LIBRARY A BRIEF HISTORY UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC INDIANA FROM 1842 TO 189* PREPARED FOR THE GOLDEN JUBILEE TO BE CELEBRATED JUNE 11, 12 AND 13, 1895 CHICAGO THE WERNER COMPANY N. TO THE STUDENTS OF NOTRE DAME Past, Present and Future This STOK y OF HER HISTOR Y Is Affectionately Dedicated By ALMA MATER. CONTENTS. i. INTRODUCTORY. PAGE. L The Golden Jubilee 9 II. The Congregation of the Holy Cross 10 III. The Missionaries 11 IV. The Voyage 12 V. Arrival in New York 13 VI. An American Catholic Priest 14 VII. From New York to Vincennes 15 VIII. At St. Peter's 16 II. AT NOTRE DAME. I. A Winter Journey 20 II. Arrival at Notre Dame 21 III. Consecration to the Mother of God 36 IV. It is Holy Ground 28 V. The Christian Indians 30 VI. Early Days at Notre Dame 44 m. BEGINNINGS. I. New Buildings SI II. The First Brick Structure 53 III. The Second Colony 55 IV. The College Begun 56 V. The Chapel of the Novitiate 60 rv. EARLY COLLEGE YEARS. I. The First Year 63 II. The First Commencement 64 III. Another Picture of the Early Days 68 IV. Increase of Students 73 V. Other Improvements 75 VI. An Era of Prosperity 78 VII. A Season of Trouble 79 VIII. Brighter Days 82 IX. Chimes at Midnight Poem 85 V. THB WAR PERIOD. I. Notre Dame in the War for the Union 87 II. A Third College Building 94 III. The Ave Maria 98 IV. A Retrospect 99 V. Notre Dame Poem 100 5 6 CONTENTS. VI. DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY. PAGE. I. The Third Presidency 105- II. The Silver Jubilee, and the Alumni Association ....... 107 III. The Notre Dame Scholastic Ill IV. The Scholastic Annual 116 V. Professor Joseph A. Lyons Poem 117 VI. The Scientific Department 11? VII. The Law Department 122 VIII. A General Chapter at Notre Dame 127 IX. Father Lemonnier's Presidency 12g X. The Fifth Presidency 13l XI. Amusements at Notre Dame ,... 13-2 VII. THB FIRE. I. April 23, 1879 138 II. Sympathy 147 III. Professor Daily's Poem 148 VITJL THB OLD AND THE NEW. I. Notre Dame Before the Fire ......'... 151 II. Notre Dame After the Fire 155 III. Another Picture Poem 173 IV. Art at Notre Dame 173 V. To Signer Gregori Sonnet 176 IX. A BRILLIANT PERIOD. I. The Presidency of Father Walsh 177 IL The Gilding of the Dome Poem 186. III. Impressions Made Upon a Stranger 185 IV. Temperance at Notre Dame ............... 188 V. Disinguished Guests , . . 189 VI. The Laetare Medal 198 VII. The Transfer of the Body of Orestes A. Brownson to Notre Dame . 194 VIII. Bishops' Memorial Hall 195 IX. Catholic Archives of America 198 X. The Lemonnier Library 199 XI. Literary Studies 802 X. FIFTY YEARS A PRIEST. I. The Sacerdotal Golden Jubilee of Father Sorin 207 IL The Public Celebration 211 III. Archbishop Ireland's Discourse 818 IV. Closing Years of the Founder of Notre Dame . ....... 236 V. In Memory of the Very Rev. Edward Sorin Poem 842- XI. PRESENT AND FUTURE. I. The Seventh Presidency . . 245 n. Notre Dame at the Columbian Exposition 249 III. The Church of the Sacred Heart 250 IV. The Old Church Poem 254 V. Pilgrimages 255 VI. The Golden Jubilee of Notre Dame 256 ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE. University of Notre Dame Frontispiece. Brother Francis Xavier, C. S. C 12 Views on the St. Joseph River \ * 18 Father Serin's Arrival 22 Founding of Notre Dame 30 A Favorite Walk 40 St. Edward's Park 40 First College Building, 1842 54 Rev. E. Sorin, C. S. C., Founder and First President 64 Rev. Alexis Granger, C. S. C., First Vice-President 78 Second College Building, 1844-65 78 'Varsity Foot Ball Team 86 Military Companies 86 Father Corby at Gettysburg 92 Rev. Patrick Dillon, C. S. C., Second President 96 Third College Building, 1865 100 Rev. Wm. Corby, C. S. C., Third President . . . 106 Ave Maria and Scholastic * 112 The Lilacs 118 Astronomical Observatory 116 Post Office 116 Physical Cabinet (Optical Section) 120 Museum (West View) 180 Rev. Augustine Lemonnier, C. S. C., Fourth President 128 Rev. Patrick J. Colovin, C. S. C., Fifth President .132 The Boat Club 134 Notre Dame Avenue Looking North 136 Notre Dame Avenue (Looking South) 136 Entrance to the University Grounds 150 East View of College Building 154 West View of College Building 154 Study Room in Brownson Hall 158 Dining Room in Brownson Hall 158 Interior of Dome, Gregori's Allegorical Painting 162 8 ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE. Corridor, Bishops' Memorial Hall 162 Students at Work in the Bacteriological Laboratory 188 Biological Laboratory 168 The Art Studio 174 A Lecture Room in Main Building 174 Rev. Thomas E. Walsh, C. S. C., Sixth President 178 Main Building 180 Science Hall 182 Academy of Music and Washington Hall 184 St Edward's Hall 188 Institute of Technology 190 Study Room in St. Edward's Hall 196 Reading Room in St. Edward's Hall 196 Library (West End) ' 200 Sorin Hall 206 View From Brownson Hall Campus 210 View From St. Mary's Lake ' 214 Reading Room in Brownson Hall 218 Lecture Room in Science Hall 218 Statue of the Sacred Heart 220 Holy Cross Seminary 224 St Joseph's Novitiate 224 Calvary 230 A Favorite Shrine 230 Cross Marking Location of First Chapel erected by Father Badin, 1830 . 230 View From St. Joseph Lake , 236 View From St. Joseph Lake 236 St. Joseph's Lake 240 Boat House 240 Rev. Andrew Morrissey, C. S. C., Seventh President 246 Church of the Sacred Heart 250 The Stile 254 A Favorite Walk 254 'Varsity Base Ball Team 256 Carroll Hall Foot Ball Team .256 THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. I. INTRODUCTORY. I. THE GOLDEN JUBILEE. NOTRE DAMS has attained her golden jubilee. It is now over fifty years, since, on the 26th day of Novem- ber, 1842, the founder of the university, the Very Rev. Edward Sorin, C.S.C, first stood on the little clear- ing on the banks of St. Mary's L/ake, and looked out over the snow-covered landscape, where now rise the many walls and towers of Notre Dame. Save the spot of clearing, about ten acres, and the surface of St. Mary's and St. Joseph's lakes, the scene that spread before the eyes ot the young priest consisted of pri- meval forest. To these ice-bound lakes and to this snow-covered forest, the zealous priest of the Holy Cross, attended by seven Brothers of the Society of St. Joseph, had come to found a seat of learning. Such is religious enthusiasm. Such is inspired faith in the direct protection of Almighty God. With God, all things are possible; without Him, nothing. This truth we all profess. Father Sorin and his little band felt it; it was the inspiration of their lives. 10 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE II. THE CONGREGATION OP THE HOLY CROisS. A few years before the founding of the University, there had been formed at the City of Mans, in France, a religious society, or order, named The Congregation of the Holy Cross. The congregation consisted, at first, of three societies. The Abbe Moreau, a canon and distinguished preacher attached to the Cathedral in Mans, had formed a society of priests to aid him in preaching retreats to the people. A little earlier, a good priest, the Rev. Mr. Dujarier, one of the survivors of the French Revolution, had formed a band of young men who engaged in the work of teaching. These last were united in a community, under the name of The Brothers of St. Joseph. Father Dujarier, growing old, requested the young and zealous Abbe Moreau, to take charge also of this religious band. Thus the two societies came to be under the direction of the one head. In time the two communities were united under the name of The Congregation ot the Holy Cross, retaining the original features of both Communities, as preachers of the gospel and teachers of youth, and so they continue to this day. The Col- lege of the Holy Cross, founded by the Abbe Moreau at Mans, the original Mother-house of the Congrega- tion, suggested the holy name by which the new order became known and by which it was recognized in the Rules and Constitutions approved by the Holy See. A little later, Father Moreau organized the Sisters of the Holy Cross. This society, however, although continuing under the direction of Father Moreau, and in this country afterwards under that of Father Sorin, was never united to the Congregation of the Holy Cross. Yet the Sisters are engaged in the same great UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. ' 11 work, the teaching of the young, to which labor they have added the care of the sick and distressed, by serv- ing in hospitals and otherwise. III. THE MISSIONARIES. Father Sorin became one of the earliest members of the new congregation. But, even while he was yet a student in college, he had larger mission fields in mind than those originally contemplated by the founders of the new order. He had listened as a young student to the sainted Brut6, first Bishop of Vincennes, when that holy man, while on a visit to France, made a strong appeal for helping hands to come to his aid in the laborious and scattered missions of Indiana. The burning words of the aged Brute kindled the fervor of the youthful Sorin. The distant missions of Indiana were never afterwards wholly absent from the mind of the ardent student, or the more recollected thoughts of the priest of the Holy Cross. Accordingly, when Bishop Hailandiere, the successor of Bishop Brute, made special application to Father Moreau for volunteers to the Indiana missions, Father Sorin at once offered himself for the work. With him volunteered four professed Brothers and two novices. Amongst the professed Brothers was Brother Vincent, the first who had joined the Brothers of St. Joseph when that society was originally formed. He lived long, an exemplary religious, and the patriarch of the order at Notre Dame. Years after, when bent and gray-bearded, he was taken on a pilgrimage by Father Sorin to the Eternal City, and there had the supreme happiness of an interview with Pius IX. On being introduced to the Pope as the Patriarch of the Congre- 12 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE tion of the Holy Cross, the venerable Pontiff would not suffer the equally aged but humble Brother to fall at his feet, but took him into his arms and embraced him most tenderly. Another of those zealous volunteers was Brother Lawrence, who, for over thirty years, was destined to be the efficient head of the farm establishment and busi- ness affairs at Notre Dame. He was a most excellent business man, as well as a faithful religious. His death, in 1873, was regretted by the public at large, and was mourned by Father Sorin in one of the most touching circular letters ever issued by him to the com- munity. A third of those heroic Brothers was Brother Fran- cis Xavier, whom Divine Providence still kindly suffers to remain with us. He is the only one of the zealous band that crossed the Atlantic with the original colony, the only one of those who stood together on St. Mary's lake on that cold November evening and took formal possession of Notre Dame Du I,ac. His is the only life that runs back even to the first day of the history ot Notre Dame and of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. May he long be with us to link our lives and our souls to the days of saints and of heroes. IV. THE VOYAGE- The little band of seven left the Mother House at Mans, Augusts, 1841; and