THE MISSION AMONG THE SAULTEAUX ESTABLISHED--NELLY'S DEATH--MISSIONARY
ANNIVERSARIES ATTENDED--REVEREND THOMAS CROSBY--TRAVELLING ADVENTURES--
MORE WORKING WITH DOGS--OUR NEW HOME--VISIT FROM A CHIEFTAINESS--CLOSING
WORDS.
After a great deal of correspondence it was decided that I should begin
the work at Beren's River among the Saulteaux Indians who lived there,
and in little bands scattered along the eastern shores of that great
lake, and in the interior, most of them in extreme poverty and
superstitious degradation. A few of them, as the result of acquaintance
with our Christian Indians of other places, were groping after the great
Light, and trying to lift themselves up socially in life.
The Reverend John H Ruttan was appointed to Norway House, the Reverend
Orrin German to Oxford House, and I was put down for Beren's River.
As it was advisable that I should remain at Norway House until my
successor, Brother Ruttan, arrived, and as there was only one
opportunity for a long time for Mrs Young and the children to return to
Red River, they availed themselves of it, poor and miserable as it was.
With loving "farewells" I wished them success on their journey, and saw
them off. Sandy Harte, our adopted Indian lad, and I sailed down to the
old Norway House, about twenty miles from our home, and there saying
"Good-bye," we returned to our lonely home.
Mrs Young had with her our three darling children, Eddie, Lilian, and
Nelly. All were well and full of the best of spirits as the sail was
hoisted, and we saw them glide away before the favouring gale. Precious
Nelly we never saw again. So terrible was the heat, and so miserable
were the accommodations in that little open boat, without deck or awning
or cabin, that the child sickened and died.
As we have referred to this sad event in an earlier chapter, we need not
dwell upon it here. What the poor mother felt and suffered as, sick
herself, she saw her beautiful child attacked by brain fever, and then
droop and die amidst surroundings so sad and trying, can be realised by
but few. God knows all about it. As mentioned, the venerable
Archdeacon Cowley's sympathy did much to raise up Mrs Young's crushed
spirits and dry her bitter tears.
I remained at Norway House until Brothers Ruttan and German arrived; and
then, after having spent a Sabbath with them, and seen Mr Ruttan and
his noble young wife cheerfully and hopefully entered upon their blessed
work among the people, to whom I had become very much attached, I
started off for Beren's River. Sandy Harte, the Nelson River lad, went
with me as far as my first camping place, and spent the night with me.
We read the sacred Word together, and then, after singing a Hymn, we
bowed in prayer. We lay down together, but we had so much to say, that
hours passed away ere we slept.
Early the next morning we were aroused from our slumbers by the cry of
"Fair wind," and so no time must be lost. I was very much surprised to
find that during the night some scores of Indians had come on in their
canoes from the Mission, although it was many miles away, to shake hands
with their Missionary once more, and say a final "Farewell."
After a hasty breakfast we assembled on the shore for prayers. We sang
in Cree a favourite hymn:--
"Jesus, my All, to heaven is gone,
He Whom I fix my hopes upon.
His path I see, and I'll pursue
The narrow way till Him I view."
We closed by singing the Doxology, and then, after prayers, I sadly said
"Good-bye," and shook hands again with them all. I found it hard to
break away from them. Many of them were in tears, who seldom wept
before. Coming to my beloved Sandy last, I put my arm around his neck
and kissed him as there he stood, weeping as though his heart would
break. With a "God bless you all," I sprang into the boat, which was
quickly pushed off from the shore, and then the long journey to the land
of the Saulteaux was begun.
After some of the usual incidents of travel I reached Beren's River, and
was most enthusiastically received by the Indians. The man who had
said, "Our eyes were dim from long watching," now said that they were
dim with tears of joy that he had lived to see the day when a Missionary
of their own lived among them. As I was to leave before the lake froze
up, every day was precious. I pitched a canvas tent, and in it lived
for several weeks. All assembled once every week-day for religious
worship, and then, when that was over, the Missionary and men took off
their coats and went to work. The spot for the Mission was decided
upon, and then acre after acre of the forest from this place, and also
from where each Indian had decided to build, was rapidly being cleared
of the forest trees. We held three services every Lord's day, and saw
that the school for the children was faithfully kept up.
