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Wealth of Early 19th-century Frontier Missionary Reports:

Native Americans, Texas, Mormons (Joseph Smith and "his new Bible") 

An impressive run of rare printed reports on Catholic Missions in America, including informative letters by missionaries in the West. Issued by the Austrian Leopoldine Society, established for the support of missions in America, these 26 publications present a treasure trove of first-hand communications on missionary activities in the midwest and western United States. 

While most of the content relates to the midwestern states and territories during the 1830s, starting in 1846 the reports also include letters from missionaries as far west as Oregon Territory. Texas is well covered: Issues XIX (1846) and XXII (1850) contain reports from Bishop Jean-Marie Odin - often styled the father of the Catholic Church in Texas - from Galveston and San Antonio, respectively. Issue XXIII (1851) and XXIV (1852) contain detailed reports from New Braunfels by Father Gottfried Menzel: "...the workers here are the aristocrats... Texas is still considered an unsettled land.... one where Indigenous tribes rise up by the hundreds. The "Indian Trails" pass through here constantly, a term signifying routes used by the Comanches for raiding." See summaries below for details on Texas content, including translated excerpts.

Included are several reports by Father Frederic Baraga, one of which has a brief list of Native American words.  Baraga travelled to America in 1830, where he first spent time in Cincinnati. He was sent to the Indian Mission in Arbre Croche (Cross Village) Michigan in 1831, where he mastered the Ottawa language and wrote Otawa Anamie-Misinaigan, the first book written in the Ottawa language. He was then sent to a mission in Grand Rapids, Michigan, before moving north in 1835 to minster to the Ojibway (Chippewa) Indians at La Pointe, Wisconsin, an old Jesuit Mission on Lake Superior. In 1843, Baraga founded the Mission at L'Anse, Michigan.

The other letters and reports by Catholic missionaries in the United States, mostly from midwestern outposts, often refer to work among Native Americans. These include Eduard Fenwick of Cincinnati, Joh. England of Charleston, Joseph Eosati of St. Louis, Fr. Rese of Detroit, J. B. Puroell of Cincinnati, M. Loras of Dubuque and the already mentioned Fr. Baraga. The language of some of the reports openly reflects the competitive spirit of the early 19th-century missionaries on the American frontier, referencing Protestant missionaries as competitors for Native American souls.

The Leopoldine Society, established in 1829, played a crucial role in supporting missionary efforts among Native Americans in the American West. Named in honor of Empress Maria Leopoldina, the Foundation provided financial resources to Catholic missions in the United States, aiming to spread Christian teachings and European cultural values. Its contributions were significant in establishing missions in regions such as the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Northwest, where missionaries like Father Pierre-Jean De Smet engaged with various Native American tribes. The Foundation’s support reflected Austria’s broader interest in promoting Catholicism abroad and aiding American missionaries facing financial challenges in remote areas. Some Americans, including Samuel Morse, raised nativist fears about the Society, arguing that the Austrian government and the Catholic aid organizations were subsidizing Catholic immigration to the United States in order to gain control of the country.

Select summary of contents for the 26 volumes here follows:

• I. Heft. 1831. 35 pages. Folding table. Reports from the Diocese of St. Louis, which encompassed all territories west to the Pacific Ocean from (and including) the State of Missouri.  References to New Madrid, Mississippi; French and English speaking Catholics, displaced Indian tribes near Arkansas.
• II. Heft. 1831. 22 pages. Diocesan report from Cincinnati. Report of visit of Vicar Resé to Cincinnati, mentions journey among tribes near St. Joseph's River, converting Native Americans to the Catholic faith. Baptizing Potawatomi.
• III. Heft. 1832. 87 pages. Early report of Father Frederic Baraga's work with Native Americans with Ottawa people.  Baraga was noted for his knowledge of Indian languages, having worked with Ojibway (Chippewa) people in the Great Lakes and Ottawa people. In 1837, he published Otawa Anamie-Misinaigan, the first book written in the Ottawa language, which included a Catholic catechism and prayer book.  Includes a summary description of regions in the United States, including the so-called "Trans-Mississippi," here understood as Ohio, Michigan, North-West, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Louisiana.

