USA > Oregon > History of Oregon, Vol. I, 1834-1848 > Part 9
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Roberts says that Beaver kept a good table, al- though his salary was only £200 a year; but every- thing was furnished him except clothes. He was kind enough to invite the young clerk to dinner frequently, but Roberts thinks the risk imposed upon his soul in
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52
LIFE AT FORT VANCOUVER.
making him sponsor-general to a motley crowd of the vilest of the vile, whom the chaplain insisted on bap tizing in his character of missionary, more than offset the dinners.
While Beaver baptized reluctant heathen, white red, and mixed, in the intervals of his hunting and other amusements, Mrs Jane Beaver held herself scornfully aloof from the wickedness of private life at Fort Van couver. When she had been present about six weeks, there arrived from across the continent two other white women, wives of missionaries also, who re- mained as guests of the company from September to November, and who soon made themselves acquainted with its social life, not in the manner of Mrs Beaver, but in a humble, kindly way, which won for them the deference of every gentleman from the governor down.
Finally, in January. 1837, Mr Beaver had the satis- faction of celebrating the church of England mar- riage-service at the nuptials of James Douglas and Nelia Connolly. McLoughlin too thoroughly despised Beaver to submit to remarriage at his hand, but to quiet the scandal which the chaplain so loved to scatter in Europe, he had the civil rite performed by Douglas in his capacity of justice of the peace. Whereupon, in the nostrils of Mrs Beaver the social atmosphere of Fort Vancouver became somewhat purified of its aboriginal stench, though to the pure- minded and chivalrous gentlemen of the fort the Beavers were far more obnoxious than the aboriginals.
Beaver returned to England in 1838, having been an inmate of the fort a year and a half. His depart- ure was hastened by an unusual outburst of the doctor's disgust. It was the chaplain's duty to for- ward a written report to the London council, which he was required to place in McLoughlin's hands be- fore sending. On reading one of these reports, the contents so incensed the doctor that he demanded an explanation on meeting the writer in the fort yard. The reverend gentlemen replied: "Sir, if you wish
53
AN IMPUDENT CLERGYMAN.
to know why a cow's tail grows downward, I cannot tell you; I can only cite the fact."
Up went the governor's cane of its own volition, and before McLoughlin was aware of it he had be- stowed a good sound blow upon the shoulders of the impudent divine. Beaver shouted to his wife for his pistols, long-barrelled flintlocks; but on reflection con- cluded he would not kill the doctor just then. Next day there was an auction of the effects of Captain Home, drowned in the Columbia; and while the people were gathered there, McLoughlin, by the magnanimity of his nature, was constrained to do penance. "Mr Beaver," said he, stepping up to the chaplain before them all, "I make this public apology for the indignity I laid upon you yesterday." "Sir, I will not accept your apology," exclaimed the chap- lain, turning upon his heel. Beaver went back to England, and the company sent no more chaplains to Fort Vancouver. 42
42 Besides the authorities quoted, materials for this chapter have been gathered from Wilkes' Nar .; Comptons' Forts and Fort Life, MS .; Moss' Pio- neer Times, MS .; Townsend's Nar .; Finlayson's V. I., MS .; Grover's Public Life, MS .; Parrish's Or. Anecdotes, MS .; Ford's Road-makers, MS .; Simp- son's Journal; Tolmie's Hist. Puget Sound, MS .; Crawford's Missionaries, MS .; Strong's Hist. Or., MS .; Smet's Voy .; Good's British Columbia, MS .; Parker's Jour., in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1854; Sylvester's Olympia, MS .; Kane's Wanderings ; Portland Oregonian, Sept. 30, 1854; Scenes in the Rocky Mountains ; Palmer's Journal ; Overland Monthly, viii. The scene between McLoughlin and Beaver was related by an eye-witness.
CHAPTER III.
SETTLEMENT OF OREGON.
1832-1834.
THE FLATHEADS AT ST LOUIS-THEY ASK FOR MISSIONARIES-INTEREST RAISED AMONG RELIGIOUS PEOPLE-THE CHURCHES ROUSED-ACTION OF THE METHODIST BOARD-JASON AND DANIEL LEE CHOSEN MISSIONA- RIES-WYETH CONSULTED JOURNEY OVERLAND FROM INDEPENDENCE -- PREACHING AT FORT HALL-ARRIVAL AT FORT VANCOUVER-VISIT TO THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY - MISSION SITE CHOSEN - REASONS FOR ABANDONING THE FLATHEAD PLAN-THE FRENCH CANADIANS-CAMPE- MENT DU SABLE-HALL J. KELLEY-SOMETHING ABOUT THE MEN WHO CAME WITH LEWIS AND CLARKE, THE ASTOR EXPEDITIONS, WYETH, KELLEY, AND EWING YOUNG.
