churches, and stores covering a half block of ground. Here we take the Cheyenne and Northern Railway, a branch of the great Union Pacific system, to Laramie River, its present terminus, 115 miles. Then by stage thirty miles to Fort Laramie, where we stay all night, and take stage again at seven the next morning for Lusk, where we arrive about noon. Here we strike the Fremont, Elkhorn, and Missouri Valley Railway, a part of the Chicago and Northwestern system, and gladly changing from lumbering coach to comfortable car, "go west" fifty-five miles to Douglas, the present terminus of the road. The town is built where Fort Fetterman formerly stood, and owes most of its growth and prosperity to the building of the railroad. It has a population of a little over 500, and, situated in the midst of a rich farming country, promises to be one of the principal towns in this part of the Territory. A few Baptists are here, greatly needing the care of a faithful pastor.

Now by stage again north and west 175 miles to Buffalo, the county seat of Johnson County. This town, situated on Clear Creek, one of the branches of the Yellowstone, is in the midst of a stock raising and agricultural system, and gives promise of rapid growth. Here are about a dozen Baptists, among whom are brethren N. T. Webber and S. A. Sturgis, formerly of Cheyenne. The Congregationalists have a church but no pastor, and Brother Webber gives it as his opinion that a good Baptist minister, one in whom the people had confidence, could nearly be supported upon the field. How important that such a man be immediately sent there! Think of the isolation of these brethren and their families! North, the nearest Baptist church is at Miles City, Montana, 175 miles away. East we have to go to Huron, Dakota, before we find a Baptist church, distance 630 miles; south to Cheyenne 210 miles; and west to Boise, Idaho, 650 miles. Then there are a half dozen small towns near Buffalo where there should be occasional preaching.

Now back again by stage and rail to Lusk, where the train stops three-quarters of an

hour for dinner. But we choose rather to spend the time in visiting the half dozen Baptists living here. These express themselves as determined to stand by "the faith once delivered to the saints," but say, “O, that we could once in a while hear a Baptist sermon." The Congregationalists have an unfinished church but no pastor, and this is all there is to remind the five hundred people of this town that there is anything to be desired beyond present gratification and enjoyment.

Now east again eighty-five miles to Chadron, Nebraska, where we have a spare hour, and improve it by calling upon the Baptist pastor, but find him away upon his ranch. Can preaching and ranching be successfully prosecuted by the same man?

Now a branch road running north 104 miles to Rapid City, Dakota, takes us to the borders of the

BLACK HILLS.

The term is used to denote a group of buttes and mountains, with their accompanying foot-hills lying in southwestern Dakota, and lapping over into Wyoming. The entire group is about one hundred miles in extent, from north to south, and eighty-five from east ; to west, and is enclosed by the south fork of the Cheyenne River, and the Belle Fourche, or north fork of the same stream. The geological indications point back to the cretaceous epoch, when this cluster of mountains formed an island in the midst of a vast open sea, extending west over eastern Wyoming and Montana, and east over the vast basin now drained by the Missouri and its tributaries. Harneys' Peak, a granite formation, at present the highest mountain of the group, rises 8,200 feet, and, estimating from the dip of the different strata overlying this, its original altitude must have been between 12,000 and 13,000 feet. The wear and tear of the elements during the long ages since surface erosion begun its work have cut through the different sedimentary formations deep down into the more solid rocks, and this, followed by the action of numerous mountain torrents, has given us the present altitudes, separated by their numerous gulches and canyons.

The whole region may be defined as a group of sharply defined mountains and hills covered with a dense growth of pine timber, which, seen from a distance, gives them a dark and sombre appearance; hence the name "Black Hills."

at

Now let us go into them. We are Rapid City, the county seat of Pennington County, one of the thriving towns of southwestern Dakota. Among its 3,000 people we visit a dozen Baptists, and gently reprove them for not having at an early day set up the Baptist standard. It is a mistake for Baptists to think that they can do nothing because they have not a "King like other nations."

