The Methodist Mission was the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

's 19th-century conversion efforts in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

. Local Indigenous cultures were introduced to western culture and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...

. Superintendent Jason Lee was the principal leader for almost a decade. It was a political and religious effort. Two years after the mission began, the church's Board of Foreign Missions described its intent to reclaim "these wandering savages, who are in a very degraded state, to the blessings of Christianity and civilized life." Alongside the missions founded in the region were several secular operations opened. These were maintained to allow for material independence from the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trade, fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake b ...

(HBC), then the preeminent economic entity in the region among European descendants. The Methodists were active participants in the

Oregon boundary dispute The Oregon boundary dispute or the Oregon Question was a 19th-century territorial dispute over the political division of the Pacific Northwest of North America between several nations that had competing territorial and commercial aspirations in ...

. Members of the mission were part of sending three petitions to

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washi ...

requesting that the United States extend its jurisdiction over the Pacific Northwest south of the Columbia River. The Methodist stations became important centers for local European-American politics as well. Staff took part in establishing the

Provisional Government of Oregon The Provisional Government of Oregon was a popularly elected settler government created in the Oregon Country, in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Its formation had been advanced at the Champoeg Meetings since February 17, 1841, a ...

, a settler organization based in the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east ...

. Jason Lee's leadership was criticized by members attached to various posts; his failure to provide adequate financial accounting led to his dismissal in 1843 as superintendent. To reduce the financial burdens on the church, many mission stations were abandoned and the commercial activities were sold off in 1844. While the main station in the Willamette Valley remained active in missionary efforts, it no longer held as much prominence in the changing political scene of Oregon. Despite failure in converting the natives west of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

, the Methodist Mission played a significant role in the westward expansion of the United States of America.

Background

In 1832, four Nez Perce Indians and Salish (also known as Flatheads) traveled to St. Louis, Missouri. They sought out a meeting with General

William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Misso ...

of the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gr ...

per the instructions of their tribe. General Clark was trusted, having met with their fathers and hearing the stories of his greatness from them. They viewed him as "the first great chief of the white man to visit their nation" and wanted to inquire about the "book of which they were informed by the hunters, which the Great Spirit had given the white man to teach them his will." General Clark was asked about the event two years later and recounted that two of the four had fallen ill and died while still in St. Louis. The other two embarked on the return journey home with word eventually returning that one had died during the voyage and the other had made it to his destination. There was speculation as to how truthful this ending of the story was and that both had likely perished along the way. The visit of St. Louis by the delegation was announced by

William Walker William Walker may refer to: Arts * William Walker (engraver) (1791–1867), mezzotint engraver of portrait of Robert Burns * William Sidney Walker (1795–1846), English Shakespearean critic * William Walker (composer) (1809–1875), American Ba ...

, a Wydandot Methodist, who published an article in the ''

Christian Advocate The ''Christian Advocate'' was a weekly newspaper published in New York City by the Methodist Episcopal Church. It began publication in 1826 and by the mid-1830s had become the largest circulating weekly in the United States, with more than 30 ...

and Journal.'' The editorial inspired the

and other churches to begin the first transcontinental missions in

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been created by the Treaty of 1818, c ...

.Horner, John B. (1919). ''Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature''. The J.K. Gill Co.: Portland. President Wilbur Fisk of

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the c ...

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settlers as a town under it ...

was the first church leader to respond, by advising the establishment of a mission among the "Flathead" people.Hines, Harvey K
''Missionary History of the Pacific Northwest.''
Portland: Marsh Printing Co. 1899 A former student of his, Jason Lee, and his nephew Rev. Daniel Lee volunteered to serve as ministers in Oregon. Jason Lee was a young teacher from

Ontario, Canada Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

and was involved in missionary work to Indians in that region. Bishop Elijah Hedding ordained Lee into the New England Conference of the

, now the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelica ...

