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Fr. DeSmet was a Belgian Jesuit who came to St. Louis in 1823. Over the next 50 years DeSmet would use St. Louis as his base of a career which ranged from Europe to the Rocky Mountains. Throughout this half century, DeSmet dedicated his heart and soul in support of missions to the Indians with whom he exchanged trust and affection.
Although remembered primarily as a missionary, DeSmet served the Jesuits in several capacities. He served of the Missouri Province of the Jesuits as treasurer and consultor. Much of his efforts were directed at recruiting and fundraising in Europe, which lead him to cross the Atlantic twenty-one times. An internationally recognized figure, he visited Presidents at the White House and was knighted by the King of Belgium.
I was particularly interested in DeSmet's service as an army chaplain. In 1858, DeSmet had served as a chaplain with an army expedition to Utah. In 1861, DeSmet was personally asked by Col. Francis P. Blair to serve as a chaplain in the Union Army. Blair viewed DeSmet as "one of the most beloved and honored priests in the entire country."
Fr. Killoren goes on to explain that "Archbishop Kenrick, however, saw Blair's move as an inducement to Irish Catholics of the St. Louis area to join the Union ranks. Kenrick's sympathies were with the South, and the archbishop insisted that DeSmet's Jesuit superior deny Blair's request."
I take issue with Fr. Killoren's characterization of Archbishop Kenrick as a Southern sympathizer. The truth is that Archbishop Kenrick's position on the issue is unknown. Guiding a divided flock, he maintained a posture of strict neutrality. His sole public statement on the Civil War was an appeal for moderation and submission to God's will within the Archdiocese. Archbishop Kenrick was an alumnus of Maymooth Seminary in Ireland at which students were taught to strictly keep the Church out of politics. The ban on service in the chaplaincy by diocesan priests was general. He did not display any approval of the actions of the diocesan priest, Rev. John B. Bannon, who did serve as a chaplain to the First Missouri Confederate Brigade.
As the title indicates, most of this book relates the story of the tragedies which befell the Indians as they gradually lost the Great Planes to the whites. Beginning with the Jeffersonian Indian Policy, Fr. Killoren relates the policies up to DeSmet's final visit to the Indians of the Rockies in 1870.
DeSmet's initial model for the Indian missions was based on the Jesuit Reductions which had been successful in Paraguay about two centuries before. The goal of the Reductions was to establish a Native Christian Empire segregated from white encroachment. By 1847 the influx of whites had demonstrated the impracticality of this model and forced its abandonment.
Although never learning an Indian language, DeSmet remained a steadfast friend and protector of the Indians throughout his life. In many cases, his most helpful contributions were his counsel to the Indians to peacefully accept the growing white intrusion into their lands. In one incident DeSmet had to disabuse the Indians of the notion that the hordes of immigrants across the Oregon Trail evidenced a depopulation of the East.
Much attention is given to the many rendezvous and meetings between government agents and Indians, some of which DeSmet attended. It must have been disheartening to DeSmet to have counseled the Indians to enter into so many agreements which were eventually broken by the government, even though agreement was, in the long run, in the Indians' best interest.
DeSmet's career came full circle, ending, fittingly enough, with his last public act, the dedication of the Steamboat DeSmet, which would ply the waters on which its namesake had traveled so often, on the St. Louis river front on May 13, 1873. On his way to the ceremony, Fr. DeSmet saw the many changes which had taken place during the 50 years that he called St. Louis home. During that half century, he had served as Missionary, treasurer, vocation recruiter, fund raiser, spiritual counselor and friend. He died on May 23, 1873.
This is really two books in one. One deals with the relations between the government and the Indians on the Great Plains. In this Fr. Killoren does an excellent job in relating the story of government policy and the changes it effected in Indians life.
The other book deals with Fr. DeSmet and his career. I said in the beginning that I was both pleased and a little disappointed in this aspect of the book. I was pleased in the many aspects of Fr. DeSmet's career which are related here. Fr. Killoren does an excellent job in relating all aspects of this multifaceted career. My only disappointment is that DeSmet's personality does not shine through the pages of this work. Nonetheless, I think that, when visiting the Old Cathedral in downtown St. Louis, my minds' eye will often see this saintly missionary return to the altar from which he traditionally sought God's blessings in preparation for his journeys.