Now, with a concord coach and four spirited horses, we start off in fine style. For the first twenty-five miles the road skirts the "hills" and passes through an excellent farming country. Then we wind in among the foot-hills twelve miles, and roll into Sturgis in season for dinner, stop over one stage, visit fifteen Baptists, and preach in the evening. A church should be organized here at once. The railroad is graded to this point, and trains will be running before the snow flies. Take on two extra horses and plunge into the hills. Followed Bear Butte Creek the first fifteen miles. Canyon steep and narrow, so that the road in places is built upon a shelf along the side of the mountain. Now a wheel runs off, and we are on the point of being dumped into the creek. Unload and help get the stage upon the "shelf" again. Now we cross the rugged divide between Bear Butte Creek and Deadwood Creek. Four miles of this, and with steaming horses we enter the city of Deadwood. It is built in the gulch, where placer mining was begun in 1876. The gulch is very narrow, and will only admit of one principal street, the others being terraced up upon the sides of the Present population, 3,500. Two churches - Congregational and Methodist. Twenty-five Baptists-part working in each of the churches. Preach Sunday morning at a union service in the Congregational church. The Baptists all say, "Send us a man to preach and organize churches in the different

towns in the hills.” An aged sister, whom I visited, said, "I have lived here seven years, and yours is the first Baptist sermon I have heard. I see by the papers that we are all the time sending ministers to foreign countries, and I can't help asking, 'Do Baptists in the East think more of the heathen than of their own brethren and sisters ?' I suppose I ought not to have such thoughts, but in my loneliness they will sometimes arise."

Sunday evening drove up to Lead City, three and one half miles, and preached in the Congregational church. Meet a few Baptists. Here is located the most extensive gold mine in the world. Five hundred and eighty stamps are worked, and 1,500 men employed. Population of town, 3,000. Fifteen miles north is Spearfish, with a population of 600.

Now we will go through the "hills," and for this purpose secure a one horse stage, sometimes called a buckboard. The way lies over densely wooded mountains, and through beautiful valleys. The scenery constantly changing from rocky cliff to wooded summit, from narrow canyon to broader valley with its charming farm cottages; a perfect kaleidoscope. In this way we make sixty miles, passing through a half dozen beautiful villages, and reach Custer City, the county seat of Custer County. The town was named after General Custer, who encamped here a few days on his expedition to Montana, where himself and faithful band were slaughtered by the Indians. A beautiful town situated in the valley of French Creek. It has an elevation of 5,500 feet, and its pure air and water, with its wild and varying scenes to make it one of the most attractive places on the "hills." Population about 600, among which are a half dozen Baptists. Now we strike out through the hills again nearly east, to the Hot Springs, forty miles, where we spend the Sabbath. A beautiful town in a narrow gorge abounding in springs highly prized for their medicinal properties. Visit the Baptists and hold service morning and evening in the Methodist church, which is without a pastor. Visitors from almost every part of the country present.

Twelve miles more bring us to Buffalo Gap

Numbers of towns in the Black Hills having post offices, 55. Population of these towns, 18,000. Number of mines actually worked, 23. Bullion shipped in 1886, $3,206,504.90. Ministers employed: Congregational, one superintendent of missions, and 7 ministers; Methodist, superintendent, and 11 ministers; Presbyterian, 2 ministers; Lutheran, I minister; Catholic, three priests.

There are at least 150 Baptists "like sheep having no shepherd," in the different towns in the hills. Ought we not send pastors to them ?

"The harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few: Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth laborers into his harvest." Luke

IO: 2.

FROM THE FIELD

"Watchman, What of the Night?"

The Work of French Evangelization in New England.

