Methodist Mission in Oregon facts for kids

The Methodist Mission was a big effort by the Methodist Episcopal Church in the 1800s. They wanted to share Christianity and Western culture with Native American groups in the Pacific Northwest. Jason Lee was the main leader for about ten years. This mission was important for both religion and politics.

The church wanted to help "wandering savages" become Christians and live a "civilized life." Besides the religious missions, they also started businesses. This helped them be independent from the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), which was a powerful trading company back then.

The Methodists were also involved in the Oregon boundary dispute. They helped send messages to the United States Congress. These messages asked the U.S. to take control of the Pacific Northwest south of the Columbia River. The Methodist centers also became important places for American settlers to discuss politics. Mission staff even helped create the Provisional Government of Oregon, a government started by settlers in the Willamette Valley.

Jason Lee's leadership faced criticism. He didn't keep good financial records, so he was removed as superintendent in 1843. To save money, many mission stations were closed, and their businesses were sold in 1844. The main station in the Willamette Valley kept working as a mission. However, it lost some of its importance in the changing politics of Oregon. Even though they didn't convert many Native Americans west of the Rocky Mountains, the Methodist Mission played a big part in the United States expanding westward.

How it Started

In 1832, four Native Americans from the Nez Perce and Salish tribes traveled to St. Louis, Missouri. They wanted to meet General William Clark from the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Their tribes trusted General Clark. They saw him as "the first great chief of the white man to visit their nation." They wanted to ask about a "book" that the Great Spirit had given to white people.

General Clark later said that two of the four Native Americans got sick and died in St. Louis. The other two started their journey home. It was later rumored that one died on the way, and the other made it back. But some people thought both might have died on the journey.

William Walker, a Methodist from the Wydandot tribe, wrote about this visit in a newspaper called Christian Advocate and Journal. This article inspired the Methodist Episcopal Church and other churches. They decided to start missions across the continent in Oregon Country.

President Wilbur Fisk of Wesleyan University was the first church leader to act. He suggested starting a mission among the "Flathead" people. Jason Lee, a former student of his, and his nephew Rev. Daniel Lee volunteered to go to Oregon. Jason Lee was a young teacher from Ontario, Canada. He had already worked with Native Americans there. Bishop Elijah Hedding made Lee a minister. He was put in charge of the new "Aboriginal Mission west of the Rocky Mountains." His job was to preach to the Salish people. The Methodists also got help from a businessman named Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth. He agreed to travel overland with them and ship supplies by sea.

First Years of the Mission

Reverend Lee left Boston for St. Louis in March 1834 with Daniel Lee. They planned to meet Wyeth's group there. On the way, they hired two helpers: Cyrus Shepard from Boston, Massachusetts, and Philip Leget Edwards from Missouri. After crossing the continent, the Methodists met Thomas McKay from the British Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) at Wyeth's new Fort Hall. McKay guided them to Fort Vancouver. This was the main HBC office in what is now Vancouver, Washington.

Lee and his friends were welcomed by Chief Factor John McLoughlin. He was the HBC director. McLoughlin suggested that the Willamette Valley would be a better place to settle than the Flathead area to the north.

When they entered the valley, the Methodists met the Kalapuya people. They lived in the Willamette Valley. Diseases like malaria had been affecting the Kalapuya and nearby Chinookan peoples since 1830. These diseases greatly reduced their populations. Daniel Lee visited different Native American tribes. He reported that they were "the most degraded human beings that we have met." He thought they would soon be "exterminated." It is often said that on September 28, 1834, Rev. Jason Lee gave the first Protestant sermon on the Pacific coast. However, he was actually about fifty miles from the coast.

Mission Bottom Location

Lee didn't follow the mission board's instructions. He set up a mission 60 miles up the Willamette River from where it met the Columbia. This first mission was called the Willamette Mission or Mission Bottom. The missionaries were not trained in building. They slowly built log cabins and a school before winter. Lee said, "Men never worked harder or performed less."

The mission board changed the mission's name to "Oregon Mission" on October 21, 1835. In March 1836, Rev. Lee wrote to Dr. Fisk. He said they needed skilled workers and farmers to help with daily tasks. This led to more people being sent in 1836 and 1837. The Methodists also received a small gift from McLoughlin and other HBC employees. They hoped God would "bless and prosper your pious endeavours."

The Mission Bottom in 1834.

In May 1837, a group of seven adults and four children arrived at Fort Vancouver on the ship Diana. Dr. Elijah White led this group. It included White's wife, William H. Willson, Anna Maria Pittman, Alanson Beers, Susan Downing, and Elvira Johnson. Soon, several marriages took place. Jason Lee married Anna Pittman, and Cyrus Shepard married Susan Downing on June 16, 1837. A second group arrived on September 7, 1837. It included a teacher, Margaret Jewett Smith Bailey, and two more ministers, David Leslie and H. K. W. Perkins.

