NO. 7 SOHON's portraits of INDIANS — EWERS 39 



with the Pend d'Oreille. (Owen, 1927, vol. i, p. 236, footnote.) 

 De Smet stated (1841) that the Nez Perce had offered Insula the 

 position of head chief of their trihe. He refused the honor saying, 

 "By the will of the Great Master of Life I was born among the Flat- 

 heads, and if such be his will, among the Flatheads I am determined 

 to die." (Chittenden and Richardson, 1905, vol. i, p. 323.) 



In the summer of 1835 Insula journeyed to the Green River ren- 

 dezvous of the fur traders, where in company with a group of Nez 

 Perce, he met the Protestant missionaries, Rev. Samuel Parker and 

 Dr. Marcus \\'hitman. The Reverend Parker recorded his conversa- 

 tion thus : 



Next rose liisala, the most influential chief among the Flathead nation, and 

 said, "he had heard that a man near to God was coming to visit them, and he, 

 with some of his people, together with some white men, went out three days' 

 journey to meet him, but failed of finding the caravan. A war party of Crow 

 Indians came upon tlicm in the niglit, and after a short battle, though no lives 

 were lost, tliey took away some of their horses, and one from him which he 

 greatly loved, but now he forgets all, his heart is made so glad to see a man 

 close to God." [Parker, 1844, pp. 81-82.] 



Many years later Father Palladino explained that Insula was not 

 satisfied with the appearance or the message of Parker and Whitman. 

 He observed that they wore neither black gowns nor crosses, that they 

 married, and did not have the great prayer, and that therefore these 

 were not the priests of whom the Iroquois had told him. Conse- 

 quently, he did not encourage them to go to the F""lathead country. 

 ( Palladino, 1894, pp. 16-17.) 



Insula was a great favorite of the Catholic missionaries. He was 

 one of the party of 30 warriors who accompanied Father De Smet 

 as far as Fort Alexander on the Yellowstone in the country of the 

 enemy Crow Indians on De Smet's return eastward in 1840. (Chit- 

 tenden and Richardson, 1905, vol. i, pp. 266-267.) In 1841 De Smet 

 termed Insula "the most influential of the Flathead chiefs," who "as a 

 Christian or a warrior, might stand a comparison with the most 

 renowned character of ancient chivalry." (Ibid., p. 324.) 



Father Adrian Hoeken also had a marked personal regard for 

 Insula. In the fall of 1855 ^^ wrote De Smet of Insula's great bra- 

 very, tender piety, and gentle manners, and added that he had "pre- 

 served all his first fervor of devotion." Again in the spring of 1857 

 he wrote of Insula as "always equally good, equally happy, a fervent 

 Christian, who is daily advancing in virtue and in perfection." He 

 added that Insula had taught his young son, Louis Michael, to call 

 the priest papa. (Ibid., vol. 4, p. 1245.) 



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