Independence, on the frontiers of Missouri, which is a place of general rendezvous before starting for the mountains, where they met Capt. Wyeth and his party, on the 24th of April, 1834.

On the 25th, the expedition left Independence, and commenced their wearisome and perilous journey across the Rocky Mountains, and on the 20th of June they arrived at the general rendezvous of the American Fur Traders on Kane's Fork, which is a branch of the Colorado of the West.

Here they continued till the 2nd of July, to recruit their jaded animals, and then proceeded on, and on the 15th, arrived at a place on the Snake river, west of the mountains, where Wyeth and his men built a trading station, which he called Fort Hall. Here the missionaries tarried until the 30th of July; and as Capt. Wyeth was detained longer for the purpose of finishing his fort, the mission party resolved to proceed, in company with Mr. Thomas McKay and Capt. Stewart, and on the first day of September they arrived in safety at Fort Walla Walla, on the Columbia river. They ascertained, on their journey down from Fort Hall, that the Flat Head tribe of Indians was not only very small, but very disadvantageously situated for the establishment and support of missionary operations among them; and this brought them to the determination to proceed down to the lower country, to find a more eligible site for the location of their mission.

Leaving their horses at Walla-Walla, they proceeded down the Columbia in one of the Hudson's Bay Company's boats, and after a tedious voyage of eleven days, against strong head winds, they arrived in safety at Vancouver on the 15th of September, and the following night slept under a roof, for the first time for one hundred and fifty-two nights. Worn out with the excessive labor and fatigue of their long journey, they could well appreciate the kind hospitality with which they were entertained by the gentlemen of the Fort; but they gave themselves but two days to rest, and to consult with their hosts, who were well acquainted with

all the Indian tribes, concerning the object they had in view; and on the 18th, J. and D. Lee were off on an exploring tour through the country, to "make observations relative to the best location for the mission.'

Examining the Wallamette valley and other portions of the country, they returned to Vancouver on the 27th, still undecided as to the proper place to make the location.

The merits of the different portions of the country were considered, the Flat Heads, the Nez Perces, the Kayuses, and other tribes, were faithfully reviewed, but to the exclusion of all others, the Wallamette valley was strongly recommended by Dr. John McLaughlin and the rest of the gentlemen of Vancouver, as the most eligible place for the establishment of the centre of their operations.

ever

On Sunday, the 28th, Jason Lee preached twice at Vancouver, to a congregation of English, Irish, French, half-caste, &c., which were the first sermons preached in the place, and doubtless the first that many of the people had ever heard.

It was finally decided, "after much prayer for direction as to the place," to locate the mission in the Wallamette valley, and as the brig May Dacre had safely arrived in the Columbia with the goods belonging to the mission, measures were immediately taken to receive them from Capt. Lambert, and convey them to the place selected for the station. The brig lay at the mouth of the Multnomah, or lower mouth of the Wallamette, and the site for the mission was seventy-five miles up the river; but, after "much toil and hard labor," Mr. Lee succeeded in getting up all the goods, and they were landed on the mission premises on the 6th day of October.

The rainy season was commencing, and as they had no house to shelter either themselves or their goods from the inclemency of the weather, they went immediately to work to prepare logs, &c., to build a house. The rain fell in torrents long before their house was erected, yet they labored constantly during the day, and

at night were obliged to lie down together in a small tent, scarcely large enough to contain them, and, wrapped in their wet clothes, seek a few hours' repose to prepare them for the toils and storms of the ensuing day. Their house was 32 feet by 18, and on the 3d of November they moved their goods into it, though they had put on but ten feet of the roof. So soon as they got their house thus partly covered, they began to receive Indian children into their family, with the design of establishing a mission school, and also to labor for the spiritual benefit of all the Indians, and the few French people who had settled in the country. Meetings were established at the house of Mr. Joseph Gervais, and held every Sabbath, the principal attendants being French and half-caste.

On the 14th of December, Mr. Jason Lee visited Vancouver, where he preached, and baptized four adults and seventeen children. In consideration of these services he received, in donations, from the gentlemen of the company, the sum of twenty dollars, for the benefit of the mission. During the winter of 1835, the missionaries were alternately employed in improving their house, procuring supplies, preaching the gospel, and teaching the Indian and half-caste children to read and write.

