of most singular scenery. Viewed at a distance, these lands exhibit the appearance of extensive villages and ancient castles, but under forms so extraordinary, and so capricious a style of architecture, that we might consider them as appertaining to some new world, or ages far remote. Here a majestic gothic tower, surrounded with turrets, rises in noble grandeur, and there enormous and lofty columns seem reared to support the vault of heaven.

"Further on, you may decry a fort beaten by the tempest, and surrounded by mantellated walls; its hoary parapets appear to have endured, during many successive ages, the assault of tempest, earthquakes, and thunder. Cupolas of colossal proportions, and pyramids which recall the gigantic labors of ancient Egypt, rise around. The atmospherical agents work upon them with such effect, that probably two successive years do not pass without reforming or destroying these strange constructions. This clayey soil hardens easily in the sun, is of a grayish hue, or occasionally of a sparkling white; it is easily softened when mixed with water. The White Earth River is the great drain of the streams of this country, and corresponds admirably to the name bestowed upon it by the Indians.

"The industry of the settler will never succeed in cultivating and planting this fluctuating and sterile soil; no harvest ever crown his efforts. But though it offers no interest to the farmer, and little to the botanist, the geologist and naturalist may find abundant materials for study and illustration; for here are found curious remains of the mastodon (the largest of known quadrupeds) mingled with those of the mountain hare. I have seen well preserved skulls, horns, etc., so large that two men could hardly raise them. All of these bore the distinct impress of their primitive nature."

In a letter written in 1841, Father DeSmet says:

"As we proceeded toward the Black Hills, the flowers diminished in number, but now and then we found some

which had not been seen anywhere. I have taken notice of many of them, for the amusement of amateurs. Among such as are double the most common and those that are chiefly characterized by the soil on which they grow, are the rose-colored lupine, a medical plant bearing a yellow flower with five petals, called the prairie epinette; and still further on, where the soil is extremely barren, are seen three kinds of prickly pear; the flower of these are beautiful, and known among botanists as Cactus Americana. They have already been naturalized in the flower garden of Europe. The color of the handsomest roses are less pure and lively than the carnation of this beautiful flower. The exterior of the chalice is adorned with all the shades of red and green. The petals are evasated like those of the lily. It is better adapted than the rose to serve as an emblem of the vain pleasures of this nether world, for the thorns that surround it are more numerous, and it almost touches the ground. Among the simples, the most elegant is the bluebell of our gardens, which, however, far surpasses it by the beauty of its form and the nicety of its shades, varying from the white to the deepest azure. Adam's needle, found only on the most barren elevation, is the finest of all pyramidals. About the middle of its stem, which is generally three feet high, begins a pyramid of flowers, growing close to each other, highly shaded with red, and diminishing in size as they approach the summit, which terminates in a point. Its foot is protected by a number of hard, oblong, ribbed and sharp leaves, which have given it the name of Adam's needle. The root is commonly of the thickness of a man's arm, its color white, and its form resembling that of a carrot. The Indians eat it occasionally, and the Mexicans use it to manufacture soap.

"There are many other varieties of flowers, some of them very remarkable and rare even in America, which are still without a name even among the travelers. To one of the principal, distinguished by having its bronzed leaves disposed in such a manner as to imitate the chapter of a Corinthian column, we have given the name of Corinthian.

"Another, a kind of straw color, by the form of its stem, and its division into twelve branches, brought to our mind the famous dream of the Patriarch Joseph, and we have called it the Josephine. A third, the handsomest of all the daisies (Reines Marguerites) that I have ever seen, having a yellow disk, with black and red shades and seven or eight rays, any of which would form a nice flower, has been named by us the Dominical, not only because it appeared like the Lady and Mistress of all the flowers, around, but also because we discovered it on Sunday."

CHAPTER III.

FOUR MONTHS IN THE BLACK HILLS.