. He was appointed superintendent of the newly created "Aboriginal Mission west of the Rocky Mountains" to preach to the Salish.Whaley, Gray. ''Oregon and the Collapse of Illahee U.S. Empire and the Transformation of an Indigenous World, 1792-1859.'' Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010. The entrepreneur

Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth (January 29, 1802 – August 31, 1856) was an American inventor and businessman in Boston, Massachusetts who contributed greatly to its ice industry. Due to his inventions, Boston could harvest and ship ice internati ...

was contacted by the Methodists to travel overland with his party and to ship supplies around Cape Horn on Wyeth's ship ''May Dacre'', a proposition he agreed to.

Early years

The now Rev. Lee left

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

for St. Louis in March 1834 with Daniel Lee, to rendezvous with Wyeth and his group. Along the way two laypersons, Cyrus Shepard from Boston, Massachusetts, and Philip Leget Edwards, from

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

were hired by Daniel to accompany them. After crossing the continent the Methodists met

Thomas McKay Thomas McKay (1 September 1792 – 9 October 1855) was a Canadian businessman who was one of the founders of the city of Ottawa, Ontario. Biography McKay was born in Perth, Scotland and became a skilled stonemason. He emigrated to the C ...

of the British

(HBC) at Wyeth's recently created

Fort Hall Fort Hall was a fort in the western United States that was built in 1834 as a fur trading post by Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth. It was located on the Snake River in the eastern Oregon Country, now part of present-day Bannock County in southeastern Id ...

. McKay guided the group all the way to Fort Vancouver, headquarters of the HBC

Columbia district The Columbia District was a fur trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of British North America in the 19th century. Much of its territory overlapped with the disputed Oregon Country. It was explored by the North West Company betwee ...

, in what is now

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 Unit ...

. Lee and his companions were greeted by Chief Factor

John McLoughlin John McLoughlin, baptized Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin, (October 19, 1784 – September 3, 1857) was a French-Canadian, later American, Chief Factor and Superintendent of the Columbia District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver fr ...

, district director of the HBC recommended the Willamette Valley as a better spot for settlement than the area to the north where the Flathead lived.Skinner, Constance L
''Adventurers of Oregon: A Chronicle of the Fur Trade.''
New Haven: Yale University Press, 1920 Upon entering the valley, the Methodists came in contact with the

Kalapuya The Kalapuya are a Native American people, which had eight independent groups speaking three mutually intelligible dialects. The Kalapuya tribes' traditional homelands were the Willamette Valley of present-day western Oregon in the United Sta ...

, residents of the

. Epidemics of malaria had begun to afflict the Kalapuya and neighboring

Chinookan peoples Chinookan peoples include several groups of Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest in the United States who speak the Chinookan languages. Since at least 4000 BCE Chinookan peoples have resided along the Lower and Middle Columbia River ( ...

of the Lower Columbia region starting in 1830, and continued throughout the decade. While accurate reports of population numbers of local indigenous are few, the diseases certainly decimated their populations. Upon visiting the various indigenous tribes of the Lower Columbia region, Daniel Lee reported that they were the "most degraded human beings that we have met", and concluded that "the time is not far distant when the last deathwail will proclaim their universal extermination." It is often said that on September 28, 1834, Rev. Jason Lee preached the first

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

sermon on the Pacific coast yet, to be precise, he was perhaps fifty miles from the Pacific coast.

Mission Bottom

Lee ignored the missionary board's instructions and set up a mission located 60 miles up the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward ...

from its junction with the

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

. The original mission became known as either the Willamette Mission or Mission Bottom. Missionaries untrained in manual labor slowly built log cabins and a school before the first winter set in. Lee remarked, "Men never worked harder or performed less." At the request of the superintendent, the Board changed the Mission's designation to "Oregon Mission" on October 21, 1835.Gatke, Robert M. ''"A Document of Mission History, 1833-43."'' Oregon Historical Quarterly 36, No. 1 (1935), 71-94 In March 1836, Rev. Lee wrote to Dr. Fisk telling of the need for tradesmen and farmers to relieve the staff of temporal duties. This resulted in additional members being sent in 1836 and 1837. In the same year the Methodists received a small donation from McLoughlin and other employees of the HBC, hoping that God would "bless and prosper your pious endeavours."Carey, Charles. ''"The Mission Record Book."'' The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society 23, No. 3 (1922), 230-266 Methodist Mission - Oregon 1834

Arriving in May 1837 at Fort Vancouver on the ship ''Diana'' was a party of seven adults and four children under the leadership of Dr.