From the address of Rev. C. E. Ameson, a French Canadian Missionary in New England, before the American Home Missionary Society at Saratoga, in June last, we glean the following facts which have a direct bearing on our Canadian French work in New England:

"There are about 1,000,000 French-speaking people in the United States. Of these, 300,000 are in New England, and about 175,000 in Massachusetts. In the last named State about 10,000 are nominally Protestants, or inclined that way; 40,000 are socialists, anarchists, or bold and blatant infidels; the remainder, 125,000, are under the influence of Rome. And this in the Pilgrim and Puritan State, par excel lence!

"The reasons why so many French-Canadians come to New England are not far to seek.

twenty-sixth bushel yields about $4,000,000; her compulsory system of pew rents, $4,000,000, and under the old French laws in the Province of Quebec,

she claims and exercises to the utmost her right to tax and assess the people for her huge bishop's palaces and churches which are being erected continually. By all these means she draws from a population not exceeding 2,500,000, a sum not less than $40,000,000 per year, and as the people are growing poorer every year, they must emigrate to live. But though thus oppressed by the Romish power, they are for the most part very bigoted Catholics, and their priests have openly taught them that their mission is to subdue New England to the sway of the Pope.

66

They are a most prolific race, families of ten or twelve children being the rule, and it is the aim of these priests to have all these children brought up in the Romish faith. At the present rate, in another generation these French Canadians and their descendants will outnumber the descendants of the Puritans and Pilgrims there. Shall it be to make Canadian Romanists the dominant power in New England, or to give over the land of the pilgrims to French socialists and anarchists ?

"These people can and must be converted, and the work must go forward with great energy and promptness now, or it soon will be too late."

The movement for a Protestant Christian education of at least the young men of ability among the Canadian French, which is so strongly urged by Mr. Ameson, as well as by Rev. J. N. Williams in the September number of the MONTHLY, is one which our New England Christian men of wealth should push forward with the utmost zeal.

UTAH.-Rev. Frank Barnett, of Ogden, is in affliction by the death of his oldest daughter. He writes:

"We have thoroughly repaired the church within at a cost of about $225. The parsonage is done and we are in it. It is very comfortable indeed, for all which we are very grateful. I never saw more devoted work than I have seen among this people."

This is substantial progress, and shows that our work in Utah is not in vain.

LIGHT BREAKING IN.

And here is a deeply interesting account of the way the truth is spreading, and of the work which Brother Barnett sometimes is called to do:

"In a little settlement about eight miles away from Ogden, a company of young ladies, who had left the Mormon Church, met in a private house to talk over the matter of starting a Gentile Sunday school. Be.

they sent to Ogden for some one to come out and organize and start them. The second Sunday after it was started I went out and found about fifty gathered

man.

in a private house. None of them had ever prayed in public, but one young lady said she had been praying in secret for help to come, and now that it had come she was ready to do what she could publicly, and would attempt anything. She is the superintendent of the school and a most earnest young woAn old, gray-headed man, who has been in Utah for thirty years, and a Mormon elder until within the last fifteen years, arose and said, with tearful eyes: For long years I have prayed that the time might come when my children might be taught of Christ as He is; but they have grown up and left me, and have never heard, only from my lips, about pure religion. But, thank God, my prayers are answered on my grandchildren. They are yet to be taught the pure gospel. You may depend on me to do all I can to help on this work, and my house is always open for any minister of the gospel or any gospel service.' For the summer they are to erect a booth of branches to hold the school in, and are taking steps to build a school-house for the winter. They besought me to come out whenever I could. It was 'Cornelius' again calling for light. Just about eight miles in the opposite direction the people of the settlement had already organized a school and were running it to their great satisfaction. On one side of the house they had the Bible; on the other side they had Paine's 'Age of Reason;' and they were comparing and discussing the merits of the two, and telling the children to accept just which they pleased. They did not care for any preacher of religion, but wanted their children to think for themselves.

