“See that church house,” he exclaims proudly, for he always calls it
that. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
It is small and in need of paint. Compared, however, to the saloon
building in which he had probably held the first service, it is
beautiful.
Illustration: GREAT HEART WITH A BLACKFOOT BROTHER AND HIS FAMILY
“Browning! Browning!” calls the conductor. Nothing here but a small
station.
“This way, Brother Van,” calls a voice from the starlit darkness, and
soon we are on our way to the Indian reservation and the parsonage home
of Rev. A. W. Hammer, the cowboy preacher. A cheerful welcome awaits
us in the little prairie home. Here in the shadow of the snow-clad
mountains is symbolized the Montana dreamed about by the boy from
Gettysburg. A home has been established. A trained preacher ministers
to the Indians.
On the following morning we find spread out before us a scene of
rich beauty as we look across the fields from which the grain has been
harvested. All the members of the household gather in front of the
cottage where there stands a straight mountain pine, carefully trimmed
and braced. From a home-made cabinet the oldest daughter has taken a
carefully folded bundle, and now at her bidding it is fastened to the
ropes swaying from the pine tree. A steady pull brings Old Glory up
to catch the breeze while the shining mountains seem to smile approval.
The son places his hat over his heart, while Brother Van, his head
bared, his face transfigured, sings, “O say can you see by the dawn’s
early light” and girlish voices catch up the refrain. No flag raising
in the presence of statesmen and of armies could be more impressive.
Here one sees the loyal soul of the west laid bare. This is the America
that the forces of the Christian church, the Christian home, and the
Christian school are building on the vast plains and through the
mountain valleys of the younger states.
The drive to the church in a lumber wagon is a novel experience, and we
understand why fur overcoats are called “life preservers,” for the air
gives a foretaste of the winter’s cold. The congregation of Indians,
plainsmen, business men, and college graduates gathers. The Indians
interest us the most. These are the adopted brothers of Great Heart.
These are the people whom William Van Orsdel loved before he had seen
them and whom he had left the old Gettysburg home to serve. He has seen
disease, ignorance, and intemperance threatening to wipe out the race,
and he has had to give a large part of his energy to teaching a better
way of life to the white man who is so largely responsible for the
conditions that exist; but he has persevered in finding ways to help
his red brothers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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