Elijah White Dr. Elijah White (1806–1879) was a missionary and agent for the United States government in Oregon Country during the mid-19th century. A trained physician from New York State, he first traveled to Oregon as part of the Methodist Mission in t ...

. Included in the party was White's wife, William H. Willson, Anna Maria Pittman,

Alanson Beers Alanson Beers (August 19, 1808 – February 20, 1853) was an American pioneer and politician in the early days of the settlement of the Oregon Country. A blacksmith by trade, he was a reinforcement for the Methodist Mission in what would become the ...

, Susan Downing, Elvira Johnson. Several marriages were soon contracted, with a double marriage ceremony of Jason Lee to Anna Pittman and Cyrus Shepard to Susan Downing occurring on June 16, 1837.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. A second group of a teacher

Margaret Jewett Smith Bailey Margaret Jewett Smith Bailey (1812?–1882) was an American pioneer, missionary, and author from Oregon. Bailey, using the pen name Ruth Rover, wrote one of the earliest literary works published in Oregon, ''The Grains, or, Passages in the Life ...

and two more ministers, David Leslie and H. K. W. Perkins, arrived at the Mission on September 7, 1837. As the number of members increased, missionaries added a large granary and hospital to Mission Bottom and eventually a small retail store was opened. Surplus manufactured goods were traded for items such as lumber or food stuffs with the French Canadian settlers and the Native Americans.Chapman, J. S. ''"French Prairie Ceramics: The Harriet D. Munnick Archaeological Collection, circa 1820-1860: A Catalog and Northwest Comparative Guide."'' Anthropology Northwest 8. (1993) The mission also began to provide for the protection of American immigrants in the area by appointing a magistrate and constable in 1838.

John Sutter John Augustus Sutter (February 23, 1803 – June 18, 1880), born Johann August Sutter and known in Spanish as Don Juan Sutter, was a Swiss immigrant of Mexican and American citizenship, known for establishing Sutter's Fort in the area th ...

, while traveling to

Alta California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...

, visited the Mission Bottom over several weeks in 1838. Lee also preached, performed marriages and baptisms for the Catholic French-Canadian settlers of the

French Prairie French Prairie is located in Marion County, Oregon, United States, in the Willamette Valley between the Willamette River and the Pudding River, north of Salem. It was named for some of the earliest settlers of that part of the Oregon Country, F ...

. There were no Catholics priests were yet in the Willamette Valley, thus the Methodists were the first priests to engage the French-Canadians.

François Norbert Blanchet François Norbert Blanchet (September 30, 1795 – June 18, 1883) was a French Canadian-born missionary priest and prelate of the Catholic Church who was instrumental in establishing the Catholic Church presence in the Pacific Northwest. He was ...

and Modeste Demers reached the region in 1838 and held the first mass at the St. Paul church in January 1839.Blanchet, Francis Norbert, and Edward J. Kowrach. ''Historical sketches of the Catholic Church in Oregon.'' Fairfield, Wash.: Ye Galleon Press, 1983.

