The women hewed down the timber, assisted by their husbands, with the greatest alacrity and expedition, and in a few weeks we had constructed a log church, capable of holding 900 persons. To ornament the interior, the women placed mats of a species long grass, which were hung on the roof and sides of the church, and spread over the floor,-- it was then adorned with festoons formed of branches of cedar and pine.〔Smet, Pierre. ''Origin, Progress, and Prospects of the Catholic Mission to the Rocky Mountains''. Fairfield, Washington: Ye Origin Galleon Press, 1972. pp. 5-6.〕