Page:History of Oregon volume 1.djvu/378

Rh With the aid of his reinforcements De Smet did brave work, founding in rapid succession the mission of St Ignatius, among the Pend d'Oreilles, and the chapels of St Francis Borgia, among the Kalispelms, St Francis Regis in Colville Valley, St Peters at the Great Lakes of the Columbia, the Assumption on Flatbow Lake, and the Holy Heart of Mary among the Kootenais. De Vos and Accolti were placed in charge of St Ignatius, where a mission farm was opened. De Smet employed much of his time travelling among the aborigines; and as there was much despatch used in making converts, it was claimed that between 1840 and 1846 six thousand natives embraced the Catholic faith.

During the absence of Archbishop Blanchet in Europe his vicariate had been erected into an ecclesiastical province, containing the three sees of Oregon City, Walla Walla, and Vancouver Island; the first being allotted to the archbishop, the second to his brother, the Rev. A. M. A. Blanchet, canon of Montreal, and the third to Vicarvicar [sic]-general Demers. The bishop of Walla Walla proceeded from Montreal to Oregon by way of St Louis, where he was joined by nine others, among whom were the Oblate Fathers and two lay brothers, two secular priests, namely, J. B. A. Brouillet, appointed vicar-general of Walla Walla, and Father Rosseau; and a deacon, Guillaume Leclaire. Brouillet and Rosseau immediately took up