on the 8th of August they set sail from Havre, on the packet ship Iowa, " a large vessel and a good sailer, "as Father Sorin describes her. That the voyageurs were poor in this world's goods, we may well know from the circumstance that they came as steerage, not as cabin, passengers. In writing HROTHKR KRAXCIS XAVIKR, C. S. C. UNI VERSITY OF NO TRE DAME DU LAC. 13 of this afterwards, Father Sorin said: " I came in 1841, with my six beloved Brothers in the steerage. We expended very little money. In 1846, when I returned with seventeen devoted members, in the steerage as before, and in the emigrant cars from New York, we again spent but little, and felt happy. Blesssed are those who are imbued with the spirit of poverty!" V. ARRIVAL IN NEW YORK. On the 1 3th day of September, the good ship, with its precious freight, entered the bay of New York. In "The Chronicles of Notre Dame du I*ac," we read the following account of this entry into the New World of the voyageurs from their long sea journey : " It would be hardly possible to describe the senti- ments of joy of the pious band at sight of this strange land which they had come so far in search of, through so many dangers and fatigues. It was a little after sunset when Father Sorin set foot on land with a few of the passengers, the general landing being deferred till the next day. One of his first acts on this soil so much desired was to fall prostrate and embrace it, as a sign of adoption, and at the same time of profound gratitude to God for the blessings of the prosperous voyage. The arrival of the new missionaries could not have taken place at a more striking and propitious time. It was the eve of the exaltation of the Holy Cross, so that Father Sorin was able to celebrate his first mass in America on the day of the feast. This happy co-incidence was of a kind to make a deep im- pression on the heart of the young religious of the Holy Cross, who himself had placed all his confidence in the virtue of the Holy Cross, and who desired 14 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE rather than feared to suffer for the love of Christ. He therefore accepted the presage of the circumstance gladly, by which heaven seemed to tell him, as for- merly it told the Apostle, that in this land he would have to suffer. Long afterwards will he remember that it was in the name of the Cross that he took possession, for himself and for his, of this soil of America." On the next day, September 14, 1841, he wrote to Father Moreau : "Beloved Father: Let us bless God, let us bless his Holy Mother ; we have arrived in New York full of life, health and joy ! Our good Brothers have not yet entered the city ; they were obliged to pass last night in quarantine. But our good God permitted me to land yesterday evening, i3th of September, the eve of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. With what hap- piness, my Father, did I salute and embrace this dear land of America, after which we have so ardently sighed. And what an increase of consolation to land on the eve of so beautiful a day ! It is then in the name of the Holy Cross, of the Blessed Virgin, and St. Joseph, that we have taken possession of it. My God, what a happy coincidence! What joy for a poor priest of the Holy Cross, who must love nothing more in the world than the cross, to be able to say his first mass in America on the feast of the Exaltation of that sacred symbol ! What a delicious day it is here ; how beautiful is the American sky ! Ah, yes, my Father, here is the portion of my inheritance ; here will I dwell all the days of my life ! " AN AMERICAN CATHOUC PRIEST. Here we perceive the double source of Father Sorin's UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 15 success. Here was united the zeal of the saint with the fervor of the patriot, the devotion of Columbus with the unselfishness of Washington. From the moment that Father Sorin touched American soil, we behold in his soul the union, thoroughly and com- pletely, of the most uncompromising Catholicity with the most sturdy Americanism. To him America became his country; and next to his love of his God and his faith, was his unaffected love of the American people, the American character and American institutions. As well said on the day of Father Sorin' s Golden Jubilee of the priesthood, in 1888, by his well-beloved friend, the great Archbishop of St. Paul : "From the moment he landed on our shores he ceased to be a foreigner. At once he was an American, heart and soul, as one to the manor born. The republic of the United States never protected a more loyal and more devoted citizen. He understood and appreciated our liberal institutions ; there was in his heart no lingering fondness for old regimes, or worn-out legitimism. For him the government chosen by the people, as lyeo XIII. repeatedly teaches, was the legitimate government ; and to his mind the people had well chosen, when they resolved to govern themselves. He understood and appreciated the qualities of mind and heart of the American people, and, becoming one of them, spoke to them and labored for them from their plane of thought and feeling ; and he was understood and ap- preciated by them." VH. FROM NEW YORK TO VINCEWNES. The venerable Bishop Dubois, the first Bishop of New York, who had himself, thirty-three years pre- 16 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE viously, founded Mt. St. Mary's College, near Emmets- burg, in Catholic Maryland, was still living; and received with all affection the missionary band, destined by Providence to become the founders of a great university in the west. After a rest of three days, they proceeded on their journey to the still distant Vincennes. To save ex- pense, as on shipboard, they chose the more econom- ical, though slower route, being twenty-five days on the road. From Albany to Buffalo they proceeded by the Erie canal ; thence across Lake Erie to Toledo; thence by wagon and canal to Fort Wayne, Logans- port and Lafayette. Thence they took final passage to their destination upon the Wabash; that noble river upon whose bosom, thirty years before, Tecumseh and his companions had moved in their fleet of canoes, when that great Indian made his famous visit to Governor Harrison at Vincennes. " At length," continue the Chronicles, from which we have already quoted, " about sunrise on the second Sunday of October, they beheld the tower of the new Cathedral of Vincennes. They were so filled with joy that they seemed to forget all their previous fatigue and pains, and they blessed God, who had at length granted them to see with their own eyes that city of which they had so often spoken during the last few months." vin. ST. PETER'S. Bishop Hailandiere had several places in view for the location of the society. One of these was at Francisville on the Wabash, a few miles from Vin- cennes. This did not seem suitable; and the next day after their arrival, Father Sorin, at the suggestion of UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 17 the Bishop, started with a priest of the diocese, Father Delaune, to visit St. Peter's, a missionary station in Daviess county, about twenty-seven miles east of Vin- cennes. ' ' It was a place difficult of access, ' ' say the Chronicles, "but in the midst of several Catholic parishes. It was one of the oldest missions of the diocese. Father Sorin arrived there Tuesday morn- ing about nine o'clock, St. Peter's had a little frame church in good repair; two little rooms had been added to it, one for the sacristy and one for the priest. ' ' Other small buildings were for a kitchen and for a school. It was evident that this was the place best fitted for the purposes of the priest and his Brothers, and that here they could at least pass the winter; and so the location was selected, and the Brothers came on from Vincennes. There were one hundred and sixty acres of good land at St. Peter's, and the little community set to work improve it and to establish themselves firmly as a religious house. The teacher of the school, a Mr. Rother, who had apparently been expecting them, was the first to join the new order. Others followed, and within a year eight members were added; and, in all, twelve received the habit of the Order at St. Peter's. Notwithstanding the difficulty experienced by them in learning the English language and their general ignorance of the ways of the country in which they found themselves, the newcomers set to work in ear- nest, winning the good will of their neighbors and pros- pering even more than they had anticipated, so that before the end of their first year they had become quite attached to St. Peter's. Then they began to make preparations for the building of a college, which 18 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE they looked upon as necessary for the progress of the great work they had in view. To the surprise of the Community, however, they found that the good bishop was unwilling that they should erect a college. His idea, apparently, was that a missionary station and primary schools should be the only establishments con- ducted by Father Sorin and his Brothers. In great trouble of mind Father Sorin went to Vincennes to try to win the consent of the Bishop to the cherished enterprise. But the Bishop was unyielding. There was already a Catholic College at Vincennes, and he considered this quite as,many as could be supported in the vicinity. Undoubtedly the Bishop was right, con- sidering the sparsely settled country, and particularly the small number and the little wealth of the Catholic population. Apparently Father Sorin himself was convinced; for when the Bishop intimated that he held a section of land on the St. Joseph river, near Lake Michigan, which he was willing the Community should have and on which he agreed that they might build a college, provided they would accomplish that task within two years, it appears that Father Sorin at once took to the idea. He returned therefore, to St. Peter's, and laid the proposition before his brethren. For days the Community wrestled with the grave question thus presented. They had become attached to St. Peter's; and the idea of now breaking up after they had spent over a year in preparing this habitation in the wilderness seemed at first very distressful. But the longer they considered the matter the more desir- able seemed the project. The name of St. Joseph was a powerful attraction. That they should receive a section of land to themselves on the banks of that VIEW OX ST. JOSEPH RIVER. VIEW OX THE ST. JOSEPH RIVER. UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 19 blessed river, even though it was an uncleared forest; that they should be free, in that northern wilderness, to establish their beloved order in the valley of the St. Joseph, already blessed by the labors of sainted missionaries, seemed an indication of the will of heaven. The resolution was, therefore, taken that the offer of the Bishop should be accepted, and that a part of the colony should depart at once and take posses- sion of their new home. On November 15, 1842, just before their departure, Father Sorin received a letter from Bishop Hailandiere, the following extract from which will show how scanty were the means at the disposal of the