The Abbe says: "J.B.
Lajimoniere was engaged by the Governor of Fort Douglas to carry letters
to Lord Selkirk, who was then in Montreal. Lajimoniere said he could go
alone to Montreal, and that he would make every effort to put the
letters confided to his care into Lord Selkirk's hands. Being alone,
Madame Lajimoniere left the hut on the banks of the Assiniboine to
become an inmate of Fort Douglas. Lajimoniere is reported to have urged
upon Lord Selkirk in Montreal to send as part of his recompense for his
long journey, a priest to be the guide of himself and family. Father
Dugas says: (See printed page 2.)
"Lord Selkirk before his departure had made the Catholic colony on the
Red River sign a petition asking the Bishop of Quebec to send
missionaries to evangelize the country. He presented this petition
himself and employed all his influence to have it granted.
"Though a Protestant Lord Selkirk knew that to found a permanent colony
on the Red River he required the encouragement of religion. Should his
application succeed the missionaries would come with the voyageurs in
the following spring and would arrive in Red River towards the month of
July. This thought alone made Madame Lajimoniere forget her eleven years
of loneliness and sorrow.
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