Pierre-Jean De Smet (1801-1873) was a pioneering Jesuit missionary among the Indians of North America, also known as "The Friend of Sitting Bull".
He was born in Dendermonde, Belgium on 30 January 1801 and emigrated to the United States in 1821. He was ordained in Missouri in 1827.
After founding a mission among the Potawatomi Indians at Council Bluffs, Iowa in 1838, he established Saint Mary's mission near the present-day site of Missoula, Montana, in 1841. Three years later, on the Willamette River in Oregon, he opened the most important in a chain of missions covering the Northwest.
Although recalled from active missionary work in 1846, he continued to travel extensively among scores of tribes, often serving in a peace-making capacity. By his courage and powerful personality, De Smet earned the respect of Northwestern and Plains tribes.