NO. 7 SOHON S PORTRAITS OF INDIANS — EWERS 59 



his own language, from which the Iroquois sang a number of sacred 

 songs. Bishop Rosati recorded in his diary that tlicse Iroquois had 

 reached the Flathead country in 1816 (which tallies with De Smet's 

 statement above). (Garraghan, 1938, vol. 2, p. 238, footnote; pp. 

 248-250.) 



After receiving assurances that a priest would be sent to the Flat- 

 Iicad tlie following spring, Peter set out alone for home. He traveled 

 through the winter and arrived in the Flathead camp the next spring, 

 where he conveyed the welcome information that a black robe was 

 coming. (Palladino, 1894, p. 24.) 



Peter the Iroquois has been credited with the baptism of a dying 

 Flathead girl on the site later occupied by the St. Mary's Mission. 

 P>efore her death this girl called out, "Listen to the Black Robes when 

 they come ; they have the true prayer ; do all they tell you. They 

 will come and on this very spot where I die, will build the house 

 of prayer." In later years the Flathead regarded her statement as 

 prophetic. (Palladino, 1894, pp. 35-36; Chittenden and Richardson, 

 1905, vol. I. p. 293.) 



Father Mengarini named Peter, Big Ignace, and Little Ignace as 

 the three Iroquois most influential in giving the Flathead their first 

 knowledge of Christianity. (Garraghan, 1938, vol. 2, p. 238, footnote.) 

 However, little is known of Peter's religious activities after the 

 founding of St. Marj^'s Mission to the Flathead. He was not men- 

 tioned in the writings of the missionaries during the remainder of his 

 lifetime. 



At the time of the Pacific Railway Survey, Peter was the most 

 successful and conscientious farmer in the Flathead country. Lieu- 

 tenant Mullan stated that when he left Cantonment Stevens to explore 

 southward to Fort Hall, October 14, 1853, Pierre the Iroquois was 

 the only Indian at St. Mary's village. Apparently all the Flathead 

 were hunting buffalo east of the Rockies. (Report of Explorations, 

 etc., i860, vol. I, p. 319.) 



Governor Stevens' estimate of Flathead population in 1853, at 60 

 lodges and 350 people, was based directly on a statement by Peter. 

 (Ibid., pp. 150, 295.) 



When the question of the relative fertility of the Bitterroot Valley 

 and the region around St. Ignatius Mission was raised during the 

 Flathead Treaty Council, Governor Stevens called upon Peter, as the 

 most experienced farmer in the region, to render an opinion. Peter 

 frankly replied that he did not know which area was l)etter for 

 farming. (Partoll, 1938a, p. 297.) 



