Page:Portland, Oregon, its History and Builders volume 1.djvu/253

Rh had the Protestants, although he was then a member of or at least followed the practices of the English established church. It was his custom to read the service of that church on Sundays to a congregation of officers and employes at Fort Vancouver. He became a member of the Catholic church in 1842, and for the rest of his life was a consistent and devoted Catholic.

After the death of Dr. McLoughlin there was 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 received. 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 climate, that it was the finest portion of North America for the residence of civilized man. He evidently had determined to make Oregon his home for life, and with this in view, in 1829, he located his land 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 Hudson'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 citizens, some of these were free trappers, who wished to stop their nomadic careers, a few of Wyeth's two unsuccessful ventures, and other adventurers. 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 the fur trade of his company, and he had also been informed by the directors of his company as early as 1825 that Great Britain did not intend to claim any part of the Oregon country south of the Columbia river.

Until after the year 1840, Dr. McLoughlin was a very happy 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 salary 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 great fervor delivered lectures, collected moneys, and enlisted new missionaries, clerical and lay, to go to Oregon, ostensibly to convert the Indians, but in reality, as he said in his verbal report to the missionary board in July, 1844, "When the board sent out its last reinforcement (in 1840), its object in my view, and I believe in theirs, was that Methodism should spread throughout Oregon; for what purpose else, I ask, did so large a number of laymen go out?" A ship, the Lausanne, was chartered, loaded with goods, machinery and merchandise to establish mills and stores for mercantile purposes. The moneys raised for these purposes amounted to $42,000. This ship carried as passengers thirty-six missionaries, men and women, and sixteen children. It is usually called "The Great Reenforcement." The Lausanne arrived at Fort Vancouver June i, 1840. Dr. McLoughlin sent a skilful pilot, for the captain of the ship did not have any reliable chart of the river. He sent fresh vegetables, milk, and a large tub of butter from Fort Vancouver. On their arrival there Dr. McLoughlin supplied rooms and pro-