Note 260 — OREGON MISSIONS AN OUTLINE SKETCH OF OREGON TERRITORY AND ITS MISSIONS (continued 3)

The Oblate monk was Alexandre Antoine Taché, later archbishop of St. Boniface on the Red River, and the priest Father L. Laflèche. Father Thibault had visited all the Athabascan district in the summer of 1844, preparing the way for permanent mission stations. Reporting to Bishop Provencher at Winnipeg, the latter sent the two missionaries to found a central station at Ile à la Crosse (largely frequented by Crees), whence stations were later established at Cariboo Lake and Lake Athabasca.

Father Laflèche came to the Red River country in 1844, remaining at Ile à la Crosse until 1849, when infirmities led him to retire. Elected coadjutor for Bishop Provencher, he declined the responsibility, but served as vicar general until 1856.

Taché was Canadian born (1823); educated at Montreal, he joined the Oblate order, and (1845) volunteered for mission service on the frontier. Arrived at Red River, he was ordained priest, and sent (July, 1846) to found the mission at Ile à la Crosse, whence he made journeys to the distant tribes of the Northwest. Elected coadjutor bishop in 1849, he visited Europe, being two years later consecrated in France. Returning to Canada, he went back to his mission, whence he was summoned to Winnipeg by the death of Bishop Provencher (1853). Taché was an important figure in the Canadian Northwest, being profoundly interested for the material and spiritual welfare of the Indians and half-breeds. He interceded with the Dominion government for the latter’s grievances in 1869, and after the Riel rebellion was useful in restoring harmony. Raised to an archbishopric in 1871, he ably administered his diocese until his death in 1894.

See his own account of his early missionary experiences in Vingt Années de Missions dans le Nord-Ouest de l’Amérique.—Ed.