The Methodist Mission was the Methodist Episcopal Church's 19th-century conversion efforts in the Pacific Northwest. Local Indigenous cultures were introduced to western culture and Christianity. Superintendent Jason Lee was the principal leader for almost a decade. Two years after the mission began, the church's Board of Foreign Missions described its intent to reclaim "these wandering savages, who are in a very degraded state, to the blessings of Christianity and civilized life." Alongside the missions founded in the region, several secular operations were opened. These were maintained to allow for material independence from the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), then the preeminent economic entity in the region among European descendants.
The Methodists were active participants in the Oregon boundary dispute. Members of the mission were part of sending three petitions to United States Congress requesting that the United States extend its jurisdiction over the Pacific Northwest south of the Columbia River. The Methodist stations became important centers for local European-American politics as well. Staff took part in establishing the Provisional Government of Oregon, a settler organization based in the Willamette Valley.
Jason Lee's leadership was criticized by members attached to various posts; his failure to provide adequate financial accounting led to his dismissal in 1843 as superintendent. To reduce the financial burdens on the church, many mission stations were abandoned and the commercial activities were sold off in 1844. While the main station in the Willamette Valley remained active in missionary efforts, it no longer held as much prominence in the changing political scene of Oregon. Despite failure in converting the natives west of the Rocky Mountains, the Methodist Mission played a significant role in the westward expansion of the United States of America.
Background In 1832, four Nez Perce Indians and Salish (also known as Flatheads) traveled to St. Louis, Missouri. They sought out a meeting with General William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition per the instructions of their tribe. General Clark was trusted, having met with their fathers and hearing the stories of his greatness from them. They viewed him as "the first great chief of the white man to visit their nation" and wanted to inquire about the "book of which they were informed by the hunters, which the Great Spirit had given the white man to teach them his will." General Clark was asked about the event two years later and recounted that two of the four had fallen ill and died while still in St. Louis. The other two embarked on the return journey home with word eventually returning that one had died during the voyage and the other had made it to his destination. There was speculation as to how truthful this ending of the story was and that both had likely perished along the way.
The visit of St. Louis by the delegation was announced by William Walker, a Wydandot Methodist, who published an article in the Christian Advocate and Journal. The editorial inspired the Methodist Episcopal Church and other churches to begin the first transcontinental missions in Oregon Country.Horner, John B. (1919). Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature. The J.K. Gill Co.: Portland. President Willbur Fisk of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut was the first church leader to respond, by advising the establishment of a mission among the "Flathead" people.Hines, Harvey K. Missionary History of the Pacific Northwest. Portland: Marsh Printing Co. 1899 A former student of his, Jason Lee, and his nephew Rev. Daniel Lee volunteered to serve as ministers in Oregon. Jason Lee was a young teacher from Ontario, Canada and was involved in missionary work to Indians in that region. Bishop Elijah Hedding ordained Lee into the New England Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, now the United Methodist Church. He was appointed superintendent of the newly created "Aboriginal Mission west of the Rocky Mountains" to preach to the Salish.Whaley, Gray. Oregon and the Collapse of Illahee U.S. Empire and the Transformation of an Indigenous World, 1792-1859. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010. The entrepreneur Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth was contacted by the Methodists to travel overland with his party and to ship supplies around Cape Horn on Wyeth's ship May Dacre, a proposition he agreed to.
Early years The now Rev. Lee left Boston for St. Louis in March 1834 with Daniel Lee, to rendezvous with Wyeth and his group. Along the way two laypersons, Cyrus Shepard from Boston, Massachusetts, and Philip Leget Edwards, from Missouri were hired by Daniel to accompany them. After crossing the continent the Methodists met Thomas McKay of the British Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) at Wyeth's recently created Fort Hall. McKay guided the group all the way to Fort Vancouver, headquarters of the HBC Columbia District, in what is now Vancouver, Washington. Lee and his companions were greeted by Chief Factor John McLoughlin, district director of the HBC. McLoughlin recommended the Willamette Valley as a better spot for settlement than the area to the north where the Flathead lived.Skinner, Constance L. Adventurers of Oregon: A Chronicle of the Fur Trade. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1920
Upon entering the valley, the Methodists came in contact with the Kalapuya, residents of the Willamette Valley. Epidemics of malaria had begun to afflict the Kalapuya and neighboring Chinookan peoples of the Lower Columbia region starting in 1830, and continued throughout the decade.Boyd, Robert. "Another Look at the 'Fever and Ague' of Western Oregon." Ethnohistory 22, No. 2 (1975), pp. 135-154 While accurate reports of population numbers of local indigenous peoples are few, the diseases certainly decimated their populations. Upon visiting the various indigenous tribes of the Lower Columbia region, Daniel Lee reported that they were the "most degraded human beings that we have met", and concluded that "the time is not far distant when the last deathwail will proclaim their universal extermination." It is often said that on September 28, 1834, Rev. Jason Lee preached the first Protestant sermon on the Pacific coast, yet, to be precise, he was perhaps fifty miles from the Pacific coast.