As more people joined, the missionaries added a large granary and a hospital to Mission Bottom. They also opened a small store. They traded extra manufactured goods for things like lumber or food with French Canadian settlers and Native Americans. The mission also started to protect American immigrants. They appointed a judge and a police officer in 1838. John Sutter visited Mission Bottom for several weeks in 1838 while traveling to Alta California. Lee also preached, performed marriages, and baptized people for the Catholic French-Canadian settlers in French Prairie. There were no Catholic priests in the Willamette Valley yet. So, the Methodists were the first priests to work with the French-Canadians. François Norbert Blanchet and Modeste Demers arrived in the region in 1838. They held the first Catholic mass at the St. Paul church in January 1839.

Mission Growth

By the end of 1837, Lee was leading a group that was divided about his leadership. The group suggested he return east. They thought it "would result advantageously to himself and the mission." Other missionaries also sent a request asking him to resign as superintendent. In March 1838, Jason Lee and Phillip Edwards began a planned visit to the United States. They wanted to find more workers for the mission. With them were two Chinookan teenagers, William Brooks and Thomas Adams, and three of Thomas McKay's sons.

Before leaving, Lee made David Leslie the acting superintendent. The group first visited the new Wascopam Mission as they traveled up the Columbia River. They spent several weeks at the ABCFM missionary posts run by Henry H. Spalding and Marcus Whitman. On this trip, they carried a petition signed by 36 pioneer farmers. These farmers were from both American and French-Canadian communities, along with members of the Methodist mission. The petition asked the United States Congress to create a territory in Oregon south of the Columbia River. The message warned that without the U.S. government's protection, a "good community" would not form. Only "reckless and unprincipled adventurer..." would move to the region.

When they entered the United States in Missouri, a messenger from John McLoughlin told Lee that his wife, Anna Maria Pittman Lee, and their baby had died in June. While the Methodists and Chinooks were giving a speech in Peoria, Illinois, Thomas Adams got sick and stayed there to recover. His stories about the lands west of the Rocky Mountains helped inspire the Peoria Party. Lee also gave talks along the way and on the East Coast. This helped raise $42,000 for the mission. The talks included speeches from William Brooks. Both speakers focused more on getting public donations than on gathering pioneers to move West. The Board continued this idea in an advertisement looking for farmers for the mission. They only wanted "pious" (religious) men. While meeting with the Board, Lee asked for a replacement. However, the Board kept him as superintendent. Other members of the Oregon Mission had often written to the Board about needing to "civilize" Native peoples before converting them. Lee disagreed. He stressed the need for conversion before "civilization."

Jason Lee sailed back to Oregon in 1840 on the ship Lausanne with the "Great Reinforcement." Besides the superintendent, the Lausanne brought 50 people. These included needed skilled workers, teachers, and doctors, along with 12 children. With this arrival, the population of Mission Bottom was forty adults and fifty children. The extra missionaries and helpers allowed for more widespread operations across the Oregon Country. In a meeting on May 10, 1840, the missionaries were given their new jobs. After returning, Lee ordered Mission Bottom to be abandoned. The mission moved to Mission Mill or the Willamette station in what is now Salem. Two new stations were started: the Clatsop Mission and Nisqually Mission. George Abernethy was put in charge of the mission's business services. This allowed Lee to focus on spreading Christianity.

Methodist business activities were at their peak. They opened two timber mills and a grist mill on Mill Creek. These mills cost over $10 a day to run. The main mission store moved to Oregon City in August 1842.

Planned Umpqua Mission

As early as February 1838, Jason Lee thought about starting a mission among the Umpquas. He explored the area but could not contact them. The planned station was near the HBC Fort Umpqua. After the Lausanne arrived, Gustavus Hines and Rev. William W. Kone were assigned to work in that region. A group was formed in August 1840. It included Jason Lee, a Native guide, Hines, and White. They wanted to find a good location for the mission.

At Fort Umpqua, the group was greeted by Jean Baptiste Gagnier and his wife Angelique. Angelique was the daughter of an Umpqua chief and helped as an interpreter. While meeting with the Umpquas, one chief said that their reputation for being "a bad people" was not true. He said they wanted a priest. The Umpquas had a negative reputation after most of a fur trapping group led by Jedediah Smith was killed in 1828. However, the Methodists never opened a station among the Umpquas. Hines decided that the Umpqua tribe, which once numbered several hundred, had been reduced to less than seventy-five people due to disease and wars. He felt that this group was disappearing.