Expansion

By the end of 1837 Lee was leading a community divided about his leadership. The community advised him to return to the east as it "would result advantageously to himself and the mission." Additionally a petition was sent to him from fellow missionaries advising he resign as superintendent. In March 1838, Jason Lee and Phillip Edwards began the planned visit to the United States to recruit more laborers for the mission. With them were two Chinookan teenagers christened William Brooks and Thomas Adams along with three of Thomas Mckay's mixed race sons.Lavender, David. ''Land of giants; the drive to the Pacific Northwest, 1750-1950.'' Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1958. Before departing Lee appointed David Leslie as acting superintendent. The group first visited the newly opened Wascopam Mission as they traveled up the Columbia. While waiting on an escort of the HBC headed to the annual rendezvous the party spent several weeks at the ABCFM missionary posts ran by Henry H. Spalding and

Marcus Whitman Marcus Whitman (September 4, 1802 – November 29, 1847) was an American physician and missionary. In 1836, Marcus Whitman led an overland party by wagon to the West. He and his wife, Narcissa, along with Reverend Henry Spalding and his wife, E ...

. On this journey they carried a petition signed by 36 pioneer farmers from both the American and French-Canadian communities along with members of the Methodist mission asking the

to create a territory out of Oregon lying south of the Columbia River. Without the protection of the American government, a "good community" would not form and only "the reckless and unprincipled adventurer..." would move to the region the address warned. Upon entering the United States in Missouri a messenger dispatched from John McLoughlin informed Lee that his wife Anna Maria Pittman Lee and infant child died in June. While the Methodists and Chinooks were holding a speech in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria Metropolitan Area in Centr ...

, Thomas Adams fell ill and stayed there to recover. His stories of the lands west of the Rocky Mountains helped inspire the Peoria Party. Lee also lectured along the way and on the East Coast, leading to the raising of $42,000 for the missionary efforts. The lectures included speeches from William Brooks, and both speakers tended focused more on public donations than amassing pioneers to head West. The Board continued this theme in an advertisement recruiting farmers for the mission, wanting only "pious" men. While in a conference with the Board Lee requested for a replacement, though the Board retained him as superintendent. Other members of the Oregon Mission had often mentioned in letters to the Board of the need to "civilize" the various native peoples before they could be converted. Lee took the opposite position in the meetings, stressing the need for conversion before "civilization" could occur. Jason Lee sailed back to Oregon in 1840 aboard the ship ''

Lausanne Lausanne ( , , , ) ; it, Losanna; rm, Losanna. is the capital and largest city of the Swiss French speaking canton of Vaud. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway between the Jura Mountains and the Alps, and fac ...

'' with the "Great Reinforcement". Besides the superintendent, the Lausanne brought 50 people, including needed tradesmen, teachers, and physicians along with 12 children. With this arrival the population of Mission Bottom was forty adults and fifty children. The additional missionaries and laymen, as with previous "reinforcements", allowed for more extensive operations across the Oregon Country. In a meeting on 10 May 1840 the missionaries were given their appointments. After returning Lee ordered the abandonment of Mission Bottom to the Mission Mill or Willamette station in what is now

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

. Two new stations were ordered to begin missionary operations, the

Clatsop Mission The Clatsop Mission was an outpost of the Methodist Mission near modern Astoria, Oregon, United States. Joseph H. Frost and his family was sent to the Clatsop Plains at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1841. Frustrated at his inability to conve ...

and Nisqually Mission.

George Abernethy George Abernethy (October 7, 1807 – March 2, 1877) was an American politician, pioneer, notable entrepreneur, and first governor of Oregon under the provisional government based in the Willamette Valley, an area later a part of the American sta ...

was appointed steward of the secular services of the Mission, allowing for Lee to focus on proselytization. Methodist commercial activities reached their zenith, with two timber mills and a grist mill opened on Mill Creek, with operational costs being upwards of $10 daily to run.Carey, Charles. ''"Diary of Rev. George Gary."'' Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society 24, no. 1 (1923), 68-105 The main mercantile store of the Mission was transferred to

Oregon City ) , image_skyline = McLoughlin House.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = The McLoughlin House, est. 1845 , image_flag = , image_seal = Oregon City seal.png , image_map ...

in August 1842.

Planned Umpqua Mission

As early as February 1838 Jason Lee had considered establishing a mission among the Umpquas and explored the area but was unable to come in contact with any. The considered station was to be located in the vicinity of the HBC

Fort Umpqua Fort Umpqua was a trading post built by the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's Columbia District (or Oregon Country), in what is now the U.S. state of Oregon. It was first established in 1832 and moved and rebuilt in 1836.; online aGoogle Books/ ...

