20 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 1 10 



fare as the greatest threat to the security and progress of the Indians. 

 Primarily to prevent conflict on the buffalo plains, and secondarily 

 to inculcate a "love of labor," which he deemed essential, among the 

 Flathead, he attempted to "create among them a greater taste for 

 agriculture than for hunting." He realized this would require "much 

 time and patience." (Ibid., vol. i, pp. 329, 366.) 



To initiate this economic revolution, Father De Smet obtained 

 seeds from Fort Colville and showed the Flathead hunters how to 

 plant, cultivate, and harvest crops of wheat, oats, and potatoes. He 

 also introduced cattle, hogs, and chickens from the western settle- 

 ments. In 1845 the missionaries set up a flour mill to process their 

 wheat, and a saw mill to provide lumber for permanent houses. A 

 dozen small houses were built around the Mission as a further incen- 

 tive to the Flathead to adopt a sedentary life. 



De Smet recognized that until such time as the Flathead became 

 experienced farmers, it would be necessary for them to continue their 

 seasonal buffalo hunts. For a period a priest was sent with the 

 hunting camp, but it soon became evident that serious religious in- 

 struction was impossible amid the savage excitement of the buffalo 

 chase. Furthermore, the presence of a priest in the Flathead camp 

 proved embarrassing on those occasions when battles with Blackfoot 

 or Crow war parties on the hunting grounds could not be avoided. 

 So the experiment of sending a priest with the hunting camp was 

 abandoned. (Palladino, 1894, pp. 52-53,) 



The changes wrought by Father De Smet in Flathead social life 

 were profound. He aimed to eliminate those primitive Flathead 

 social practices which appeared to be out of harmony with Christian 

 morality. 



Polygamy had been traditional with the Flathead, It was usual 

 for a successful warrior and hunter to take more than one wife. A 

 good hunter could provide more hides than a single woman could 

 process. Several wives, therefore, were an economic asset to the 

 ambitious Indian during the period of the fur trade. Furthermore, 

 polygamy helped to provide for the excess of women in the tribe caused 

 by heavy war casualties among vigorous, adult males. Father De Smet 

 refused to recognize such multiple unions. He called upon each man 

 to select one woman with whom he should appear before the priest 

 for Christian marriage. (Chittenden and Richardson, 1905, vol. i, 



P- 332.) 



Flathead addiction to gambling was interpreted by Father De Smet 

 as contrary to God's commandment, "Ye shall not covet anything 



