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Transcriber’s Notes:

Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).

Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end.

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[Illustration: THOMAS CROSBY. From a photo taken in 1874]




Among the An-ko-me-nums


  Or Flathead Tribes of Indians of the Pacific Coast,

  BY REV. THOMAS CROSBY

  Missionary to the Indians of British Columbia.

  [Illustration]

  TORONTO
  WILLIAM BRIGGS
  1907

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  Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year
  one thousand nine hundred and seven, by
  WILLIAM BRIGGS,
  at the Department of Agriculture.




INTRODUCTION.


I have been requested to write a few words of introduction to this
deeply interesting volume, and I gladly comply, although the task may
seem to be quite superfluous. Thomas Crosby, or anything he may write,
needs no introduction, at least in Methodist circles. For a generation
his name has been a household word, and from time to time brief
accounts of his heroic labors have found their way through the press
into many homes. But these accounts were fragmentary and incomplete.
They presented some striking incidents, but no connected story of the
man and his work. Such a story Crosby alone could supply, and many will
be glad that he has been induced to begin it; and the hope will be
general that other volumes may follow, covering what is by far the most
interesting period of his life.

It is but seldom that men who lay the foundations of empire get
credit for the achievement. Their work, for the most part, is done
underground and out of sight. They are content to take up the work that
lies nearest, leaving results with God, and are more concerned about
doing their work faithfully than claiming credit for themselves. And
yet all the while they are laying the only foundations on which an
enduring civilization can rest, and are better entitled to the name and
fame of empire-builders than some who have claimed the credit without
doing the work. If it be true that he is a benefactor of his race who
makes two blades of grass grow where one grew before, much more is
he a benefactor whose spiritual husbandry transforms a savage into a
citizen--a pagan into a saint.

A conflict like that in which Thomas Crosby spent his life was no
mere holiday parade. It was a grapple to the death with the powers
of evil, in which no quarter was asked or given. He gave his life
for the redemption of a people for whose souls no man cared, and
fought--sometimes almost single-handed--a life-long battle against
superstition, immorality, and godlessness of every kind. No marvel,
therefore, if he incurred the bitter enmity of the witch-doctor,
the whiskey-trader, and the libertine, and by “lewd fellows of the
baser sort” was the best-hated man in British Columbia. But he
has his reward. By the converting grace of God some bitter foes
were transformed into ardent friends; and as he searched society’s
rubbish-heaps for lost jewels, here and there he found a pearl of great
price that more than compensated for all his toil. Many will join in
the prayer that years of useful service may still be his, and that his
declining years may be brightened by further displays of saving power
among the Red Men of the Pacific Coast.

  A. SUTHERLAND.
  TORONTO, February, 1907.




CONTENTS.


                                                               PAGE

      I. The Flatheads and the “Book of Heaven”                   9

     II. The Call from Macedonia                                 21

    III. Westward, Ho!                                           30

     IV. At Nanaimo--The School                                  41

      V. Heathen Street _vs._ Christian Street                   48

     VI. Difficulties with the Language                          52

    VII. A Slavery worse than Death                              60

   VIII. Feuds and Bloodshed                                     67

     IX. Houses, Clothing, Cruel Customs                         79

      X. Courtship and Marriage                                  88

     XI. Foods, Feasts and Follies                               99

    XII. Native Worship and Superstitions                       112

   XIII. Struggles with Whiskey, and the Ravages of Fire-water  126

    XIV. Some Perilous Canoe Trips                              141

     XV. Varied Experiences                                     159

    XVI. How the Gospel came to Chilliwack                      169

   XVII. More of the Chilliwack Revival--Camp-meetings          183

  XVIII. The Bunch Grass Country                                195

    XIX. Marvels of Grace                                       206

     XX. Lay Agencies--Salvation in a Victoria Bar