ABOUT the year 1832 four native chiefs from the region round the head waters of the Columbia ap- peared at St Louis asking for Mr Clarke, of the Lewis and Clarke expedition, then resident Indian agent at that place. Their fathers had told them of his visit to their nation. From various sources, from the praise of pious travellers and the oaths of impious trappers, they had learned of the white man's God, and the book which he had given. And now, would the great white chief grant their prayer and send religious men to point their people the way to heaven ? It was promised them according to their request. Soon after two of them sickened and died; of the other two, one met death during his return, and the other reached his people and reported.1
1 Such is the story, simplified from many conflicting statements, and pre- sented in the form of reason and probability. There is no doubt in my mind as to the truth of the matter in the main, though it has been denied by some. As to the date and general incidents, Shea, Cath. Miss., 467-see also White, in Oregon Spectator, Nov. 12, 1846-states that since 1820 the Flat-
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55
A CALL UPON CHRISTENDOM.
This incident, heralded through the press, elaborated in the pulpit, and wrought into divine and spiritual forms by fervid religionists, who saw in it the finger of God pointing westward, awakened general interest in that direction. Moved by inspiration, they said, and in obedience to the order of a council of chiefs, these messengers had come from beyond the Rocky Mountains, travelling thousands of miles, and under- going many hardships and dangers; and in the accom plishment of this sacred work they had yielded up their lives. Among others the Missionary Board of the Methodist Episcopal Church was importuned to establish forthwith a mission among the Flatheads.
heads and Nez Percés had been Christian at heart, the result of instructions in the Catholic faith by certain educated Iroquois who found their way to them. The Flathead chiefs were in the habit of assembling every year at the Bitter Root River, whence in 1831 a deputation of five chiefs was sent to St Louis to obtain priests. None of the five reached their destination, and others were sent; but the bishop had no priests to spare. John W. York of Cor- vallis, in a private communication dated April 25, 1876, to J. Quinn Thorn- ton, which is embodied in Thornton's Hist. Or., MS., makes the number five, and the date of their arrival at St Louis Sept. 17, 1830. All other authorities place the number at four, and the date at about 1830 or 1831. Evans, Hist. Or., MS., 209, and Atkinson, Spalding, and others, make the date 1832. The inessengers were generally called Flatheads; though some say Nez Percés; and Smith, in the Boston Missionary Herald, Aug. 1840, intimates that they were Spokanes, and that six started, two turning back. Thornton, Or. and Cal., ii. 21, states that ' two natives were permitted to pass in company with a party of Capt. Sublette's trappers, from the Rocky Mountains to the Indian agency of the late Major Pilcher, and thence to St Louis.' Pilcher himself asserts, if we may believe Kelley, Settlements of Oregon, 63, that 'four thoughtless and sottish Indians accompanied Capt. Sublette's party of hunters to his, Pilcher's, agency. They seemed to have no particular object in travelling. Sublette refused to let them proceed farther in his company, unless they would there obtain a passport, showing a good reason for a visit into the States. Mr Pilcher furnished the Indians with a reason and excuse for their visit to St Louis.' Whatsoever the truth of all this, the Catholics claim to have been the first teachers of the natives of that region. John W. York, himself a Methodist elder, asserts in the letter just quoted that he was summoned, in company with two brother Methodists, McAllister and Edmundson, to an interview with Clarke in relation to the Indian delegation just then arrived. York, whose statement I take with some degree of allowance, says that on that occasion Clarke assured him 'that he was a Roman Catholic, but that the Methodist travelling preachers were the most indefatigable laborers, and made the great- est sacrifices of any men in the world.' He further remarked that Catholic priests could teach the mysteries of religion, but Methodist ministers taught practical piety and husbandry, and the two united would be the best arrange- ment he could think of. 'From Clarke's house we went to the conference room and reported the interview. With closed doors the conference accepted the general's proposition, and resolved, if possible, to send a missionary to Oregon. As to the fate of their messengers some say that all died, two at St Louis and the others on their way back.
50
SETTLEMENT OF OREGON.
