OREGON The Unique Prize

by BURT BROWN BARKER INTRODUCTION

"Multiplication is vexation!" children chanted from McGuffey's Reader. Vex- atious too is the number of hoary legends and tales which have grown in the fabled Oregon Country. Now the centennial of Oregon's statehood is upon ushigh time to lay to rest much nonsense and to concentrate instead on some exciting facts and dramatic episodes which gave Oregon a special place in our nation's history.

No one is better qualified to guide us along the golden road to greater knowledge and mature understanding than Dr. Burt Brown Barkerauthor, educator, his- torian, past president of our statewide Oregon Historical SocietyI name but a few of many interests and abilities which have given the author a unique reputation far beyond state and regional boundaries. Join our guide on the road to Oregon! Having learned a few of the trails and promontories you will then be ready for the riches that are Oregon history.

TJToMs \'AUG hAN Director Oregon Historical Society OREGON-THE UNIQUE PRIZE

I. Delayed Discovery of Columbia River came interested in the riches of India, and sent their vessels to the east around the Cape of Good THE FIRST in this series of distinctive events Hope, without making any effort to follow up the in the history of Oregon which sets it apart from exploits of Drake. This condition existed for al- the other states in the Union, is the tardy way it most 200 years. was discovered. At the close of the Seven Years \Var in 1763, It seems incredib1etoday that almost 300 years England again turned her attention to the Pacific. should elapse, after Balboa first saw the Pacific The government offered a prize of zo,000 pounds Ocean (1513), before the Columbia River was for the discovery of the long-sought Northwest entered by Captain Robert Gray (1792), a Boston Passage. Captain James Cook, in his first try in navigator. 1773, headed an expedition which discovered the Commonly accepted authorities set 1492 as the Hawaiian Islands. On his last trip, on July 12, date Columbus discovered America; 1607 as the 1776, he set sail via the Cape of Good Hope for date of the founding of Jamestown, Virginia; and the land Drake in 1579 had designated as New i6zo as the date the Pilgrims settled Plymouth, Albion, a name the British had consistently kept 1\fassachusetts. alive. It will be noted that between 1492 and 1607 In March, 1778, Cook reached the Oregon Coast there is a gap of more than 500 years which is de- reportedly about 430 north latitude. Heading void of recorded events of strategic importance on north, keeping in sight of land almost continuously the Atlantic Coast of the United States. It was he noted the coast line with more care than others different on the Pacific Coast. had done previously. He observed and named During that ioo years the explorers turned Capes Perpetua and Foulweather in Oregon, and south toward milder climates and more lucrative Cape Flattery in WTashington, nanies that are still fields. In 1513 Balboa discovered the Pacific Ocean. preserved. Continuing, he landed at Nootka Bay In 1521 Cortez in Mexico, and in 1532 Pizarro in on Vancouver Island, missing both the mouth of Peru, were seizing and carrying to Spain great the Columbia River and the entrance to the Strait wealth in gold, silver and precious stones. In 1542 of Juan de Fuca, which latter he sought specifi- Cabrillo entered the present San Francisco Bay. cally. In 1579 Francis Drake sailed along the Pacific After spending a month trading with the Indians Coast, perhaps as far north as Oregon. He landed at Nootka Bay, he continued north through Ber- in California, and named the coast New Albion ing Strait into the Arctic Ocean, until he was (New England). It was on this trip that he sur- blocked by ice. This voyage for the moment put prised and looted one Spanish port after another, an end to the myth of the Northwest Passage. It ran down ship after ship and stripped them of their was epochal so far as Oregon was concerned, for it treasures. established the fact that there was no water short In 1580 Drake returned to England with z6 tons cut to the Pacific Northwest; the only water of silver, 8o pounds of pure gold, 13 chests of gold approach was around either Cape Horn or Cape of plate, and quantities of emeralds, pearls and other Good Hope, both being long and hazardous. It precious stones. His vessel was only 100 tons bur- was an element in the isolation of Oregon. den, so he threw overboard much of the silks and Just as England had returned to explorations on other fabrics which it could not carry. When he the Pacific Coast, so also had Spain. She came to landed in England, Queen Elizabeth dined with realize that she had not followed up the exploits of him on board his vessel, the Golden Hind, and con- Cabrihlo (1542), so engaged had she been in her ferred knighthood on him, while London took a trade with the Indies, and in the riches of \Iexico Roman holiday. and Peru. Fearing lest she would forfeit what Cab- Thus during the Ioo-year period of inactivity on nIb had won, she put forth a feeble and ineffectual the North Atlantic Coast following 1492, the effort under Vizcaino and Aguilar in 1602-1603, South Atlantic and the Pacific Coast were alive but soon fell again into inaction. As the Russians with Spanish and English adventurers. However, began to press down from the north, and the Eng- after the discoveries of Cabrillo in 1542 on the lish were again on the prowl, Spain realized that Pacific Coast, the Spanish became interested in either a serious effort must be put forth, or she the trade of the Indies and their ships followed the must retire from the conflict. tradewinds from the coast of California to the She began by fortifying Monterey and San westward, leaving the coast of Oregon and lands Diego in 1768, and within a few years the Francis- to the north untouched. can fathers under Junipero Serra had established The English also gave up activity in the Pacific their mission in the southern part of California. after the exploits of Drake in 1578-1580. They be- She then began anew her northern explorations, after more than a century and a half of inactivity. Strange, partly financed by a member of the East In 1774 Juan Perez ivent as far north as° north India Company located in Bombay. Captains latitude. Portlock and Dixon, who had been with Cook on The next year Bruno Heceta and Bodega y his last voyage, also traded on the coast in 1786, Quadra were dispatched to the north. Heceta went as did Captain John Meares. beyond 500, and then turned back. He doubtless Meares, an interesting and spectacular charac- saw the mouth of the undiscovered Columbia ter, sailed from Bengal, and spent the winter of River, and made an ineffectual effort to enter it on 1786-87 at Prince William Sound on the North- August 17, 1775. He noted and named the two west Coast. While Captain Charles Barkley had capes at the mouth of the river. On July 18, he seen and recorded the location of the Straits of saw and accurately described i\Iount Neahkahnie Juan de Fuca in 1787, Meares explored the strait which he named Table. He also located and named as far as Port San Juan in 1788, then turned out to Capes Falcon and Lookout. sea and sailed south. The headland north of the Bodega y Quadra continued his journey to the Columbia he named Cape Disappointment, and north and explored part of the coast of Alaska. identified it as the cape found by Heceta in 1775, Spain had long worked on the theory that she had but the river mouth he called Deception Bay, and the right to all the western shores of both North asserted that there was no river there as marked on and South America washed by the waters of the Spanish charts. ivIeares had missed the Columbia. South Sea (Pacific Ocean) which had been seen But the Russians pushing down from the north, first by Balboa (1513). This theory was based on and the English, operating as licensed traders, the decree of the Pope, Alexander VI, who, after under foreign flags to escape the license fee, or the return of Columbus, divided the world in two simply