good prelate and how tender was his solicitude for the success of the new mission : "Dear Confrere: Enclosed find the $310 you asked of me; also a letter of credit on Mr. Coquillard for the sum of $231.12^3. I believe it is what he still owes me. ... Do not forget that the tax for this year on the land du Lac (Notre Dame du Lac) has not been paid. I offer you my wishes for your success. May the Angels of God accompany you on your way; and may Notre Dame du Lac smile at your arrival and bless you! Oh! may the work you are going to begin make saints! May the merit of the Fathers who, now nearly two ages ago, planted the cross which you will find there may those of Badin, De Seille, Petit (our dear Benjamin) serve as a corner stone for the edifice that your piety and zeal prompt you to build. . . . My hopes are as great as my desires." II. AT NOTRE DAME. i. A WINTER'S JOURNEY. ON November 16, 1842, at the beginning of winter, seven of the Brothers set out with their Superior for the St. Joseph. For many days they struggled on, over ice and snow through the interminable forest, some on horseback and some with the ox team, which hauled their modest store of supplies. ' ' The air was piercing, but the little band moved forward straight towards the north." At length, on the 26th of November, they had the happiness of standing on the ice-bound shore of St. Mary's lake, and of looking out upon the scene of their new labors. The good Bishop's solicitude still followed them, and he writes to Father Sorin: "My dear Confrere: At last you are in South Bend. I think of you as very lonely, very busy and, perhaps, also a little frightened at your undertaking. But the I,ord, I doubt not, will help you; and, indeed, the past ought to be for you a guarantee for the future. . . . Your Brothers at St. Peter's are well." In February, towards the end of winter, Brother Vincent came on with the remainder of the colony at St. Peter's, arriving on the Monday preceding Ash UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 21 Wednesday. Severe as was the weather, it was easier to come then, while they could yet travel over the frozen swamps and streams, than if they should wait until the breaking up of spring, when the morasses would be nearly impassable. H. ARRIVAL AT NOTRE DAMB- A few days after his arrival, Father Sorin wrote to Father Moreau and other friends in France an account of the changed situation of the little colony. From these letters we make some extracts, which will dis- cover at once the privations and the aspirations of this heroic band of missionaries: " ' Man proposes, but God disposes,' says the pious old adage; and I never realized its truth so much as at the present moment. On arriving at St. Peter's, and especially on beholding the warm reception ex- tended to us so many marks of kindness and affection shown us by everyone, not only Catholics, but all, without distinction I believed that it was there God willed that we should fix our abode, that that spot marked the portion of the vineyard in which we were to labor and die. With this conviction, which daily became more and more fixed and firm, we set actively to work, and soon we had everything ready to build at the approach of spring. In a word, we were, as they say, settled, as it seemed, at St. Peter's. Then, when we least dreamed of it, Providence permitted that an offer should be made to us of a section of excellent land in the county of St. Joseph, on the banks of the river St. Joseph, and not far from the City of St. Joseph, forming a delightful solitude about twenty minutes' ride from South Bend which solitude, from 22 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE the lake which it encloses, bears the beautiful name of Our L,ady of the Lake. Besides, it is the center of the Indian Mission, the Mission of the Badins, the De Seilles and the Petits. "Tell me, Father, could priests of Our Lady of the Holy Cross and Brothers of St. Joseph refuse such an offer? However, I did not wish to precipitate matters. I took time to pray and to reflect. Finally, a council was held, and it was decided that we should accept, gratefully, the generous offer of our worthy and be- loved Bishop, and that we should beg St. Peter to permit us to go to Our Lady to the land of her holy spouse, our august patron. A few days after- wards I set out, with seven of our intrepid religious, those who could be most useful in arranging things for the reception, a few months later, of the rest of our household and of the desired colony from France. "We started on the i6th of November, and, indeed, it required no little courage to undertake the journey at such a season. I cannot but admire the sentiments with which it pleased God to animate our little band, who had more than one hundred miles to travel through the snow. The first day the cold was so intense that we could advance only about five miles. The weather did not moderate for a moment; each morning the wind seemed to us more piercing as we pushed forward on our journey due north. But God was with us. None of us suffered severely, and, at length, on the eleventh day after our departure, five of us arrived at South Bend, the three others being obliged to travel more slowly with the ox team transporting our effects. "Our arrival had been expected and much desired. At South Bend we met the same cordial reception, IT Q o yo E- UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 23 which greeted us, fifteen months before, at New York. A few hours afterwards we came to Notre Dame du Lac, where I write you these lines. Everything was frozen, and yet it all appeared so beautiful. The lake, particularly, with its mantle of snow, resplendent in its whiteness, was to us a symbol of the stainless purity of our august Lady, whose name it bears, and also of the purity of soul which should characterize the new in- habitants of these beautiful shores. Our lodgings appeared to us as indeed they are but little different from those at St. Peter's. We made haste to inspect all the various sites on the banks of the lake which had been so highly praised. Yes, like little children, in spite of the cold, we went from one extremity to the other, perfectly enchanted with the marvelous beauties of our new abode. Oh! may this new Eden be ever the home of innocence and virtue! There, I could willingly exclaim with the prophet: Dominus regit me super aquam refectiones educavit me! Once again in our life we felt then that Providence had been good to us, and we blessed God with all our hearts. ' ' We found the house too small to accommodate us for the night; and as the weather was becoming colder, we made all haste back to the first lodgings that had been prepared for us in the village. Next day it did not take us long to establish ourselves better at Notre Dame du Lac, for we had but little to arrange. The following day the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle I said my first mass at Notre Dame where Father Petit so often before me had offered the Holy Sacrifice over the tomb of the saintly Father De Seille, whose memory is still fresh and revered throughout the land, and who, visiting for the last time his various mis- 24 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE sions, announced to his congregation that they would see him no more in this world, though he was then still young, full of health and vigor, and who, a few days after his return, realizing that he was dying, and having no priest to assist him, dragged himself to the altar, administered the viaticum to himself, then descended the steps and died. His body, in accord- ance with his own wish, was interred at the foot of the altar. I have already met here men of widely differ- ent views on religion, but with all, without exception, the memory of this just man is held in benediction. I cannot express how happy we are to possess the remains of this saintly missionary! The death ot Father De Seille was a great loss to the mission, especially on account of the Indians, among whom he had done so much good. His place could be supplied only by Father .Petit. I knew Father Petit, the worthy apostle of the Indians, only through chance meetings when traveling. But now, as I possess all the books and writings which he left to the mission now, that every one around me is continually speak- ing of the good Father Petit, and that everything here, from the altar on which I offer the Holy Sacrifice to the very table on which I write these lines, reminds me of dear Father Petit, I intend to make him my model, and if I cannot imitate him, I shall, at least, at a later date, tell you of what he has done. "While on this subject you will permit me, dear Father, to express a feeling which leaves me no rest. It is simply this: Notre Dame du Lac has been given to us by the Bishop only on condition that we build here a college. As there is no other within five hundred miles, this undertaking cannot fail of success, UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 25 provided it receive assistance from our good friends in France. Soon it will be greatly developed, being evidently the most favorably located in the United States. This college will be one of the most powerful means of doing good in this country. And who knows but God has prepared for us here, as at St. Peter's, some good and devoted novices? Finally, dear Father, you may well believe that this branch of your family is destined to grow and extend itself under the protec- tion of Our Lady of the Lake and St. Joseph. At least such is my firm conviction; time will tell whether I am mistaken or not. ' ' To another he writes about the same time: " May God be blessed for the many consolations He has given me, in the midst of my new flock, at Notre Dame du Lac, where, before I came, there had been no pastor except the missionary from Chicago, 86 miles from here. I have not yet seen my poor Indians; they have gone hunting, not being aware of our arrival. .... Their return is fixed for the 6th of January, and then I shall undertake to give them a retreat with the aid of an interpreter I am tempted to complain, dear friend, that Our Lord sends me no other suffering except to see my dear children suffer around me, without usually the power to assist them. Lately, one of our good brothers had his foot frozen, and another one of his toes; and I had just fifty cents, sufficient, perhaps, to permit me to show that I was not altogether insensible to their sufferings. But, as each one understands his mission, all are happy and contented. See herein what grace can do! We have at present but one bed, and they insist that I should take it. They themselves sleep on the floor, just as 26 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE they did for three weeks at St. Peter's. To-morrow I shall give up my room to Brother Marie, to be used for his shop. Assuredly, we are far from complaining of the poverty of our lodgings. God knows that we think little of it, and if we have desired as we do in- deed desire to build a large and more convenient house, it is solely that we may be able to accomplish some of the immense good that we are called upon to do. Sometimes, when I think of the good that can be done throughout this country had we a college conducted