Getting everything in good shape, and leaving Martin Papanekis, a devout
and trusty Christian Indian from the Norway House Mission, in charge, I
started in a birch canoe, with Big Tom as principal canoe-man, for Red
River.
Of our adventures and dangers I need not write, although there were
several on that long journey in such a frail craft. One complete upset
chilled me most thoroughly, as the water was about down to freezing
point. At one place, where we tried to push on all night, we were
tantalised by some most brilliant "Will-o'-the-wisp" lights, which our
experienced Indians thought were decoy signals put out by wicked Indians
to bewilder or injure us. Canoe travelling on this great lake is risky
business. The storms come up with surprising rapidity, and the waves
rise up like those of the ocean. However, we had a good canoe, and Big
Tom was in charge; and He Who holds the winds and the waves in His fists
was our Father and our Friend.
At Red River I called on the Reverend Archdeacon Cowley at his Indian
Mission home. Very cordial and sympathetic was he, as I introduced
myself, and told him I had come to accept of his kind offer, and seek in
some part of the quiet graveyard of his Mission Church a little place
where I could bury the body of my darling child. He at once went with
me and showed me all kindness and help, as also did Mr Flett and his
family, of the Hudson's Bay Company's Service. As we laid away the
beautiful child, and the solemn words, "Earth to earth, dust to dust,"
were uttered, we felt that there was now an additional tie holding us to
that country and work.
In due time I reached Toronto, and there met the Missionary Secretaries,
and obtained from them an outline of the work before me. Here it was my
great joy to meet for the first time the Reverend Thomas Crosby, the
energetic and successful Missionary from British Columbia, who has been
wonderfully owned of God in his glorious work. Uncalled by any Church,
but impelled by the good Spirit, shortly after his conversion he made
his way to British Columbia at his own expense, and offered himself to
one of the Missionaries there as a volunteer teacher among the poor,
neglected Indians, who, uncared for by any one, were prowling around the
cities and towns of that new Province, living lives of shame and sin.
Great indeed was his success.
He has also established flourishing Missions at Fort Simpson and
elsewhere in the north of that land, and through his labours a blessed
work began among the Indians in Alaska. Some of them, hearing wonderful
stories about the black-coated man and his mysterious Book, came
hundreds of miles, that they might have their curiosity satisfied. They
returned with more than they anticipated. They reached the Mission, and
from Mr Crosby, and also from some of their own tribes who lived there,
they heard the "old, old story" for the first time in their lives. It
was indeed wonderful news to them, but they accepted it with a simple
faith that was pleasing to God, and brought into their hearts the
consciousness of His smile and benediction. Rejoicing in this new-found
treasure they returned to their own land, and there they published the
glad tidings of God's love, and added the testimony of their own
personal experience that they had a new joy in their hearts, the result
of their having accepted this Saviour. Great indeed was the excitement
among the people. Some mocked, and some opposed and tried to persecute,
but many were affected by what their companions had brought them, and
believing their testimony entered into their joy.
Of course the new converts could give but little instruction; and so, as
the work proceeded, it was decided that a deputation must go for the
Missionary and bring him into their land. Mr Crosby responded, and
went over to Alaska, and spent some time among them. God blessed his
labours, and many of the Indians gave up their paganism and became
Christians. Convinced that a grand opening was here for Missionary
triumph, Mr Crosby wrote to the Methodist Episcopal Mission Rooms, New
York, urging the officials there to enter this open door and begin work
here. The answer was that it was impossible; that their other fields
absorbed all their income, and so there was no prospect of their being
able to respond to his appeal.
Not to be discouraged very easily, Mr Crosby next wrote to the
Presbyterian Board at Philadelphia, and told of these poor sheep in the
wilderness; and here, thank God, he met with success, and there was a
glad response; and the successful Presbyterian Missions and Indian
Schools in that land to-day are the outgrowth of that work.
In company with this heroic Brother Crosby, who had so much to tell, I
spent several months in attending Missionary Meetings. We had blessed
times. Immense crowds came out to hear us, and, if I am not mistaken,
the increase in the Missionary income that year was the greatest in its
history. In all, we attended eighty-nine Missionary Anniversary
Services in different Canadian towns and cities between Sarnia and
Quebec.