The voice of Wilbur Fisk was heard rousing the churches.2 And to no one more than to Hall J. Kelley, the Oregon enthusiast and the religious fanatic, did this curiosity of the simple savages appear as the immediate work of the Almighty, and the incident greatly aided his efforts. His schemes multiplied; his pen worked with new vigor; he urged the preachers of the Word not to confine their efforts to the moun- tains, but to descend the broad River of the West to the Canaan there awaiting them, and unite earthly empire with heavenly enlightenment.3
In answer to the call appeared before the Metho- dist board two men, sometime from Stanstead, Can- ada, first Jason Lee, and afterward his nephew, Daniel Lee, offering themselves as laborers in this western field, and were accepted. They were formed of good material for pioneer missionary work; the former had been engaged in similar labors in the British provinces, and he presented striking characteristics, carrying them on the surface; qualities pronounced, which made the presence of the possessor felt in any society in which he happened to be placed. He was now, in 1833, made member of the Methodist con- ference, and ordained deacon, and later, elder.
At the time of his appointment to a position destined to be more conspicuous in Oregon's history than at that time he could have surmised, Jason Lee was about thirty years of age, tall, and powerfully built, slightly stooping, and rather slow and awkward
2 So declared the missionaries themselves. See Lee and Frost's Ten Years in Or., 109-13; Hines' Oregon Hist., 9. A highly wrought account appeared in March 1833, in the New York Christian Advocate and Journal, then the leading organ of the Methodists.
3 Indeed, if Mr Thornton, Or. and Cal., ii. 21, is correct, 'as early as the year 1831, the Methodist Board of Missions had been induced by Mr Kelley to determine upon sending Messrs Spalding and Wilson as missionaries to the Indians of Oregon, but the expedition which they proposed to accompany having been broken up, they changed their destination, and went to Liberia.' And Kelley himself says: 'In the year 1832, I published several articles in the Zion's Herald'-see affidavit of the editor, W. B. Brown, Jan. 30, 1843- ' calling for missionaries to accompany the expedition, and two years after, Jason and Daniel Lee were sent to commence missionary labors on t .. e Wal- lamet.'
57
JASON AND DANIEL LEE.
in his movements; of light complexion, thin lips closely shut, prominent nose, and rather massive jaws; eyes of superlative spiritualistic blue, high, retreating forehead, carrying mind within; somewhat long hair, pushed back, and giving to the not too stern but positively marked features a slightly puritanical as- pect; and withal a stomach like that of an ostrich, which would digest anything. In attainments there was the broad open pasture of possibilities rather than a well-cultivated field of orchard, grain, and vine land. He believed in the tenets of his church; in- deed, whatever may become of him, howsoever he may behave under those varied and untried condi- tions which providence or fortune hold in store, we may be sure that at this beginning, though not devoid of worldly ambition, he was sincere and sound to the core. Strong in his possession of himself, there was nothing intrusive in his nature. Though talking was a part of his profession, his skill was exhibited as much in what he left unsaid as in his most studied utterances. Frank and affable in his intercourse with men, he inspired confidence in those with whom he had dealings, and was a general favorite. If his in- tellect was not as broad and bright as Burke's, there was at least no danger of the heart hardening through the head, as with Robespierre and St Just. Un- questionably he was a little outside of the ordinary minister of the period. Some would have said he lacked refinement; others that his brusque straight- forwardness was but simple honesty, unalloyed with clerical cant, and stripped of university gown and sectarian straitlace. We shall find him later delighting in his manhood; and while he would not so darkly sin as to quibble over his creed, forest freedom proved a relief from the prison walls of prescribed forms.
The nephew, Daniel, was quite a different charac- ter, less missionary or man complete than supplement to the uncle. Like Boswell beside Johnson, measured beside his colleague, the form and character of Daniel
58
SETTLEMENT OF OREGON.
assume larger proportions than they are really entitled to; he was in truth a desiccated Dominie Sampson, that later stood as a butt before the wits of Fort Vancouver ; a thin, bony form, surmounted by thin, bony features beaming in happy, good-natured unconsciousness of his lack of knowledge, particularly of knowledge of the things of this world. He was a pious Pierrot, a man in stature, but a child in mind and manners. Yet this personage had his admirers, to whom the faults of mind and body beside the more finished forms of the ungodly were but the graces of awkwardness; just as the constrained motions of the hero, who having lost a limb in battle now hobbles on crutches, appear to the worshippers of war the poetry of motion as compared with the amblings of the effeminate city fop.
Together at this outset they were well enough mated, though when they talked religion in company their discourse was as interesting and instructive as would be the witnessing of an interview between Father Tom and the Pope. Often sensitiveness is the enemy of success; bravery in brass wins where polish fails. Not that Jason lacks bravery; for as courage was needed it came to him with high resolve and all attendant sacrifice, over which there was no thick covering of ass's hide. But in both, tensely strung, were expectation, will, and conscience; and there were thousands who of each with Cicero would say, "Homo sine fuco et fallaciis."
