Pierre-Jean De Smet

The Reverend Pierre-Jean De Smet SJ
c. 1860-65, by Mathew Brady
Born	(1801-01-30)30 January 1801 Dendermonde, French First Republic (now Belgium)
Died	23 May 1873(1873-05-23) (aged 72) St. Louis, Missouri
Other names	Pieter-Jan De Smet
Education	White Marsh Novitiate, present-day Bowie, Maryland
Church	Catholic
Ordained	23 September 1827 (1827-09-23)

Pierre-Jean De Smet, SJ (Dutch and French IPA: [də smɛt]; 30 January 1801 – 23 May 1873), also known as Pieter-Jan De Smet, was a Flemish Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He is known primarily for his widespread missionary work in the mid-19th century among the Native American peoples, in the midwestern and northwestern United States and western Canada.

His extensive travels as a missionary were said to total 180,000 miles (290,000 km). He was affectionately known as "Friend of Sitting Bull", as he persuaded the Sioux war chief to participate in negotiations with the American government for the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie. The Native Americans gave him the affectionate nickname De Grote Zwartrok (The Great Black Skirt). ^[1]