Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 23.djvu/393



METHODIST REPORTS WILLAMETTE MISSION 343

A second reinforcement, consisting of Rev. D. Leslie, his wife and three children; Miss Margaret Smith and Rev. H. K. W. Perkins, sailed from Boston on the 20th of January, 1837, and reached their place of destination in September of the same year. Early in the ensuing year a mission was commenced at the Balls, on the Co- lumbia River, about eighty miles above Vancouver. This project seems to have had the general concurrence of the mission family. Daniel Lee and H. K. W. Perkins were assigned to this field.

About this time a general consultation was held with the missionaries on the subject of the enlargement of the work in Oregon; and in view of the multiplication of mission stations, and the wants of the country, they advised the Rev. Jason Lee to make a visit to the United States and to use his influence to secure the men and means for the successful prosecution of the work. Mr. Lee yielded to this request, and accordingly left for the United States in the month of April, 1838. He was ac- companied by Mr. Edwards of the Mission, Mr. Ewing of Missouri, and two Indian boys of the Chinook tribe, which he brought with him to this country.

Mr. Lee arrived in New York in the autumn of the same year, and a meeting of the Board, held on the 14th of November, he was present and stated at length the object of his visit. He urged with much earnestness the importance of extending the work in Oregon, and in view of this he plead with great zeal the necessity of sending to that country a large addition to the mission family. He also stated that it was essential to the pros- perity of the mission that it should be furnished with the means of supplying itself with food, buildings, etc., and that all the necessary apparatus for agricultural and mechanical purposes should be sent out by the Board. To meet all these demands would of course require a very heavy outlay; and on this account, as well as for other reasons, some members of the Board, and many true