Father DeSmet visited North Dakota in 1840, visiting the Mandan villages and Fort Berthold, where he baptized, among others, Martin Good Bear, Joseph Packeneau, and a number of children.

Father Revoux won the love and sympathy of the Sioux through his ministration to their condemned brothers at Mankato, and they were ripe for the work of Major Forbes, Indian agent at Devil's Lake (1871-1875), through whom the first Catholic mission in North Dakota was founded at Fort Totten. Before 1874 no real missionary work had been done by Catholic priests in North Dakota. With the advent of the Northern Pacific and Great Northern Railroads, churches and schools were builded in North Dakota.

Father Genin appears to have been located at Fort Abercrombie in 1868, engaged from 1868 to 1874 in mission work between Fort Abercrombie, McCauleyville and Duluth, taking up his residence in Duluth in 1873. He built the Catholic church edifices at Moorhead, Minn., and Bismarck; he visited the Indian country in 1876, and became pastor at Michigan City in 1889, and later at Bathgate.

Father Keller built the first Catholic church in Brainerd, Minn., in 1873. Father Spitzelberger built the first in Perham, and paid for the church in Moorhead; he also built the church in Casselton. Father Maddock built in Valley City; Father Flannigan in Jamestown; Father Quilliam at Buffalo, and Father Schmitz at Sanborn.

The old church at Bismarck was paid for by Bishop Martin Marty in 1876, and the Sisters' school was established through his aid; Father Chrysostom becoming the pastor there for several years.

When the territory of Dakota was divided the jurisdiction of Bishop Marty was ended by the creation of the See of North Dakota, and John Shanley, Dec. 27, 1889, was consecrated bishop at Jamestown, Fargo later becoming his headquarters, the church and cathedral occupying a building erected by the Methodists, until the present fine cathedral was built in 1891. In 1890 he established St. John's Academy at Jamestown, under the charge of the Sisters of St. Joseph. There were then sixty churches and thirty-three priests, fourteen church schools and one hospital in North Dakota. Mass was said in eighty-one places other than churches. In the twenty years of his work the diocese had increased to 106 priests, 225 churches, and 38 other places where mass was said, six academies, thirty-four parochial schools and four hospitals.

Bishop John Shanley was born January 5, 1852, at Albion, N. Y. At five years of age the family moved to Faribault, Minnesota, and soon afterward to St. Paul, where he received his early education, much of it from association with frontier priests who visited St. Paul during his service as sanctuary boy at the St. Paul Cathedral, from 1858 to 1867. He was graduated at St. John's College, Minn., in 1869, and through Bishop Grace at St. Paul was able to enter the College of Propaganda at Rome, making the journey to Rome in company with Archbishop John Ireland. He remained in this college where he was ordained, May 30, 1874, by special dispensation on account of failing health. When 22 years of age, he became an assistant pastor to Father Ireland, whom he succeeded as pastor when the latter became archbishop. He died at Fargo, July 16, 1909.

Bishop Shanley took great interest in the development of the material interests of Fargo and the state, making large subscriptions to whatever contributed to the advancement of the state or of its people.

CHAPTER XL

EARLY PRESBYTERIANISM IN NORTH DAKOTA

BEGINNING AND PROGRESS OF DEVELOPMENT-FIRST PROTESTANT SERVICE AT PEMBINA THE MISSION AND MARTYRS OF ST. JOE-PIONEER WORK AT FARGO—— FIRST CHURCH ORGANIZATION AT BISMARCK-EIGHTEEN YEARS' DEVELOPMENT.

"And they who stray in perilous wastes by night,

Are glad when thou dost shine to guide their footsteps right."
-William C. Bryant. Hymn to the North Star.

The first missionary on the Red River was a Scotch Presbyterian catechist, James Sutherland, who came with the fourth group of Selkirk colonists in 1815. Presumably he visited the colonists at Pembina, but no record has been found to show it. The late Dr. Black visited Pembina in company with Governor Ramsey, on his way to Winnipeg in 1851, and assisted Rev. Alonzo Barnard and Rev. James Tanner in the first Presbyterian service on North Dakota soil of which there is record.

Rev. Oscar H. Elmer began pioneer work at Moorhead and Fargo in October, 1871, and Grand Forks in February, 1872.

THE ORGANIZATION AT BISMARCK

Rev. David C. Lyon, missionary from St. Paul, Minn., visited the Red River Valley in June, 1872, accompanied by Rev. Isaac Oliver Sloan, a chaplain in the Civil War, assisted by Rev. Oscar H. Elmer, then stationed at Moorhead. They held divine service at what is now Crookston, Minnesota.

June 12, 1873, Mr. Lyon visited Bismarck, accompanied by Rev. Isaac Oliver Sloan, and June 15th organized the first religious society in what is now the State of North Dakota, the first service being held in a tent erected for gambling, but not yet used for that purpose. The score or more of saloons and gambling places then doing business at Bismarck closed and the Sunday ball game was declared off. The members of the Presbyterian Church then organized were Col. Clement A. Lounsberry, Henry F. Douglas, John W. Fisher, I. C. Adams and Mrs. W. C. Boswell.

