Rev John Roberts was a Welsh missionary to Native Americans in Wyoming. Born in North Wales in 1853, he came to faith at an early age and yearned to be a missionary. As a young man, he was ordained as a Deacon in his Anglican church and served there briefly before sailing to the Bahamas to minister in Nassau. There, he was ordained as a Priest and concentrated his ministry among the poor and outcast, including lepers.
However, John was restless and wanted a greater challenge. His heart was drawn to Native Americans, so John made his way to Colorado where, meeting with his Bishop, he asked for the most difficult field in the region. He was told that was among the reservation of the Shoshone and Arapahoe tribes which would later be known as the Wind River Indian Reservation, but his Bishop first wanted him to gain some experience so John was assigned to minister to coal miners in Greeley, Colorado, and to a community in Pueblo. There, Roberts established a mission church in South Pueblo. When a smallpox epidemic quarantined the community, he fearlessly worked in the hospital tending the sick.
Finally given permission to go to the reservation, he left in late January of 1883. He traveled by train, then took the last 150 miles by stagecoach. They journeyed for 8 days in the middle of a blizzard where temperatures neared 60 degrees below zero, and arrived at Fort Washakie, on the reservation, on February 10th. John established a church there and was offered a government-paid position as principal of a school – a job he accepted both for outreach and to learn local customs. He branched out from there, establishing congregations in eight outlying communities, five of which remain active today. He traveled extensively on horseback between congregations officiating numerous baptisms, communion services, weddings, and burials. One such burial was a woman who estimated herself to be a hundred years old who claimed, and Roberts believed, to be Sacajawea. (Note: South Dakota also claims to be the burial place of Sacajawea.)
While in the Bahamas, Roberts had become engaged to a young church organist named Laura Brown. They corresponded by mail until the year after Roberts arrived in Wyoming. She traveled by train and stage to meet him there (in much fairer weather) and they were married on Christmas Day of 1884. Laura was his faithful partner through his missions. John and Laura were blessed with five children.
Roberts also became friends with the Shoshone Chief Washakie, in his early 80s when Roberts arrived. One story of their friendship comes soon after John’s arrival. The Chief’s son was involved in a liquor purchase, which led to an argument and culminated in the young man being shot to death. Two contradictory accounts of the Chief’s response exist: the first account is recorded by a woman who interviewed Rev Roberts late in his life and attributed the account to him. In her account the elderly Chief, upon hearing of his son’s death, vowed to kill every white man he could find until he himself was killed. Roberts, hearing of this vow, interceded with the Chief and offered his own life if it would assuage the Chief’s anger. The Chief’s heart softened and he came to faith as a result of John’s intervention. The second, less dramatic account comes from Roberts’ children. In this account, Roberts did visit the Chief after the killing. During his visit the Chief remarked, “The white man did not kill my son. Whiskey killed him.” Regardless of which accounting is true, the two had a remarkable friendship which lasted the remainder of Chief Washakie’s life. The Chief, in his old age, was a vibrant Christian, leading many to Christ until his death in 1900 at age 102. He was buried with full military honors at the post cemetery, given his many years as a US Army Scout.
Rev Roberts, early in his ministry, established a school for girls is Fort Washakie with the Chief’s blessing and financing. It operated as a school until 1949, the year of John Roberts’ death. He translated the Bible into numerous Native languages.
The success of the Shoshone mission attracted the attention of the Arapaho tribe, which was also settled on the Shoshone reservation. Roberts energetically expanded his mission and his vision to include them, establishing churches among their people, learning their languages, and translating the Bible for them as well.
The Bishop over his region thought very highly of Roberts and once offered him a more prominent position. Roberts wrote back, “Thank you, Bishop, but I hope you will never take me away from my Indians. I prefer to spend my life here among my adopted people.” Roberts served with full vigor and enthusiasm his entire life. He was a bridge for the Indian people with the white culture that surrounded them. He died in January of 1949, and is buried in Wyoming. His ministry in Wyoming lasted 66 years.
Christian History e-mail: 22 Jan 2022.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Roberts_(missionary)
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