and set out to hunt for him. After two days' search they returned without him; but the doctor came in soon after their arrival, worn out, nearly starved, and half-crazed by the hardship and excitement of being so long lost. Dr. Whitman left Fort Bent on the 7th day of January, 1843.'"
II
Letter of D. P. Thompson
Portland, Or., Feb. 6, 1900.
Hon. P. W. Gillette.
Dear Sir,—From early in the '50s until 1864, I was much in company with General A. L. Lovejoy, of Oregon City. I have very often heard him relate the incidents of the trip made in the fall and winter of 1842. and 1843 from the Whitman Mission to Bent's Fort, on the head waters of the Arkansas River, in company with Dr. Marcus Whitman. The emigration of the fall of 1842, headed by Dr. Elijah White, and with whom Mr. Lovejoy also came, brought letters to the Oregon people, among which were letters for Dr. Whitman, informing him of the intention of the American Board of Foreign Missions of Boston to discontinue the missions in "the Oregon country." When Dr. Whitman read these letters, notwithstanding the lateness of the season, he at once decided to go East and prevent it, if possible. In an interview with Dr. White and Mr. Lovejoy, they tried to dissuade the doctor from so hazardous a trip, but to no purpose. He was determined. Mr. Lovejoy, who at that time was a strong young man, and cared little where he went, so there was a field of adventure, was not hard to persuade to accompany the doctor. Dr. Whitman was anxious to have Mr. Lovejoy go, as he was from Boston, was related to some of the leading families there in the mission work, and his influence through them might be a great help to secure the continuation of the Oregon missions. So it was decided to go at once. They had the company of some mountain men as far as Fort Hall, which place they soon reached. Captain Grant, manager of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Hall, tried to persuade them to abandon the journey, on account of the lateness of the season and the danger from the hostile Sioux and other Indians, but