. After the Lausanne and its passengers arrived in Oregon,

Gustavus Hines Reverend Gustavus Hines (September 6, 1809 – December 9, 1873) was an American missionary in Oregon Country. Working for the Methodist Mission in what became the state of Oregon, the New York native became involved in early attempts to form a gov ...

and Rev. William W. Kone were appointed to work in the region. A party was organized in August 1840 composed of Jason Lee, a native guide, Hines and White to find a suitable location for the mission. The group was greeted at Fort Umpqua by Jean Baptiste Gagnier and his wife Angelique, a daughter of an Umpqua chief, acted as an interpreter for them. While meeting with the Umpquas, one chief stressed that their reputation of being "a bad people" was undeserved and they desired for a priest. The negative impression of the Umpquas was gained after the murder of the majority of a fur trapping party under

Jedediah Smith Jedediah Strong Smith (January 6, 1799 – May 27, 1831) was an American clerk, transcontinental pioneer, frontiersman, hunter, trapper, author, cartographer, mountain man and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the Western United States, and ...

in 1828. The Methodists however never opened a station among the Umpquas, with Hines concluding:

The Umpqua tribe, but a few years ago numbering several hundred, by disease and their family wars has been reduced to less than seventy-five souls. Under the impression that the doom of extinction is suspended over this wretched race, and that the hand of Providence is removing them to give place to a people more worthy of this beautiful and fertile country,...

Educational efforts

When the housing at the Mission Bottom was complete, the Indian Mission School was built to be used to teach the Native American children the ways of Western society. Cyrus Shepard became the first teacher of the school in March 1835. The students came from a variety of Native tribes, which over the years included

s, Cayuses, Chehalis, Walla Wallas,

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

, Shastas, Tillamooks, Klickitats, Umpquas, Chinooks, and even

Hawaiians Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawai ...

. Additionally there was participation from the children of the French-Canadian settlers and Native wives. Besides being the main source of labor for maintaining the growing farms, the students also hunted game for the mission. The initial class had 14 Native students though during the summer upwards of 40 were in attendance. Over the years illness from exposure to new diseases killed many students, and some ran away. Relatives of deceased students sometimes blamed the Methodists and occasionally attempted to get revenge, though no acts of violence have been recorded. Shepard died on January 1, 1840, and the school went into a decline without his teaching abilities. The school was relocated to the Mission Mill in 1842 in a building under construction with a budget of $40,000 planned to accommodate upwards of 300 students. A song taught to the girls of the school illustrates the limitations of using Chinook Jargon to preach religious concepts.

After almost a decade of operation the viability of the school was in doubt. An assessment by mission members was not promising with the most positive feature being "quite a number had experienced religion here and died when in school and hopefully gone to heaven." The students at that time were cultivating 34 acres fields of peas, potatoes, wheat and oats outside the school. Runaway students were treated as "criminals", and when caught " hey wereput in chains, severely whipped, &c., &c., guarded and kept in a high enclosure, like prisoners."

Oregon Institute

In Salem on January 17, 1842, at Jason Lee's home, a group of settlers met and formed the Oregon Institute as a school for the Euro-American children in the area, eventually evolving into present-day

Willamette University Willamette University is a private liberal arts college with locations in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United States. Originally named the Oregon Institute, the school was an unaffiliated ...

. A ten-person board of trustees was created; they selected the Wallace House three miles north of Salem to serve as the school. Later in 1844, the school opened in the new building intended for the indigenous with Chloe A. Clark Willson as the first teacher of the school, considered the first for European-American children west of the state of Missouri. (Note: Early Oregon histories bragged that this was the first school for European Americans west of the Mississippi River, but St. Louis Academy was founded by Jesuits in

Saint Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which ...

in 1818.)

