Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/469



THE ("ENTEXNTAL HISTORY OF ORIOCiON :!0

who caiiie in 1836. Aiuoug the latter was Dr. Jlarcus Whituiaa ami wife. Al- though none of these missionaries were of his religious faith, i)r. McLoughlin treated them with the greatest hospitality and kindness. He assisted and pro- tected them from all troubles and perils from the Indians. The missionaries who came later received the same kindly treatment and assistance. The first Cath- olic missionaries came to Oregon in 1838. These, too, he assisted as he had the Protestants, although he was then a mendjer of or at least followed the practices of the English estahlished church. It was his custom to read the service of that church on Sundays to a congregation of officers and employes at Fort Van- couver. He became a member of the Catholic church in 1S42, and for the rest of his life was a consistent and devoted Catholic.

After the death of Dr. ilcLoughlin there w-as found among his private papers a document in his own handwriting probably written a short time before his death, setting forth what he had done in Oregon and the treatment he had re- ceived. It is one of the important contributions to the history of early Oregon. It was presented to the Oregon Pioneer Association. It is published in full in the "Transactions" of that association for the year 1880, on pages 46-55. In this document he says that he early saw from the mildness and salubrity of the cli- mate that it was the finest portion of North America for the residence of civi- lized man. He evidently had determined to make Oregon his home for life, and with this in view, in 1829 he located his laud claim at the falls at Oregon City, where there is a large and excellent water power. He encouraged the French- Canadian employes whose services with the Hud.son 's Bay Company had expired, to settle in the Willamette Valley. The first settler located a land claim near Champoeg in 1829. He furnished these settlers with wheat, seeds and necessary supplies at low prices to enable them to be successful, loaned them cattle and bought their crops of wheat at a good price. It was the beginning in Oregon of farming and of home life, outside of the Hudson's Bay Company. To this colony of settlers there added from time to time a few persons, mostly American citi- zens ; some of these were free trappers, who wished to stop their nomadic careei's, a few of Wyeth's two unsuccessful ventures, and other adventures. All these were treated by Dr. McLoughlin with the same kindness and consideration he had extended to the French-Canadian settlers. He felt certain that these settlers would not interfere with he fur trade of his company, and he had also been in- formed by the directors of his company as early as 1825, that Great Britain did not inteucl to claim any part of the Oregon country south of the Columbia river.

Until after the year 1840. Dr. jMcLoughlin was a very happ.v and prosperous man. In that year he was fifty-six years of age. He was happily married. His children were coming to maturity ; he had accumulated a fortune, and his salaiy was $12,000 a year and the country was to his liking. Few men at his time have brighter prospects for a happy old age. He had planned to erect mills on his land claim and live there when he retired from the service of his company.

In 1840 the Oregon missions, particularly in the Willamette valley, were a failure. Most of the Indians had died from epidemics in the years 1829-1832, and the few who were left in that valley were a miserable lot. They would not be converted, or if converted, stay so. But in the fall of 1838, Rev. Jason Lee went to the eastern states and with sircat fervor delivered lectures c