A Seed is Planted

Hall Jackson Kelley's propaganda had planted a seed in the American mind that would eventually blossom into the great western migration of the 1800s.  The seed took root in the mind of Nathaniel Wyeth of Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Wyeth was in the ice business and one of Kelley's earliest supporters.  A young man of energy and determination, he though he might reap a fortune in the vast Oregon wilderness.

By 1831, Wyeth had formed a stock company with 30 others who shared his vision. He gathered a group of men for the expedition to Oregon Country across land, while a supply ship would sail around Cape Horn and meet them on the Pacific Coast.  No specific purpose for the venture was outlined, but they intended to find "opportunities."

In the spring of 1832, Wyeth's party of 24, reached Independence, Missouri.  In October they arrived at Fort Vancouver - the first party of westbound Americans to travel what would become known as "the Oregon Trail".

The news upon arrival was not good.  The supply ship was lost.  The rest of Wyeth's party, dissolved the stock firm and most of them went back home to Massachusetts and were never heard from again.  One man, John Bell, decided to remain in the Oregon Country to teach Indian wives and children of French Canadian trappers.  Two other men, Solomon Smith and Charles Tibbets became farmers in the Willamette Valley, joining a small group of retired Hudson Bay employees. These men were the first American "residents" in Oregon Country.

Wyeth, meanwhile, still dreamed of wealth.  He organized a second expedition which also ended in failure, but it bore fruit.  Several missionaries who were with Wyeth in 1834, believed they were answering a call, not only from God, but from the Indians themselves.

The story goes...back in 1831, three Nez Perce and one Flathead Indian had accompanied a fur caravan to St. Louis.  People had never seen Indians like these before and it created quite a stir.  Rumors started that the Indians had come to recruit missionaries for the salvation of their people's souls.  It was published in the national Methodist magazine and read from 100s of pulpits, generating 1000s of dollars for missions to the Northwest to save Indian souls!

Next time - Jason Lee hears the call
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Today in Pioneer History:  On December 30, 1853, for the price of $15 million, later reduced to $10 million, the United States acquired approximately 30,000 square miles of land in what is now southern New Mexico and Arizona thereby establishing the southern US boundary.