taking their chances, had struck the real parts, by drawing a line from North to South Bonanzanot the Northwest Passage, but the through the Atlantic Ocean ioo leagues west of the rich fur trade of the Northwest Coast. The news Azores and Cape Verde Islands. To Spain he spread rapidly, and soon traders were in full cry. gave "all the future lands and islands found, or to Nootka Sound, on the western coast of Van- be found, discovered or to be discovered toward couver Island, was the magnet and became the the West and South." local headquarters. By this time a new govern- England, per contra, took the position that ment had been set up on the Atlantic sea coast, Spain could claim only such land as she occupied. and a new flag, the Stars and Stripes, began to Ierely to skirt the coast, touching it here and appear among the flags of Russia, England, Spain, there, and giving names to a few capes, rivers and Portugal and for a short time, France. But for the promontories, was insufficient. To establish a legal moment Nootka and the north were in the lime- claim she must actually settle and continue to in- light, and the coast of Oregon was accordingly habit the parts claimed. bypassed. A further stimulus to these Spanish upsurges Spain was now thoroughly aroused, and she in explorations, was the activity of Russia in sent a flotilla of four vessels to fortify Nootka. Alaska, and along the coast to the south. These England and Russia each had colonization plans began when Peter the Great of Russia gave the for Nootka. Into the thick of the melee sailed Cap- Dane, Vitus Bering, a commission in 1724 to ex- tain Robert Gray in the packet Washington, and plore and chart the coast of Alaska. He discovered Captain John Kendrick in the ship Columbia, and the strait which bears his name. His last voyage cast anchor at Nootka Bay in 1789. No other ves- was in 1741. It was on his discoveries that Russia sels were there at the time and all seemed serene. based her claims to Alaska. But the Spanish flotilla under Martinez soon The furs which his men carried back with them arrived. In view of the fact that the American ves- and those sold by Cook in China began the fur sels had passports given by General Washington trade which became the magnet which drew the to permit a voyage of discovery round the world, English, Spanish, and finally the Americans to the they were not arrested. The captains, however, North Pacific Coast, and in the end led to the dis- were cautioned that it was prohibited by ordinance covery of the Columbia River and the exploration for any foreign nations "to sail the coast of and early settlement of Oregon. America." The report of the high prices received for sea Soon thereafterBritishtraderssailedinto otter skins traded on the Northwest Coast and Nootka. Martinez seized their vessels and the sold in China spread with the return of Cook's men stage was set for a war between Britain and Spain. to England. Yet only those English merchants But the war never materialized. Spain backed licensed by the British East India Company could down and the matter was settled by arbitration. trade in China, since the company held a monop- Meanwhile the rich fur trade had grown brisk and oly of British trade there. competition keen. Captain James Hanna reached the Northwest On his return to England in 1790, after failing Coast in 1785, and was followed in 1786 by James to discover the Columbia, \Ieares published a pamphlet in which he indicated that he still felt ered it not "worthy of more attention," and passed that the long-sought Northwest Passage existed, up another opportunity of history. connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. It Now, a new group of merchant traders, also was a tradition hard to kill. Accordingly, England interested in breaking into the highly profitable determined once more to explore that possibility fur trade, must be introduced. Six New England fully, and settle it finally. merchants in 1787 organized a company, for the Captain George Vancouver was given the com- purpose of entering tile field as traders in the mission. He was to examine and survey minutely Northwest Pacific. They purchased two small ves- the Pacific Coast, from latitude 300 to 6o°; and sels: a full-rigged ship called Columbia, of 212 specifically, he was instructed to inquire into "the tons, and a sloop of 90 tons called Lady Washing- nature and extent of any water communication ton. The first was under command of Captain John which may tend in any considerable degree to Kendrick, and the second under command of Cap- facilitate an intercourse for the purpose of com- tain Robert Gray. They sailed out of Boston on merce between the Northwest coast and the coun- September 30, 1787, and headed around Cape try on the opposite side of the continent." That Horn for Nootka Sound. As Captain Gray sailed certainly was a commission broad enough to cover north along the Oregon Coast, he noted what he any rivers of extent flowing into the Pacific from thought to be mouths of rivers, but was never about 1\Iexico on the south, to Alaska on the north. close enough to be certain. He and Kendrick Quadra, Heceta and Meares had stopped and ex- gathered a cargo of furs. These were taken to amined the breakers at the mouth of the Columbia China and traded for a cargo of tea and silk, which River; and maps since i6oi had indicated the pre- was taken to Boston. sence of a river at or near the present site of the In September of 1790 a second voyage was or- Columbia. But its existence had never positively ganized, and in June 1791 Gray was quartered at been determined. Vancouver now had his chance. Clayoquot Sound near Nootka, where an unhappy In January, 1791, he sailed away in command of winter was spent. In the spring of 1792 Captain the sloop-of-war Discovery, of 400 tons burden, Gray, in the Columbia, sailed south along the coast and a much lighter armed tender, Chatham, in of Oregon and California. He noted the mouth of command of Lieutenant Broughton. He had ample the Columbia, but weather and breakers made equipment and personnel for a scientific voyage of entry impossible and he turned north again. He discovery. He spent the winter in the Hawaiian met Vancouver's ship, and passed on the news of Islands, and on April 17, 1792, arrived off the coast the river mouth he had been unable to enter, but of California, at latitude 390 Heading northward Vancouver was not convinced of its existence. he reached Cape Orford, Oregon, April 24. Gray continued his trading, hoping to find furs On the evening of April z6, under clear skies and in the hands of Indians where traders had not with conditions peculiarly satisfactory for ob- been. On May 7, 1792, he entered one such harbor servation, he was at the point which Captain which now bears his name. Proceeding down the Meares had described so accurately. He was es- coast, trading as he went, on rvlay II he found pecially interested in Meares' description; and also himself again off the river mouth he had before he wanted to prove or disprove the assertion of been unable to enter. Being venturesome, he Heceta that there was a river at this point. All day steered in and recklessly did what careful mariners of the z7th he sailed along the coast, describing the seldom do, namely, thrust the prow of his vessel landmarks so accurately that his position is easily into white breakers. But fortune was with him and identified. He appeared to be following Meares' he crossed the bar successfully and found himself description. After noon he identified Cape Dis- in the mouth of tile river which had appeared on appointment and Deception Bay. He was now at maps from i6oi, and had been observed by Quad- the mouth of the Columbia. At this point his log ra, Meares and Vancouver surely, and probably read: by others. "The sea has now changed from its natural to Captain Gray remained and traded with the river-colored water; tile probable consequence of Indians in the lower reaches of the river near its some streams falling into the bay, or into the ocean mouth until May 20, when he recrossed