BOUCHARD, JAMES. - American Jesuit, b. in 1823 at Muscagola to a Delaware chief and a French woman captured by the Indians. After various adventures among his tribe, the young Watomika was won over by a Presbyterian missionary and, after his initial studies at Marietta College, Ohio, chose the career of a Protestant minister. Having converted to Catholicism in St. Louis in 1848, he entered the Society of Jesus. He was a great friend of Fr. De Smet. In 1861 he was transferred to the mission in California, where, through his zeal and the success of his preaching, he contributed greatly to the progress of the Catholic Church. He died in San Francisco on 27 Dec. 1889. His childhood adventures and the beauty of his character inspired various authors who write for young people.
BOUCHARD, JAMES
BIBL.: A. Bresciani, Il selvaggio Watomika, in La Civiltà Catt., 3rd ser., IV (1857, 11), pp. 144-56; F. Weiser, Watomika, der letzte Hüftplung der Delaware, Ratisbona 1933; G. J. Garraghan, J. B. S. I., French-Delaware Indian, in Mid-America, 19 (Chicago 1939), pp. 265-85 (with B.’s autobiography). Edmondo Lamalle