"Three miles west of us Miss Oberg, our lady missionary, has started an industrial school of about forty, and the people are so taken up with it that one man has given ground for a school-house, and under Miss Oberg's management the community are about to build. She is spending her short vacation in working up that interest. On every hand men and women want the light of truth, which Mormonism cannot give. How white are the fields! How few the laborers! Only one Baptist minister in all Utah! “Last Sunday evening two were baptized into the

church. The man had been a Catholic and the wife a Mormon. Another has been received for baptism, who for twenty years has been a Mormon, and yet said at our meeting: Through it all God has not permitted the spark of grace to die, and at last has brought me back to His own people.' We are praying for her husband, who has been drifting into doubt and to the use of strong drink. He is often in our services, and we hope he may yet be saved. How blessed the work to plead with these dear souls and see them come rejoicing into the light and truth!

"God grant that this far-off whisper of Utah's need may be heard by the brethren of the East."

WASHINGTON TERRITORY.-Rev. J. H.Teale, General Missionary for the Eastern District, says of Rev. J. F. Baker, deceased: "His was the largest at

tended funeral that ever took place in Spokane Falls. He was indeed a man; a GOOD man, and a safe man. He was our main dependence and best worker in all denominational matters on this field. How the place of so broad and good a man is to be filled we cannot say. He leaves a most important position as pastor unfilled at a time when we were in the worst condition to spare him. I now stand alone in the midst of seven pastorless churches on this very rapidly growing field. We have just had a grand revival in Garfield, W. T., right in the midst of harvest and the heat of House would not hold the people. About Preaching by Miss Mary C.

summer.

forty conversions.

Jones."

OREGON.-The church at Astoria is greatly revived under the ministration of Rev. M. L. Rugg, who has made heavy pecuniary sacrifices to do the work there. The prospects are good if the field can have a minis. ter "who will stick to it a few years.' Indeed there is reason to believe it will become one of the strong churches of the State.

KANSAS.-Rev. M. P. Hunt, of Ellsworth, says that the place is a county seat, with a population of 2,600, and that the little Baptist church of twenty-five resident members have just completed a new and commodious house of worship, costing $3,500, which was dedicated August 21st. Subscriptions for $1,500 were made that day for the payment of the indebtedness on the property. The outlook for the future is promising.

-The church at Wamego proposes henceforth to become self-supporting. Rev. C. J. Coulton tells an interesting story of its struggles and triumphs. It pays to help such interests:

Two years ago, by the aid of our Baptist Home Mission Society, I commenced my labors here as pastor with a much discouraged people. Membership small and scattered. Not a yard of carpet upon the church floor; hard, cheap chairs for seating. Now the church is seated with neat, comfortable assembly chairs, good carpets upon the floor, a bap... tistery built under the pulpit, the house renovated, the membership more than doubled, the spiritual condition good, and hope dwells strong in our midst. We commence the third year September 1st, feeling able by sacrifice and self-denial to sustain the preach. ing of the Gospel unaided by the Home Mission Society, and glad to become an aid in sustaining the Home Mission Society instead of longer being a dedependent upon its bounty. The two years of aid from your Society has saved this church to our de. nomination and the cause of our Blessed Master in this community. Long live the Baptist Home Mis. sion Society to aid and bless these weak and waste places is the prayer of this church.”

INDIAN TERRITORY.-Rev. G. W. Hicks, whose post-office address is Anadarko, Kiowa, Comanche and Wichita Agency, gives us interesting facts about his field. We hope that a communion set has been

secured for him. If there are churches that would like to give their old communion sets to our mission churches we shall be glad to put them in correspondence with each other.

"I reached this field on the 11th of July about midnight. Having been out here before I was some. what acquainted with the place and with the people. All that knew me appeared glad to see me among them again. It was really pleasant to see many familiar faces and to be greeted with a hearty handshake, with the usual "Sar-ter-kee" (Wichita term for Cherokee).

