CHAPTER VI
A BROTHER TO THE BLACKFOOT
THE first strenuous days in Fort Benton, and the welcome he received there, might have convinced Brother Van that he had found a good place in which to settle. It was plain that his ministry was much needed and the prospects for a growing and useful work were bright. But he never forgot for a moment that he had taken the long journey from his Gettysburg home for the sake of serving among the Indians. Hence it is not surprising that within a week from that exciting morning when he had begun his Montana preaching career in the crowded barroom, we find him pushing on toward one of the agencies where he could more readily get in touch with the tribes. Again his attractive manner and his earnestness of purpose won for him a lift on his way, only this time he was to jolt over the rough prairie roads in a heavy wagon, instead of gliding smoothly along the Missouri.
The Regimental Adjutant from Fort Shaw had brought his wife into Fort Benton so that she might take passage on the return trip of the Far West. The Adjutant had met Brother Van, and learning of the missionary’s desire to continue his journey to the West, had invited him to share the army wagon for the ride back to the post. The eager young traveler grasped this opportunity without delay. It did not take him long to stow away his baggage in the army conveyance, for his scanty wardrobe made only a small bundle. He took his place beside the Adjutant, and soon they were rumbling over the prairie toward Sun River settlement and Fort Shaw.
The gumbo was still sticky and tough from the rains of the previous days, and it was apparent from the first that there was to be a hard journey ahead. The five army mules drawing the wagon objected to the heavy traveling of the unbroken roads, and caused delays by their “objections.” The driver’s patience at last was exhausted, and in true western style he spoke to the errant beasts. Then he remembered that there was a preacher in thewagon, and apologized for the language he had used. Brother Van showed himself to be a very human missionary, for he laughingly replied, “Why, bless your soul, you express my sentiments exactly, though I can’t approve of your language.”
Before dark a severe thunderstorm overtook the travelers, and the only shelter they could find was a lonely, deserted cabin. Here they spent the night, making the best of such comforts as were found in the government wagon. The coyotes sang a lonely song, and the prairie-dogs, their only neighbors, made vigorous protests against the intruders. This was the initiation of the tenderfoot preacher into the joys of overland journeying.
On the next day they reached Sun River where no church or schoolhouse existed; so again a place for Sunday service was sought, and a Christian home was found which was opened gladly for this unaccustomed use. Riders were sent out to all the settlements within reach, with the result that on the following day a fine congregation gathered in the frontier cabin. Carelessness about habits ofprayer and worship was common among these lonely people of the opening West. Brother Van’s tender songs and warning words brought a genuine response from them.
After the service the travelers pushed on so that they might reach Fort Shaw by evening. At this place also, Brother Van immediately set about making arrangements to preach; and within a short time he had the soldiers of the garrison gathered about him, talking to them in a manly, helpful way that won their interest and their respect.
Tarrying but a day at Fort Shaw, he traveled with several companions north to the town of Chouteau, which was on the Teton River, and fifteen miles from the base of the Rocky Mountains. He hastened then to the Indian agency near there where the Blackfeet were settled. This tribe had migrated from Canada to the prairies of Montana, and it is interesting to know that they had been first called “Blackfeet” by the Flatheads and Shoshones, for when they had come to the end of their long journey, their moccasins were travel-stained and black.
On arriving at the agency, the missionary first made himself known to the officials and clerks and spoke to a group of them. They received him cordially and from the beginning of his stay he was given fresh confidence for his new work by the good will that they showed him. In his first meetings with the Indians the Blackfeet tribesmen listened to him stolidly and were apparently unmoved; but they caught the spirit of brotherhood in this paleface preacher, and they soon began to show signs of their approval of him. Brother Van was happy indeed in the new opportunities opening before him, and in the increasing evidence that the Indians gave of their affection for him. He was fascinated by the strange life and mysterious customs which he found all about him. During his stay with the Blackfeet, and through later years, the missionary loved to study their ceremonies and legends.
One of the oldest institutions of the tribe was the building of the medicine lodge, a celebration which Brother Van followed with the keenest interest. It took place at the time of the ripening of berries in the summer, andlasted through four days and nights. The lodge was always erected in fulfilment of a vow made by some woman of the tribe who was in trouble and who wished the help of the gods, perhaps to bring back in safety a husband or son away at war, or to restore a sick child to health. Her pledge was made publicly, so that all the tribe would know that she would build the lodge in case her prayer was granted. At the proper time the whole tribe would assemble and set up their lodges in a circle in the middle of which the medicine lodge was erected. The woman who had made the vow neither ate nor drank throughout the four days, except once only, and that in sacrifice. The other members of the tribe gave themselves over to visiting and feasting with their friends, and, also, to a strange kind of worship in which they tried to prove the sincerity of their prayers by torturing themselves in various painful ways.