Page:History of Oregon volume 1.djvu/114

Rh cattle, which must needs have time and travel leisurely, while Wyeth remained to complete the fort which he was building, that is to say, Fort Hall. With the Lees were now Stuart, an English captain travelling in the Rocky Mountains, and McKay, who sent some Indians forward with them to Walla Walla, where they were again joined by Wyeth. Leaving there the cattle, they were transported by barge to the Dalles, where they took canoes, most of which were demolished at the Cascades. The greater portion of their effects were by this time lost; and in a bedraggled condition, in advance of the others, Jason Lee presented himself at Fort Vancouver. When the remainder of his party arrived, the 16th of September, he stood at the landing beside McLoughlin to receive them.

The brig May Dacre, Wyeth's vessel, on which were the tools and goods of the missionaries, had fortunately arrived and was lying, as before mentioned, at Wapato Island. The immediate consideration was to locate a mission. Jason and Daniel Lee had strictly observed the upper country as they passed through it, and had conversed freely with its inhabitants. Meanwhile, among other places, they had heard much of the valley of the Willamette, and entertained a strong desire to behold it before establishing themselves. Therefore, after a brief rest, leaving the three laymen at Fort Vancouver, they proceeded thither, McLoughlin kindly furnishing them horses, provisions, and men to accompany them. The route taken was the one then common to trappers, by canoe to Thomas McKay's farm, situated a little way up a small creek that fell into the Multnomah, and from this place with horses, passing over a high ridge, several miles in extent, to the Tualatin Plains, through a series of gently rolling prairies, divided by groves of fir and oak. Beyond the plains was found what they describe as a delightful hilly tract, several miles in