A missionary meeting was held in New York the 10th of October, 1833, to arrange for the early de- parture of the volunteers; and six days after, the sum of three thousand dollars for an outfit was voted by the board. It was then further decided that two laymen should be selected to attend and assist the missionaries; and the latter were to begin their work at once by travelling and raising funds, preaching the crusade as far south as Washington, then working
59
THE THREE ASSISTANTS.
west to join some company of fur-traders for the Flathead country the following spring.
Frequent and fervid meetings were thus held in every quarter, and on the 20th of November there was a farewell gathering at the Forsyth-street church, New York, Bishop Hedding presiding. Though Methodist in attendance and tone, it is well to note here, as showing the general feeling, that the meeting was addressed by Doctor McAuley of the Presby- terian church, and by others of different denomina- tions.
At this juncture, and before the missionaries had left New York; tidings were received of the arrival at Boston of Nathaniel J. Wyeth from his first at- tempt to establish a trading post on the lower Colun- bia.4 With him were two Indian boys from beyond the mountains, to whom now attached more than ordinary interest by reason of the leaven working in the community. By orders of the board Jason Lee at once visited Wyeth and obtained information con- cerning western parts, particularly in regard to fields for missionary enterprise. Lee's attention was thus directed to the natives of the Lower Columbia, as well as to those of the upper country; and since the Columbia River Company, as Wyeth and his asso- ciates styled themselves, was about sending a vessel round Cape Horn, Wyeth himself proceeding across the mountains in the spring to meet it, opportunity was thus offered the missionary men, not only to for- ward their supplies by water, but to secure the neces- sary escort for their proposed overland journey.
The two laymen finally chosen to accompany the Lees were Cyrus Shepard of Lynn, Massachusetts, thirty-five years of age, and Philip L. Edwards, a Kentuckian by birth, lately of Richmond, Missouri. Courtney M. Walker, also of the place last mentioned, was engaged for a year, for pecuniary consideration, to
4 For full accounts of Wyeth's first and second expeditions and efforts, see Hist. Northwest Coast, this series.
60
SETTLEMENT OF OREGON.
assist in establishing the mission. Edwards was a young man, not yet twenty-three, of rather more than ordinary attainments, and a lover of order and refine- ment. His constitution was delicate, his temperament nervous, and his disposition amiable. He loved good company, and enjoyed the ludicrous, but his good sense prevented him from becoming an example of it, like Daniel Lee. A frontier man, he knew how to conform to the crudities of pioneer life, for which by nature he was not very well adapted. While possessed of a high moral sense, he was not religiously inclined, nor did he ever consider himself in that sense a member of the mission. Cyrus Shepard, on the other hand, was devoted to religion and a missionary at heart. He was a little older than the elder Lee, tall, and fine looking, yet of a scrofulous tendency and feeble health. The other member of the mission party, Walker, was still less than Edwards a missionary, being business agent. Like Edwards, he was young, of good ante- cedents, but of greater physical powers; he was the only one of the party who became a permanent settler in the country.5
Leaving New York early in March 1834, Jason Lee proceeded west, lecturing by the way. Daniel followed him on the 19th, and was joined by Shepard at Pittsburg. As they approached St Louis Shepard hastened forward, took charge of the mountain outfit, and proceeded by boat up the river to Independence, the rendezvous. The Lees made the journey from St Louis on horseback, meeting Edwards and Walker at Independence. Wyeth was there before them, and before setting out they were joined by Sublette. There were present also two scientists, Townsend and Nuttall.
The expedition, as it filed westward the 28th of April, consisted of three distinct parties, numbering in
5 Townsend speaks of them as ' three younger men, of respectable standing in society, who have arrayed themselves under the missionary banner chiefly for the gratification of seeing a new country, and participating in strange adventures.'
61
ON THE WAY.
all seventy men, with two hundred and fifty horses. First were Wyeth and Sublette, with their respective retainers, and in the rear the missionaries, with their horses and horned cattle. Proceeding slowly they crossed the Kansas River, then by the forks of the Platte and the Laramie, past Independence Rock, arriving at Green River and the rendezvous at the end of two months.
