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at present, for the sake of example, to attend strictly to the mental and physical instruction of these 'Neophytes'." 8
While it appears that this custom arose, in part at least, from the necessities of their situation, there can be no doubt but that the missionaries had a true appreciation of the im- portance of this type of training- for the Indians. In view of the Westward movement of the white man it was evident that the Indian would have to meet new conditions of living. Hence, a change from the hunting state if society to that of agricul- ture was very essential for the Indian if he was to have a chance to rise above the uncertainties of his mode of existence and to enjoy the greater security incidental to entering upon a higher plan of physical living and well being.
Their appreciation of the need caused this phase of the work to be given a very definite part of their attention. This fea- ture was observed by Jefferson Farnham during his visit in 1839. He says : "Every one [at the mission] appeared happy in his benevolent work: Mr. Daniel [David] Leslie, in preach- ing and superintending general matters [This was during the time Jason Lee was on a trip east seeking mission reinforce- ments] ; Mr. Cyrus Shepard, in teaching letters to about thirty half-breed and Indian children ; Mr. J. C. Whitecomb, in teach- ing them to cultivate the earth; and Mr. Alanson Beers, in blacksmithing for the mission and the Indians, and instructing a few young- men in his art." 9
These mission leaders did not work out the theories of industrial training from the view point of scientific educational theory, for such theories belong to a more recent generation, but they truly met the educational need of their field. Both the fact that the missionaries had come to regard the industrial teaching as part of their mission, and the effectiveness of their work, was shown in the impression made upon Mr. Slacum who expressed his feelings in a formal letter addressed to the members of the mission just before he left the Oregon country in January 1837. Part of his letter reads: "I shall not hesi- tate to express my humble opinion that you have already ef- fected a great public good by practically showing that the
8 Report on Oregon, by Wm. A. Slacum, given to Congress December 18, 1837, (Reprinted by Ore. Hist. Quart.).
9 Farnham: Travels, Vol. II, p. 210.
