27 



Lord Selkirk before his departure had made the Catholic 

 colony on the Red River sign a petition asking the Bishop of 

 Quebec to send missionaries to evangelize the country. He 

 presented this petition himself and employed all his influence 

 to have it granted. 



Though a Protestant Lord Selkirk knew that to found 

 a permanent colony on the Red River he required the encour- 

 agement of religion. Should his application succeed the mis- 

 sionaries would come with the voyageurs in the following 

 spring and would arrive in Red River towards the month of 

 July. This thought alone made Madame Lajimoniere forget 

 her eleven years of loneliness and sorrow. How happy she 

 would be to see the priests again ! to go to confession and to 

 receive the Sacrement. She would see her children baptised 

 and instructed in their religion. What joy for her after hav- 

 ing been deprived of the sacred services for so long a time 

 to be able to take part in religious service. These consoling 

 thoughts brightened the darkness of her cave-like dwelling. 



Through the winter M. Lajimoniere turned his thoughts 

 towards a home for his family and his wife had hope of soon 

 seeing herself more commodiously lodged. He cut the logs 

 for the house and made every preparation that he possibly 

 could for its construction that they might be in proper order 

 to receive the missionaries who would not fail to visit them. 

 When the pleasant spring weather came Madame Lajimoniere 

 left her underground lodgings for the tent until her house 

 was ready. 



She and her children dug up a small corner of the ground 

 where she intended to plant some corn. This spring all the 

 new colonists had sown little fields which were not slow in 

 promising a good harvest. 



Before July the news had spread that the missionaries 

 were coming that very summer, but as yet the exact date of 

 their arrival was not known. Telegraphs had not reached 

 this region and moreover the voyageurs were often exposed 

 to delays. 



After waiting patiently, one beautiful morning on the 

 1 6th of July, the day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a man 

 came from the foot of the river to warn Fort Douglas ar»d 

 the neighborhood that two canoes bringing the missionaries 

 were coming up the river, and that all the people ought to be 

 at the Fort to receive them on their arrival. 



Scarcely was the news made known when men, women 

 and children hurried to the Fort. Those who had never seen 