A very happy week was spent with my family at "Oaklands," Toronto, the
beautiful residence of the Honourable Senator Macdonald, the Lay
Treasurer of our Missionary Society. Of Senator Macdonald's great
kindness, and tangible evidences of sympathy, neither few nor slight, if
I should here write, I should only be mentioning what scores of
Ministers and Missionaries could say had been their own fortunate
experiences with this large-hearted philanthropist. Eternity alone will
be able to reveal the full measure of what, with a glad heart, he has
been constantly and unostentatiously doing for many of Christ's
ambassadors, and among the different Churches.
As soon as the season for holding Missionary Meetings ended, I returned
to my Indian work. I left the Province of Ontario on the 6th of April,
and reached Beren's River after twenty-three days of continuous
travelling. On the railroads in Minnesota and Dacota we were detained
by snowdrifts, which so blocked up our way that we had some very
unpleasant experiences. After leaving the railroad I had to travel two
hundred and fifty miles in a stage on runners over the snowy prairies.
We had some blizzards to encounter, and one night, when we were
fortunate enough to have reached one of the stopping places, the storm
raged like a hurricane. The house was built of logs, and not well
finished, and the snow sifted in through the wide cracks between these
logs and on to our beds. My experiences in wintry camps served me a
good purpose now, and so pulling up the hood of my overcoat, and then
completely covering myself up under the bedclothes, I slept soundly
through the raging storm and driving snow. When we were called up to
eat a hasty breakfast and resume our journey, I found several inches of
snow on the top of my bed, but I had suffered no inconvenience from it.
With my travelling companions in the other beds it was very different.
The upper storey, in which our beds were placed, was all one room, and
so the snow had equally assailed us all. But, not being able to sleep
with their heads completely covered up, they had suffered much, and were
in anything but an amiable mood when we resumed our journey.
At Winnipeg I was cordially welcomed by my beloved Chairman, the
Reverend George Young, who had ever taken the deepest interest in my
work, and done all he could to add to our comfort and efficiency in its
prosecution. Fortunate indeed were we, poor Missionaries in the
interior, whether it was north or west, that we had such a man to look
after our supplies, and see that we were not cheated or swindled by
those who once a year sent them out to the poor toilers in their lonely
fields. For years we had no money in our northern Missions. Our plan
was, once a year to receive from Winnipeg all that our salary would
purchase for us in the shape of supplies that were needed in our own
home, and also with which to pay teacher, interpreter, guides, canoe-
men, dog-drivers, and others who might be employed in the prosecution of
the work.
As all the work of purchasing and packing these things depended very
much upon the Chairman, fortunate indeed did all of us, who had Dr
Young as our Chairman, consider ourselves to be.
My dogs and Indians were waiting for me, having come down from the north
to meet me, as arranged months before. We purchased our supplies,
loaded our sleds, and away we started by dog-train on the last part of
the long journey. We had left Toronto in a splendid railroad carriage;
we ended the trip of over twenty days' duration with dog sleds.
Very quickly did I come back to the wild life of the North after the six
months of incessant pleading the cause of the Indians before the large
and enthusiastic audiences in our towns and cities. The days of hard
and rapid travelling over the frozen surface of Lake Winnipeg,--the
bitter cold that often made us shiver in spite of the violent exercise
of running,--the intense and almost unbearable pain caused by the
reflection of the brilliant rays of the sun upon the snowy waste,--the
bed in the hole in the snow with no roof above us but the star-decked
vault of heaven,--were all cheerfully endured again and successfully
passed through.
Very cordial was my welcome by the Saulteaux at my new field. I was
very much gratified to find that they had had a successful winter, and
that those left in charge had worked faithfully and well. A little log
house, twelve by twenty-four feet, had been put up, and in one end of it
I was installed as my present home. My apartment was just twelve feet
square, but to me it was all-sufficient. It was kitchen, bedroom,
dining-room, study, reception-room, and everything else. Two of my
grandest dogs, Jack and Cuffy, shared it with me for months, and we had
a happy and busy time. With several hard-working Indians, two of them
being Big Tom and Martin Papanekis from Norway House, we toiled hard at
getting out the timber and logs for our new church, school-house, and
parsonage. We had to go a distance of twelve or fourteen miles over the
frozen lake ere we reached the large island on which we found timber
sufficiently large for our purpose. Here we worked as hard as possible.