the bar and to the north of it, through the low land. Not con- sailed north where later he met Quadra and gave sidering this opening worthy of more attention, I him a chart of the river mouth, which the latter continued our pursuit to the N. \V. being desirous passed on to Vancouver. Unwilling to believe to embrace tile advantage of the breeze and pleas- Gray's story, Vancouver sent Lieutenant Brough- ant weather so favorable to our examination of ton in the Chaiham to explore tile river, which he the coast." did in October. Thus Vancouver, with charts and the Meares' Thus the Columbia River was discovered and log and the evidence of Heceta at hand, and with named by Captain Robert Gray, after he crossed the discolored river water under his vessel giving the bar at the mouth on May II, 1792, three hun- full evidence of the presence of the river, consid- dred years after tile discovery of America by Co- lumbus. This discovery became a very vital issue Major Rogers did not himself attempt such a in the subsequent contention that Oregon was journey, but the following year he outlined a simi- property of the United States by virtue of dis- lar expedition with Jonathan Carver as tile drafts- covery, and that, too, after parts of the coast south man of the party. This expedition also never of parallel 42 and north of parallel 49 had been materialized. known for more than 100 years. Subsequently both Rogers and Carver returned to England. In the interval before his return, Rogers appears to have learned more local geo- II. Origin of the Name Oregon graphical details. In 1772 he addressed another 1HE DISCOVERIES of Columbus, Vespucius petition to the king. In this one he outlined the and others caught the imagination of Europe and proposed journey, saying in part: "About the 44th writers began to dream of romantic new faraway degree of latitude to crossinto a branch of the lands, of oriental riches and new commerce. Missouri and stem that northwesterly totile Comparatively soon after the publication of the source, to cross then a portage, into the great river voyages of Vespucius, Thomas More published his Ourigan." Thus he outlined a course which, in Utopia in 1516, and in it placed the scene of his general, was subsequently followed by Lewis and dreamland in a region far beyond the farthermost Clark. Likewise he introduced for the first time reach of any land seen by Vespucius. He imaged the word Ouragon or Ourigan, which, with a slight a new world with higher and broader political change of spelling was to become Oregon. aspirations. The change was not to come at the hands of Rogers, but by the work of his associate, Carver, After a lapse of more than 100 years, Francis who returned to England with him. Bacon published his New Atlantis in 1629. By this In 1778 Carver published his book of Travels. It time Balboa had discovered the Pacific Ocean, the is in this book that the present spelling is found. Spaniards had ravaged Mexico and Peru and visit- In the text, for the first time so far as is now known, ed a part of the western shore of America. Sir he used the expression "River Oregon or River of Francis Drake in turn had ravaged the Spaniards the West." He claimed to have learned tile word and in 1578, landed, claimed the country in the from the Indians, with whom he lived on the upper name of the English queen, and named it New reaches of the Mississippi River in 1766-67. But Albion (New England). Thus the name was ap- no student has been able to find any Indian word plied to the Pacific Coast many years before the of a similar sound for the basis of such a spelling. first permanent settlement on the Atlantic Coast. This book of travels was so popular that it was The Boston Sentinel (September, 1787) notes the reissued in other editions and forms in Paris, clearing of the ship Columbia, bound for New Edinburgh, Dublin, Philadelphia, New York and Albion. elsewhere. Although Carver wrote of the river, he Bacon chose to locate his New Atlantis in the never saw it, and it remained for Captain Robert region Drake called New Albion, a region students Gray, an American, to enter it in 5792, 300 years contend easily fits the description of the coast of after the discovery of America. He gave it the southern Oregon. name of his vessel, Columbia, entirely oblivious, During the i6th and 17th centuries of fables and so far as known, of the name Oregon given it by myths, such names as Terra Incognita and New Captain Carver. Aibion were attributed to lands now recognized as Thus the name Oregon was used first for a river. parts of Oregon. Returning adventurers of these It was definitely changed to designate the land, in two centuries caused many writers to weave fanci- a bill brought into Congress by Representative ful stories of legendary cities, such as Axa and Qui- John Floyd, of Virginia, on January i8, 5822. In vira, and place them in the newly discovered thisbill he proposed the creation of "Oregon western coast of America. Territory." In ifioi a map appeared on which the fabled city The young poet William Cullen Bryant ap- and kingdom of Quivira was placed in approxi- parently was impressed with Carver's book, and mately the same location as that indicated as New in 1817 he gave added popularity to the name Albion by Sir Francis Drake. when he wrote in his poem, T/zanatopsis, But no name, similar in sound or spelling to the "Where rolls the Oregon and hears no sound name Oregon, has been found on any map, or in Save his own dashings, yet the dead are there." any book, until it was used by Major Robert Rog- Many scholars have speculated on origins of tile ers in 1765, when, in a document to King George name, but to date no satisfactory explanation has II he proposed to seek out the Northwest Passage. been found. In this document he described his route as being Thus a new land, which had had a mythical ex- "from the Great Lakes toward the head of the istence for two centuries, had finally materialized ?vlississippi, and from thence to a river called by and been given "a new name of liquid sound and the Indians Ouragon." romantic significance"Oregon. III. How the Oregon Country Became States and present Canada on the 49th parallel of a Part of the United States north latitude, from Lake of the \Voods west to the Stony (Rocky) Mountains. They could not THE PURPOSE of this chapter shall be to show agree on the line beyond that point. The American how the district west of the Rocky Mountains and commissioners insisted on following the same par- north of 42°, became a part of the United States. allel west to the Strait of Georgia. The English This district is known historically as the Oregon insisted on following that parallel to the upper Country. It enjoys the rare distinction of being reaches of the Columbia, thence down that river the only part of the United States which was to the Pacific Ocean. neither purchased nor fought for in war. It came Being unable to resolve this difference, the rather as a result of what is broadly called coloni- parties decided to leave the land west of the Rocky zation. I\Iountains open to joint occupation for a period A. Government Action of ten years. As a result of the Revolutionary War, the Mis- Following the convention of i8i8, the young sissippi River became the western boundary of the American government took its first step to protect United States by the Treaty of Paris (1783). its interest in this new territory by entering into Following the discovery of the Columbia River a treaty with Spain in 1819, by the terms of which (1792), the Louisiana Purchase (1803) pushed the Spain relinquished all rights to the territory north western boundary from the Mississippi River to of 42° north latitude. In 5820 Representative Dr. the summit of the Rocky Mountains. John Floyd, of Virginia, had a committee report \Vhen President Jefferson organized the well- out a bill favoring the appointment of a committee known Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-06) and to look into the matter of occupying the Columbia sent it overland across the Rocky ?vlountains, it River. Nothing