The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1867-10-19
For the State Rights Democrat.
LECTURES BY REV. h. II. SPAULDING
EARLY Oregon W Natssions---Their Ina-
portanee in Occurring the Counv
try 10 Americans, "a .t-s
NuMBER THIRTY.

nara nt work NJ MS post on the shores OF tht
, Multnomah, ten miles below Salem, assisted
by his devoted associates, Edwards, Shep
herd and Daniel Lee. II will be remembercc
that Mr.. Lee, Of Canada under the direction
and patronage of the Methodist Missior
Board at New York, had left the UniteC
States in,April, 1884, under convoy of Capt
Wyeth's Rocky Mountain caravan, to com
mence mission among the Flat Head and
Nez Perees Indians, in answer 10 that re.
markabe call from those tribes for that
" Book of God, and men to teach it, " made
by that delegation OF four Indians, whC
reached st. Louis from FER the Rocky Noun
tains. in 1882. But Mr. Lee, after travers
! ing the great interior, and crossing tht
mountains, came TO the same conclusion en-
tertained by every mountain trader and trap
per, and Of Catlin, the great Indian traveller
that white women could not endure the tolls,
hazards and privations Of the overland
route, and abandoned the idea of the Ne7
Perces country as n starting point and be.
ing permitted By his instructions, pushed on
down TO the lower COLUMBIA TO get in reach
of shipping. And on reaching the valley oi
the Mnltnomah he saw at once the value Of
the choice he had made, and blessed God for
thus directing his steps. lie saw (the gloomy
representations Of the III. b. Co., 10 the con.
tuAh lAI W
valley would, Mt no very distant day, be the
theatre Of white settlements, where his mis-.
sion establishments would be right in place
among his countrymen. Mr. Lee made up
his report 10 the Board in New York accord.
ingly, and sent for his lady missionaries Ia
come around Cape Horn, rs the overland
Journey could not be endured by white wo.
men. But God, as npendous events have
proved, had determined that these vast gold
| helds--for ages hid from tho eyc of man
should DO developed in these last days, and
by American hands, TO be ready in part for
the great national debt now upon us, and in
part to speed on the gospel wheels of salva.
ton. For this end, these vast, unknown, !,
wild regions must be settled by American
settlements, but the pioneer settler from the
Western States could not drive his ok team
around Cape Horn or through the Straits oi
| Magellan. To reach Oregon, an cmigrant
route over the mountains and across tho dcs-
crts must be had and God chose his own
means, how simple how eheaplil TO ac.
cOmplish that work. Not John Jacob As.
tor with his immense wealth and iron will,
not the United States with her boastirg
trumpet, nor yet the Methodist church, with
her thousands of devoted sappers and miners
| all these had tried and failed but four lndi.
ans from the Rocky Mountains, two white
women and one white man. Of the preshyicr.
ian church not the gold of the Indies, or Of
thewnrld, but two words from the mouth of
| theirbel0yed Jesus. - 20 teach.
/ Mr., Lees lady missionaries, sailing via
/ Cape Horn and the Hawaii Islands. after a
voyage Of nearly twenty thousand miles,
PASSED the then much dreaded bar 0f the
| Dolambia river, and reached Vancouver AIay
/ 1887, ten months after our ladies en- cred
Oregon by the Sonth Pass. and eight months
after they had reached that post Too much
praise and admiration cannot be awarded %
these heroic and devoted women who thus
took their lives in their hands. bid farewell
TO the civilized world and its home comforts,
and chccrfully faced the hazards Of that long
voyage. to come 10 the help of the devoted
/ Lee, and his little band, in their most iaud.
able efforts 10 amcliorate the moral condi.
tion of the native tribes 10 kindlc the fame
Of civilization on these then dark shores
| The arrival of these well educated and &c.
cumplished ladies in the Willamette valley,
was an event Of the greatest value, not to the
/ little band Of missionaries only, but To the
/ little settlement Of white men from all parts
of the world, mostly discharged servants Of
the ii. b. Co., and rangers from the mount.
aims with Indian wives. The arrival Of the
missionary ladies seemed to invigOratc and
give new life even TO the clements; the ut.
mosphere seemed TO be breathed mere freely,
and the sun 10 give a new light in the cabin,
as the white man looked around upon his
Indian wife, in her Indian trinkcts, and his
! half breed children. who now had bright
prospect before them. lie saw at once the
contrast between the present and his boy.
| hood days and felt as never before, the great
4 Ia L. z.
character and honor his race fit his half
Indians and half civilized home and child
rem for the devoted attentions Of these newly
arrived guardians Of civilized society, and
manfplly perform his part in building up a
| pertinent civilized community. which he
saw fairly commenced. And well did many
of these men with Indian families, do their
part in laying the foundations Of the early
settlements, in securing good order, encour.
aging schools, stimulating enterprise, in de.
Tending the equal rights Of the Americans
with the British, and IN the protracted aud
| bitterly opposed, but successful labors 10 es-
tabIish- the Provisional Government, How
the warmest gratitude and earnest admira.
ton, is due the memory of those early mis-
sionary women, who have fallen or are yet
laboring at their posts, from the hundreds Of
thousands now in their happy homes on this
coast, enjoying the abundant fruits of their
early self sacrifices and hazards, their tears
and prayers.
The Rev. Jason Lee may we'll be counted
the father Of American settlements on this
coast. The principal agent in the organi-
zation and stability of the infant govern
ment the instigator of that vastly import
ant and successful cattle enterprise, to Cal
ifornia in 1887, which resulted, by the per-
severance of Mr.. Lee. and the aid of Capt
Slocum, of the U. S. Navy, in bringing $50
head of cattle into the Willamette valley, in
spite of the Indians, who attacked them on
the Shasta mountains, and tho H. b. Co.,
who opposed the measure from the beginning.
These cattle were distributed among the set
tiers according to the articles of the compact,
and laid the foundation for rapid accumu.
lation of wealth and comfort in the country.
The pioneer ladies who were sent out BY
the Mission Board of the M. e. Church at
New York, were the much esteemed Mrs
Beers, Mrs, Wyeth, Miss Pitman, Miss
Downing and Miss johnson, These fye
ladies and DR.. E.iWihte; M. Beers and Dr.
| Wilson. constituted the first reinforcement
Of Mr. Lees mission. He was again rein
forced four months later by the arrival of
DR.. Leslie and wife and three daughters, the
Rev. Mr.. Perkins and Miss Smith in the
ship Sumatra, nine months from Boston.
Two years later very large reinforcement
to this mission of SO adult persons and l6
children, from the conferences of New Eng
| land, New York, Illinois and North Carolina,
sailed from New York in the ship Lausanne,
Capt Spalding, and arrived at Vancouver
June lst, 1910,