according to Catholic principles, my desire to erect such a building torments me and disturbs my rest; but, at other times, when I consider that we have hardly the third part of the funds necessary for such an undertaking, I try to convince myself that God does not will it, or else that He has reserved for Him- self to supply, in His own good time, the means of building the college. ' ' This was surely the faith and resignation of the saints; the faith that would move mountains, and the resignation that could say, Thy will, not mine, be done! III. CONSECRATION TO THE MOTHER OF GOD. A few years later, in writing of those first impres- sions, Father Sorin said: "Nevertheless, this first arrival on the spot, now called by the blessed name ot Notre Dame du Lac, however severe upon human delicacy, made upon the newcomers an impression which time will never obliterate. Wearied though they were, and intensely cold as was the atmosphere, they would not retire before contemplating again and again, and from every point around the lakes, the new UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 27 scenery now before them. A deep and unspotted covering of snow was then spread over land and water, and forcibly brought to their minds the spotless Virgin, who seemed already to have taken possession of these premises, and to claim the homage, not alone of the site itself, but also of every human soul that should ever breathe upon it. How readily and thank- fully this auspicious thought was to be received by these poor missionaries, whose chief hope was in the protection of Mary, and whose paramount object was to procure, after God's glory, that of his Divine Mother, will be easily understood. I shall tell you now what I have never said before. At that moment, one most memorable to me, a special consecration was made to the blessed Mother of Jesus, not only of the land that was to be called by her very name, but also of the institution that was to be founded there; a humble offering was presented to her of its modest origin and its destiny, of its future trials and labors, its successes and its joys. With my Brothers and myself, I presented to the blessed Virgin all those generous souls whom Heaven should be pleased to call around me on this spot, or who should come after me. From that moment I remember not a single in- stance of a serious doubt in my mind as to the final result of our exertions, unless, by our unfaithfulness, we should change the mercy from above into anger; and upon this consecration, which I thought accepted, I have rested ever since, firm and unshaken, as one surrounded on all sides by the furious waves of a stormy sea, but who feels himself planted immovably upon the moveless rock." 28 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE IV. IT IS HOI,Y GROUND. This ground thus consecrated by the man of God had indeed, as he himself joyously announced, been, even long ere his advent, marked as holy ground. Many years afterwards, when a great calamity seemed to have fallen upon Notre Dame, and strong men were seeking for help in the recollection of the holiness that had so often marked the St. Joseph Valley, the follow- ing words were written: "We are living on historic, nay, on holy ground. Not more than a mile from Notre Dame, now over two hundred years ago, the apostolic Marquette crossed Portage Prairie from the Kaukakee, and embarked on the St. Joseph on that last sad voyage a little before his death. Perhaps on this very spot La Salle wan- dered about the woods seeking to return to his com- panions on the St. Joseph river, on that night of which Parkman makes mention, when the intrepid discoverer lost his way in the forest. ' ' After a time we have indications, more or less ob- scure, of the presence of the indefatigable French mis- sionaries. It is known that the venerable Allouez labored in this region, and even on the shores of these very lakes; and many missionaries of whom no record remains undoubtedly spent a part of their time on these grounds, by the winding St. Joseph and the crystal twin lakes, reclaiming the rude barbarians. Down the river a few miles, near the site of the old battle-ground, on a bluff overlooking the valley and the river, stands a huge wooden cross marking the resting-place of one of those saintly men who gave up his life for the red man. The labor was not unblessed, and ' 'St. Mary of the l,akes M (Ste. Marie des Lacs), the title given Notre UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 29 Dame by the early missionaries, became the center of a Christian wilderness, extending over a large part of Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan. The bap- tismal registers of those early churches are still pre- served at Notre Dame; and a mile southwest of here a memorial cross has been erected to commemorate the ancient burial ground of the Christian Indians. The bodies of two of the latest -of those early evangelists, Father De Seille and Father Petit, now rest in the Church of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. Father De Seille died here alone at the altar of his log church, where he had dragged himself to partake of the divine banquet ere his departure. The venerable Father Neyron, still living here (1879), but then pastor at New Albany, on the Ohio river, was sent for to prepare Father De Seille for death, and started immediately, on horseback; but before he had traversed the length of the state, Father De Seille lay already three weeks dead. Father Petit died beyond the Mississippi, where he had followed his 'dear Indians,' on their removal from here by the government. His body was afterwards brought back by Father Sorin and now rests beside that of Father De Seille, his predecessor, and also that of his successor, Father Cointet, who, except Father Sorin himself, was the last of those Indian mis- sionaries. "It is little wonder, therefore, that when Father Badin, 'the proto-priest of America, ' first came amongst these Christian Indians and found himself upon the banks of a river named after St. Joseph, and by the twin lakes of St. Mary and St. Joseph, he should have felt inspired to secure the beautiful and sacred spot ' as the site of a future Catholic College,' as he expressed it. 30 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE " It would seem, indeed, when we strive to gather up the scattered threads of our local history, that Notre Dame was pointed out from the beginning by the hand of God for great things, and it behooves us to guard well and foster the sacred inheritance which has been left to us. It has descended to us from the saints. From the November day, now nearly forty years ago, when Father Sorin first stood upon these grounds and looked upon the snow-covered landscape an emblem of virginal purity, as it seemed to him even to the present hour, there have never wanted earnest souls who have looked upon the ground as the consecrated abode of religion and learning." V. THE CHRISTIAN INDIANS. That the unheralded labors of those simple and self- forgetting missionaries were rewarded by a blessed har- vest, we may know from the fact that almost all the Indians of Northern Indiana became devoted believers in Christ, loving as their teachers and fathers, the faith- ful priests who spent their lives in the obscurity of the wilderness that they might bring Christianity and civ- ilization to the children of the forests. In Nevin's "Black Robes, or sketches of Missions and Ministers in the Wilderness and on the Border," it is said that, "The first attempt &t the erection of a mission in Southern Michigan, according to the testi- mony of the few of the tribe of the Pottawattomies still to be found on the spot was made, perhaps, as early as 1675. The successful achievement of the project was accomplished in 1680. Father Allouez, in that year, attended by Dablon, after having coasted L,ake Michigan from Green Bay, entered the St. UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 31 Joseph river, so called in honor of the patron, saint of Canada, and making advance against its tide, pro- ceeded, until some twenty-five miles (fifty by the river) from its mouth, he reached the locality now the seat of the inviting town of Niles. About half a mile up stream from the heart of the town a narrow belt of lowland lying between it and the river rises a semi-circular bluff, at the base of which, and through the soil of the marshy level, runs a brook which emp- ties its slender contribution of supply into the St. Joseph. On this bluff, up till within twenty-five years since, if not now, the traces were plainly distin- guishable of a fortification, the cross planted at the time of its construction, and still to be seen, in the rear of it, indicating by whom, and for what use it was built. Here, conveniently established between an en- campment of Miamis on one side of the river, and three several settlements one at Pokagan, a second on the shores of what are now known as the Notre Dame Lakes, and the third and principal one, close by the fort of the Pottawattomies on the other, Allouez built a chapel (a brewery occupies the site now), and near by a log cabin for his own accommodation. His labors were carried on successfully, and without the occur- rence of any extraordinary event to invest them with special interest. After a faithful service of several years, he died in the summer of 1 690. His ashes repose in the graveyard of the mission at Niles. The estab- lishment was kept up, part of the time under the min- istry of Chardon, ' a man wonderful in the gift of tongues, speaking fluently nearly all of the Indian languages of the Northwest, ' until 1759. In that year the French garrison at Fort St. Joseph was attacked 32 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE by a party of English soldiers, the engagement result- ing, after a fierce contest, in the defeat of the French. The survivors of the garrison, including the priests, were carried away prisoners to Quebec. The mission, thus violently dissolved, was not reorganized for nearly a hundred years. In 1830, Father Stephen T. Badin pitched his tent in the vicinity, revived the faith among the Pottawattomies, built a chapel on the little St. Mary's lake, near South Bend, bought a section of land, which, conveyed to the Bishop of Vincennes, through him was dedicated in the interests of educa- tion to the church, and is now the seat of that notable institution of learning, the university of Notre Dame." During the sad period from the destruction of the missions, in 1759, until the arrival of Father Badin, in 1830, although but an occasional missionary visited them, nevertheless the poor Indians preserved the memory of their faithful Black Robes and their belief in the Christian religion. The poor chapels of logs and the various articles of the sacred service of the church were, in numerous places, guarded by the bereaved Christains, and often and often they made touching appeals for priests to instruct their children in the faith of their fathers. One of those earnest supplications has been pre- served to us in the words of the great Pottawattomie chief, Pokagan, ancestor of the present chief of the same name, whose eloquent speech at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893 