CHAPTER XVII. _MORE OF THE CHILLIWACK REVIVAL--CAMP-MEETINGS.

“Oh, it is great, and there is no other greatness, to make some nook of God’s creation a little fruitfuller, better, more worthy of God; to make some human hearts a little wiser, manfuller, happier,--more blessed, less accursed! It is a work for God.”--_Thomas Carlyle._

One of the most beautiful districts in Canada is that which is bounded on the west by the Sumas River, on the south and east by a spur of the Coast range of mountains, whose easternmost peak, Mt. Cheam, rises in majestic grandeur 8,500 feet, its summit crowned with perpetual snow, and on the north by the Fraser River, and known as the Chilliwack Valley. The district is divided into two parts, that through which the old Chil-way-uk River flows being properly Chilliwack; the western portion, along whose edge the Sumas River flows, being called Sumas. To the south-east another smaller valley is situated, divided from the main section by a low range of hills, through which the Chil-way-uk finds its way by a narrow pass at Vedder Crossing.

The united valleys contain upwards of 80,000 square acres of the richest soil to be found anywhere in the world. A yield of sixty bushels of wheat, or of sixty bushels of oats to the acre is quite common, and some idea may be had of the marvellous fertility of the soil when a meadow has been known to produce for twenty-five consecutive years an average of three and a half tons of hay to the acre, and that without having been re-seeded or fertilized otherwise than by the pasturing of cattle. On the levels and along the foothills an ever-increasing acreage of orchards--apples, pears, plums, prunes, peaches and cherries--may be seen, and vegetables of all kinds are grown in rich abundance.

This garden spot, beautiful for situation, the joy of all those whose good fortune it is to live there, was at one time the home of great bands of Indians belonging to the Flathead nation. Where to-day there are eight small villages, there were thousands of people governed by certain great chiefs, whose authority was respected to a great extent throughout the whole valley. Their numbers have been reduced by disease and by their terrible tribal wars. The Indians from Cowichan and the coast made periodical incursions, massacring the people and burning their property. Their enemies were not always successful, for on one occasion, when the young men of the valley had gone down to work at Langley and Victoria, and had secured their pay in blankets, as was then the custom, the Cowichans became enraged at this interference with what they considered their labor market, and, gathering a large war party, they went up the old Chil-way-uk, prepared for the work of murder and destruction. They were met, however, with a stout resistance, their canoes were all captured and destroyed, and those who were not killed were forced to make their way home again stealthily and on foot.

The Indians still have traditions of the visit of the first white man to the river, and of how the Gospel first came to the Chilliwack.

We have in this valley what many call a model settlement, whose people are law-abiding, and whose business is carried on prosperously without any liquor licenses. Not one was ever granted, and the people do not want one to-day.

In 1808, when Simon Fraser made his way down the great river which now bears his name, he landed opposite Chilliwack, at the mouth of what is now known as the Harrison River. Here he was received by hundreds of the natives, who thought, as they said, that “he was the pure white child of the sun.” The chiefs carried him upon their backs and set him down on mats in the place of honor, and then danced to the sun-god for days in token of their appreciation of the visit of his son. It was not long after that they discovered, when rum and disease followed in his train, that the white man was not the pure child of the sun they had imagined.

THE VISIT OF THE FIRST GOSPEL MESSENGER.

The Indians of Chilliwack have their own story of how the Gospel first came to their beautiful valley. Not long after I commenced my labors among them and began to teach them the translations we had made of some of our hymns, sung to those grand old tunes which have been used for scores of years, they told me they had heard those tunes before. Many years before there were any settlers in that part of the country, or any white missionary, a visitor came to them from the big river, away to the south.

Sna-ah-kul--for that was the visitor’s name--told them that some years before a white man had come among his people to the south and had taught them out of a great book the words of God. His message had been a great blessing to the people, who in large numbers turned from their old ways to God’s way. Following him a few years after, another man came, dressed in a garment reaching to his feet, “just like a woman,” who taught the people to worship with candles lighted in the day-time.

Sna-ah-kul remained a little while, telling them about God and His great love, and cheering their hearts by the singing of some beautiful hymns, and then he returned to the south once more. Before leaving he said: “The man dressed like a woman will some day come to you, but do not listen to him. Wait a while until a man with a short coat comes among you who will teach you out of the Book.”

And so numbers of the Indians, when I came among them reading from the Book and preaching unto them in their own tongue, claimed me as the one whom Sna-ah-kul years before had told them would come.

In all probability this Indian messenger was one of the converts of the Rev. Jason Lee, the pioneer missionary to the Flathead nation, who had been sent out by the Methodist Episcopal Church, and had established himself among the Chinooks on the Columbia as early as 1833. The influence of his work was felt all along the Puget Sound country, and some of his native helpers might easily have found their way from Nisqually, through Sumas to the Chilliwack.