Often we had to go in miles from the shore to find what we wanted. To
make our work more difficult, we found but few large trees growing close
together. So, for nearly every large stick of timber, we had to make a
new trail through the deep snow to the lake. The snow was from three to
four feet deep. The under-brush was thick, and the fallen trees were
numerous. Yet under these discouragements we worked. We cut down the
trees, measured them, squared them, and got them ready for their places.
Then we hitched one end on a strong dog sled, and attached one dog to
this heavy load. How four dogs could drag these heavy sticks of timber
was indeed surprising. The principal pieces were thirty-six feet long
and ten inches square. Yet my gallant St. Bernards and Newfoundlands
would take these heavy loads along at a rate that was astounding. We
had thirty-two dogs at work, and rapidly did our piles of timber and
logs accumulate.
Dressed as one of the natives, with them I toiled incessantly for the
material upbuilding of the Mission. We had delightful services every
Sabbath. Nearly every Indian within some miles of the place attended,
and good results were continually cheering our hearts. Although it was
so late in the season when I arrived, yet there was not, for weeks
after, any sign of the spring, except in the lengthening days and
increasingly brilliant sun. For a long time the vast snowy wastes
remained crisp and hard. Very glorious was the atmosphere, for there
were no fogs, no mists, no damps. The sky seemed always cloudless, the
air was always clear.
Nearly every morning during those weeks of hard toil we were treated to
the strange sights which the beautiful and vivid mirage brought to us.
Islands and headlands, scores of miles away, were lifted up from below
the horizon, and shown to us as distinctly as though close at hand.
With but few exceptions our nights also were very glorious, especially
when the Northern Lights, taking this vast Lake Winnipeg as their field
of action, held one of their grand carnivals. Generally beginning in
the far north, with majestic sweep they came marching on, filling the
very heavens with their coloured bars, or flashing, ever-changing, yet
always beautiful clouds of brightness and glory. Sometimes they would
form a magnificent corona at the zenith, and from its dazzling splendour
would shoot out long columns of different coloured lights, which rested
upon the far-off frozen shores. Often have I seen a cloud of light flit
swiftly across these tinted bars, as if a hand were sweeping the strings
of some grand harp. So startling was the resemblance, that there was an
instinctive listening for the sound that we used to think ought to come.
Sometimes I have suddenly stopped my dogs and men, when we have been
travelling amidst these fascinating and almost bewildering glories of
the heavens above us, and we have listened for that rustling sound of
celestial harmony which some Arctic travellers have affirmed they have
heard, and which it seemed to me so evident that we ought to hear. But
although for years I have watched and listened, amidst the death
stillness of these snowy wastes, no sounds have I ever heard. Amidst
all their flashing and changing glories these resplendent beauties ever
seemed to me as voiceless as the stars above them.
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When spring arrived, and with its open water came our first boats, we
brought out from Red River a quantity of building material and two
experienced carpenters. Then actively went on the work of building a
Mission House, and also a large school-house, which for a time was to
serve as a church also. We called it "the Tabernacle," and for a good
while it served its double purpose admirably.
Leaving the carpenters and Indians at work, I went into the then small
village of Winnipeg for Mrs Young and our two little children, who were
now returning from Ontario, where they had remained among friends, until
I, who had so long preceded them, should have some kind of a habitation
prepared for them in the wilderness. For weeks we had to live in my
little twelve-by-twelve log-cabin. It was all right in cold or dry
weather, but as its construction was peculiar, it failed us most
signally in times of rain and wet. The roof was made of poplar logs,
laid up against the roof pole, and then covered very thickly with clay.
When this hardened and dried, it was a capital roof against the cold;
but when incessant rains softened it, and the mud in great pieces fell
through upon bed, or table, or stove, or floor, it was not luxurious or
even comfortable living. One morning we found that during the night a
mass, weighing over five pounds, had fallen at the feet of our youngest
child, as she, unconscious of danger, slept in a little bed near us.
However, after a while, we got into our new house, and great were our
rejoicings to find ourselves comfortably settled, and ready for
undivided attention to the blessed work of evangelisation.
While there was a measure of prosperity, yet the Mission did not advance
as rapidly as I had hoped it would. My hopes had been that the surplus
population at Norway House would have settled there, and that many from
the interior directly east would, as they had stated, come out and help
to build up the Mission.
