LACOMBE, ALBERT. - Born 18 Feb. 1827 at St-Sulpice (Canada), ordained priest in 1850, Oblate of Mary Immaculate in 1855, d. 12 Dec. 1916 at Midnapore. His long life was devoted above all to the Indians and Métis of northwestern Canada, who called him “the man of the beautiful soul” or “the good heart.” The influence he wielded over Indian hearts enabled him to prevent wars, revenge expeditions, and bloody feuds.
In 1861 he founded St-Albert, which later became, through his efforts, an outpost of Christianity in the northwest; in 1869 he liberated Edmonton; in 1885 he prevented the Piegans and other Indian tribes from joining the Métis rebellion. In 1884 he opened the first trade school for Indians; in 1894 he inaugurated the colony of St-Paul for Métis threatened with extermination. He composed a whole series of linguistic works on the Indian languages of the Crees, the Salteaux, and the Piegans. His most famous publication is the Illustrated Catechism, which in one tableau represents the economy of salvation from Creation to the Last Judgment. In 1900 and 1904 he traveled to the archbishop of Lviv and to Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria to obtain Ruthenian priests. In the struggle for Canadian schools he dealt with great skill and success with the government to save the Catholic schools. He paved the way for the Canadian Pacific Railway through Indian territories. The town of L. was named in his honor. A monument to him was erected at St-Albert in 1929.