i n vindication of his people attracted so wide attention. In 1830 Pokagan, at the head of a deputation of Pottawattomies, visited Detroit, then the residence of UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 33 the distinguished Father Gabriel Richard, Vicar-Gen- eral of the Bishop of Cincinnati. Father Richard had then been for thirty -five years a missionary at this point, having charge of the missions throughout Mich- igan and west to the Mississippi river. This remark- able man, who may be considered the Apostle of Michigan, had won the love and respect not only ot the Indian and French Catholics of this vast region, but was looked upon by all the people as a wise and patriotic citizen, the mainstay of civilization in the new territory, then recently acquired by the Union from Great Britain. Father Richard had been elected to Congress in 1823, being perhaps the only Catholic priest who was ever thus honored by the American people. There he won the respect and esteem of all his fellow-members and of the other officials of the government. Henry Clay WPS his particular friend. After his service in Congress he returned to his mis- sion at Detroit, where he continued his labors until his death in 1832. The speech of Pokagan to Father Richard asking for the re-establishment of the missions among the Pottawattomies is given to us as follows : ' ' My Father, I come again to implore you to send us a Black Robe to instruct us in the Word of God. If you have no care for us old men, at least have pity on our poor children, who are growing up as we have lived, in ignorance and vice. . . . We still pre- serve the manner of prayer as taught to our ancestors by the Black Robe who formerly resided at St. Joseph. Morning and evening, with my wife and children, we pray together before the crucifix. Sunday we pray together oftener. On Fridays we fast until evening, 34 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE men, women and children, according to the traditions handed down by our fathers and mothers, for we our- selves have never seen a Black Robe at St. Joseph. Listen to the prayers which he taught to them and see if I have not learned them correctly." And thereupon the chief fell upon his knees, made the sign of the cross and recited in his own language the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Apostles' Creed and the Ten Commandments. The result of these appeals was that Father Richard secured the coming of Father Badin from the missions of Kentucky to look after the abandoned Christians of the St. Joseph, extending his labors over Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan. It seems fitting that these missions, destined to pre- pare the way for this great Catholic university, should have been revived by the renowned Stephen Theodore Badin. Father Badin was ordained at Baltimore May 23, 1793, by Archbishop Carroll, being the first priest ordained within the United States. Notre Dame thus traces her spiritual lineage through the proto-priest of America to the first of American bishops, to the seat of the American primacy at Baltimore and the original Catholic colony of Maryland. Father Badin re-estab- lished the mission at St. Mary of the Lakes, Ste. Marie des Lacs, as it -was called, building the little log chapel which Father Sorin found still on the spot on his arrival. So pleased was Father Badin with the beauty of the location, undoubtedly also influenced by a divine in- spiration, that he purchased from the United States Government the section of land containing the two little lakes of St. Mary and St. Joseph, intending, as he said, UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 35 that this should be the site of a great university. The hand of Providence was in this. The work of the holy missionaries, from the days when Marquette and La Salle moved upon the waters of the St. Joseph and over the portage from the Kankakee, was to be con- tinued. Their labors were to be blessed, not only in the multitude of Indian souls which they had led to God, but even more, in the untold multitudes who have since and shall yet go hence to bless the world and to be themselves blessed forever with those saintly confessors in the presence of him who is him- self the reward of those who toil single-hearted and unknown, but for his glory and the welfare of their fellow- men. Under Father Badin, and under his successor, Father Louis De Seille, the saintly Belgian missionary, who succeeded him, about 1832, and whose heroic death at the altar we have related, the missions flourished won- derfully; or, rather, they revived; for, as we have seen, this had been a Christian wilderness a hundred and fifty years previous to this time, even from the days of Allouez. On the southern shores of Lake Michigan, and to the east and west, as late as 1835, multitudes of red men, many of them savages only in name, who had accepted Christianity, and the civilization which grows out of it, continued to dwell. But the government had determined that all the Indians, civilized and sav- age, should be gathered on a territory of their own, to the west of the Mississippi. By the end of 1836, some by treaty and others by force, had abandoned the hunt- ing grounds so dear to them, and taken up their abode in the Indian territory. 36 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE The Pottawattomies, however, still lingered in their ancient habitations. Many of them, as we have seen, were Christians; they were attached to the soil where they and their fathers had heard the glad tidings of salvation; and they trembled at the prospects of a removal to a distant and strange land. But their hopes were vain. In the spring of 1838 came the order which to them was as a decree of banishment from al} they held dearest in life their home and their religion. This last misery, however, was to be spared them. They had for their priest then Father Benjamin Mary Petit, the youthful Successor of Father De Seille; and he determined to accompany "his dear Indians" to the far west. Father Petit was a young lawyer of Rennes, France, when, in 1835, at the age of twenty-four years, he felt himself called to a religious life, and sailed for America, where he placed himself under the charge of the Rt. Rev. Gabriel Brute", the saintly bishop of Vincennes. On the day of his ordination, October 14, 1837, ne wrote to his mother: "I am now a priest . . . My- hand is now consecrated to God. . . . How my lips trembled this morning at my first mass. . . Within two days I start hence all alone on a journey of three hundred miles and yet not alone, for I shall journey in company with my God, whom I shall carry on my bosom day and night, and shall convey with me the instruments of the great sacrifice, halting from time to time in the depths of the forest, and converting the hut of some poor Catholic into the palace of the King oi Glory. My heart is so light, so happy, so contented, that I am a wonder to myself. From mass to mass, to go forward even to heaven! You recollect that I often UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC, 37 said that I was born happy. I can say the same still. I had always desired a mission amongst the savages; there is but one such in Indiana, and it is I whom the Pottawattomies will call their ' Father Black Robe'. " And well did this young priest deserve the appella- tion! It is thus he describes his first visit to his beloved Indians: "I remained three weeks among them, and our time was spent as follows: At sunrise the first peal was rung; then might you see the savages moving along the paths of the forest and the borders of the lakes. When they were assembled the second peal was rung. The catechist then, in an animated manner, gave the substance of the sermon preached the evening before; a chapter of the catechism was read and morning prayers were recited. I then said mass, the congregation singing hymns the while; after which I preached, my sermon being translated as I pro- ceeded by a respectable French lady, seventy-two years old, who has devoted herself to the missions in the capacity of interpreter. The sermon was followed by an Our Father and a Hail Mary; after which the con- gregation sang a hymn to Our I,ady and quietly dis- persed. The next thing was confessions, which lasted till evening, and sometimes were resumed after supper. At sunset the natives again assembled for catechism, followed by an exhortation and evening prayers, which finished with a hymn to Our Lady. I then gave them my benediction the benediction of poor Benjamin! Many practice frequent communion. I baptized eigh- teen adults,and blessed nine marriages. ... I can- not tell you how attached they became to me during my short stay amongst them. ' We were orphans,' they said to me; 'and, as it were, in darkness; but you 38 A BRIEF HISTORY OP THE came amongst us, and we live. You are to us in the place of our father who is dead; we will do nothing without your advice.' 'To whom shall we go when you have left us?' exclaimed an old man. ' While you are with us, if we are in sorrow, we come to you and are comforted.' . . . Could you have witnessed how, with swelling hearts, they knelt down in silence around me to receive my benediction when I was depart- ing, you would understand why, as I bade them fare- well, I experienced the same feelings as when I left Rennes; it seemed as though I were once more leaving my family." At the beginning of the year 1838, he again writes: ' ' Here I am in the midst of my Indians. How I do love these children of mine, and what pleasure it is to me to find myself amongst them! There are now from a thousand to twelve hundred Christians. I was asleep on my mat the last day of the year, when toward mid- night I was suddenly awakened by a discharge of fire- arms. It does not take much time to get up when one sleeps in ones clothes on a mat. I threw open my door, and in an instant my room was filled with Indians, men, women and children, who had come to wish me a. happy new year. They knelt down around me to ask my blessing; and then, with countenance beaming with smiles, they every one shook hands with me. It was a real family fete. I said a few words to them on the year which was past, and on that which had just commenced; and then led them to the chapel, where we spent a short time in prayer. ... I love them dearly. Could you see the little children, when I enter a cabin, crowding around me and climbing on my knees the father and mother making the sign of the UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 39 cross in pious recollection, and then coming, with a confiding smile on their faces, to shake hands with me you could not but love them as I do. In the even- ing you might see them stooping over the fire and singing hymns or repeating the catechism. I begin to speak their language a little, and to understand what they say to me. I am really too happy; do not wish me anything better." In the spring he was able to take up his residence among his people. "I have a vast dwelling, ' ' he says, "built of entire trees laid one upon another; in more than one place the light may be seen through the walls; my fire place is large enough to hold half a ton of coal; the floor is of