Opposition in various quarters arose, and the Norway House Crees
preferred to go farther south; and finally seventy families preferred
that place, and there they have formed a flourishing additional Mission.
Thus the work advanced, although not all along the lines which some of
us had marked out. With patient endurance my noble wife and I toiled
on. There was room for the exercise of the graces of courage, and hope,
and faith, and patience; but a measure of success was ever ours, and we
saw signs of progress, and had every now and then some clear and
remarkable cases of conversion from the vilest degradation and
superstition into a clear and conscious assurance of Heaven's favour and
smile.
One summer there came from the east to visit us a chieftainess with
several of her followers. Her husband had been the chief of his people,
and when he died she assumed his position, and maintained it well. Her
home was several days' journey away in the interior, but she had heard
of the Missionary who had come to live among the Saulteaux and teach
them out of the great Book. Was not she a Saulteaux, and had not she a
right to know of this new way, about which so much was being said? With
these thoughts in her mind she came to see us. When she came to the
Mission, we saw very quickly that here was an interesting woman. We had
several interviews, and Mrs Young and myself did all we could to lead
this candid, inquiring mind into the right way. Before she left I gave
her a sheet of foolscap paper, and a long lead pencil, and showed her
how to keep her reckoning as to the Sabbath day. I had, among many
other lessons, described the Sabbath as one day in seven for rest and
worship; and she had become very much interested, and promised to try to
keep it.
As she pushed out in her canoe from our shore, her last importunate
request was, that as soon as possible I would visit her and her people
in their own land. So many were my engagements that I could not take up
this additional one until about the middle of the winter following.
When, with a couple of Indian attendants, with our dog-trains, we dashed
into her village, great indeed was her joy at seeing us, and very
demonstrative was the welcome given. She had put up on a staging
outside in the cold a couple of reindeer heads, keeping them there
preserved by the frost until I should arrive. Very quickly were they
taken down to cook. The hair was singed off, and then they were cut up
with an axe into pieces weighing about two pounds each. Soon they were
in the pot, boiling for our dinner. I furnished some tea, and while
everything was being got ready by a few, the rest of us sat down and
talked.
They were indeed anxious for instruction in spiritual things. I read
and, through my interpreter, explained truth after truth, to which they
gave the most earnest attention. Then we stopped a little while, that
we might have dinner. As I and my men were the guests of this
chieftainess I did not get out my tin plates, and cups, and knives and
forks, but sat down beside her in her wigwam with the rest of the
people, completing a circle around the big wooden dish, in which the
large pieces of cooked reindeer heads had been thrown. I asked a
blessing on the food, and then dinner began. The plan was for each
person to help himself or herself to a piece of the meat, holding it in
the hand, and using hunting knife or teeth, or both together, to get off
the pieces and eat them.
I am sorry to say my lady friend on the right, this chieftainess, had
very dirty-looking hands, and long, strong, brilliant teeth. She took
her piece of meat, and, turning it over and over in her hands, began
tearing and cutting at it in a way that was not very dainty, but
extremely otherwise. After biting off a few mouthfuls, she threw it
down on the dirty ground of the wigwam before her, and, inserting one of
her greasy hands in the bosom of her dress, she pulled out a large piece
of soiled paper, and, unfolding it before me, she began in excited tones
to tell me how she had kept the tally of the "praying days," for thus
they style the Sabbath. Greatly interested in her story, and in her
wild joyous way of describing her efforts to keep her record correct, I
stopped eating and looked over her paper, as she talked away. Imagine
my great delight to find that through the long months which had passed
since I had given her that paper and pencil, she had not once missed her
record. This day was Thursday, and thus she had marked it. Her plan
had been to make six short marks, and then a longer one for Sunday.
"Missionary," she said very earnestly, "sometimes it seemed as though I
would fail. There were times when the ducks or geese came very near,
and I felt like taking my gun and firing. Then I remembered that it was
the praying day, and so I only put down the long mark and rested. I
have not set a net, or caught a fish, or fired a gun, on the praying day
since I heard about it at your house so far away."