came of it. In 1822 he again urged was partly with the thought that eventuallythe Congress to take action touching on "Oregon Ter- western boundary of the United States would ritory." This is the bill in which the name Oregon again move west, even to the Pacific Ocean. was first applied to the land. In 1824he pre- How this came to pass is the next part of this sented, and had passed in the House, a bill to pro- story. vide a territorial government for Oregon. It was John Jacob Astor, with his Pacific Fur Com- tabled in the Senate. iIeanwhile the State De- pany, followed the Lewis and ClarkExpedition partment had been successful in writing a treaty and established a fur-trading post at Astoria in with Russia, by which she surrendered all tern- i8ii. It was the first such post successfully estab- trial claims south of 54° 40'. Thus, by the treaties lished on the newly discovered Columbia. Follow- of 1819 and 5824, both Spain and Russia bowed ing close on the heels of this new settlement came out of the Oregon Country, leaving only England the North West Company men, also seeking to be and the United States to contend for it. the first to explore and establish fur outposts in The territory involved was 88o miles long, o the new territory. The race between the North miles wide and contained 450,000 square miles. It West men and the Astor men was a close one; the was more than six times the size of New England, Astorians winning by two months. The party of and 30,000 square miles larger than all the then Astorians who won had come by ship around Cape southern states. Horn, while the North West men came overland \Vhile these steps were being taken by the new to the headwaters of the Columbia, and then government, the fur trade was being reorganized. down the river to its mouth. Imagine their sur- In 1821 came the coalition of the two great fur prise and disappointment on their arrival there to companies, the North West Company, a Canadian find the Americans erecting a trading post. group, and the Hudson's Bay Company,of Lon- The American victory was short-lived. As a don. After the coalition, they continued and did result of the \Var of i8iz, Astor's partners at business under the name of Hudson's Bay Com- Astoria, fearing they would be victims of the pany. English warship enroute to capture them, sold out In 1824, Dr. John McLoughlin, a chief factor of the company to their rivals, the North \Vest Com- Hudson's Bay Company, was given control of all pany, in 1813. Thus the first Americansettlement the business west of the Rocky J\Iountains. The in the new Oregon Country, came to an end. headquarters was changed from Astoria to a new Napoleon, hard pressed by England, sold the location at what is now Vancouver, Washington, United States Louisiana without defined northern and the business was greatly extended. bounds. It became necessary to determine the Thus matters stood in 1827, when the commis- northern boundary of the Louisiana Purchase. sioners again met to try to settle the boundary England was anxious to know how far to the north line from the crest of the Rocky \Iountains west- this purchase was supposed to extend. Each ward to the Pacific Ocean. They deadlocked again country appointed commissioners, and in i8x8 on the issue, and in the end decided to renewthe they fixed the boundary between the United old agreement, and allow the territory to be sub- ject to joint occupation, reserving to each party beyond merely a religious mission among the the right to terminate the agreement by giving a Indians. notice of one year. Diplomacy having failed, nature had to take its B. Local Action course. During the period 1827-31, one Hall J. At this juncture, and while Congress still re- Kelly, a school teacher of Boston, working through fused to end joint occupation in Oregon, an event Representative Floyd of Virginia until the latter's happened which was destined to develop into a retirement in 1829, and also through Senators local government. Edward Everett of Massachusetts and Thomas H. Ewing Young, an American settler, died on Benton of Missouri, had several petitions pre- February i, 1841. He had prospered in Oregon sented to Congress asking recognition of the Ore- and left considerable property, both real and per- gon Country. Nothing came of them. However, in sonal. In the personal property was livestock. this way the subject was kept before Congress and These at once presented the problem of herding to indirectly before the people. prevent their scattering, trespassing and being In 1834 the Missionary Society of the Methodist appropriated by neighbors. To complicate the Episcopal Church sent the Rev. Jason Lee with problem he had died without known heirs in Ore- four assistants as the first Protestant missionaries gon, and no state or government to which his prop- to Oregon. They were received kindly by Dr. erty could pass by escheat, existed. PvlcLoughlin. He assisted them to locate their The Americans locally were more or less govern- mission on the Willamette River, ten miles north ment-conscious, and the missionaries among them of the present Salem, Oregon. were especially so. In the interval, Dr. McLoughlin had greatly The predominant group in the country was the extended the activities of the Hudson's Bay Com- Hudson's Bay Company and its ex-employees. pany, so that in addition to its extensive fur busi- The Company had a limited civil administration ness it had a large acreage of grain, and a special over its employees, granted by an act of Parlia- farm for cattle. Also, it manufactured and sold ment of July 1821. Acting under it, law and order lumber and flour, and did some business in pack- had been well preserved in the territory. But ing salmon. British law and control were not entirely satis- Following the advent of Rev. Jason Lee in 1834, factory to the temper and aspirations of the Ameri- there came other missionaries in 1835-36-37. Also, cans, who had always before them the fact that there came a number of American fur traders and they were in a territory open to joint occupancy; trappers who settled in the Willamette Valley. they were constantly planning ways and means to In order to obtain reinforcements for his mission, strengthen their position. Lee in 1838 returned east of the Rocky Mountains. Clearly the death of Ewing Young raised the He carried with him a petition signed by the set- problem of civil administration. They had none. tlers in the Willamette Valley, asking that Con- Congress had failed them, although as late as 1840 gress interest itself in the territory. They had they had set forth in a petition to Congress the feared that the great Hudson's Bay Company's dire need they had for civil jurisdictional au- dominance inOregon would leadtoBritish thority. Following the funeral of Young, the set- ownership of the area. tlers present discussed the situation, and called a Meanwhile, Senators Linn and Benton of Mis- meeting to be held on February i8, 1841. At that souri had taken an unusual interest in the Oregon meeting, most of the settlers of the valley were question. Petitions came up from several state present, and a committee of nine persons on or- legislatures, urging Congress to interest itself in ganization representing all the different elements in Oregon. When Lee arrived in Washington, the the valley, was chosen. Dr. Ira L. Babcock was petition which he had brought from the settlers in elected supreme judge, with probate powers. They Oregon was presented. Both Senators Benton and also elected a person to act as clerk and recorder, Linn supported it, and also made public addresses and one to act as sheriff, and eight to act as con- and wrote articles about Oregon. Lee spoke exten- stables. In the absence of a code of laws, the su- sively throughout New England to large audiences. preme judge was instructed to act in accordance But Congress remained indifferent, and took no with the laws of the state of New York. The meet- more than a passive interest. ing adjourned to meet the following June i. On In 1840 Lee returned to Oregon with a large Aprili5, Judge