LACOMBE, ALBERT (1) (136 ENGLISH -- 135 fran)

  LACOMBE, Albert (1)  (136 ENGLISH)

 Here are the two first paragraphs of the Foreword for the book, THE GREAT CHIEF OF THE PRAIRIES “The person of Father Lacombe, missionary oblate of the Canadian West,  seems filled with legends.  However these legends were lived with abundant noble traits and the holy audacity of an apostle’s heart. Following the footsteps of the first discoverers and first missionaries, there were others who had only passed through the area.  Father Lacombe settled down, and dwelt in the vast prairies and gave of himself for more  than half a century.

With a soul all a-fire, he dedicated the best of his energies to the evangelization of the nomadic tribes: the Cree, the Black Foot, from Red River to the Rocky Mountains, from the American border to Lesser Slave Lake.  He was a tireless traveler searching for the wretched children of the plains; he shared their poverty, their deprivations, their trials,.  With them he smoked the Peace Pipe, then he taught them to pray, to care for their sick, and became their interpreter so well that all the tribes would eventually come to look upon him as their brother, their Great Chief.”

Ref.  PE Breton, o.m.i.

Here are some important dates in the life of Father Lacombe (Canadian West).

a)1849-1851           He was a missionary at Pembina (Red River)

b) 1852-09-17        He arrived in Edmonton

c) 1852-09-22        He went to Lac Ste. Anne

d) 1854-03-24        He accompanied Bishop Taché in his pastoral visit to Edmonton. This mission was put under the patronage of St. Joachim

e) 1856-09-26        At Lac Ste Anne, he pronounced his missionary vows…in the Congregation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary-Immaculate.

f) 1861-01-03         The foundation of St. Albert, AB

g) 1862-                 He organized the first caravan of provisions.

h) 1862-                 The first bridge in the North-West Territories

i) 1862                   First floor mill in St. Albert

j) 1862                   First school for white children in Edmonton (a French school)

k 1865                    The foundation of St. Paul (known as St. Paul  of the Cree Nation)

l) 1865                   The famous battle between the Cree and the Black Foot; he was wounded.

m) 1865-1872        He composed various works in the Indian language.

n)  1872                  He was name the Vicar General of Saint Albert

o) 1873-1882         He worked as a missionary in Manitoba.

p) 1873                   He replaced Bishop Taché at the General Chapter of the Oblates in France

q) 1882-07-25        He dedicated himself to the missions in the south of Alberta (the Black Foot, the Piegans, and the Bloods.

r) 1882                   He built the mission in McLeod

s) 1883                   With Father Legal, he edited a dictionary for the Black Foot,  (a dictionary in four languages: Cree, Black Foot, French, and  English. (The compiler of these present  works was given one of the 3 remaining dictionaries and it is worth $10,000. It was manually written.)

t) 1883                   He pacified the Black Foot who were discontented because of the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railroad.

u) 1883                   He obtained the foundation of the schools in Dumbow, AB  and Qu’Appelle, SK

v) 1894                   He was name pastor of the parish of St. Joachim, Edmonton

w) 1909                  He founded the “Foyer Lacombe” in Midnapore, AB

Father Lacombe had as an aide a young Alexis Cardinal who remained with Father Lacombe for over twenty years- a young man who seemed to possess all the qualities to be a good helper for a priest.

In order to continue with the story of Father Lacombe, one needs to go to the book, “Le Père Lacombe” where one would find all the interesting episodes of his life as a missionary.  This was organized by the Sisters of Providence while he was very ill.  These episodes are found in the following pages.

Father Paul-Emile Breton, o.m.i.