planks, which, not being fastened together, shake under the feet like the keys of a piano under the fingers of the musician. At night I have a mat laid upon it; and with two blankets, one under, the other over me, I sleep as well as if I lay on the most luxurious bed in the world." But his journeys were still long and fatiguing; sometimes he had forty or sixty miles to go to visit the sick. "Perhaps," says he, on one such occasion, with that simplicity so char- acteristic of his order, ' 'you look upon missionaries as saints; but I must confess that during all that time I could scarcely say one prayer. When I had done hear- ing confessions, and had said my office, I fell asleep on my mat. However," he adds, "the Master to whom I have wholly devoted myself is pleased to accept the labor of each day as a continued sacrifice; and, when offered with proper motives, such labor is an unceasing prayer. ' ' But all this while a great grief lay heavy at his heart. His Indians were to be taken from him, as he 40 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE thought, and the mission extirpated. From "Pictures of Missionary L,ife," collected chiefly from the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith, and published at London, in 1858, by Barnes and I/ambert, we condense the following account of this eviction; a narrative that reminds one of the story of Ramona by Mrs. Helen Hunt Jackson. The government had given orders for the removal of the Pottawattomies, and seemed deaf to all entreaties, ' 'I shall have to level the altar and the church to the ground," writes the fervent apostle, "and bury the cross which overshadows their tombs, to save it from profan- ation. And these Christian souls will pine away, de- prived of those sacraments which they approached with so much fervor, and languishing under an unknown sky, where I, their father, shall be unable to follow them. ' ' Fain would he have comforted himself with the hope of accompanying them on their way; but the Bishop, fearful of even .appearing to countenance the cruel measures adopted by the civil power, withheld his consent. At last his worst fears were realized. Early in the autumn the government took possession of the house in which he lodged, and of the church in which the natives were assembled for prayer. Some would have resisted, but Father Petit exhorted them to submit. He said his last mass, and then the church was stripped and left desolate. Many fled to the woods, others crossed over into the Canadian territory; one band, the first that had embraced the faith, bought lands and accepted the law of the conqueror rather than be forced into exile. Once more the good priest gathered his flock together; it was on the morning of ST. EDWARD S PARK. A FAVORITE \VALK UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 41 their departure; he wept as he addressed them, and his hearers wept too; they sang together for the last time, that hymn to the Virgin Mother which they loved so well; but their voices faltered, and few were able to sing it to the end. So they parted, and, as all thought, forever in this world. A few days afterwards, the Indians, notwithstanding their peaceable dispositions, were made prisoners of war; they were assembled under pretence of holding a conference, and, amidst a discharge of musketry, eight hundred of them were put under arrest. They now unanimously declared that they would not go without their priest. The government invited Father Petit to accompany them, but he could do nothing without his Bishop's consent; and the order was given to march without further delay. The Indians were driven on at the point of the bayonet; many were sick; huddled together in transport wagons, numbers died of heat and thirst. It happened, however, that Bishop Brute" was to consecrate a church in a neighboring mission on the 9th of September; and on the yth the Indians would be encamped within a mile of the place. Two days before, the Bishop entered Father Petit's room. "He lavished on me," says the latter, "all the consolation which a father could bestow upon a son; for myself I was as a man who stirs not under a weight that threatens to crush him." Together they set out for Ix>gansport, and on their way learned of the sufferings of the poor Indians. The news was like a dagger in the heart of the young priest; but to his delight, the sainted Brute gave him permission to follow the emigrants, on con' dition of returning as soon as he was summoned; and he hastened immediately to his post. No sooner did 42 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE it get abroad that the priest was come than the whole camp was in motion; the natives flocked out to meet him; the whites, drawn up in file, formed a lane for him to pass; they were astonished at the enthusiasm of affection with which he was received, and the influ- ence he exercised over these unmanageable savages. 1 'This man, ' ' exclaimed the officer in command, ' 'has more power here than I have." On Sunday Father Petit said mass in the middle of the camp under an awning suspended from a lofty tree; in the afternoon came the Bishop; the Indians knelt to receive his blessing as he passed to the .tent; they then arranged themselves in order, and, some by heart, others from books, sang vespers in their native tongue. It was a sight never to be forgotten by those who witnessed it. On the 1 6th the faithful pastor rejoined his flock. He found them moving onwards, enveloped in clouds of dust, and surrounded by the soldiers who hurried on their march. Behind came the wagons, in which were crowded together the sick, the women, and the children. The scene, as described by Father Petit, was one of the most mournful description; the children, overcome by heat, were reduced to a wretched state of languor and exhaustion. Some new-born infants he baptized. "Happy Christmas," he exclaims, "who pass in peace from this land of exile to the mansions of bliss!" By this time the General had begun to understand something of Father Petit' s worth, and treated him with marked respect. The chiefs, who had hitherto been treated as prisoners of war, were released at the priest's request, and took their place with the rest of the tribe. First went the flag of the United States, borne by a dragoon; after which came UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 43 the baggage; then the vehicle occupied by the native chiefs. Next followed the main body, of the emigrants, men, women and children, mounted on horses, march- ing in file after Indian fashion, while all along the flanks of the multitude might be seen dragoons and volunteers urging on unwilling stragglers, often with the most violent words and gestures. The sick were in their wagons, under an awning of canvas, which, however, far from protecting them from the stiffling heat and dust, only deprived them of air; the interior was like an oven and many consequently died. Six miles from Danville there was a halt for two days; and each morning Father Petit said mass in the midst of his people; he gave the viaticum to the dying and bap- tized some. "When we quitted the spot," he says, "we left six graves under the shadow of the cross. " Order had been so thoroughly restored through the presence of the priest, that the troops now retired, and Father Petit was left with the civil authorities to con- duct the emigrants to their destination. We will not pursue the pathetic narrative over the vast prairies of Illinois and Iowa. Suffice it to say that the march of the Indians was henceforth as a Christian pilgrimage, except when they stopped for an hour to bury their dead. A day's journey from the Osages river, the place allotted for their settlement, sixty miles beyond the western line of Missouri, they met Father Hoeken, of the Society of Jesus, who had been appointed to take charge of the Pottawattomies in their new home. Into his hands Father Petit re- signed his charge, and turned back to retrace his way to his Bishop. But nature was exhausted and his task being accomplished the reaction set in from which 44 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE he was not to recover. He had fever on the way out, but recovered sufficiently to proceed with his charge. Now, however, he grew worse rapidly and could come no further than St. Louis. There, notwithstanding all that could be done for him, he departed to receive his reward. On the loth day of February, 1839, "with a smile on his lips and his eyes on the crucifix," he went to "the Master to whom," as he himself had said, "I have wholly devoted myself;" to that Master who has said: "Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends. ' ' He had died for his dear Christian Indians. We need not wonder, therefore, that Father Sorin, burning as he was with admiration for the heroic martyr missionary who was his immediate predecessor, should desire that the body of that young priest should be placed at rest beneath the noble church built on the spot made holy by his labors; or that Father Sorin should himself, in 1856, have gone to St. Louis and brought the sacred remains to Notre Dame and laid them beside those of Father De Seille. Surely those two guardian spirits, with the numberless white souls led by them to Christ, will forever ask the same blessed Lord to continue his blessing upon the spot made by them and their predecessors, holy ground. VI. EARLY DAYS AT NOTRE DAME- The winter of 1842-43 was one of the severest in our history. On his arrival, November 26, 1842, as we have seen, Father Sorin and his little band found the lakes already frozen over, while a mantle of snow covered the whole region, land and lake alike. It was beautiful, but of that severe beauty which chastens UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 45 the heart and exalts the imagination, rather than that which pleases the fancy and intoxicates the senses. In an old record of cold winters in this country, which dates back to 1607, that winter when Notre Dame was founded is named as one of the coldest. Snow was fifteen inches deep as far south as Georgia. But there was work to be done. Since the death of Father Petit there had been no missionary stationed here and the remnant of the Indians, about two hun- dred in number, with the scattered white Catholics, needed and received the first attention. On the return of the Indians from their annual hunt, they were over- joyed to find another Black Robe ready to receive them and to give again to them and to their children the consolations of religion, to re -kindle in their hearts the faith of Marquette, of Allouez, of Badin, of De Seille, and of Petit. The distinguished Italian artist, LrUigi Gregori, who long resided at Notre Dame, and of whose work here we shall have more to say farther on, has perpetuated in a beautiful painting the first meeting of the young priest with his forest children near the little log chapel beside St. Mary's lake. Even to the present day, in this part of Indiana and in southern Michigan, descendants of those dusky Indians remain with us. Their parish here has been the neighboring one of St. Joseph's in what was for- merly Lowell, but now a part of the city of South Bend. In this little church, persons whose heads are not yet silvered have