Babcock appointed the Rev. delegation of missionaries and mission assistants David Leslie, one of the i\Iethodist missionaries, such as a physician, teachers, farmers, carpenters, to act as administrator of the estate of Ewing Young. mechanics and a blacksmith. He set up a new In this primitive way, the settlers made a start mission center in what is now Salem. He also of self-government. The start advanced haltingly, brought with him a sawmill and a grist mill, and as the committee on organization failed to report had thus the making of a community, over and at the June meeting. The meeting adjourned to the first Tuesday in October, and the committee stead of a governor, this organic law provided for to draft a constitution and a code of laws, was an executive committee of three persons. This ordered to meet the first Monday in August. These plan, however, was found unworkable and later meetings in turn seem never to have been held, amended. and about the only concrete action which came After unlimited debate, in which the spirit of out of these first efforts were the acts of Judge Bab- the old New England town meeting prevailed, the cock and of the Rev. David Leslie as administra- report was adopted, and it became known as the tor of the estate of Ewing Young. This seems to Organic Law of Oregon. Slavery was prohibited, have been the most pressing matter, and in view and "every free male descendant of a white man," of the smallness of the settlement and its peaceful an inhabitant of the territory, was eligible to vote. habits, nothing else of importance appears to have No provision was made for taxation. The expenses

been done. - of government were paid by voluntary contribu- The inroads of bears, panthers, wolves and other tions. Finally the large area was divided into predatory animals on the cattle of the settlers, legislative districts. proved the second rallying point to stimulate a In this way the local people in Oregon, without local government. A meeting ostensibly to discuss either assistance or even encouragement by Con- this problem was called on February 2,1843,at gress, set up a Provisional Government, republican the mission building which had now been relocated in substance and grounded broadly on ideals of on the site of the present Salem, Oregon. At this democracy. It was set up over against the more or session, a committee was appointed to call a meet- less paternalistic system of the powerful Hudson's ing of the settlers. Such a meeting was held at the Bay Company. It was government destined to home of Joseph Gervais on March 6,1843.Again guide a people who were to colonize the land and a committee was appointed. It was composed of cultivate the soil, and, in so doing, to go counter twelve men and was delegated to take "means for to the Hudson's Bay Company theory of holding civil and military protection of this colony." the land as a great fur preserve. This committee went into action at what is now Oregon City, Oregon. Its meetings were attended C. Colonization by interested citizens. At the conclusion it called At the time the Organic Law was adopted and a general meeting of the settlers to meet at the Provisional Government was formed the prac- Champoeg, on the Willamette River, on May 2, tical demands for governmental action were slight, 1843.At this meeting the committee presented its due to the small number of settlers and their peace- report favoring the organization of a new govern- ful habits. ment. It soon developed that those present were While these events had been transpiring in the not of one mind. Not all favored such an organiza- Oregon Country, what has been characterized as tion. The report seems to have been voted down. the "Oregon fever" was developing throughout But the cause was not lost, for a division was called the more settled districts of the middle west, for, and when the count was taken the majority southern and eastern parts of the country. People had voted to proceed to organize. The number by became interested in going to Oregon, described as which the vote was carried has long been a ques- a land of milk and honey, a gateway to oriental tion of dispute. The commonly accepted count was commerce. The year5843marks the beginning of 52 to 50. But that it was a favorable vote is un- a series of annual wagon trains, bringing several questioned. The discontended element withdrew, thousand Americans, men, women and children, and those remaining proceeded to elect a supreme into Oregon. judge with probate powers, a clerk and recorder, a \Vith this great influx of new settlers, the newly sheriff and a treasurer, four magistrates and four established government underwent many changes, constables. In addition, the meeting took an ex- demanded by the newly arrived settlers. But the ceptional step. It elected a legislative committee changes were in form only, the essence remaining of nine members. This committee constituted the unaltered. first legislative body elected in Oregon. It was in- Similarly, interest began to increase in Congress, structed to report at a public meeting the follow- which began to discuss land bills and to indicate ing July 5(1843). the number of acres allowable per person. Petitions This committee held its first meeting on May i6 from the increased number of persons in Oregon in a room in the old granary of the \Iethodist I\Iis- were given increasing attention. This meant some sion, in what is now Oregon City. Its meetings members gave vent to their feelings. Some mem- were open. One of its members had a copy of the bers spoke highly of the territory, while others statutes of Iowa which was bound with the text of questioned its value. Senator McDuffy of South the Ordinance of1787for the government of the Carolina went to the extreme and said he wouldn't Northwest Territory. The original organic law give a pinch of snuff for the whole territory. adopted verbatim many phrases from the Ordi- Oregon became a campaign issue in1844.Can- nance of5787and the organic laws of Iowa. In- didate Polk, for an issue, seized on the fact that Russia in her treaty of 1824 had surrendered her the welfare of the people of all the Oregon Country rights to the territory south of 540 40', and pop- and maintained a stable government in working ularized his campaign slogan, "54° 40' or fight." order since then? \Vhy, then, they asked, after It was a political inference that, unless England having successfully carried the burden without accepted the old demand of the United States for help from Congress, should it be necessary, that parallel 49 as the dividing line west of the Rocky the President should appoint their officers and Mountains, the United States would abandon that judges? The answer was"precedent." They demand and insist on 54° 40' as the line of demar- answered, that in other territorial governments cation. On July i6, 1845, President Polk and the local people had not organized an independent James Buchanan, Secretary of State, offered Eng- government and governed themselves, as had the land's Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Packenham, people of Oregon. to settle on the 49th parallel. Packenham refused, The result was that the Provisional Governor and Polk withdrew his offer, and said he would sent J. Quinn Thornton as a representative to insist on the settlement at 540 40'. \Vashington. The legislature also sent an emissary, Following the so-called "first wagon train" of the colorful Joe IVIeek. Hence, these two men went 1843, came succeeding trains in 1844, 1845 and to Washington to press the merits of the people 1846. These newcomers were colonizers. They of the Oregon Country. sought land for homes. They had no interest in In December 1846 President Polk urged Con- furs or fur trade. By 1846 it had become evident gress to grant the Oregon Country territorial to Britain that under the "joint occupancy" status. Unfortunately, the question of slavery was clause, still in full force and effect, the colonizing rearing its ugly head. Bills were introduced in both Americans had won. Packenham submitted to the Senate and the House. Both contained the Secretary Buchanan a treaty establishing the 49th antislavery clause. Favoring passage were Sena- parallel of north latitude as the dividing line be- tors Douglas (Illinois), Benton (]\/Iissouri), Hous- tween what is now Canada and the United States, ton (Texas), Webster (Massachusetts), Dix (New west of the Rocky Mountains. Inasmuch as this York), and Corwin (Ohio); while opposed were had been the proposal of the United States since Calhoun and Butler (South Carolina), Mason the issue was first raised in 1818, the treaty was (Virginia) and Foote (Mississippi). submitted to the Senate of the United States and The battle was bitter, and waged without asking accepted, in the form submitted by Great Britain, or giving quarter, periodically through the year on June 15, 1846. 