The worthy and zealous Father Grassi, superior of this mission, has had all the materials prepared for the construction of a hospital and school buildings. He was, however, at a loss where to find nuns to conduct these new establishments - still he continued his work, trusting to the good providence of the Lord. I could do no less than encourage him as well as I was able in his useful labor, so necessary to the welfare of his neophytes, and the good Father's hopes were not in vain. On my return to St. Louis I approached, by letter, the worthy Sisters of Charity of the Maison de la Providence at Montreal, Canada. The Superior-General has generously granted my request; she answers me " that she grants most willingly this first colony of sisters for the Mission of St. Ignatius, and that she will do as much for other missions where there may be a need of sisters." I hastened to impart to the superior of the mountain missions this consoling piece of good news - and as for means, one may hope that the holy providence of the Lord will intervene here also.
On my way, I found the Reverend Father Ravalli in the St. Mary's or Flathead valley, with one Brother, occupied, with the aid of a few Indians, in building a new church. The site is twenty miles distant from the old Mission of St. Mary. In the same valley, thirty miles lower down, another little church has been put up for the use of French and Canadian colonists - and another still at the Flathead lake for the half-breeds and Indians. A church was in course of construction at Bannock, a mining town, where Father Grassi has obtained a subscription of $1,500; the Protestants themselves contributed. There was a demand for several other churches in various mining regions. At the mission of the Kootenais, a branch of that of St. Ignatius, the good Indians have built a little church and a presbytery, for the use of the missionary who visits them. They remain in their primitive simplicity, fervor and zeal. They are the admiration of all the travelers who visit them, for