Page 18 includes a remarkably early report (for a European publication) of Joseph Smith and his "new Bible," bearing the name "Liber Mormoni," which translates as follows:

A certain Joseph Smith has been engaged for two years in bringing forth a new Bible — as he claims, through divine inspiration. He openly states:

God has entrusted him with a new Bible, which has remained hidden from the entire world until now, and an angel was specifically assigned to him for this purpose.' Smith spent this time working in a hut, in which a white stone lay. With this stone as his servant, he dictated the new Bible.

In his already printed work, Smith attempted — (although I must inform you above all that many of the spirits and seekers of truth here are very concerned with the whereabouts of the lost tribes of Israel, and this topic is considered of prime interest and importance in the all-encompassing Enlightenment spirit of our time and is generally highly sought after) — to provide information about the ten tribes of Israel, etc., etc. This book bears the title "Liber Mormoni" (alias the Golden Bible). It is about 60 sheets in length and is divided into the Books of Nephi, Jacob, Mosiah, Alma, Mormon, Ether, and Helaman. The remarkable thing is that there are actually people who, in spite of such nonsense, can find belief in it, and yet it happens. The author and owner of this Golden Bible is a young man who, through his hocus-pocus, managed to gain such an influence over a wealthy farmer in Wayne County that this man mortgaged his entire property for $3,000 to enable the printing and binding of 3,000 copies of that ridiculous and blasphemous production.

• IV. Heft. 1832. 21 pages. Includes comments about churches in Washington, D.C.
• V. Heft. 1833. 39 pages. Folding table. Father Baraga reports from Arbre Croche (Cross Village).
• VII. Heft. 1834. 40 pages. Folding table. Further reporting from Fr. Baraga. Also a letter from Friedrich Rese, Bishop of Detroit to the Leopoldine Foundation, on the reorganization of diocesan territories, including the separation of Michigan and the Northwest from the Diocese of Cincinnati. The letter expresses gratitude to the Foundation for its support and provides an overview of the state of the church's infrastructure in Ohio, mentioning the number and types of churches and priests serving the community.
• IX. Heft. 1836. 67 pages. Folding table. Verlag in der F. E. Consistorial-Kanzlei. Reports from Fr. Baraga.
• X. Heft. 1837. 55 pages. Folding table.
• XI. Heft. 1838. 62 pages. Folding table.
• XII. Heft. 1839. 100 pages. Folding table. Report by Bishop Simon Bruté from Vincennes, Indiana.
• XIII. Heft. 1840. 74 pages. Folding table. Reports from Bruté again, Father Baraga, Johann England from Charleston.
• XIV. Heft. 1841. 84 pages. Folding table. Fr. Baraga, and others.
• XV. Heft. 1842. 88 pages. Folding table. 
• XVI. Heft. 1843. 59,[1] pages. Folding table. Report on Jesuit missionaries, with comments on the German population in the United States. Reports from Ferdinand Helias, St. Louis.
• XVII. Heft. 1844. 84,[1] pages. Folding table. Mix of reports from Detroit and other places.
• XVIII. Heft. 1845. 107,[1] pages. Reports from Dubuque, Nashville, and New Orleans.
• XIX Heft. 1846. 118,[2] pages. Folding table. Opens with a 6-page letter from San Antonio de Bexar, Texas by Bishop Jean-Marie Odin, styled here "the Bishop of Claudiopolis and Apostolic Vicar of the Republic of Texas," gives an overview of the state of the missions in Texas, German residents and colonies in Texas, especially a group that settled at Castroville on the banks of the Medina River. History of Mexico inviting foreign settlers and subsequent events in Texas.
• XX. Heft. 1847. 98,[2] pages. Folding table.
• XXI. Heft. 1848 und 1849. 100 pages. Missions in Oregon Territory.
• XXII. Heft. 1850. 128 pages. Includes a 5-page letter from Bishop Odin, written from Galveston, Dec. 5, 1847.
• XXIII. Heft. 1851. 141,[3] pages. Folding table. Includes a 10-page report by Fr. Gottfried Menzel (author of the 1853 book: Die Vereinigten Staaten) reporting from New Braunfels, Texas, July 5, 1850. A wide-ranging report, with references to his travels within Texas ministering to Catholic families, agriculture, timber, Native Americans, teaching school children, Protestants, Mormons, California Gold Rush ("people have shown the way from the Rio Grande up to the mountains on the map as a path to travel"):

Somewhat concerning is the interaction with the Indigenous people along the upper Guadalupe and the Llano. Some tribes are generally friendly toward whites, such as the Delawares, Caddos, and others; however, the Comanches are suspected of eating people, as well as the now small number of Wacos, who are known to be cannibals. I have not seen anyone from this tribe myself; they are mostly found near Brazos. There are about 20 other tribes in Texas. They are all warlike, all skillful shooters and expert horseback riders, uniting quickly to defend their kin from any attacks. When they encounter whites during their wild hunts, they are usually very courteous, often impressed by the appearance of an unarmed white man. They stare in astonishment and seem unable to turn their gaze away. They are completely harmless, friendly, and obliging, displaying an impressive demeanor toward strangers.