1847, and until August 13, 1848, when Senator And thus, without shedding a drop of blood or Benton was successful in forcing the bill through. paying a dollar, the entire territory, known as the It was signed on August 14, 1848, and became law. states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and the The President appointed Joseph Lane to be the western fringes of Montana and Wyoming, came first territorial governor. It took Lane until ]vIarch into the domain of the United States. It had been 3, 1849, to reach Oregon and issue a proclamation accomplished in good part by American settlers declaring the Oregon Country to have territorial who entered and possessed the land peaceably, status. This having been done, a territorial legis- under a treaty agreement which had been in ex- lature was elected to take the place of the Pro- istence for 28 yearsfor about of those years visional Government's legislature. the area had been controlled by the Hudson's Bay In conclusion, we see that the Oregon Country Company of London. was a part of what was called New England by During this time, the homemade Provisional Sir Francis Drake a quarter of a century before Government was functioning, withexecutive, there was any permanent white settlement on the legislative and judicial departments. All efforts to Atlantic Coast of the United States; that an un- get Congress to extend a helping hand had failed. usual chain of events delayed its discovery for Some authorities in official Washington had taken more than ioo years after lands, both to the north the position that, until the dividing line was de- and to the south of it, had been discovered; that termined, Congress should not interfere. The the origin of the name Oregon has remained hid- treaty of June 15, 1846, put an end to that agru- den despite the persistent research of scholars; ment. Still Congress delayed. that the Oregon Country, which comprises the Meanwhile the people in Oregon grew im- present states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and patient. They were dissatisfied with certain pro- the western fringes of Montana and Wyoming, is visions of the treaty which they considered favored the only section of the United States to become a the Hudson's Bay Company. They also disliked part of the Union through colonization and diplo- the fact that as an organized territory of the macy, and not as a result of war or purchase; that United States, certain officersthe governor, secre- it established and maintained its own local govern- tary, judgeswould be appointed by the Presi- ment for a period of six years in the face of the un- dent. Hadn't they set up their own government in willingness of a majority of Congress to give aid; 1843, elected their own officers, and legislated for and finally, when it was granted territorial status, the people of Oregon already had officers and an stimulated Simon McTavish, the most powerful organization very similar to the government pro- person in the North West Company, to make the vided for in the territorial actall that was offer, is unknown. But it does not seem a far cry needed was a new election. to believe that the young doctor must have heard Because of these facts, Oregon is herein repre- much of the fur trade in his boyhood associations sented as The Unique Prize. in the home of his grandfather Fraser. Thus in 1803 young Dr. McLoughlin began his services under a five-year contract with the North TWO BIOGRAPHIES West Company on a salary of twenty pounds a year. At the end of the period (i8o8) he was re- Dr. John McLoughlin engaged, for three years, at a salary of two hun- DR. JOHN McLOUGHLIN was born at dred pounds a year, which contract was again re- Riviere-du-Loup, in the Province of Quebec, Can- newed for three years. In 1814 he became a winter- ada, on October19,1784. He was of mixed Scottish, ing partner of the company. Irish and French ancestry. His grandfather, also He seems to have been popular among his asso- John McLoughlin, came from Scotland, married ciates who were increasingly annoyed at the man- Mary Short, an Irish woman, and settled on a ner in which the company was being conducted. It farm near Rivière-du-Loup. To them was born a was fast becoming evident that an open clash with son John, who succeeded his father on the farm. the bitter rival, the Hudson's Bay Company, was He was not content to marry into the farming in the offing. The rivalry was so keen that the ranks. Across the St. Lawrence River from the profits of both companies were nearing the vanish- farm of the son John, lived Seigneur Malcolm ing point. Prudence indicated the necessity of a Fraser, a member of the landed gentry well known working agreement between the companies. Tile in the community and a person of means. The son financial agents of the North West Company John, the farmer, wed Angélique, the daughter of stood firm to drive ahead into disaster. IVialcom Fraser. Angélique's mother was Iviarie At this point Dr. McLoughlin led the discon- Allaire, a French Canadian. Out of this union tented wintering partners in a rebellion against came a son John, the John of our interest, being the agents. In the end, they were forced to open the third John in this indicated line. His mother negotiations in London with the Hudson's. Bay was a Catholic and the young John was baptized Company. This ended in the coalition of the North Jean Baptiste at Kamouraska by the local priest; West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company he died in the faith of his mother, and lies buried in March, 1821. Dr. McLoughlin was in London in Oregon City, Oregon. It is this succession of during the negotiations, but did not figure directly marriages and briths which gave the subject of in them. this sketch the mixture of Scottish, Irish and Among the assets of the North West Company French blood, as indicated above. which fell to the Hudson's Bay Company, was all Little seems to be known of the childhood of the property west of the Rocky Mountains with this young John McLoughiin. Doubtless he made headquarters at Astoria renamed Fort George. On visits to the home of his grandfather Fraser, where July 10, 1824, Dr. McLoughlin was appointed he seems to have been a welcome visitor. Here he head of this region known as the Columbia Dis- may have met two brothers of his mother, Alex- trict. ander and Simon Fraser. Simon had been a physi- The significance of this appointment to the cian, in the Black \Vatch Regiment of the earlier Pacific Northwest lies in the fact that the treaty Napoleonic wars. Alexander was a fur trader, and of m8i8, between Britain and the United States, eventually became a wintering partner of the settled the dividing line between the present Can- North \Vest Company. In these two uncles one ada and the United States between the Lake of the sees the fingerboards of the road young John Woods and the Rocky Mountains, leaving the McLoughlin was destined to follow. part west of the Rocky Mountains unsettled and When not more than fourteen years of age, the open to future negotiations. This resulted in this young man began his medical apprenticeship district being open to joint occupancy, and ulti- under Dr. James Fisher, one of the most promi- mately to go to the country which settled it. nent physicians