The Trip from St. Peter's to Notre Dame in February, 1843

In February, 1843, all of the Community remaining at St. Peter's in Indiana travelled north to Notre Dame, except Brother Anselm Caillot who was left behind to teach in the Vincennes school. The trip north is chronicled by Brother John, about whom we know little. He may have been the Brother John (Frederick) Steber who was the first Holy Cross person to teach in Fort Wayne. The letter is preserved in the Indiana Province Archives, Notre Dame, Indiana.

Notre Dame du Lac

February, 1843

My Reverend Father,

            Everything being in readiness for our departure from St. Peter's to Notre Dame du Lac, we commenced our journey at a period when all nature seemed combined against us, but notwithstanding the severity of the weather, our little troop, consisting of eleven persons, viz.   Brothers Vincent, Laurence, Joachim, Thomas, Ignatius, Paul, Joseph, two postulants, one boarder and myself, proceeded on our journey as unconcerned about its distance as if we were only to go two or three leagues.   Our mode of conveyance was a large wagon made under the direction of Brother Laurence, contained our beds, provisions and four trunks well filled with kitchen apparatus, our load in all amounting to near three thousand pounds weight.   The wagon was drawn by four large horses.   Besides that we drove on foot eight head of large working cattle.  

            Our dear congregation assembled and assisted with us at parting in singing Ave Sanctissima in honor of the blessed Virgin, then recited the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, bid adieu to our dear little chapel and the congregation who with tears in their eyes begged of God to bless us; never in my life had I witnessed such a scene (no never) nor ever did I witness such a time.   It had rained the night previous, and from the door of the house to the gate was one clear sheet of ice, and our horses being but imperfectly shod could scarcely stand on their feet, and it was laughable to see the poor oxen sliding from one side of the road to the other, and at one place between St. Peter's and Washington, about two leagues distant, we had to ascend a steep hill; our poor horses tried their utmost to arrive at the top and had nearly reached [it] when the wagon slipped backwards and dragged horses and all to bottom again.   We then had to call to our aid some of the neighbors to assist us for we could hardly do anything our fingers were so much benumbed, and it was not until a great deal of exertion we reached the top, and [after] a toilsome route of two leagues we arrived at Washington where I had all the horses shod properly.  

We remained that night at the house of a good, pious soul named W. Gallagher who entertained us with great hospitality and would not allow us to proceed until we had all our horses properly fixed for such a journey, and which [when] I look back sometimes and consider what we then undertook, I am really surprised to see how well we got through with everything.   The Americans themselves who were accustomed to travel told us at the time we started that they would not undertake such a journey under any conditions, and the good Mr. Gallagher would not on any account receive remuneration.

We departed the next morning and in crossing a river seven miles from Washington were nearly precipitated into the water (which was not too warm) by our cattle becoming restive, and at last they all jumped into the water and swam back.   It was rather difficult for us to return back to the shore as the river being frozen over, there was only a small passage cut through the ice for our flat boat; after some delay we succeeded in getting our cattle, and then we crossed to the opposite shore.   No accident happened, and we proceeded on our journey, the ground being covered with frozen snow, and the more we advanced, the deeper it became, and to the latter part of our journey we found five feet of snow and the weather extremely cold.

            At four o'clock every afternoon I mounted on horseback and proceeded in advance of our little troop in search of a lodging for the night, and having succeeded in finding one, I remained until the company came up, and as soon as they had arranged every thing for the night, we commenced our prayers, recited our beads and performed our devotion as if we were at St. Peter's, but the inmates of the houses where we stopped were generally surprised to see such a body of Baptists [Papists] or pagans, and during the time which we occupied for our prayers, they would sit or stand in the corner and regard us with an air of superstitious awe.   After we had partaken of our frugal repast, we stretched ourselves on the floor in front of a large fire, and one or two Brothers covered us with blankets, sometimes one blanket serving for three persons.   There was also one Brother obliged to remain by the fire to replenish it with wood as often as was required during the night.  

            We arose at half past five, prepared our breakfast, and continued on our route.   Everyone of our dear little troop was as happy as could be, not a word of complaint from anyone, and during the day when we commenced to feel hungry, we would ask the good Brother Vincent, who had the care of our stores, for some bread.   He would take a loaf, place it on the trunk of a fallen tree, and with an axe give three or four heavy blows before he succeeded in cutting a piece, and then we ate that as savory as if it was as good as the bread which I have since tasted in France.   We were obliged to walk the greater part of the time, our wagon being so loaded as to allow of only three or four to ride at a time, and we were glad to walk to keep ourselves warm.  

            But I must not forget our good dog Azore.   Every day he came with me as far as the house we were to lodge at, and as soon as he saw me place my horse in the stable, he would scamper away to meet the rest as if to say he would show them the way, and then he jumped and fawned until he came up to me when, after receiving his supper, he mounted up into the wagon and slept there more comfortable than we who were near a fire.   Many a time have I envied him his bed.  

            We met with an accident one day when near the end of our journey which, if it had happened a few miles farther back, might have caused us a great deal of trouble.   One of our wagon wheels gave way and could do us no farther service, but as kind Providence had directed, there was a large sled at the house we slept at last, so I immediately bought it, placed our wagon as it was on the sled, and away we went with more speed than ever as the sled would slip with more ease on the snow than the wheels which used to turn heavily and sink deep in the snow.   We made our journey in fourteen days without any accident except that Brother Laurence had two or three of his toes frozen, and Brothers Joseph and Paul their faces.   It [is] very painful to have the face or hands frozen.   You cannot enter a warm room without suffering a great deal, but thanks be to God we are all safe and happy, and in a short time I hope to write you a more interesting account.  

I remain, my dear Father Rector, your obedient son in Christ,

Brother John

[The following paragraphs were written by Brother John but not as part of his February, 1843, letter.   They are printed in the Etrennes Spirituelles for 1843 (113,114) and are attributed to him.]

            On arriving at Notre Dame du Lac, I was agreeably surprised at the beauty of the place.   I already knew its location, but when I now saw the numerous advantages it presented, it was impossible for me to doubt that God had destined it for the Community of Saint Joseph.   Our house is built with large trunks of trees of equal length and placed end to end.   The chimney is also made of wood plastered with glazed clay to prevent danger of fire.  

            Within half an hour's walk is the village of South Bend which contains about five thousand souls.   It is agreeably situated on the banks of Saint Joseph River.   The Protestants have several churches in the village.   Over the river there is a bridge high enough to let pass steamboatsofabout120feetinlength.   These come from Lake Michigan and the village of Saint Joseph situated at the mouth of the river.  

            Our holdings in land comprise more than six hundred acres at an elevation of ten or twelve feet above the river.   Beyond the house are two beautiful lakes partially connected around a little island crowned with a cluster of trees, making a charming view.   The larger lake is about thirty-six acres and the smaller one about twenty-six.   The lakes discharge into the Saint Joseph River by a little waterfall of seven or eight feet in height which is useful for mill purposes.   The land, already cleared for cultivation, consists of about ninety acres, the rest being covered with forest.   Our livestock consists of fourteen head of cattle and six horses.  

Brother Vincent Pieau, the patriarch of the colony, as pictured later in his life at Notre Dame. He traveled on the trip north from St. Peter's with Brother John in February, 1843.

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