Mission Work in Iowa Territory
In 1838 and 1839, De Smet helped to establish St. Joseph's Mission in what is now Council Bluffs, Iowa. Taking over the abandoned Council Bluffs Blockhouse military fort, De Smet worked primarily with a Potawatomi band led by Billy Caldwell, also known as Sauganash (of Irish and Mohawk descent, he was born in Canada and spoke English as well as some Indian languages.).
De Smet was appalled by the murders and brutality resulting from the whiskey trade, which caused much social disruption among the Indian people. He tried to protect them. During this time, he also assisted and supported Joseph Nicollet’s efforts at mapping the Upper Midwest. De Smet used newly acquired mapping skills to produce the first detailed map of the Missouri River valley system, from below the Platte River to the Big Sioux River. His map shows the locations of Indian villages and other cultural features, including the wreck of the Steamboat Pirate.
Read more about this topic: Pierre-Jean De Smet
Famous quotes containing the words mission, work, iowa and/or territory:
“The mission is too important to allow you to jeopardize it.”
—Stanley Kubrick (b. 1928)
“The complexion of the element
In favor’s like the work we have in hand,
Most bloody-fiery, and most terrible.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“When I was growing up I used to think that the best thing about coming from Des Moines was that it meant you didn’t come from anywhere else in Iowa. By Iowa standards, Des Moines is a mecca of cosmopolitanism, a dynamic hub of wealth and education, where people wear three-piece suits and dark socks, often simultaneously.”
—Bill Bryson (b. 1951)
“Size is not grandeur, and territory does not make a nation.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)