The first visits to the Indians of the Fraser were made by Revs. Ebenezer Robson and Edward White, the former of whom commenced school work among them while stationed at Hope, some forty miles above Chilliwack. These brethren both visited the Chilliwack before I came there, and told them that a missionary speaking their own language would soon be sent among them.

The revival which proved such a blessing to the white settlers of the valley left a similar influence upon the Indians. They saw the wonderful change which had taken place among the white men, and many of them became strangely aroused and were savingly converted. Chief Hal-lal-ton, of Skowkale tribe, was a notable instance of the power of Divine grace. He was a chief of the old school, and when he was converted he brought his whole tribe with him. Big Jim, the brawny canoeman, who more than once ferried me across to his own village of Squi-ala, “Captain John” Sua-lis, of Tsowallie (Cultus Lake), and others, were among those who were brought to accept Christ and to become His faithful followers.

Sua-lis (Capt. John) was a hereditary chief, and at the time of my coming was one of the most influential chiefs in the valley. His conversion had a great influence upon others. When I first knew him he was a poor victim of the white man’s fire-water, but the power of God transformed this drunken, gambling, semi-heathen chief into a devout follower of Jesus and a diligent, persevering worker for Him.

He delights to tell of his early experiences and of what Christ had done for him. In the old days he had charge of a crew of Indians, freighting for the Hudson’s Bay Company, and hence his name, “Capt. John.” In the days of the great stampede to the Fraser and Cariboo gold mines he carried the miners in his canoe across the river, and accumulated thereby upwards of $2,000. But, on an unfortunate day for him, he learned the taste of strong drink, and it did not take long for him to lose the whole of his savings. He began to fear that he would lose his power as a chief if he did not stop, so going to the priest who had preceded us, he told him his troubles. The priest gave him a crucifix, and told him to hang it about his neck and to look at it when the temptation to drink came on, and it would help him. But the young chief found no peace from that quarter. He heard of the coming of a missionary who could speak to him in his own language, and on his arrival Sua-lis came to hear him. Immediately he received bitter opposition from the priest, but he paid no attention to him and went again to hear the messenger. Finally he attended a camp-meeting at Maple Bay, and there gave himself up fully to Christ.

The conversion of so many prominent men led to the most bitter persecution on the part of the Roman Catholic priests, who laid claim to this whole district. The character of the persecution was illustrated by a picture, about twelve by twenty-four inches in size, which they had painted and scattered among the people. At the upper corner of this picture was the representation of a beautiful place labelled “Heaven,” with the Catholics ascending to it with wings, and in the lower corner the lurid flames of hell-fire, and Crosby and his friends going head-first into it. Still the work spread, and scores of these poor people were led into the pure light of the Gospel, and many of them still live devoted and exemplary lives.

FIRST CAMP-MEETING.

At the District Meeting held in the spring of 1869, it was agreed that I should leave Nanaimo and take up the work at Chilliwack, which the recent revival had opened up. Consequently I left my bachelor quarters adjoining the little Coal City, and taking my books and trunks by canoe, and crossing the Gulf of Georgia, made my way up the Fraser River to Chilliwack, there to take charge of the Indian work, and the white work as well, until a missionary could be secured for the latter.

It was warm weather in April, and the hot days were followed by cool nights, when going up the old Chil-way-uk River, after a week’s trip, there came on a pelting hail-storm, and I was drenched to the skin. When I reached my destination I was shaking with fever and ague, and for nearly six weeks I lay upon my bed, sometimes in a delirious state. No doctor could be reached short of Yale, and his answer to our telegram was to “give a blue pill every four hours,” until he could come down. When he arrived he found me prostrate from the effect of too strong medicine. He looked at me and left, and sent in his bill for fifty dollars. For some seven or eight days following they did not think I could live, but the careful nursing of my dear friends, Bro. and Sister Wells, and others, finally won, and I recovered. The fever, however, settled in my leg, and I had to go with crutch and stick all summer.

When I was getting about the chairman, Rev. E. White, accompanied by David Sallosalton and Amos Cushan, came up and held a field meeting on the ridge over the Achelitz River, on May 24th and 25th, and I assisted them as best I could.

Camp-meetings have been among the most successful means of reaching the Indians and bringing them to the light. In June of that same summer the first camp-meeting ever held in British Columbia took place, on what afterwards became historic ground, at Maple Bay, some miles below Nanaimo. Lumber had been brought from Saanich Mills with which to build a church, and this lumber was used to make “tents” for this first camp-meeting.