I found the Wichita Indians hard at work making preparations for their annual camp meeting, which was held July 14 to 18, with good results. Two pro. fessed conversion and were baptized by Rev. James Edwards, missionary of the Territorial Baptist Con vention. Two others were received by experience.

You are aware of the existence of a Baptist church among those Indians. It was established several years ago by the celebrated Delaware Chief, Black Beaver. Through the labors of missionaries sent here at different times by the Creeks and Seminoles, a good many of the Wichitas became followers of Jesus Christ, so that at one time the church numbered eighty members. But having no pastor--no regular missionary-many have been drawn away, others removed by death, reducing the church to probably one-third of its former membership. I have not yet ascertained the exact membership at present-but reckon they number about thirty. One truly en couraging feature of this church is, that it is a working church. With very few exceptions, the members take part in the meetings readily, either by singing, prayer, or speaking. They are not ashamed to testify in public for their Saviour. They are truly sincere and faithful, so far as they know how to be so. Another worthy characteristic of the spirit of these humble disciples of Jesus Christ, is their liberality in giving. They give freely and cheerfully, to bear the expenses of the church, and for other purposes. At the last camp meeting, a collection of $31.10 was taken, to be applied to the expenses incurred by the meeting.

The church has lately been re-organized, by the election of pastor, deacons, clerk, treasurer, and sexton; which, we believe, is in accordance with the scrip. tural idea of a church. We have services every Sabbath either at the church or at an out-station; weekly prayer-meeting, woman's meeting and covenant meeting. The church decided to hold communion on first Lord's day in each month. If some church could donate a communion set to us, even a "second-hand" one, it would be gladly received and do much good. We cannot purchase one ourselves yet because we are struggling to raise money to pay off the camp meeting debt, which was made before I came. If church can do nothing for us please make our need known through the HOME MISSION MONTHLY.

your

I hope to organize a Sunday school as soon as I can find teachers. There are a few here who have

attended school at Carlisle and other places, who can speak and read English well enough to help me very much if they can be induced to take hold.

You can scarcely appreciate the disadvantage I have, to conduct this work. I am unfamiliar with the language here, and I have no ready interpreter, in consequence of which I am prevented at times from preaching. But I am determined to overcome this hindrance, by learning the language, which I have commenced to do.

This is a good field for missionary work. The Gospel is needed here as much as any place on the Western Continent. The good seed sown in this soil will in time yield abundant fruit, to the glory of our God. I am very much encouraged at present to look for God's blessing upon this people.

MEXICO. Brother Westrup reports an extensive revival at San Rafael, in New Leon, under the labors of Alejandro Treviño, assisted by Brother Powell of Saltillo, and Brother Treviño of Monterey. Meetings have been large-so large, indeed, that the place of mee ing would not at times accommodate them. Profound interest is shown in the truths of the Gopel. Fifty-seven have been baptized on profession of faith, and the good work is still going on. church has been organized at Galena, as the result of this revival, "The morning light is breaking" for Mexico.

A new

MINNESOTA. Rev. Kussell S. Sargent, who is ministering to the two churches at Sauk Centre and Long Prairie, regards them as very important fields, each of which should have the full service of a pastor, with preaching every Sunday. For lack of regular services some of our Baptist people, and others who would have attended the Baptist church, have been drawn into other congregations. Is not this an illustration of the proverb: "There is that wi h holdeth more than is meet, and it tendeth to | poverty"?

-Rev. S. G. Adams, of Pipestone, tells what timely assistance has done for that field:

"Only sixteen months have passed since Rev. A. S. Orcutt came to Pipestone, Minn. He found a very few dispirited Baptists, organized into a church years ago, but without a cent's worth of property. Encouraged by four hundred dollars-support from State Convention and Home Missions--he began work, giving half his time to this field. The promise of a five hundred dollar gift from the Chapel Fund encouraged the church to buy a lot well located and begin to build. Last December 15th Rev. A. S. Orcutt lost his life in a burning building.