two vessels.[1] New efforts were now made to Christianize the Indians of the Willamette, and the following year a branch mission was begun at the Dalles of the Columbia. This became an important station; but the work in the valley did not flourish, for the natives were a sickly, degraded race, almost beyond the reach of aid, and were rapidly dying off.
Parker's tour. Let us now see what was going on in other portions of the Oregon country. The story of the Nez Percés delegation to St. Louis had affected other denominations as well as the Methodists, and in 1835 the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions sent out Dr. Samuel Parker to inquire into the prospects for missionary work among the Oregon Indians. Mr. Parker was accompanied by a pious young physician. Dr. Marcus Whitman. Together they made the overland trip from Liberty, Missouri, with a party of Rocky Mountain trappers. Arriving at Pierre's Hole, they found Indians of several Columbia River tribes, who all seemed anxious to have missionaries settle among them. Thinking, therefore, that the main point was now gained, Dr.
- ↑ The first party arrived in May, and contained Dr. and Mrs. Elijah White, with two children; Mr. Alanson Beers, his wife and three children; three young women, Miss Pitman, who was soon married to Rev. Jason Lee and who died the following year, Miss Susan Downing, who married Mr. Shepard, and Miss Elvira Johnson; and one unmarried man, Mr. W. H. Wilson. The second company, arriving in September, consisted of seven persons: Rev. David Leslie, wife and three children, Miss Margaret J. Smith, and Mr. H. K. W. Perkins.