of his day, with whom he studied Hence, Dr. McLoughlin became a most impor- for four and one-half years. He was admitted to tant personage because, as the chief authority in practice at tile age of nineteen. Thus we see the this district of the Hudson's Bay Company, a possible influence of Uncle Simon Fraser. distinctly British organization, he was looked upon Very soon after having been licensed to practice, as the representative of the British interests in the young John cast his lot with the North \Vest Pacific Northwest. After dealing for ten years with Company, apparently as a result of an offer made the Indians of his district, he felt the necessity of to him through the efforts of his Uncle Simon. having missionary work done among them, so that \Vhether or not his Uncle Alexander may have when Jason Lee and his little band of Methodist missionaries arrived in Oregon in 1834, he wel- "Then let this picture of the grand old maii, corned them and aided them in getting established whose numerous deeds of charity are insepa- along the Willamette River some ten miles north rably woven in the early history of our state, of the present Salem. ever enjoy the place of honor it now holds; and In 1843 came the first overland train of settlers when our children and our children's children to Oregon. They were in no sense missionaries, nor shall visit these venerable halls, let them pause in the least interested in the salvation of the In- before the portrait of this venerable man and dians. They came for agricultural purposes, and do homage to his memory... were destined to run counter to the interests rep- Thus was Dr. McLoughlin honored and es- resented by Dr. 1\'IcLoughlin, who wished the teemed by the citizens of Oregon. But he had an country to remain unsettled and the home of fur- older sister and a younger brother who likewise bearing animals. lived to attain eminence in different fields. His Even though it was evident that there was this sister Marie Louise as Sister St. Henri, became conflict of interest, yet Dr. McLoughlin received i'vlother Superior of the Ursulines of Quebec and these settlers pleasantly, made them loans and was four times elevated to that position of leader- ministered to their needs. ship. History records her as one of the great teach- The early pioneers were fortunate in that Dr. ers and leaders of the Ursulines, and at her death McLoughlin was in command in the Northwest the citizens of Quebec paid her grateful homage. when they came. It is not that a man less favor- His younger brother was Dr. David, who at- ably inclined could have prevented their settling, tained the greatest distinction of them all. From but he could have greatly increased the hardships the same humble origin he became one of the of their lot which were severe enough at best. greatest physicians in Paris and because of his Dr. McLoughlin resigned his position in 1845, ability was decorated with the Legion of Honor by and built his home in Oregon City. He took oath King Louis Philippe of France who further honored in May, 1849, and made his declaration to become him by making him a court physician. So promi- an American citizen. He died in his home in Ore- nent was he that he married the sister of the Earl gon City, September 3, 1857. of Essex, one of the powerful families of England. As evidence of the feeling of the pioneers toward Dr. John, Dr. David, and their sister Marie Dr. McLoughlin, the Board of Directors of the Louise made a trio probably not equaled in per- Oregon Pioneer Association passed a resolution at sonal accomplishment by any other family of the their annual meeting on January 18-19, i886, ask- period in Canada. ing the Legislature of the State of Oregon to ap- propriate funds "to erect a suitable monument to Reverend Jason Lee the memory of the late Dr. John McLoughlin of Oregon City, and to place it in the State House." JASONLEE was descended from a sturdy Old A committee was appointed to bring this to England and New England ancestry," we are told pass. David P. Thompson was chairman. This by biographer, Cornelius J. Brosnan. committee recommended that a life-size oil por- An old country forebear, John Lee, migrated to trait of the Doctor be painted by William Cogswell. America in 5634, and became one of the early The House Journal of February,,1889, shows settlers of Newton, near Cambridge, Massachu- that this portrait was presented to the State of setts. Oregon at a joint meeting of the House and Senate Daniel Lee, the father of Jason Lee, when a held in the House at 7:30 p.m., all members of both youth of twenty-two years, saw his first Revolu- House and Senate being present. John Minto pre- tionary action, the battle of Lexington. Later sented the portrait on behalf of the Oregon Pio- (June 5776) he enlisted with his brother in the neer Association, and it was accepted by Sylvester Wadsworth Brigade, and went to reinforce General Pennoyer, governor of Oregon, and hung behind \Vashington in his operations in and around New the chair of the president of the Senate where it re- York City, and was in the battle of \Vhite Plains, mained tillit was burned in the fire which de- October z6, 5776, when his brigade suffered losses. stroyed the Capitol building on April 25, 5935. On January 8, 1778, Daniel Lee married Sarah In presenting this portrait John Minto said: \Vhitacre, the daughter of a farmer near the town "In recognition of the worthy manner in of Stafford, Connecticut. Sarah also was descended which Dr. John McLoughlin filled his trying and from old and sturdy New England stock. After responsible position, in the heartfelt glow of a marriage they lived for some years on a farm near greatful remembrance of his humane and noble \Vilhington, Connecticut; but later, probably about conduct to them, the Oregon Pioneers leave this 5798, they migrated to a farm of 400 acres of vir- portrait with you, hoping that their descendants gin timber, near the present town of Stanstead, will not forget the friends of their fathers.... Quebec. WThen Daniel Lee moved north, his land In accepting the portrait on behalf of the State was considered to be part of Vermont, and re- of Oregon, Sylvester Pennoyer, governor, said: mained so until the international survey ran the dividing line between Vermont and the Province ing and addressing various missionary groups of Quebec through this settlement of Connecticut where collections were taken for his work in Ore- and Vermont pioneers. When the line was ulti- gon. The Indian boys drew record crowds. One mately established (1842), Daniel Lee's log house such meeting was held in Lynn, Massachusetts. was north thereof, and, hence, in the Province of The Zion Herald published a graphic account Quebec. thereof in part as follows: In this log house on June z8, 1803, Jason Lee "Last Sabbath evening there was ... an ad- was born, the youngest of fifteen children, nine dress by Rev. Jason Lee, I\Iissionary to the Flat boys and six girls. The father died when Jason was Heads. It was one of the most pleasant meetings three years of age. Jason received his early edu- ever held in Lynn, of a missionary character. cation in the village school in Stanstead. At the Long before the time appointed to commence, age of thirteen, young Lee was self-supporting. He the house was thronged to overflowing, and the followed the occupation of a farmer boy in a new audience hung upon the lips of the speakers with country. As he expressed it, "He was brought up such an interest that it could not be mistaken. to hard work," and "had seen the day when he The collection did honor to Lynn; it amounted could chop a cord of sugar maple in two hours." to $ioo.00." He was converted by a \Vesleyan missionary in i\Ionday, April 28, 1834, the cavalcade headed 1826. In his diary he spoke of his conversion: "I by Nathaniel Wyeth, of which Jason Lee and his saw, I believed, I repented." He continued to work party of four companions were a part, headed out as a manual laborer for three years thereafter or of St. Louis for Oregon. Lee, in a letter written en until 1829. In that year he entered