58 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 1 10 



Fort Owen in the Bitterroot Valley. Sohon's own captions on these 

 drawings make no mention of the religious activities of these subjects. 

 However, the historic significance of these portraits lies primarily 

 in the fact that the men depicted played important roles in the 

 extension of Christian Missions to the tribes of the northern Rockies. 

 Certainly two, and probably all, of these Iroquois were members 

 of Indian deputations to St. Louis during the 1830's in quest of a 

 priest. These are the only known portraits of these men. 



Iroquois Peter (Plate 19) 



Pierre Kar-so-wa-ta 



An Iroquois who came to this country thirty years ago, and settled here. He 

 is the most industrious indian in the valley, cultivates a small farm raising wheat, 

 oats, potatoes, etc. and owns a large band of cattle; he speaks the mountain 

 french and english, besides several Indian languages. 



Pierre Pichette said that "Kar-so-wa-ta" was not a Salishan name. 

 Charles A. Cooke, a student of Iroquois personal names, believes 

 this may be the Iroquois name, Gah-sa-we-ta, meaning Lime or Chalk. 

 An Iroquois from St. Regis, who bore that name, was said to have 

 been in the northwest in 18 18. 



Of the four Iroquois said to have been living among the Flathead 

 in 1839, only one Pierre or Peter has been identified. He was the 

 Pierre Gaucher (or Gauche) of the 1839 deputation. This is probably 

 a portrait of that man. 



Pierre Gaucher (Left-Handed Peter) was one of the two young 

 Iroquois who volunteered to make the long journey to St. Louis in 

 1839 to obtain a priest for the Flathead. Apparently they journeyed 

 down the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers, through hostile Indian 

 country, in the company of fur traders returning to St. Louis. Father 

 De Smet met them on September 18, when they passed St. Joseph 

 Mission at Council Bluffs. He stated that these Indians had been "for 

 twenty-three years among the nation called the Flatheads and Pierced 

 Noses" (Nez Perce), and that "the sole object of these good Iroquois 

 was to obtain a priest to come and finish what they had so happily 

 commenced." He gave them letters of recommendation to the Father 

 Superior in' St. Louis. (Chittenden and Richardson, 1905, vol. i, 

 pp. 29-30; Palladino, 1894, p. 21.) 



In St. Louis Peter and his companion, Ignace, were hospitably 

 received by the Catholic officials who were favorably impressed by 

 their piety and character. They found that both of the Iroquois 

 spoke French and that one of them carried a little book printed in 