On the way the elder Lee conducted himself so as to command the respect of all, religious and irre- ligious. The character of the man unfolded in beauty and fragrance under the stimulating prairie sun. No discipline of lecture-room, general ministration, or other experience could have been so valuable a prep- aration for the duties awaiting him at his destina- tion as the rude routine of these overland days. It seemed to him as if his theological sea had suddenly become boundless, and he might sail unquestioned whithersoever the winds should carry him. It was delightful, this cutting loose from conventionalisms, for even Methodist preachers are men. Not that there was present any inclination toward a relaxation of principles, as is the case with so many on leaving home and all its healthful restraints; on the contrary, he felt himself more than ever the chosen of God, as he was thus brought nearer him in nature, where he was sustained and guarded by day, and at night infolded in his starry covering. Fires, both physical and mental, blazed brightly, and he was not one whit behind the most efficient of this company in willingness, ability, and courage.6 Nor were his asso- ciates broad-collared, long-haired, puritanical prayer- mongers, but wide-awake, hearty, and sympathetic men, bent on saving souls and having a good time.
An incident characteristic of the man was told of
6 ' Looks as though he were well calculated to buffet difficulties in a wild country.' The horses stampede and some one must go for them. 'This party was headed by Mr Lee, our missionary, who with his usual promptitude vol- unteered his services.' Townsend's Nar., 24, 37.
62
SETTLEMENT OF OREGON.
Jason Lee by eye-witnesses: Noticing on one occa- sion that a cow belonging to his herd was suffering from the burden she carried, he stopped to milk her, and in so doing fell behind the company. The cry of ' Indians !' was raised. " Mr Lee ! Mr Lee! They will be on you !" his men shouted. Jason turned his eyes in the direction of the rising dust which marked the ap- proach of the savages, then slowly said, "Unless the Lord will it otherwise this cow moves not until her load is lightened," and continued his milking till the arrival of the band, which proved to be friendly Nez Percés instead of terrible Blackfoot. So all through the journey, which was pleasant and profitable, men- tally, to the missionaries, Mr Lee stood ever as ready to minister to the comfort of his dumb beasts, and to the bodily necessities of his men, as to hold forth in abstract spiritual propositions, though he did not fail to preach as occasion offered.
For example, service was held at Fort Hall on Sunday, the 27th of July, which was not only at- tended by Wyeth's men, but by the fur-hunters of the vicinity, and notably by a body of Hudson's Bay Company people, half-breeds and Indians under Thomas McKay, who, owing to the Sunday training at the forts, were exceptionally devotional. It was a grand and solemn sight, these rough and reckless children of the forest, gathered from widely remote quarters, with varied tongues and customs, here in the heart of this mighty wilderness, the eternal hills their temple-walls, and for roof the sky, standing, kneeling, with heads uncovered, their souls bowed in adoration before their one creator and governor. What these same devout worshippers were doing an hour afterward, drinking, trafficking, swearing, and stabbing, it is needless to detail. Man is oft an irrational animal, and we are least of all to look for reason in religion.
The following Wednesday the missionaries con- tinued their westward way, driving with them their
63
LOCATING THE MISSION.
cattle, which must needs have time and travel leisurely, while Wyeth remained to complete the fort which he was building, that is to say, Fort Hall. With the Lees were now Stuart, an English captain travelling in the Rocky Mountains, and McKay, who sent some Indians forward with them to Walla Walla, where they were again joined by Wyeth. Leaving there the cattle, they were transported by barge to the Dalles, where they took canoes, most of which were demolished at the Cascades. The greater portion of their effects were by this time lost; and in a be- draggled condition, in advance of the others, Jason Lee presented himself at Fort Vancouver. When the remainder of his party arrived, the 16th of Sep- tember, he stood at the landing beside McLoughlin to receive them.
The brig May Dacre, Wyeth's vessel, on which were the tools and goods of the missionaries, had for- tunately arrived and was lying, as before mentioned, at Wapato Island. The immediate consideration was to locate a mission. Jason and Daniel Lee had strictly observed the upper country as they passed through it, and had conversed freely with its inhabitants. Mean- while, among other places, they had heard much of the valley of the Willamette, and entertained a strong desire to behold it before establishing themselves. Therefore, after a brief rest, leaving the three lay- men at Fort Vancouver, they proceeded thither, Mc- Loughlin kindly furnishing them horses, provisions, and men to accompany them. The route taken was the one then common to trappers, by canoe to Thomas McKay's farm, situated a little way up a small creek that fell into the Multnomah, and from this place with horses, passing over a high ridge, several miles in extent, to the Tualatin Plains, through a series of gently rolling prairies, divided by groves of fir and oak. Beyond the plains was found what they describe as a delightful hilly tract, several miles in
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