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an essential part of the mission work, and involved so many phases other than merely formal class instruction, we might well count all of the first missionaries as teachers. But the one who was especially chosen for that work, and the one who devoted all of his time to it, was Cyrus Shepard.
This missionary teacher was born at Acton, Massachusetts, August 14th, 1798, of sturdy American farmer parents. His father was a veteran of the Revolutionary War. Most of his youth was spent in the village of Philipston, where he sought to secure an education in the common district school under far from encouraging conditions. But his love of learning caused him to make the best of his circumstances to the extent that after fitting himself to teach, he took one of the small district schools near his home town. His friend and biographer, Z. A. Mudge, says of him: "Mr. Shepard's literary qualifications for teaching were not eminent, but sufficient for all that he engaged to do . . . for his extreme conscientiousness and great industry led him thoroughly to investigate whatever branch of education the good of those placed under his care required him to know; and what he himself knew, he toiled unsparingly to impart to others." 15 He was so conscious of the great weight of responsibility which rested upon him as a teacher who had power to influence young life as he would, that he spent much time in prayer, seeking divine guidance that his influence would mold worthy lives. No small part of his success as a teacher is due to those elements of his char- acter which caused one who knew him to say: "He was one of those few who retained in manhood the artlessness, the sympathy, and kind feelings of a child, combined with the maturity and energy of a man." 16
The journey to Oregon was not undertaken from any de- sire for adventure on the part of Cyrus Shepard. He literally tore himself away from, those that he loved because he felt that Christian duty called upon him to make that needful sacrifice. 17 At the time of his leaving for the Oregon country,
15 Mudge: p. 21.
1 6 Mudge: p. 23.
1 7 Most of these details are drawn from the book written by Mudge, which has been so often quoted in this work. While written primarily for children, its source value is large, for Mudge knew Shepard personally, knew his family and a number of his associates. He had the use of Shepard's diaries and letters.^and those of some of his co-workers. One of the original diaries is in the keeping of Willamette University.