Mission Bottom Lee ignored the missionary board's instructions and set up a mission located 60 miles up the Willamette River from its junction with the Columbia. The original mission became known as either the Willamette Mission or Mission Bottom. Missionaries untrained in manual labor slowly built log cabins and a school before the first winter set in. Lee remarked, "Men never worked harder or performed less." At the request of the superintendent, the Board changed the Mission's designation to "Oregon Mission" on October 21, 1835.Gatke, Robert M. "A Document of Mission History, 1833-43." Oregon Historical Quarterly 36, No. 1 (1935), 71-94 In March 1836, Rev. Lee wrote to Dr. Fisk telling of the need for tradesmen and farmers to relieve the staff of temporal duties. This resulted in additional members being sent in 1836 and 1837. In the same year the Methodists received a small donation from McLoughlin and other employees of the HBC, hoping that God would "bless and prosper your pious endeavours."Carey, Charles. "The Mission Record Book." The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society 23, No. 3 (1922), 230-266
Arriving in May 1837 at Fort Vancouver on the ship DianaShirley, Gayle. More than Petticoats: Remarkable Oregon Women. Helena, Montana: Falcon Publishing Inc. 1998, p. 24 was a party of seven adults and four children under the leadership of Dr. Elijah White. Included in the party was White's wife, William H. Willson, Anna Maria Pittman, Alanson Beers, Susan Downing, and Elvira Johnson. Several marriages were soon contracted, with a double marriage ceremony of Jason Lee to Anna Pittman and Cyrus Shepard to Susan Downing occurring on June 16, 1837.Corning, Howard M. Dictionary of Oregon History. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. A second group consisting of a teacher, Margaret Jewett Bailey, and two more ministers, David Leslie and H. K. W. Perkins, arrived at the Mission on September 7, 1837.
As the number of members increased, missionaries added a large granary and hospital to Mission Bottom and eventually a small retail store was opened. Surplus manufactured goods were traded for items such as lumber or food stuffs with the French Canadian settlers and the Native Americans.Chapman, J. S. "French Prairie Ceramics: The Harriet D. Munnick Archaeological Collection, circa 1820-1860: A Catalog and Northwest Comparative Guide." Anthropology Northwest 8. (1993) The mission also began to provide for the protection of American immigrants in the area by appointing a magistrate and constable in 1838. John Sutter, while traveling to Alta California, visited the Mission Bottom over several weeks in 1838. Lee also preached and performed marriages and baptisms for the Catholic French-Canadian settlers of the French Prairie. There were no Catholic priests yet in the Willamette Valley, thus the Methodists were the first priests to engage the French-Canadians. François Norbert Blanchet and Modeste Demers reached the region in 1838 and held the first mass at the St. Paul church in January 1839.Blanchet, Francis Norbert, and Edward J. Kowrach. Historical sketches of the Catholic Church in Oregon. Fairfield, Wash.: Ye Galleon Press, 1983.
Expansion By the end of 1837 Lee was leading a community divided about his leadership. The community advised him to return to the east as it "would result advantageously to himself and the mission."Allen, A. J. Ten Years in Oregon, Itchaca: Mack, Andrus, & Co. 1848 Additionally a petition was sent to him from fellow missionaries advising he resign as superintendent. In March 1838, Jason Lee and Phillip Edwards began the planned visit to the United States to recruit more laborers for the mission. With them were two Chinookan teenagers christened William Brooks and Thomas Adams along with three of Thomas Mckay's mixed race sons.Lavender, David. Land of giants; the drive to the Pacific Northwest, 1750-1950. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1958. Before departing Lee appointed David Leslie as acting superintendent. The group first visited the newly opened Wascopam Mission as they traveled up the Columbia. While waiting on an escort of the HBC headed to the annual rendezvous the party spent several weeks at the ABCFM missionary posts ran by Henry H. Spalding and Marcus Whitman. On this journey they carried a petition signed by 36 pioneer farmers from both the American and French-Canadian communities along with members of the Methodist mission asking the United States Congress to create a territory out of Oregon lying south of the Columbia River. Without the protection of the American government, a "good community" would not form and only "the reckless and unprincipled adventurer..." would move to the region the address warned.