Mrs. Linda W. Slaughter organized a Union Sunday School of which Colonel Lounsberry was secretary.

Colonel Lounsberry came with the missionary party, to establish the Bismarck Tribune, for which he had arranged on a previous visit, May 11th, when he made settlement on his homestead.

Rev. I. O. Sloan addressed the audience in the morning and Rev. D. C. Lyon in the evening. During the afternoon they conducted services at Fort Abraham Lincoln, and while at service the Indians attempted to run off the beef herd grazing

on the flats south of Fort A. Lincoln. One Indian was killed and the beef herd recovered by a cavalry dash from the fort by General Custer. Colonel Lounsberry and Prof. William F. Phelps of Winona, Minn., accompanied Mr. Lyon on this occasion.

Rev. H. N. Gates, representing the Congregationalists, came a few days later, bringing lumber for a Congregational Church, the citizens contributing freely to its erection, and when Mr. Sloan returned to commence his work and the erection of the Presbyterian Church, he found it difficult to raise money, many having contributed to the other who had intended to help him in his work.

The Gates proposition had been under the lead of Mrs. Linda W. Slaughter, who had organized the Sunday school and established a week-day school. The Gates building was turned over to her when an understanding was reached for the Congregationalists to retire from the field, the Presbyterians having already occupied it.

Rev. Isaac O. Sloan was able to secure the erection of the Presbyterian church during the summer, but the failure of Jay Cooke and the N. P. Railroad Company that fall, so completely paralyzed all business that he was obliged to pay 10 per cent per month for the money necessary to make it ready for winter.

This was the first Protestant church building erected in North Dakota. He had received $500 aid from friends in St. Paul.

The church was occupied about the middle of December, and a bazaar was given on Christmas which netted $400. Among the contributions sent in was a stocking filled with silver dollars from the Magdalens. Mr. Sloan had the love of all good people of the town and the respect and good will of all others. He was affectionately called Father Sloan, and in cases of serious illness was sometimes called to the bedside of Catholics. The following tribute is from the pen of an army comrade:

Col. C. A. Lounsberry.

Washington, D. C., Sept. 1, 1917.

My Dear Comrade: At your request I most gladly offer my tribute of respect and affection to that noble man of God, Rev. Isaac Oliver Sloan, of blessed memory.

In the summer of 1863, I was taken prisoner and after Belle Isle was paroled and sent to Camp Parole, Annapolis, Md. I had not been there long before a severe case of chills and fever developed and I was admitted to the Naval Academy Hospital. Mr. Sloan was there as an agent of the Christian Commission rendering gratuitous and most beneficent services in dispensing the stores of that organization and helpful services to the sick and wounded "boys in blue" being treated there.

I first met him while he ministered his kind and loving services at the beds of the sick and dying defenders of the Union. Upon my convalescence, he asked me to assist him in serving out the stores. I then had a chance to become intimately acquainted with him and can confidently say that no nobler servant of God ministered in the time of our country's peril. He became greatly interested in Mr. Alfred C. Monroe, a member of the 12th Mass. and who had lost an arm, contributing much of time and means to his education and enabling him to take an honorable and useful place in life. After I had married he visited me, and my oldest son is Rev. Edwin Sloan Tasker, D. D., of the Methodist Church. For his beautiful character and saintly life I shall ever hold him in highest esteem and affection. "The memory of the just is blessed."

A. P. TASKER,
Late 1st N. H. Cavalry,
Past Commander,
Dept. Potomac, G. A. R.

In June, 1873, Mr. Lyon and Mr. Sloan returning from Bismarck conducted services at Jamestown.

The early pastors of the church at Bismarck following Rev. I. O. Sloan were Stephen D. Dodd, W. C. Stevens, S. H. Thomson, C. B. Austin, J. N. Anderson, Alexander Durrie and Charles W. Harris. On his retirement Mr. Sloan engaged in missionary work on the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad. After a long visit East on account of the illness of his mother, he resumed his labors. On visiting Green River (now Dickinson), he saw the sign "Rev. C. A. Duffy" over the door of a saloon. He called upon the alleged reverend, who although greatly embarrassed, gladly contributed $25 for his work.

The church at Mandan was organized in 1881 by Rev. I. O. Sloan, assisted by Rev. C. B. Stevens. The first trustees were Edward F. Doran, Lyman N. Cary, Warren Carpenter, Marian A. Winter and Charles Williams. The early pastors were Rev. I. O. Sloan, L. E. Davis, A. C. Dayton, J. F. Killen, P. S. Dayton, James Byers, M. W. Kratz, Gilbert Wilson, E. S. Beardsley, Thomas A. McCurdy.