During the year 1848, Father DeSmet spent four months. in and around the Black Hills. Most probably the Indians never showed him any gold, for these two reasons: placer gold wherever it has been found on the different streams in the hills, was deep below the surface "down on bedrock," and the Indian had no tools to work with; and gold exposed in quartz-rock was tarnished by the effects of the atmosphere, so that it required an "expert" to determine the same. Undoubtedly Father DeSmet, as he was well versed in the science of geology, knew what these hills hid. But he kept this knowledge to himself until he thought silence on his part would no longer prevent white men from coming here. He wrote to his superiors about the country, but does not mention the presence of gold. The following letter dated:

"ST. LOUIS, June 5, 1849.

To the Directors of the Association of the Propagation of the Faith, Lyons, France.

"GENTLEMEN:

"It is time to pass to the Sioux, whose territory I

reached a few days after my visit to the Ponkahs. Mr. Campbell, one of the best interpreters in the country, generously offered to accompany me to the different tribes of this nation. His acquaintance with the country and the manners of the Indians, as well as the respect and friendship which the latter entertain for him, greatly facilitated my relations with them; I must also add, as a tribute of well-merited gratitude, that the officers of Fort Bonis and of Fort Pierre received me with the most delicate hospitality, and that the concurrence of their influence aided powerfully to render my intercourse with the savages easier and more profitable.

"I have several times observed that the Indians inhabiting the valley of the Upper Missouri, are generally more cruel than those sojourning west of the Rocky Mountains. Probably this arises from their almost incessant wars, which inflame them with a love of plunder and a thirst for vengeance.

"At the epoch of my visit to the Sioux, a troop of these barbarians were returning from a war against the Mahas, with thirty-two human scalps torn from defenseless old men, and from women and children whose husbands and fathers were off hunting. When they re-enter their villages, after the combat, it is their custom to attach these horrible trophies of their shameful victory to the points of their lances or to the bits of their horses. At the sight of these spoils the whole tribe shouts with joy, and every one considers it the highest gratification to assist at the scalpdance and feast, which is celebrated amid the most discordant yells and fearful gestures.

"They plant a post daubed with vermilion in the midst of the camp; the warriors surround it, flourishing in their hands the bloody scalps which they have brought back from the field of battle; each one howls his war-song to the lugubrious tone of a large drum; then giving in turn his stroke to the tomahawk on the post, he proclaims the victims that his hatchet has immolated, and exhibits ostentatiously the scars of the wounds which he has received.

"Such is, even at the present day, the degraded condition of the unfortunate Indian. They never take the field without endeavoring to draw down the favor of the Great Spirit, either by diabolical rites or by rigorous fasts, macerations, and other corporal austerities. They even go so far as to cut off joints of their fingers and toes. Add to the thick shade of heathen darkness a shocking depravation of manners and you will have a faint idea of the lamentable position of these wretched tribes. Yet these same men welcomed me with open arms, as a messenger from the Great Spirit. A vivid emotion depicted on every countenance, accompanied their respectful attention to my discourse, while I instructed them in the great truths of religion.

"An event which occurred two days after my arrival at Fort Pierre, contributed much to augment their confidence in me. I give it as it occurred. The tribe of the Ogallalas had entered in a hostile manner on the lands of their neighbors, the Absharokes (or Crows), and had attacked them. The latter defended themselves bravely, routed their aggressors and killed ten or twelve warriors. They had even employed a mode of repulsion which covered the tribe that experienced its effects with immortal disgrace; they pursued the Ogallalas with rods and clubs. This, according to their idea, signifies that their adversaries were worth neither the lead nor powder that would be expended in killing them. So shameful a defeat discourages the Indian, and he no longer dares appear before such an enemy.

"In this affair, the chief of the vanquished nation, named the Red Fish, lost his daughter, who was carried off by the Crows into captivity. Melancholy and humbled, he deserted the wigwams of his tribe, which loss of honor and the death of so many of its warriors had overwhelmed with mourning and desolation. He presented himself at Fort Pierre on the morrow of my arrival. The object of his journey was to obtain the liberty of his daughter, through the mediation of the officers at