Willamette Station Site- Methodist Mission in Oregon

Following the Lewis and Clark expedition and contact with other European explorers and traders, the Nez Perce sent representatives to St. Louis to learn more about the religion of these newcomers. News of their visit to General William Clark was widely reported by the Methodist press in New England and seen by the church as a “Macedonian Cry” for missionaries in the far West. In 1833, the Revered Jason Lee was ordained as “Missionary to the Flathead Indians” and charged with setting up a mission in the Oregon Country. accompanied by four men (Lee’s nephew Rev. Daniel Lee, teacher Cyrus Shepard and laymen Courtney Walker and Philip Edwards), the men traveled overland with trader Nathaniel Wyeth, several naturalists and fur trappers. They arrived at Fort Vancouver on September 15, 1834 and were soon convinced by Dr. John McLoughlin to settle in the Willamette Valley.