The steamer _Enterprise_ brought numbers from Victoria and New Westminster to the camp, and Indians from Chilliwack, Sumas, etc., as well as from Nanaimo, gathered in large numbers. It was at this camp-meeting that “Capt. John” Sua-lis was converted. Following this meeting we had a mighty spiritual upheaval at Nanaimo, which gave us great encouragement after the toils of the years.

The second camp-meeting at Maple Bay took place in July, 1870, and in September of the same year the first camp-meeting was held in Chilliwack, on the banks of the Fraser River, where the old Chil-way-uk joins the larger stream. In the midst of preparations for the gathering, clearing off the ground, etc., a heavy rain came on. We had got the loan of a great raft of lumber which was to be floated down the river to the Sumas to build barns; but the raft got past us, and we feared we should lose it. We stood up to our waists in water to hold it, and then, after finally anchoring it, had to pack the whole 22,000 feet back to place.

It was a grand camp-meeting, however, the forerunner of many blessed seasons of grace which the people of the valley have enjoyed. The steamboats chartered for the occasion brought large numbers of whites from Victoria and New Westminster, while Indians from the north and from the island, as well as a great many from the locality, were there in large numbers. It was a time long to be remembered. Here “Old Capt.” from the head of Sumas Lake was converted, and David Sallosalton preached his steamboat sermon, and Amos Cushan his never-to-be-forgotten sermon on the final judgment. These two native helpers were mightily used of God in touching the hearts of and arousing their own people.

EDUCATION OF THE CHILDREN.

Early in our work at Chilliwack we realized the importance of reaching and educating the children. But as they were scattered at such distances, and so few children in any one place, the only real teaching we could do was when we got them all together in a big rough house, put up for that purpose, near the Achelitz church, and here we gave them instructions every Sabbath. It became evident to all concerned that we must have an industrial or boarding school.

At the District Meeting held in the spring of 1872 the matter of establishing an industrial school was discussed, and a resolution setting forth the needs was placed on record in the minutes. Growing out of this discussion the following resolution was submitted and passed, and forwarded to the Mission Rooms:

“In view of the foregoing resolution, and the responsibility of establishing an industrial school on the Chilliwack, and believing that a sum of not less than $1,000 is requisite for the erection of mission buildings,

“Resolved, That this meeting desires hereby strongly to recommend the Missionary Committee to make a grant of $500 for the above object, and at the same time to obtain a similar amount by donation.”

This recommendation, however, was not adopted, and it was not until some years later that anything practical was accomplished, when Rev. C. M. Tate, who was appointed my successor, seeing the necessity of getting some of the children at school, gathered a number into his own home and then enlisted the aid of our Woman’s Missionary Society in building a boarding school at Sardis.

The first building was destroyed by fire, but Bro. and Sister Tate persevered in their work, and to-day we have the well-equipped and beautifully-situated Coqualeetza Industrial Institute, the product of their consecrated zeal and enthusiasm.

THE VISIT OF DR. PUNSHON.

In 1871 we had the joy of a visit to the Pacific Coast by the President of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference in Canada, the Rev. Wm. Morley Punshon, D.D. His sermons and lectures are still talked of by those who had the pleasure of hearing him. Broad-minded, warm-hearted man that he was, he soon captured the affections of all who met him. One evening, after lecturing to the people of Nanaimo on “Daniel in Babylon,” he startled me by saying, “Bro. Crosby, you are to be ordained next Sabbath in Victoria.”

I went home to the little cabin, but did not sleep that night. Next day we were to take the party in a large canoe to one of those beautiful islands that abound on the coast, for an outing, and there I had a chance to talk with the President. I told him I had not slept that night, and that I did not wish to be ordained.

When pressed for my reasons, I told him, in the first place, that I had hoped to go to college for a time, as the brethren had agreed, and in the second place, I wished to pay a visit to mother and friends at home; and furthermore, I did not feel myself to be good enough to take such solemn vows, and would prefer to continue as a lay worker.

“Well,” said the good man, “I am pleased, brother, to hear you speak so frankly. Now, as to your going to college, I can appreciate your feelings, and we would like to see it, if it could be. But if you should go for one year you would want to go for four, and many of these poor souls will be gone by that time. You have the language of this people, which is more than a college can do for you, and we believe it better that you should go on in your effort to save and help them. We will see that you get a chance to go home; and as to your feeling an unfitness, that might be one of our strongest reasons for urging you on to ordination. You had better leave the matter to God and His Church.” I had no more to say.

Next Sabbath came, and the old Pandora Street Church was crowded to the doors with an enthusiastic audience, who listened attentively to a marvellous sermon by Dr. Punshon from the text, “And ye shall receive power.” At the close I experienced one of the most solemn moments of my life, when in the presence of the large audience I stood alone and gave myself in solemn vow to God and His work, and was ordained by the laying on of hands of the gifted President of the Conference and other ministers. This was in April, 1871.