often seen a living exemplifica- tion of that Universal Church, which knows neither race nor color, neither rich nor poor, neither lofty nor lowly, but only our common humanity as brethren in Christ. Even as it is related of Chief Justice Taney, 46 A BRIEF HISTOR Y OF THE who was often seen at the communion table, kneeling, as it might chance, beside some poor colored Catholic of the congregation; so here, at the altar rail of St. Joseph's knelt as equals, as Christians, to receive the Bread of L,ife, whites, and Indians, and negroes; child- ren of New and Old England; of Virginia and France; of Ireland and Germany; of Italy and Belgium. There, at least, the poor Pottawattomie, Chippewa, or Miami, the meek Ethiopian, and the ruling Caucasian, found themselves as brothers in the one Mother Church. Next to the spiritual care of the community and that of the surrounding region, it became necessary to prepare for the clearing up of the land and the erec- tion of necessary buildings. Ten acres beside the lake had been cultivated for many years, but succes- sive crops had exhausted the light soil. The remain- der of the land was virgin forest, with the exception or eighty or ninety acres of prairie or marsh ground, the center of which was occupied by the two charming sheets of water. The beds of these lakes were about twenty -five feet deep. The banks contained an inex- haustible supply of marl, from which lime and cement of the best quality are made. The soil of the upland, with- out being rich, is suitable for the successful cultivation of all grains, vegetables and fruits. It is a sand loam. The buildings already on the ground were the log cabin erected by Father Badin, 24x40 feet, the ground floor of which answered as a room for the priest, and the story above for a chapel. In addition to this there had been added a few years previously a little frame building of two stories, somewhat more habitable, in which resided a half breed Indian with his family, who acted as interpreter when necessary. UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 47 There were at that time around this poor little sanc- tuary, the only one in Northern Indiana, as we learn from the " Chronicles of Notre Dame," about twenty Catholic families, scattered within a radius of six miles. A mile and a half to the south was South Bend, then a village of about one thousand inhabitants. This town was so named from its situation at the south bend of the St. Joseph river, a stream which rises in Michigan, flows to the southwest, and then returning to the north, again enters the state of Michi- gan and empties into 'Lake Michigan at the old fort, now the beautiful city of St. Joseph. Lake Michigan lies northwest of Notre Dame, and about thirty miles distant. The former boundary line between Indiana and Michigan, as originally indicated in the ordinance ot 1787, was " an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan." This line runs several miles south of Notre Dame and con- sequently this territory, including the whole of the St. Joseph river, together with the city of South Bend and the other flourishing towns and cities upon the St. Joseph, was formerly within the limits of the state of Michigan. Following the same line to the west and to the east, Chicago would be within the state of Wis- consin and Toledo within that of Michigan. After many disputes, amounting at one time to almost open war between Ohio and Michigan, the rich Upper Pen- insula was given to Michigan, and the southern boun- daries were fixed as we have them now, leaving Notre Dame about four miles south of the Michigan line. Above South Bend, on the river, were the St. Joseph Iron Works, a village of about one thousand inhabi- 48 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE tants since known as the flourishing town of Misha- waka. The name of Iron Works was given to the place on account of the industry based upon the manufacture of iron from the bog or surface iron ore found near the town; and it was called Mishawaka from the great rapids in the river, which gave to the place its excel- lent water power. Six miles below Notre Dame, also upon the river, and within the state of Michigan, was the village of Bertrand, named from a noted French trader. It was formerly a flourishing place, being at the junction of the stage line to Chicago and the St. Joseph river, over both of which the commerce of this region was to a large extent carried before the Michi- gan Central railroad was extended through Niles, and the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern through South Bend. But Bertrand, located half way between those two towns, soon languished after their growth began, until now the town has about disappeared. The only Catholic church in any of these towns was the little brick one still standing on the site of Ber- trand ; but even on the arrival of Father Sorin the Catholics of all the surrounding country had become accustomed to look upon St. Mary of the Lakes, or the Lake as it was generally called, as the center of Catholicity. Here accordingly they came, much to the edification of the new community, to make the retreat of the jubilee during that first winter. The cold was intense, yet the exercises were regularly attended. For two years there had been only rare visits by a priest from Chicago- The Catholic religion was con- sequently very little known in all this part of the dio- cese. The few ceremonies that could be carried out, UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 49 being necessarily devoid of all solemnity, could have hardly any other effect in the eyes of the public than to give rise to injurious and sarcastic remarks against Catholicity. At Mishawaka, as well as at South Bend and Niles, as soon as it was known that Father Sorin and his Brothers intended to built a college and novi- tiate, there was much objection and even alarm mani- fested. The number of priests was exaggerated from one to twelve, and the seven Brothers became ' ' twenty monks out at the Lake." Moreover, it was added that the Pope of Rome had already sent Father Sorin $90,000, and would soon send an additional $10,000 to make the even number. If there were not a possible element of danger in this wild talk, it must have seemed rather amusing to the poor priest and his shiv- ering Brothers who made their hard beds on the bare floor where the bitter snows sifted in upon them through the chinks in the walls. There was indeed nothing very encouraging in this reception. From a human stand- point, it might have appeared wise to retreat; but even though anticipating yet greater opposition in the times to come, our pious champions, who had already learned how to hope even against hope, cheered one another with the expectation of a future more meritorious and more glorious for their holy cause. They placed all their confidence in Heaven and let their neighbors talk, believing that even in this life the time would come when their works would vindicate them, that too in the eyes of those who now looked upon them with suspi- cion and distrust. Besides Niles, Bertrand, South Bend and Misha- waka, already mentioned, the priest from Notre Dame attended many missions or scattered families for a great 50 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE distance around, including Goshen to the east, then containing two hundred inhabitants, I/eesburg, still further east, Plymouth to the South, Berrien to the north, and, still further, old St. Joseph at the mouth of the river; also Constantine, Pawpaw, and other localities east and north, including Kalamazoo, then a place of twelve or fifteen hundred inhabitants. These were the missions which Father Sorin, and afterwards Father Cointet, Father Granger and other priests from Notre Dame attended for many years. III. BEGINNINGS. I. NEW BUILDINGS. The total amount of money to the credit of the young community on their arrival at Notre Dame, in- cluding money collected by the Bishop and still in his hands, and a small amount sent from Europe, was less than $1,500. With this, aided by their own labors and what help they might obtain from the people of the neighborhood, they made their plans for the col- lege, church and novitiate, all of which seemed abso- lutely necessary, even for the purpose of making a beginning. The college must be done, in order to hold the land; and accordingly that was first considered. The plan of this edifice had been prepared at St. Peter's before leaving their mission. It called for a brick building in the shape of a double hammer, or letter H, 4ox 160 ft. , and four-and-a-half stories high. The Bishop's archi- tect, who had made the plans, also made and sent in his bid for the work. As all had been done under direction of the Bishop the bid was accepted without long deliberation. Sixty thousand feet of lumber, and two hundred and fifty thousand brick and the necessary lime, were engaged for the following spring. 51 52 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE While preparations were thus made to carry out the contract with the Bishop, it was felt that the most urgent present need was the building of a church large enough to receive the people and the community itself. Accordingly an appeal was made early in December, 1842, to assist in putting up a log church of larger dimensions than the little one heretofore used. The people could not give money, but they gave their labor. Trees were cut down, and logs cut and hauled to a convenient place, higher up than the old chapel; and there a log church 20x46 was erected. It took two hundred dollars out of the little treasury to finish this woodland temple which was opened for divine service on St. Joseph's day, March 19, 1843. The re- maining members of the community at St. Peter's, under the lead of Brother Vincent, had arrived before this, and materially aided in the completion of the new church. Small as was this building, it was found necessary to devote it to still another use. A second story was carried through its entire length in order to provide a residence for the sisters who were expected from France during the following summer. The upper room in the old log cabin that had been used as a chapel by Father Badin and the other early missiona- ries, was now assigned as a dormitory for the Brothers; while next to the new church was erected an addition for the priests. Thus before the end of the first winter sufficient room was made not only for the present colony, but also for the new colony that was expected during the next summer; and there was also provided a rude but sufficient church for the people who would attend from the surrounding country. The upper UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 53 story of the new building, the church proper, was indeed modest enough; a moderately tall man would touch the rafters above with his head. The sacred edifice served its purpose, however, and became as dear to the little community as if it were built of polished marble. It was to them as that blessed upper cham- ber in Jerusalem. It was used as a church until 1848; and was accidentally burned to the ground in 1856, notwithstanding the efforts of students, professors, Brothers and priests, who wished to preserve it as a monument