the prospects of a mission to the mountain
Indians.
Of the two tribesmen who had come down to St. Louis, Pierre the
Left-handed (Gaucher) was sent back to his people with news of the
success of the embassy, while his colleague Ignace was detained to
serve as guide to the adventurous Jesuit who in April, 1840, set forth
for the Flathead country with the annual fur-trade caravan. The route
traversed was the well-known Oregon Trail as far as the Green River
rendezvous; there the father was rejoiced to meet a deputation of ten
Flatheads, sent to escort him to their habitat, and at Prairie de la
Messe was celebrated for them the first mass in the Western mountains.
The trail led them on through Jackson's and Pierre's Holes; and in the
latter valley the waiting tribesmen to the number of sixteen hundred
had collected, and received the "black robe" as a messenger from
Heaven. Chants and prayers were heard on every side; "in a fortnight,"
reports the delighted missionary, "all knew their prayers." After two
months spent among his "dear Flatheads," wandering with them across
the divide, and encamping for some time at the Three Forks of the
Missouri--where nearly forty years before Lewis and Clark first
encountered the Western Indians--De Smet took leave of his neophytes.
Protected by a strong guard through the hostile Blackfeet country, he
arrived at last at the fur-trade post of Fort Union at the junction of
the Missouri and the Yellowstone. Descending thence to St. Louis he
arrived there on the last day of December, 1840.
The remainder of the winter was occupied in preparations for a new
journey, and in securing men and supplies for the equipment of the
far-away mission begun under such favorable auspices. Once more the
father departed from Westport--this time in May, 1841. The little
company consisted, besides himself, of two other priests and three lay
brothers, all of the latter being skilled mechanics. Among the members
of the caravan were a number of California pioneers, one of whom has
thus related his impressions of the young missionary: "He was genial,
of fine presence, and one of the saintliest men I have ever known, and
I cannot wonder that the Indians were made to believe him divinely
protected. He was a man of great kindness and great affability under
all circumstances; nothing seemed to disturb his temper."[2]
[2] John Bidwell, "First Emigrant Train to California," in
_Century Magazine_, new series, xix, pp. 113, 114.
Father de Smet's letters describe in detail the scenery and incidents
of the route from the eastern border of Kansas to Fort Hall, in Idaho,
where the British factor received the travellers with abounding
hospitality. Here some of the Flatheads were in waiting to convey the
missionaries to the tribe, the chiefs of which met them in Beaver Head
Valley, Montana, and testified their welcome with dignified
simplicity. Passing over to the waters of the Columbia, they founded
the mission of St. Mary upon the first Sunday in October, in the
beautiful Bitter Root valley at the site of the later Fort Owen.
Thence Father de Smet made a rapid journey in search of provisions to
Fort Colville, on the upper Columbia, but was again at his mission
stockade before the close of the year. In April a longer journey was
projected, as far as Fort Vancouver, on the lower Columbia, where Dr.
McLoughlin, the British factor, received the good priest with that
cordial greeting for which he was already famous. During this journey
the father narrowly escaped drowning in the turbulent rapids of the
Columbia, where five of his boatmen perished. Returned to St. Mary's,
the prospects for a harvest of souls both among the Flatheads and the
neighboring tribes appeared so promising that the missionary
determined to seek re-enforcement and further aid in Europe. Thereupon
he left his companions in charge of the "new Paraguay" of his hopes,
and once more undertook the long and adventurous journey to the
settlements, this time by way of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers,
arriving at St. Louis the last of October, 1842. At this point the
journeys detailed in the volume here reprinted come to an end. The
later career of Father de Smet and his subsequent journeyings will be
detailed in the preface to volumes xxviii and xxix, in the latter of
which will appear his _Oregon Missions_.
Father de Smet's writings on missionary subjects ended only with his
death, and were increasingly voluminous and detailed. The _Letters and
Sketches_ were his first published work, with the exception of a
portion of a compilation that appeared in 1841, on the Jesuit missions
of Missouri. We find therefore, in the present reprint, the vitality
and enthusiasm of the young traveller relating new scenes, and the
abounding joy of the successful missionary uplifting a barbaric race.
The book was written with the avowed purpose of creating interest in
his newly-organized work, and securing contributions therefor. The
freshness of description, the wholesome simplicity of the narrative,
the frank presentation of wilderness life, charm the reader, and make
this book a classic of early Western exploration. Cast in the form of
letters, wherein there is more or less repetition of statement, it is
nevertheless evident that these have been subjected to a certain
editorial revision, and that literary quality has been considered.
Aside from the interest evoked by the personality of the writer, and
the events of his narrative, the work throws much light upon
wilderness travel, the topography and scenery of the Rocky Mountain
region, and above all upon the habits and customs, modes of thought,
social standards, and religious conceptions of the important tribes of
the interior.
After the present series of reprints had been planned for, and
announced in a detailed prospectus, there was issued from the press of
Francis P. Harper of New York the important volumes edited by Major H.
M. Chittenden and Alfred Talbot Richardson, entitled _Life, Letters,
and Travels of Father Pierre Jean de Smet, S. J., 1801-73_. This
publication contains much new material, derived from manuscript
sources, which has been interwoven in chronological order with the
missionary's several books; and to it all have been added an adequate
biography and bibliography of De Smet. This scholarly work has been of
great service to us in preparing for accurate reprint the original
editions of the only two of Father de Smet's publications that fall
within the chronological field of our series.
In the preparation for the press of Flagg's _The Far West_, the Editor
has had the assistance of Clarence Cory Crawford, A. M.; in editing
Father de Smet's _Letters and Sketches_, his assistant has been Louise
Phelps Kellogg, Ph.D.
R. G. T.
MADISON, WIS., April, 1906.