The corner-stone of the new church edifice was laid October 1, 1916, Rev. F. W. Brown, pastor. The stone was laid and an appropriate address given by Judge A. A. Bruce, of the North Dakota Supreme Court.

The first religious services at Sims, D. T., and Glendive, Mont., were held by Rev. Mr. Sloan, who had some strenuous experiences in reaching his appointments on foot, after wading treacherous creeks and, like his Master, putting up with "publicans and sinners," while preaching the gospel in saloons, but was generally well treated and someone was always ready to "pass the hat." He extended his travels as far as Miles City, Mont., in company with the Rev. Dr. Roberts, the secretary of the Board of Home Missions, New York. They preached at a mining camp seven miles out, where they found some Christian men and had a good meeting. He organized the churches at Glencoe and Stanton.

THE MISSION AT ST. JOSEPH

A mission was established at St. Joseph, now Walhalla, in 1851, by Rev. James Tanner, a half blood son of John Tanner, the white captive, whose story appears in earlier pages of this history. Mr. Tanner was accompanied by Rev. Alonzo Barnard, through the earnest solicitation of Gov. Alexander Ramsey of Minnesota, who had as ex-officio Superintendent of Indian Affairs, secured $500 for the work from the government. Norman W. Kittson, Indian trader at Pembina, earnestly urged the beginning of this work. Governor Ramsey accompanied the party to Pembina and was accompanied by the late Dr. Black, who succeeded to the work of the Rev. James Sutherland, early missionary to the Selkirk colony. The missionaries, assisted by Dr. Black, held the first Protestant service in North Dakota of which there is any record; when the church was subsequently erected (1879) at Pembina, it was on the identical spot where this service was held. Dr. Black was present, coming from Winnipeg for the purpose.

Rev. James Tanner returned to St. Joseph in 1852 accompanied by Elijah Terry, a Baptist clergyman, who was killed by hostile Sioux, June 28, 1852.

June 1, 1853, Rev. Mr. Barnard returned, accompanied by David B. Spencer, their families and Rev. John Smith. The Barnards were Presbyterians and the

Spencers Congregationalists. They had been associated as missionaries for ten years at Cass Lake. The mission was abandoned in 1855.

The story of the Martyrs of St. Joseph will be found at the close of this chapter.

THE PIONEER PREACHER

Rev. Oscar H. Elmer, the first ordained minister to locate permanently in the Red River Valley, left Sauk Center, Minn., October 20, 1871, preaching his first sermon October 22d in the dining room of the Chapin House. There were then about twenty shanties and tents in the village.

The Northern Pacific Railroad was finished to Fargo and Moorhead, January 1, 1872, but trains were unable to run before March. Preaching was maintained in the dining room of the Chapin House until spring, and then in railroad coaches, in unfinished buildings and warehouses. In June, 1872, a rough chapel was erected at Moorhead, Minn., and a church was soon thereafter organized, consisting of eight members, gathered from both sides of the river. A Sunday school had been held in the timber on the Fargo side in J. G. Keeney's board shanty law office. Evening preaching service was begun in Fargo, December 17, 1871, in a

tent.

Mr. Elmer visited Lisbon in 1871 and conducted services at Grand Forks in the uncompleted home of Capt. Alexander Griggs, February 8, 1872; visiting also Turtle River and other points on the North Dakota side of the Red River. He visited Grand Forks again in 1875 and 1877, when he conducted service for ten successive nights in the then new Methodist church. Rev. F. W. Iddings arrived at Grand Forks in September, 1878, and became the first settled Presbyterian minister at that point.

On April 6, 1879, Rev. C. B. Stevens of Fargo and Rev. O. H. Elmer, drove to Grand Forks and assisted Rev. Mr. Iddings in the organization of a Presbyterian Church with about thirty members.

The first meeting of a Presbytery or any other body of ministers held in what is now North Dakota met in the spring of 1881, at Grand Forks.

In 1876 the Rev. John Scott settled at Pembina upon the spot where the first Protestant service was held in 1881 by Revs. Alonzo Barnard and James Tanner. He organized a Sabbath school and extended his work to other points in Pembina County and to points in Minnesota and Manitoba, and in 1879, he organized the first Presbyterian Church north of Fargo and Bismarck.

December 11, 1877, Rev. Cicero B. Stevens preached his first sermon in Fargo; The church was organized on the 30th, and the church building erected and dedicated the latter part of the following October. He was assisted by his predecessor and colleague, Rev. O. H. Elmer, of Moorhead, and the Presbyterian missionary, Rev. John Irwin.

Rev. James H. Baldwin arrived from Wisconsin during the winter of 1878-9 to explore and organize churches between Fargo and Jamestown.

Among the churches and ministers in 1879, were the following: Ministers, Revs. James H. Baldwin, Jamestown and Wheatland; E. J. Thompson, Casselton; Cicero B. Stevens, Fargo; Joseph K. Burgster, Elm River and Elm Grove; Oscar H. Elmer, Moorhead (also preaching at Fargo and other places in Dakota):