... Here, too, the Mormons have arrived, promoting a pure communism in the fullest sense, with communal property and wives. The leader has 12 wives, and the others as many as they wish.

Texas is, like any other country on earth, no paradise and not without suffering. It is a fertile and good land, but compared to Germany, a land of terrible solitude. With barely 300,000 people over an area as large as the Austrian Empire! Nature is grand and powerful, yet still untamed, and it will take at least another century to bring it fully under control. When I look out over the acclaimed prairies, the beauty of the land seems almost overwhelming, as if something were missing, as though poverty and wilderness were everywhere; even the prairie flora appears lavish.

Agriculture is gradually developing in the country. Corn (known here as "maize") is the staple food and primary livestock feed wherever available. People also plant cotton, tobacco, sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas, a type of convolvulus), and several other root vegetables that are tasty and healthy. Everyone grows vegetables for their own needs; certain types, such as melons, are especially well-suited here. Watermelons, in particular, are delicious, and heaven blesses this region in the summer. Fruit cultivation has just begun, and nuts and some edible grapes grow wild.

• XXIV Heft. 1852. 126,[2] pages. Folding table. Includes another detailed 9-page report by Fr. Gottfried Menzel (author of the 1853 book: Die Vereinigten Staaten) reporting from New Braunfels, Texas, on a range of Texas topics. Summary of Texas flora and fauna: sabal, yucca, cactus, Indigofera tinctoria, Mirabilis Jalapa, mentions 12 types of oaks, and "the valuable" pecan nut, Juglans oliviformis. Amphibians, insects, and butterflies. News of a planned railroad "from Indianola via Victoria to San Antonio de Bexar." Mentions Fisher's Grant (a vast land grant comprising more than three million acres between the Llano and Colorado rivers, the San Saba Colonization Company was supposed to establish a colony of Germans and other Europeans on the land):

...most Germans in Texas have been misled about the nature of the grant. It has been presented to them as a paradise-like land, either cultivable or not, depending on who received their information from the Association that received this land. But when they arrived on the grant, they found it very barren, and no one seemed to know what the border of the civilized world looked like at that time. The Association itself had only just bought the land, without knowing the seller or seeing a deed for the sale. No one has yet received a certain answer as to the land’s reality, and hopes of finding a good settlement are dwindling.

Problems in overland travel, hostile Native Americans, California Gold Rush:

The land journeys from Paso del Norte to California have again been hindered by the Indigenous people, specifically the Apaches and Comanches, who are far more aggressive this year. In general, the journey from the Gulf region is dangerous whether by water or land; once there, everything is chaotic, as California is still far from having a northern union. Bloody clashes are common. Two years ago, out of 43,000 gold diggers, 6,000 were held up or died of thirst on the journey due to lack of water and conflict with Indigenous people. Therefore, it is no surprise that even a maid earns an astonishing wage of 100 to 120 dollars per month.

And a recent visitation tour by the Bishop:

On September 26, the Bishop returned from his exhausting visitation journey of over 3,000 miles through New Mexico, traveling along the Rio Grande to visit the districts up to New Braunfels.

• XXVI. Heft. 1854. 66,[2, table] pages. New from California and New Mexico, number of churches, appointment of the Dominican Joseph Sadoc Alemany to the Holy Apostolic See of Monterey.
• XXVII. Heft. 1855. 99,[3] pages. A list of convents for women, including in California, Texas and New Mexico.
• XXX. Heft. 1859 u. 1860. 67,[6, tables] pages.
• XXXI. Heft. 1861. 48 pages.

Rarity

While individual numbers occasionally appear in the market, such extensive runs covering the earliest years are very rare in the market. Only a single issue from 1833 noted as sold in RBH in the last 50 years. Not in Sabin, Howes, Graff, Bell, or any other standard Americana bibliography.