Of course I was delighted at all this, and said some kind words of
encouragement. Then we resumed our dinner. I had my piece of meat in
one hand, and with the knife in the other was endeavouring to cut off
the pieces and eat them. The good woman replaced the precious paper and
pencil in her bosom, and then picked up her piece of meat from the dirty
ground, and, after turning it over and over in her hands, began with her
strong teeth to tear off the large mouthfuls. All at once she stopped
eating, and, looking intently at my piece, she said, "Your piece is not
a very good one, mine is very fine," and before I could protest, or say
a word, she quickly exchanged the pieces; and from her portion, which
she put in my hand, I had to finish my dinner. As what she did is
considered an act of great kindness, of course I would not grieve her by
showing any annoyance. So I quietly smothered any little squeamishness
that might naturally have arisen, and finished my dinner, and then
resumed the religious service. Soon after, she became a decided
Christian.
The following extracts are from the last letter which I sent to the
Mission Rooms, ere, owing to the failure of Mrs Young's health, we left
the land of the Saulteaux for work in the Master's Vineyard elsewhere.
The Mission had now been fully established, a comfortable parsonage
built and well furnished. A large school-house had been erected, which
answered also for the religious services until the church should be
finished. Many had been our trials and hardships, and there had been a
great deal of opposition, much of it from places not expected. But to
be enabled to send such tidings from such a place, where I had gone as
the first Missionary, and among such a wicked and degraded tribe as were
these Saulteaux, so different from the more peaceful Crees, caused my
heart to rejoice, that He Who had permitted me to go and sow the seed
had also given me the honour of seeing some golden sheaves gathered in
for the heavenly garner:--
"Last Sabbath was perhaps the most interesting and encouraging one we
have spent on the Mission. Our place of worship was crowded, and many
had to remain outside. Some of the old Indians who, in spite of our
pleadings, had clung to their paganism, renounced it on that day in a
most emphatic manner. Seven of them, after being questioned as to their
thorough renunciation of their old superstitions, and as to their
present faith in Christ, were then and there baptized.
"At the afternoon service several more were baptized; among them an old
man, perhaps seventy years of age, with his wife and grandchild. He had
never been inside a Christian sanctuary before. He had just arrived
from the vast interior eastward of this place, the country I visited
under so many difficulties last April.
"The old man brought down with him the Bible and hymn-book which I had
given him months ago. He stated that although he could not read them
very well, yet he kept them close to him by day, and under his pillow by
night, and tried to keep in his memory all he had heard of what was
written in them, as I had told him.
"I have been teaching the school myself for months, as my faithful
teacher, Timothy Bear, is poorly. Among the scholars I have none more
attentive than the old man and his wife. Seated on the ground with the
Reverend James Evans' Syllabic Characters marked out with a pen on a
piece of paper in their hands, and the open Bible on the grass before
them, they are striving hard to read fluently in their own language the
wonderful works of God.
"If this old man had presented himself for baptism a little better
clothed, we should have been pleased. All he had on was a dirty cotton
shirt and a pair of deer-skin leggings. However, as such fashions occur
here, his appearance created no remark, but all were deeply moved at his
coming forward and so emphatically renouncing his old paganism.
"The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper on the same day was also a service
of great interest, as several new members, baptized a few months ago,
were admitted to the Lord's Table for the first time. In two instances
the decided stand for Christ taken by the women has led to the
conversion of their husbands. Until lately they were careless, reckless
men; but they have now come and declared that they are convinced that
the religion of their wives is better than the old, and they desire to
have it too. Thus the work goes on; but how slowly! When shall the
time arrive when `nations shall be born in a day'? Haste, happy day!"
"We are toiling through the darkness, but our eyes behold the light
That is mounting up the eastern sky and beating back the night.
Soon with joy we'll hail the morning when our Lord will come in might,
For Truth is marching on.
"He will come in glorious majesty to sweep away all wrong;
He will heal the broken-hearted and will make His people strong;
He will teach our souls His righteousness, our hearts a glad new song,
For Truth is marching on.
"He is calling on His people to be faithful, prompt, and brave,
To uplift again the fallen, and to help from sin to save,
To devote themselves for others, as Himself for them He gave,
For Truth is marching on.
"Let us fight against the evils with our faces towards the light;
God is looking through the darkness, and He watches o'er the fight
And His joy will be our recompense, His triumph crown the right,
For Truth is marching on."