Learning and Schools

When the buildings at Mission Bottom were finished, the Indian Mission School was built. It was used to teach Native American children about Western society. Cyrus Shepard became the first teacher in March 1835. Students came from many different Native tribes. Over the years, these included Kalapuyas, Cayuses, Chehalis, Walla Wallas, Iroquois, Shastas, Tillamooks, Klickitats, Umpquas, Chinooks, and even Hawaiians. Children of French-Canadian settlers and Native wives also attended. Besides helping with farm work, the students also hunted for the mission.

The first class had 14 Native students. During the summer, up to 40 students attended. Over the years, many students died from new diseases. Some also ran away. Relatives of students who died sometimes blamed the Methodists. However, no acts of violence were recorded. Shepard died on January 1, 1840. The school declined without his teaching skills. The school moved to Mission Mill in 1842. A new building was being built there with a budget of $40,000. It was planned to hold up to 300 students.

A song taught to the girls at the school shows how hard it was to teach religious ideas using Chinook Jargon.

After almost ten years, the school's future was uncertain. A review by mission members was not very positive. The best thing they could say was that "quite a number had experienced religion here and died when in school and hopefully gone to heaven." At that time, the students were growing peas, potatoes, wheat, and oats in 34 acres of fields outside the school.

Oregon Institute School

The Oregon Institute founded in 1842.

On January 17, 1842, a group of settlers met at Jason Lee's home in Salem. They formed the Oregon Institute. This school was for the Euro-American children in the area. It later became Willamette University. A board of ten trustees was created. They chose the Wallace House, three miles north of Salem, to be the school. Later in 1844, the school opened in the new building that was meant for Native Americans. Chloe A. Clark Willson was the first teacher. This was considered the first school for European-American children west of Missouri. (Note: Early Oregon histories sometimes said this was the first school for European Americans west of the Mississippi River. But St. Louis Academy was founded by Jesuits in Saint Louis, Missouri in 1818.)

Less Mission Work

In 1841, there was a lot of worry that the mission's money had been "injudiciously managed." Also, Elijah White, John P. Richmond, Gustavus Hines, and other mission members sent criticisms of Jason Lee to the board over the years. While David Leslie supported Lee, it wasn't enough to stop the negative reports. After being asked to explain the mission's financial history, Lee admitted he "was not accountant enough to understand..."

The Methodist Church didn't act until July 1843. Then, Rev. George Gary was appointed as the new superintendent. The board wanted "a more full and satisfactory account of this Mission." They told Gary "to curtail the secular departments of the mission..." In early 1844, Lee decided to meet with the Missionary Board again. While in the Kingdom of Hawaii, he learned from Ira Babcock that he had been dismissed and replaced. Soon after reading the letter, the former superintendent crossed Mexico and reached New York City in May 1844. During a meeting with his bosses in June, it was decided that Lee would not get his position back until a financial report from Gary arrived. Lee started collecting donations for the school he helped form, the Oregon Institute. He died in his hometown of Stanstead on March 12, 1845.

After a meeting on June 7, 1844, with other mission members, Gary decided to stop most of the operations. Only The Dalles and Mission Hill stations would remain open. After selling things off, the mission focused on settlers instead of trying to convert Native peoples. The grain and timber mills were sold for $6,000 to a pioneer who had lived in Oregon for two years. The large herds of horses and cattle brought another $4,200. Most of the land claimed by the Methodists in Oregon City was sold to John McLoughlin for $6,000. The Clatsop mission was bought by its missionary, Rev. Parrish, who settled there. The Indian Labor School building was sold to the Oregon Institute board for $4,000. The Wascopam Mission was sold for $600 to Marcus Whitman in 1847. However, his death in the Whitman Massacre left the post unused. It was returned to the Methodist Mission in 1849.

After reducing mission operations, Gary asked for a new superintendent in August 1845. His replacement, Rev. William Roberts, arrived in June 1847 after starting a church in San Francisco. In 1848, the Methodists created the "Oregon and California Mission Conference." It had six clergy, with four in Oregon. The Methodist Mission of Oregon spent a lot of money. After 14 years, the Methodists had 348 members in Oregon. Most of these were settlers. Before the Oregon and California Conference split in 1852, California already had more Methodist converts than Oregon.

What Lasted

During the flood in 1861, all buildings at the Mission Bottom site were washed away except for the granary and hospital. Today, the site is protected as Willamette Mission State Park. Some of the original buildings from the Willamette station can be seen at the Mission Mill Museum in Salem.

A city street and a cemetery in Salem are named after Jason Lee. A statue of Jason Lee stands in the U.S. Capitol Building's Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C. It is one of two statues given to the state of Oregon.

See also

• Champoeg Meetings