Belgian missionary, born in Termonde, on the 31st of December 1801. In 1821, together with five other theological students, he sailed from Amsterdam in company of Bishop Verinx. In 1828 he went to St. Louis and assisted in establishing the University of St. Louis, and in 1838 was sent to establish a mission among the Pottawatomies. Under his direction a chapel was built, a schoolhouse erected, and most of the tribe converted to Roman Catholicism. On April 30, 1840, he attached himself to the yearly caravan of the American Fur Company, to proceed as missionary among the Flat Head Indians of the Rocky Mountains. In 1841 he returned to St. Louis, but soon set out anew for Indian conversions, taking with him two other missionaries and several lay brothers, who were expert mechanics. After crossing the Platte River, on September 24th, the party reached Bitter Root River, where they made a settlement, and the Mission of St. Mary’s was organized by the building of a house and chapel.
In December 1843, he, together with five Jesuits and six sisters, left Antwerp, and reached Fort Vancouver in August 1844, and located themselves on the Willamette River. In October 1844, a convent was built for the women, and in 1845 a number of French missions were established among various tribes of Indians. On different occasions he efficiently interceded to prevent strife between the United States government and the Indians; he was also instrumental in ending the Sioux war. He wrote The Oregon Missions and Travels Over the Rocky Mountains; Indian Letters and Sketches; Western Missions and Missionaries, and New Indian Sketches. He died in St. Louis, MO, on the 23rd of May 1873.
