Heeding the Call

Leading Wyeth's missionary call was 30 year old Jason Lee and his nephew Daniel, both clergymen, along with three layman.  They were charged by the Methodist Board of Missions with locating the supposedly brutal Flatheads who were assumed to flatten their infants foreheads. The Board ordered Lee and company to "live with them, learn their language, preach Christ and introduce schools, agriculture, and the art of cultural life."

The problem was John McLoughlin of the Hudson Bay Company (remember him?) wanted no American missionaries in the interior because Indian resentment might disrupt the beaver trade.  He didn't think he could protect white settlers in remote mountain valleys either.  He sent Lee to the Willamette Valley instead where there were already whites - and maybe a few Indians needing salvation too?

Once settled in Willamette Valley, Lee established a mission school near Salem, Oregon today.  It was a perfect spot for an American colony in Lee's eyes.  He decided his vision was more earthly with the superb soil, moderate climate and trade routes easily accessible.  Hall Jackson Kelley's hopes were reborn in Jason Lee...

Next time...The Great Reinforcement
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Today in Pioneer History: "On January 2, 1890 President Harrison welcomes the first female staffer to the White House, Alice Sanger. Alice Sanger’s appointment may have been an olive branch to the growing women’s suffrage movement that had gathered momentum during Harrison’s presidency

Oregon and the Mythical River

Walker and his men left Green River on July 27, 1833, reaching Bear River 4 days later where Walker had spent the spring and winter trapping, and where he knew a buffalo range on the western edge.  Here they stayed for a week, making buffalo jerky (60 per man) which was an Indian custom of survival.

Walker added another 20 men for a total of 60 men.  They made Great Salt Lake by mid-August which Walker scouted out for the outlet of a large river which was marked on an old map he had called "Buenaventura".  Supposedly the river flowed out to the Pacific Ocean from the Great Salt Lake, but Walker found no trace of it and it was then removed from all maps.

Next time...Take a Joke, Joe 

So Much for Duck Patrols

Around the Kalamath Lake in Oregon during the 1880s ducks were such a menace to farmers that patrols attempted to exterminate the wild fowl in California and Oregon.  Ironically northern California and Oregon today provide one of the most populous ground in the entire world for wild geese, duck and phesants.  Guess those duck patrols didn't do much good...quack quack