of the past. A substantial iron cross now marks the location of this primitive log church. II. THE FIRST BRICK STRUCTURE. The end of the winter was ardently desired that work might begin. Unfortunately, that year, as we have said, the winter was of a length and severity almost hitherto unheard of in the United States. For five continuous months the snow covered the ground; during which time there was not an intermission of even one week in the intense cold. The consequence of this was greatly to interfere with the success of the enterprise, the whole country being greatly impover- ished. In addition, when the expense for brick, lumber and lime, together with the daily outlay for the support of the community, had been met, it was found that the treasury was exhausted. Besides this, the architect, unmindful of his promises or unable to fulfill them, allowed the season for building the college to pass by. In this state of affairs, the fear of not being able to do anything towards the college this year, and the con- sciousness of many other urgent needs, caused it to be 54 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE determined to put up a brick building of some kind that might serve in part for the uses of a college, and also for a bakery. This building so erected is the present square brick building at the edge of St. Mary's lake, known as the Farm House. It served its colle- giate purposes for nearly a year, for here the first students were received and the first classes organized. It may, therefore, although at first built to serve a temporary purpose, be called the original college building of Notre Dame. The first student was the same boy who led Father Sorin through the woods from South Bend to the lake, November 26, 1842. He afterwards became the wealthy wagon maker of South Bend, Alexis Coquillard. He was a distinguished and influential man in his day; but perhaps his greatest distinction is that he was the first student of the uni- versity of Notre Dame. It need hardly be said that he always continued a fast friend of Father Sorin, and of his Alma Mater. The first public mention we find of the institution is in the Metropolitan Catholic Almanac for this year, 1843, where we read that a school for young men had lately been opened at " Southbend, near Washington, Ind., under direction of Rev. E. Sorin." South Bend had not then, it seems, attained to the dignity of two capiatal letters to its name; and the location of Notre Dame was so little known that it was placed ' ' near Washington, Ind." This last error undoubtedly came from confounding Notre Dame with St. Peter's, the first home of the congregation of the Holy Cross; St. Peter's having been located not far from Washington, the county seat of Da vies county. ' ' Mishiwakie " is mentioned in the same almanac as one of the missions UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 55 attended by Father Sorin. The terms per quarter for students in the college, for tuition, board, washing and mending, are stated to be eighteen dollars. III. THE SECOND COLONY. The expected colony sailed from France on June 6, 1843. ^ was un ^er charge of the Rev. Father Francis Cointet (Quinty), destined to be known as one of the most illustrious members of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. With Father Cointet were Father Man- vault, Father Gouesse, one Brother and four Sisters. They were a most welcome addition to the young com- munity. It is related that Father Cointet' s attention was first directed to the Indian mission by accidentally hearing read the first letter written by Father Sorin from Notre Dame to his superiors in France. He and Father Sorin had been intimate friends at the seminary where they both studied, and now on hearing this apostolic letter his heart was fired with religious enthusiasm. He was a most valuable acquisition to the new estab- lishment, being at the same time a most accomplished scholar and a devoted priest; and his time was almost equally divided between his classes and the missions of the surrounding country. Whether unfolding the beauties of Greek and Latin literature in the college, or enlightening the poor Indian in his wigwam or the railroad laborer in his cabin, Father Cointet was ever the ardent, active priest, devoting heart, and soul, and body to the best service of his fellow men. It is said, as an indication of the poverty and simplicity of those days, that Father Sorin and Father Cointet for a long time had but one hat and one pair of boots between 56 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE them; so that when Father Sorin was seen with the hat it was known that Father Cointet was in the col- lege; and when Father Cointet had the hat, starting for the missions, it was certain that Father Sorin was in his room. This good priest died of the cholera vis- itation at Notre Dame, in 1854; an< ^ hj. s body rests beside those of his sainted predecessors, Father De Seille and Father Petit, under the Church of the Sacred Heart. IV. THE COLLEGE BEGUN. Even before the arrival of Father Cointet with the new colony, the idea of beginning the college building proper had been abandoned for that year. Neither the time nor the resources seemed sufficient. But, quite unexpectedly, on August 24, the architect arrived from Vincennes with two workmen. The question of expe- diency was then earnestly debated. Everyone seemed anxious that the work should begin. Father Mari- vault offered to draw on his family in France for twelve hundred dollars due him. Mr. Samuel Byerley, then a merchant in South Bend, offered a credit for two thousand dollars on his store, besides a loan of five hundred dollars in money. Mr. and Mrs. Byerley deserve more than a casual mention in this history. Mr. Byerley had been a wealthy English ship merchant. His sailing vessels had traversed all the seas; and he himself had pur- sued his calling in all the commercial nations of the globe, and was familiar with most of the languages of Europe. Mrs. Byerley was an Italian lady, a native of Trieste, and a most superior woman in all the walks of life. On Father Sorin's arrival in New York, in 1841, Mr. and Mrs. Byerley resided in that city, and there UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 57 they made the acquaintance of the adventurous mis" sionaries, receiving and entertaining them with the utmost joy. Mr. Byerley at that time had recently become a convert to the Catholic church, while Mrs. Byerley had always been a Catholic. By a happy coin- cidence Mr. and Mrs. Byerley now found themselves in the infant town of South Bend, and consequently close neighbors of the priest and Brothers that two years be- fore they had welcomed to the new world. Chiefly in consequence of the change, about this time, of the commerce of the seas from sailing vessels to steam- boats, Mr. Byerley had disposed of his business in the east, and brought the remains of his fortune to invest in this new country. They became the continued and life-long friends and assistants of the community of Notre Dame, and no names are treasured with more affection than theirs. Encouraged by such friends, the resolution was taken to go on with the college building; and on August 28, 1843, th e feast of St. Augustine, the corner stone was laid. From that until December 2Oth, the work was pushed with vigor until the wa*lls were up and the building under cover. The season favored them, No- vember and December being, as they often are, in this region, as balmy May, a striking contrast with the pre- vious year. The next season the inside work was completed, some of the rooms being occupied early in June, 1844. The building thus erected was the central part of the old college edifice; and was four stories high, eighty feet long and thirty-six feet in width. It was the middle part, or handle, of the "double hammer," that being as much of the architect's plan as they could then 58 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE undertake, and even more than, strictly speaking, the poverty of the community could afford. The few students were then removed from the building at the lake; and in August following the closing exercises of the first year's school took place. During the same year, January 15, 1844, a charter was granted to the university by the legislature of the state, empowering the institution to confer all the degrees in literature, science and the arts, as well as in the learned professions. This favor was due to the spontaneous kindness of the Hon. John D. Defrees, then member of the legislature for St. Joseph county. Even before the walls of the college were up he had come to Father Sorin and suggested the charter by which the trustees of the new institution might be regularly and legally incorporated. It was a great and important privilege, and indeed necessary for the legal existence of the university. Thus the legal and actual existence of the university dates from the same year, 1844. Notre Dame was fairly on her feet. The joy of the young community at the success ot their undertaking may well be imagined. They had good reason to believe that their work was under the direct protection of heaven. The surrounding inhabi- tants, many of whom had at first looked upon them with unkindly eyes, had now begun to turn towards them with favor. Their heroic lives had won the sympathy and help of all good men. It was looked upon as a special providence that no accident had occurred to any one during all their building opera- tions; while several times they seemed to have escaped miraculously from accidental fires. The college was built to be heated by a furnace, but this proving un- UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME DU LAC. 59 satisfactory, resort was had to wood stoves which continued in use for many years until the introduction of heating by steam pipes in 1863. The utter dependence of those saintly founders upon the protection of heaven, and their simple and unques- tioning faith, are illustrated by the circumstance that for years they were unwilling to place a lightning rod upon their buildings; and, for the same cause, it was not until 1848 that they consented to take out any fire insurance, and then only for three thousand dollars. God would protect them, they said; and God and his Blessed Mother did protect them. It is, of course, clear that the building erected left the little community heavily in debt. Indeed, this remained the chronic condition of the institution for years. "On several occasions," as said by Prof. Edwards in his interesting article on Father Sorin, written for the "Catholic Family Annual " for 1895, ' ' Notre Dame was on the point of being sold for debt. One day the farm horses were taken out of the stables and sold by a creditor. Another time there was not a morsel of food in the house. The unexpected arrival of a gift of money from a stranger prevented the students from going to bed supperless. " But friends seemed to arise as often as troubles appeared. The trials of the feeble community were often great, but they were never greater than could be borne. Father Sorin was a multitude in himself, and seemed as if inspired to meet every emergency. He was then thirty years of age, having been born at Ahulle", near I