CHAPTER XI.
LOUISE SIGHOUIN, AN INDIAN WOMAN OF THE COEUR D'ALÈNE TRIBE.
Sighouin's baptism - Devotes herself to the service of the missionaries - Combats the medicine men - Diabolical superstitions - A model wife and mother - The communion garment - Charity to the sick - Tale of an orphan - Devotion to the cross - Fear of spectres - Rebukes depravity - Death and burial - Mourning of the tribe - Testimony of her husband.
Childhood and Baptism.
I OUISE SIGHOUIN of the tribe of Skizoumish [Skitsuish] or Coeur d'Alenes, daughter of the chief of the tribe, was endowed with the noblest qualities of mind and heart, which won her the esteem and respect not only of all her nation, but also of the neighboring tribes and of all whites who had an opportunity of knowing her. A poor and humble child, but rich in virtue and exalted in grace, Louise flowered in the desert like a lily amid thorns. She was an oasis amid a sterile waste; she was a light amid the shades of death. Like the poor woman in the gospel, she had sought and found the lost treasure, and she carefully preserved it all the days of her life to her latest breath.
Before her baptism, even, she was remarkable for her rare modesty and reserve, great gentleness, and a solid Her words were everywhere listened to with and pleasure, and her company sought in all
judgment. admiration families.
In October, 1841, a new era was preparing for her. In the course of the missions which I was then giving in the upper parts of the Rocky Mountains, I met for the first time three families of Coeur d'Alenes, returning from the 111431