Wilbraham route, said that Wyeth's party was "the most pro- Academy, at Wilbraham, Massachusetts, a rising fane company I think that I was ever in." Methodist institution where "he had the care of En route Lee preached at Fort Hall, "a brief, all the boys in a large sleeping hall," in which Lee but excellent and appropriate exhortation" on had Room No. 13. July 27, 1834, noted as "the first formal Protestant Bishop Osmon C. Baker, classmate of Jason Lee, religious observance to be held in the vast interior leaves the following pen picture of him: lying west of the Rocky Mountains." Captain "Jason Lee was a large, athletic young man, Wyeth remained to finish Fort Hall, and Lee and six feet and three inches in height, with a fully his party proceeded to Fort Boise under the escort developed frame and a constitution like iron. of Thomas McKay, and his Hudson's Bay bri- His piety was deep and uniform, and his life, in gade. From this point they journeyed alone to a very uncommon degree, pure and exemplary. Fort WTalla Walla, arriving September i. While In those days of extensive and powerful revivals, here, \Vyeth and his party rejoined them, and to- I used to observe, with what confidence and gether they proceeded to Fort Vancouver where satisfaction,seekers of religion would place they arrived September i5, 1834, warmly wel- themselves under his instruction. They regarded comed by Dr. John McLoughlin. him as a righteous man whose prayers availed At the suggestion and under the guidance of much; and when there were indications that the Dr. McLoughlin, Jason Lee and his companions, Holy Spirit was moving in the heart of the sin- Daniel Lee, his nephew, and \1essrs. Courtney ner within the circle of his acquaintance, his N. Walker, Cyrus Shepard and Philip L. Edwards, warm Christian heart would incite him to con- located their mission on the east bank of the Wil- stant labor until deliverance would be pro- lamette River, ten miles north of the present city claimed to the captive." of Salem. After graduation at \Vilbraham in 1830, Lee But Lee soon became convinced that he must served as a teacher in the Stanstead Academy and have reinforcements, and among them should be preached in the adjoining towns, and continued in women. this capacity until the opening came to go to Ore- Accordingly on March 26, 1838, Lee started on gon. While contemplating how he was to get to his return trip to New York, carrying with him a Oregon, he saw in a Boston newspaper that Cap- petition signed by thirty-six Americans, including tain Nathaniel Wyeth, of Cambridge, Massachu- every member of the mission. This memorable setts, had returned from Oregon and was planning document is said to have been inspired by Lee. The to go there again the following spring. He hastened petition set forth the virtues of the Oregon Coun- to Boston and arranged to accompany Wyeth on try and its commercial advantages, and urged "the his second trip, which was to leave Independence, United States to take formal and speedy posses- Missouri, in April, 1834. sion." The document is dated March i6, 1838, The meeting with \Vyeth was in November, and was presented to the Senate on January 28, 1833. Between that time and the date set for the 1839, by Senator Linn. This early did Lee interest departure to Oregon, Jason Lee went about New himself in the political welfare of Oregon. England, accompanied by two Indian boys whom On his journey, he spoke at Alton, Illinois, St. Wyeth had brought with him from Oregon, preach- Louis, Carlinville, Jacksonville, Springfield, Pc- oria and Chicago. In New York he impressed the Accordingly, in late November, 1843, Lee bade Board of Managers of the i\Iissionary Society of farewell to his Chemeketa friends and associates the Methodist Church with the importance of and headed for New York with his only daughter, the work. As a result they had him go on three then nearly two years old, in company with Gusta- extended speaking tours, one in and about Phila- vus Hines and wife. delphia and Washington; another in New Eng- He appeared before his board on July i, and land, from Connecticut to Canada, and the third continued to do so until July 50, 1844. In the end, through New York State. He spoke to crowded the board cleared him of the charges which had houses. In Hartford, Connecticut, by way of illus- been preferred by his dissatisfied associates. But tration, "hundreds went away unable to gain ad- it was too late to return him to Oregon. The board mittance into the church"; and thousands thus had previously appointed his successor who was had Oregon and its importance brought to their then in Oregon. attention. Lee left soon afterwards and went to be with a The Missionary Society chartered the sailing sister at Stanstead, his boyhood home. Here he vessel Lausanne to carry a large party of mis- was stricken with an illness from which he died on sionaries (fifty-one persons), and their supplies to March 12, 1845. He was buried in the graveyard Oregon. This group was purely for missionary pur- at Stanstead, where his body remained till on poses. On October 9, 1839, the party set sail. The June 15, 1906, when his remains were moved to Lausanne dropped anchor at Fort Vancouver the Lee I\Iission Cemetery at Salem, Oregon. June I,5840, after a voyage of almost eight On October 26, 1920, an oil painting of Jason months. Dr. McLoughlin greeted them most cor- Lee was presented to the State of Oregon. The dially and entertained them at the Fort, provid- portrait was done by Mr. Vesper George of Boston, ing comfortable accommodations such as a private Massachusetts. The funds for the same were pro- sitting room and special dining tables. vided by the Oregon Conference of the Methodist The site of the so-called "Old Mission" on the Episcopal Church. The portrait was hung behind \Villamette, was fast proving to be unsatisfactory. the chair of the speaker of the House of Repre- It was low, malarial and subject to inundation. sentatives in the State Capitol in Salem, Oregon, Lee had brought with him machinery for both a where it hung until destroyed when the building sawmill and a gristmill. There was no location for burned on April 25, 1935. them at the old mission, while at Chemeketa, ten The portrait was presented by Thomas A. miles to the south, was a stream with sufficient McBride, Justice, Oregon State Supreme Court. water in winter to operate them. Thus it was that He said in part: the machinery for the mills was sent there imme- "The precious jewel of a Commonwealth; the diately. When the sawmill was ready it began to one thing above all others which it should treas- cut lumber for a house for Lee, in 1841, and for ure, is the memory of those grand and self- another house called the "Parsonage," for the sacrificing men and women who laid the foun- teachers; and finally, for the new Indian school dation of its greatness and prosperity. buildings. This later became Willamette Uni- "One of these treasured memories, is the life versity. and work of Jason Lee, the founder of American But soon the mission fell into evil ways. The civilization in Oregon.... Lee combined the Indian population had been depleted by diseases fervor of a missionary, the foresight of a seer, of the white man to which the Indians succumbed and the patriotism of a loyal citizen." in great numbers. Dissatisfaction arose among the The portrait was accepted on the part of the missionaries over their various assignments. Com- State by Ben W. Olcott, governor of Oregon. He plaints continued to reach the missionary head- said in part: quarters in New York. Many of these were from "Unhesitatingly I say that Jason Lee was dissatisfied missionaries who had returned to New Oregon's most heroic figure. By every right of York from Oregon. The letters from the board, achievement, by every right of peaceful con- touching these complaints, convinced Lee that he quest, this portrait of Jason Lee should adorn should return to New York in the hope of making the halls of the Capitol Building in our state, as satisfactory explanations. long as those capitol buildings stand."