Willamette Mission Site
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Hikes to this destination:
- Willamette Mission Loop Hike (TH | <— —> | LOG)
- Weather forecast: NWS/NOAA
- Maps: Oregon Hikers Maps Google Maps
- Latitude, Longitude: 45.08406, -123.04402
- Elevation: 100 feet
Description
Missionary Jason Lee's original directive from the Methodist Church was to establish a mission to the Flathead Indians of the Rocky Mountains. Disregarding these instructions, Lee continued west with some of his party and, in 1834, settled on the east shore of what is now Mission Lake, in an area which became known as Mission Bottom.
Other missionaries soon began to arrive and a small mission store traded with local French Canadians and the Kalapuyan natives. However, the latter had recently been devastated by smallpox and other infections and experienced 90 percent mortality. With few souls to convert, Lee moved to Salem in 1840 and later turned his missionary zeal to white settlers beginning to arrive in the Willamette Valley. The mission buildings were destroyed by the Great Flood in 1861.
Today, a plaque across Mission Lake from the original site tells the story of these first English-speaking settlers. "Ghost building" frames mark the actual site. Descendants of roses bushes planted by the missionaries still grow here.
More Links
- Methodist Mission (Wikipedia)
- Jason Lee (Salem Online History)
- Notable Oregonians: Jason Lee - Missionary, Pioneer (Oregon Blue Book)
- Great Flood of 1862 (Wikipedia)
Contributors
- bobcat (creator)