Saint Leon Le Montagnard - Sept. 30, 1879

Saint Leon Le Montagnard - 3rd posting 

September 30, 1879

Monseigneur!

As the post arrives today for the first time in Saint Leon I take advantage of it to give my news to your greatness.

I arrived in Saint Leon on September 11th and asked for hospitality of Olivier Lafreneire. There are now about 50 families reunited in Saint Leon; others arrive every week so that by a year ago there will be at least a hundred families. In addition, there are many Catholic families scattered the westernmost are 12, 20, 30 and more miles from here.

Given the distance and difficulty of the roads, it is impossible for me to serve this mission without at least one horse. But how do I get it? I have no money and neither do my people. So it will be a service to this poor nascent mission if someone did me, I say not the altar of an old horse, but gave at least one a credit until I find a way to pay it.

I can't build anything this autumn and that's because for now it's going to be difficult to design the most favorable point, and then because the people can't do anything yet, despite their goodwill. Since all new arrivals are still having difficulty with many even close to misery. So I would be forced for this year to use the charity of Your Greatness to be able to pay the pension to Mr. Lafreniere. There can be no question of this year; I must live as a poor missionary. With God's help everything will be better and I hope that before two years the mission will be able to maintain me.

To help me a little, and to ensure some propriety to the mission I took to the central point of the four townships 4 and 5 R.8 and 4 and 5 R.9, the N.E. quarter of section 36-4-9, as homestead, with the intention of building a small house there until a more suitable house can be raised. But I was doing my job without the thieves, because a French-Canadian Catholic, relying on my timid weakness, has taken away all the wood he has been wearing these days. But I was doing my job without the thieves, because a French-Canadian Catholic, relying on my timid weakness, these days took away all the wood on my homestead, and not only did he absolutely refuse to return the wood to me and claim that he had the right to take it off before I arrived — and yet he took it but he added with insolence that he has no name and that if he had found more wood he would have removed more.

MM. Olivier Lafreniere and Joseph Charbonneau, who had accompanied me, recognized as I did that wood has been raised since I took my homestead. Suffering such an indignity would be shameful, and it would be better for me to leave now, because I would lose all consideration and everyone would think they were. Allow me to leave me behind. I wrote this. M. Royal exposes it from everything the case for his advice and support, with prayer to speak Your Greatness because I would not want to do anything against Your will. But I repeat it; if a severe reading is not possible for any peaceful man, especially has a precondition to live here without being robbed at every moment because this is not the only case. The strength of Your Grandeur on 14-5-9 has also been great, but we no longer know who. The severite is absolutely necessary in these areas to protect the honor of people.

P.R. J. Theobald Bitsche C.P.P.S.