[149] See De Smet’s account in his Letters, our volume xxvii, pp. 374-376.—Ed.
[150] H. M. Chittenden and A. T. Richardson, in Father De Smet’s Life and Travels (New York, 1905), give the following information with regard to these fathers: Peter De Vos was born in Ghent in 1797; coming to America in 1836 he went in 1842 to reinforce the mission of St. Mary’s in Montana. He served there and in the Willamette valley for eight years, when he was transferred to the College of Santa Clara, California, where he died April 17, 1859.
Father Adrian, younger brother of Father Christian Hoeken, was born in Holland in 1815. His mission service was connected with St. Ignatius at its first site in 1844-54, and at the present site in 1854-59. In the latter year he re-opened the abandoned Blackfeet mission, returning the following year (1860) to the East, where he spent his later life, dying at Marquette College, Milwaukee, April 19, 1897.—Ed.
[151] Michele Accolti was born at Bari, Italy, in 1806. Having been educated at Rome, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1832, and accompanying De Smet to Oregon remained there until 1851 in charge of various parishes both north and south of the Columbia. About 1851 Accolti removed to San Francisco, and in 1853 went to Rome for reinforcements for the newly-founded Jesuit college at Santa Clara. Returning thither in 1855 he served as pastor for ten years, when he was transferred to San Francisco, where he died November 6, 1878.
Giovanni Nobili was a native of Rome (1812). After six years in Oregon he was transferred to California, and died at Santa Clara, March 1, 1856. See post for the account of his journey to New Caledonia, where he was known as “Petit Père,” because of his small stature.
Antonio Ravalli was born in Ferrara in 1812. After entering the Jesuit order (1827) he taught for some years in Turin and neighboring cities, before coming to Oregon with Father de Smet. His first station was at St. Ignatius, whence he went to Fort Colville, removing shortly to St. Mary’s in the Bitterroot valley where so much of his life was spent. When St. Mary’s was abandoned (1854), Father Ravalli removed to the Sacred Heart mission, returning three years later to the Colville region. In 1860 he retired to Santa Clara, California, where for three years he was master of novices. But his heart was in the mountains, whither he returned and labored until his death, October 2, 1884. Father Ravalli was much beloved in Montana. For illustration of his monument see L. P. Palladino, Indian and White in the Northwest (Baltimore, 1894), p. 55.
Aloysius Vercruysse was born at Courträi, Belgium, in 1806. He served chiefly at St. Ignatius mission, being transferred to Santa Clara in 1863. Thence, because of failing health, he was sent home to Belgium, where he died July 17, 1866.
Brother Francis Huybrechts died at the Cœur d’Alène mission April 5, 1872, aged seventy-four years.—Ed.
[152] De Smet gives a detailed account of the voyage and the visit to Valparaiso and Lima, in the first letter in his Western Missions and Missionaries (New York, 1863). See also Chittenden and Richardson, De Smet, ii, pp. 408-436.—Ed.
[153] On the bar of the Columbia River occurred the wreck of the Peacock, one of the vessels attached to the Exploring Expedition. A thrilling account of this event is given in Capt. Wilkes’ Narrative. Of the bar itself he says: “Mere description can give little idea of the terrors of the bar of the Columbia; all who have seen it have spoken of the wildness of the scene, and the incessant roar of the waters, representing it as one of the most fearful sights that can possibly meet the eye of the sailor. The difficulty of its channel, the distance of the leading sailing marks, their uncertainty to one unacquainted with them, the want of knowledge of the strength and direction of the currents, with the necessity of approaching close to unseen dangers, the transition from clear to turbid water, all cause doubt and mistrust. Under such feelings, I must confess that I felt myself laboring.”—Vol. iv., p. 293.—Ed. of Catholic Almanac.