Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 7.pdf/286

280 of the mission work, assigned them to their different stations. On June 15 he appointed Dr. John P. Richmond, of the party, to establish a mission at Nisqually, near Puget Sound, now in Pierce County, Washington. Doctor Richmond was the first American man with a family to become a resident north of the Columbia River. Mr. Lee had visited and selected the place for this mission in 1838. The first American child born in the Puget Sound Country was a son of Doctor and Mrs. Richmond. The entry in the family bible reads:

"Francis Richmond, son of John P. Richmond and wife, America, was born at Puget Sound, near Nisqually, Oregon Territory, on the 28th day of February, Anno Domini 1842, and was baptized by Rev. Jason Lee, Supt. of Oregon Missions."

It seems inexpressibly sad even yet that the beloved wife of Mr. Lee should have so prematurely ended her earthly career in 1842, and that his own life ended almost exactly three years later, just apparently in the beginning of his great usefulness.

Jason Lee would have graced any position of honor and responsibility to which the American people might have called him, and would have risen equal to any emergency. The splendid institution of learning here in Salem, with its long, honorable, and highly useful career, is a fitting monument to the man. No mausoleum erected here to mark his resting place could be too elegant or costly to properly express the love and appreciation of the people for him and his memory. But his grandest monument is the splendid character he builded, of which we get an occasional glimpse for our edification and inspiration. He was modest, unassuming, one of the quiet, forceful souls, devoted in every fiber to a great work. The everlasting snows on Mount Hood are not purer nor fairer than the unsullied personal character he left behind.