Reduction of mission activities

There was considerable concern that the account of the mission had been "injudiciously managed" by the board in 1841. Additionally criticisms of Jason Lee from

, John P. Richmond,

and other mission members were sent over the years to the board.Barclay, Wade Crawford
''Early American Methodism, 1769-1844''
New York: Board of Missions and Church Extension of the Methodist Church, 1950 While David Leslie had remained supportive of Lee, it wasn't enough to counter the negative appraisals. After receiving instructions to detail the financial history of the mission, Lee admitted he "was not accountant enough to understand..." No action by the Methodist Church was taken until July 1843, when Rev. George Gary was appointed as the new superintendent. The board wanted a "more full and satisfactory account of this Mission, than our present information will permit" and instructed Gary "to curtail the secular departments of the mission..." In early 1844 Lee determined to meet with the Missionary Board once more. While in the Kingdom of Hawaii he learned from Ira Babcock of his dismissal and replacement. Shortly after reading the letter, the former superintendent crossed

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

and reached New York City in May 1844. During a conference with his superiors in June, it was determined that Lee would not be given his position back until after a financial report from Gary arrived. Lee began to collect donations for the school he helped form, the Oregon Institute, and while in his hometown Stanstead on March 12, 1845, he died. After holding a meeting on June 7, 1844, with the other members of the mission Gary determined to discontinue most of the operations. The Dalles and the Mission Hill stations were to remain open with the others closed. After the sales the focus of the mission turned to the settlers and away from attempting to converting the indigenous peoples of the region. The grain and timber mills were sold for $6,000 to a pioneer who resided in Oregon for the previous two years. The extensive herds of horse and cattle brought another $4,200 for the treasury. The majority of the plots claimed by the Methodists in Oregon City were sold to John McLoughlin for $6,000. The Clatsop mission was purchased by its missionary Rev. Parrish, who settled there. The Indian Labor School building was sold to the Oregon Institute board of trustees for $4,000. The Wascopam Mission was sold for $600 to

in 1847, though his death in the Whitman Massacre left the post unused and was returned to the Methodist Mission in 1849. After the reduction of the mission operations Gary requested in August 1845 a new superintendent be sent to replace him. His successor, Rev. William Roberts, appeared in June 1847 after establishing a church in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. In 1848 the Methodists organised the "Oregon and California Mission Conference" which had six clergy, four being in Oregon. In an endeavor with large sums of money were spent, the Methodist Mission of Oregon ultimately had results left in a "painful mystery". After 14 years of operation the Methodists had 348 members in Oregon, the vast majority being settlers. Before the division of the Oregon and California Conference in 1852, California already surpassed Oregon for number of Methodist converts.

Legacy

With the flood in 1861, all buildings at the Mission Bottom site were washed away except the granary and hospital. Today the site is preserved as Willamette Mission State Park.Oregon State Parks
/ref> Some of the original structures of the Willamette station may be seen at Mission Mill Museum located in Salem. A city street and a cemetery in Salem bear the name of Jason Lee. A statue of Jason Lee stands in the U. S. Capitol Building's

Statuary Hall The National Statuary Hall is a chamber in the United States Capitol devoted to sculptures of prominent Americans. The hall, also known as the Old Hall of the House, is a large, two-story, semicircular room with a second story gallery along th ...

in Washington, D.C. as one of the two statues allotted to the state of Oregon.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
National Park Service Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
Accessed April 30, 2004.

External links

The Oregon Encyclopedia
Accessed August 10, 2014.
Oregon Blue Book: Oregon History: Souls to Save
Accessed August 10, 2014.
End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center
''Jason Lee's Mission to Oregon''. Accessed August 10, 2014. {{Oregon Pioneer History Methodism in Oregon Oregon Country Christian missionary societies History of Christianity in the United States History of Salem, Oregon History of United States expansionism Pre-statehood history of Oregon Provisional Government of Oregon Methodist organizations established in the 19th century Religious organizations established in 1834 1834 establishments in Oregon