Thrown entirely upon their own resources, in the spring, to guard against future want, they commenced cultivating the ground. There was no alternative; they must do so, or starve. While they saw some fruits of their labors in other respects, this department of their work, during the summer, was greatly prospered, for in the fall, after they gathered in their crops, they found themselves with a good supply of wheat, peas, oats, and barley, and two hundred and fifty bushels of potatoes in their cellar. This, with six barrels of salmon which J. Lee purchased fresh of the Indians at the Wallamette Falls, and salted with his own hands, and took up the river to the mission, furnished them with the means of subsistence for the following year.

Soon after the missionaries first arrived, Mr. Cyrus Shepard was employed at Vancouver, to teach the chil

dren belonging to the Fort, but losing his health, he was obliged to leave his school. On the 1st of March he ascended the river in company with Mr. Lee, and from that time remained on the Wallamette station.

Late in August a circumstance happened which shows to what dangers the missionaries were exposed. A boy whose Indian name was Ken-o-teesh, belonging to the Si-le-lah tribe, was received into the mission in April, and died on the 19th of the following August. A few days after his death, his brother came to the mission, determined to seek revenge for the death of Ken-oteesh, by taking the life of Daniel Lee and Cyrus Shepard. He remained over night, and was prevented from accomplishing his design only by the interposition of an Indian who accompanied him. Bent upon glutting his vengeance on somebody, he crossed the river, and fell upon a band of unarmed Indians, and savagely murdered several of them.

In the month of September, nearly the whole mission family were attacked with the intermittent fever, and the mission house was converted into an hospital, without an attending physician. A scene of distress now presented itself, and our missionaries not only suffered personally, but were obliged to descend to the most menial services, in waiting upon the Indian children, for whose comfort they manifested the utmost care.

Mr. Daniel Lee and Mr. P. L. Edwards left the mission premises the last of September, the former for Vancouver to obtain medical aid, and the latter to embark on board the Brig May Dacre for the United States. Remaining awhile at Vancouver without benefit to his health, Mr. Lee, by the advice of Dr. McLaughlin, embarked on board one of the Hudson's Bay Company's ships, bound for the Sandwich Islands, and in consequence of this, Mr. Edwards relinquished the idea of leaving the country at that time, and returned to the mission, and late in October established a school for the winter, at Campment du Sable, or Champoeg. To provide for future contingencies, the missionaries sowed that fall twenty-seven bushels of wheat.

On the 26th of November, the Rev. Mr. Parker a Presbyterian Clergyman from the State of New York, arrived at the mission, where he was most cordially received. He had been sent out by the A. B. C. F. M. to explore the country, and ascertain the most eligible. site for a mission. He remained at the station two days only, when he returned to Vancouver. Dr. Marcus Whitman accompanied him over the Rocky Mountains, but on arriving at the Snake river, the doctor returned to the States for the purpose of inducing the Board to appoint missionaries forthwith to Oregon.

The enlargement of the mission family by receiving Indian children from time to time, rendered it necessary, at the close of this year, for the missionaries to build an addition to their house, 32 by 16 feet. This they did principally with their own hands. In reviewing the year, the missionaries found cause for thankfulness in the success which had attended their labors, though they had been called to pass through some trying scenes, and to meet with many discouragements. They had received fifteen children into the family, of whom four had died, and one had been dismissed, leaving ten under their instruction. These were making rapid progress in manners, science, and useful labor; and by the blessing of God the missionaries had a sufficiency of wholesome food for themselves and the children.

In February, 1836, hearing it rumored abroad that certain Americans, who had arrived in the country, were about to commence the manufacture of rum, and fearing, from a knowledge of the material of which the Oregon community was composed, that intemperance would sweep over their field of labor, the missionaries invited the settlers to the mission house, and formed the Oregon Temperance Society, the first organized west of the Rocky Mountains. Three only, besides the members of the mission, signed the pledge at first, but subsequently the number increased to eighteen.

About the first of March a vessel arrived in the Columbia from the Sandwich Islands, bringing intelligence that the health of Daniel Lee had much improved, but