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Jason Lee papers

  • Mss 1212
  • Collection
  • 1834-1845

Collection consists of the personal and professional papers of Reverend Jason Lee. The papers date from 1834 to 1845. Included are Lee’s diary of his overland journey to Oregon and the construction of his mission with entries dating from 1834 to 1838; an 1844 report Lee made to the Methodist Missionary Board; miscellaneous papers related to the illness and death of Lee in 1845; and fragments of an undated biography of Jason Lee likely written by Harvey Kimball Hines. The collection also contains a folder of Anna Maria Pittman Lee's correspondence dated from 1834 to 1835.

Jason Lee was born on June 28, 1803, in Stanstead, Quebec. After his ordination in 1834, Lee and his nephew, Daniel Lee, journeyed overland to Oregon with the intention to establish a mission to minister to the Flathead Indians. He instead established his mission in the Willamette Valley near present-Day Salem, Oregon, in territory that was home to bands of the Kalapuyan people. Lee returned east in 1838 to justify his decision and recruit reinforcements for the Willamette mission, as well as missions at The Dalles and Clatsop plains. In 1840, The Great Reinforcement, a group of 51 men, women, and children, arrived in Oregon on the ship Lausanne in response to Lee’s promotion in the East. In 1843, Jason Lee participated in the founding of Oregon's provisional government and Willamette University. Lee was relieved of his missionary post in 1844. Lee married Anna Maria Pittman, who died in 1838, and then Lucy Lee who died in 1842. Jason Lee died on March 12, 1845.

Lee, Jason, 1803-1845

Watercolor sketch of the ship Lausanne, 1839

  • Mss 5285
  • Collection
  • 1838

Watercolor sketch of the ship Lausanne painted by missionary Hamilton Campbell during his journey by ship from New York to Oregon in 1839. The collection also includes a typescript document signed by Ben Campbell Holladay explaining the provenance of the painting.

Campbell, Hamilton, 1812-1863

Speech at an Annual Conference of Missionaries

Handwritten document, possibly part of a speech or sermon given at an annual conference for missionaries. Multiple pages are missing. The writer speaks of Reverend Jason Lee's journey to Oregon to do God's work. The writer welcomes his audience to the church and to the conference and urges them to follow in Reverend Lee's footsteps and continue his Christian work. [The writer uses language common to justifying the nineteenth century missionary movement, including using disparaging and inaccurate terms and/or descriptions of Native peoples.]

"Flat Head Indian Missionaries."

Typed article written by Samuel Dickinson for Zion's Herald, a Methodist publication. Written in Louisville on March 28, 1834 and published in Zion's Herald on April 30, 1834. Dickinson writes that Reverend Jason Lee arrived in Louisville on March 22, 1834 while on his way to Oregon to become a missionary to the Flathead Indian tribe. The article sums up a missionary meeting in which Lee addressed a small crowd. Lee shared his views of the Flathead Indian tribe, and of the destruction that the white man's introduction of alcohol had caused. The article concludes by stating that Lee left for St. Louis on March 26, 1834. [Lee originally intended to do missionary work among the Flathead Indian tribe, but the area where he eventually settled in the Willamette Valley, near present-day Salem, was home to bands of the Kalapuyan people. Dickinson uses language common to justifying the nineteenth century missionary movement, including using disparaging and inaccurate terms and/or descriptions of Native peoples.]

Dickinson, Samuel

Letter from E.W. Sohon to the Editors of Zion's Herald, 1834

Typed letter by E.W. Sohon to the editors of Zion's Herald, a Methodist publication. Written in St. Louis on April 11, 1834 and published in Zion's Herald on May 21, 1834. Letter is titled, "Flat Head Mission." Sohon writes that Reverend Jason Lee and other missionaries have arrived in St. Louis on their way to Oregon to build the Flathead Indian mission. He writes of Lee addressing a meeting, and of Lee's views concerning the importance of missions and the work they undertake with native tribes. Daniel Lee, nephew of Jason Lee, and other speakers echo these beliefs. [Lee originally intended to do missionary work among the Flathead Indian tribe, but the area where he eventually settled in the Willamette Valley, near present-day Salem, was home to bands of the Kalapuyan people. Sohon uses language common to justifying the nineteenth century missionary movement, including using disparaging and inaccurate terms and/or descriptions of Native peoples.]

Sohon, E. W.

Letter from Jason Lee to the Christian Advocate and Journal, April 29, 1834

Typed letter written by Reverend Jason Lee to the Christian Advocate and Journal. Written at the Shawnee Mission on April 29, 1834 and published in the Christian Advocate and Journal on June 13, 1834. Letter is titled, "News from Rev. Jason Lee." Lee wrote this letter shortly after his departure from Independence, Missouri as he began his journey on the Oregon Trail to become a missionary in Oregon. He writes of the difficulties he had in finding an adequate crew of men to accompany him on the Oregon Trail. Page 2 of this document was written at a later date, on May 2, 1834. It quotes Mr. Lee's observations of the native tribes in Kansas as he travels on the Oregon Trail. [Lee used language common to justifying the nineteenth century missionary movement, including using disparaging and inaccurate terms and/or descriptions of Native peoples.]

Lee, Jason, 1803-1845

Letter from Jason Lee to the Christian Advocate and Journal, June 25, 1834

Typed letter written by Reverend Jason Lee to the Christian Advocate and Journal. Written in the Rocky Mountains on June 25, 1834 and published in the Christian Advocate and Journal on October 3, 1834. Letter is titled, "Flat Head Mission." Lee wrote this letter as he traveled on the Oregon Trail to become a missionary in Oregon. It summarizes his journey thus far, through the months of May and June, much of it along the Platte River. Subjects include Lee's observations of local native tribes, including the Pawnee and Nez Perce. Other subjects include the landscape, weather, and buffalo. [Lee originally intended to do missionary work among the Flathead Indian tribe, but the area where he eventually settled in the Willamette Valley, near present-day Salem, was home to bands of the Kalapuyan people. Lee used language common to justifying the nineteenth century missionary movement, including using disparaging and inaccurate terms and/or descriptions of Native peoples.]

Lee, Jason, 1803-1845

Letter from Jason Lee to the Corresponding Secretary of the Missionary Society of the Methodist E. Church, June 1, 1834

Typed letter written by Reverend Jason Lee to the Corresponding Secretary of the Missionary Society of the Methodist E. Church. Written in the Rocky Mountains on July 1, 1834 and published in the Christian Advocate and Journal on September 26, 1834. Letter is titled, "Flat Head Mission." Lee wrote this letter as he traveled on the Oregon Trail to become a missionary in Oregon. Subjects include life on the Oregon Trail, the loss and maintenance of horses, Captain Nathaniel Wyeth, and Lee's observations of local native tribes, including the Sioux, Crow, Snake, and Blackfeet. He also states his views on the importance of missionary work and warns of the potential danger of non-missionary, colonial settlements to the local native populations. [Lee originally intended to do missionary work among the Flathead Indian tribe, but the area where he eventually settled in the Willamette Valley, near present-day Salem, was home to bands of the Kalapuyan people. Lee used language common to justifying the nineteenth century missionary movement, including using disparaging and inaccurate terms and/or descriptions of Native peoples.]

Lee, Jason, 1803-1845

Portrait of Mary Richardson Walker

Cased photograph featuring a portrait of a woman wearing a dress with a white collar. She looks to the left of the camera. A typed note enclosed with the image reads, "Mrs. Mary Richardson Walker. Born, Maine, 1811; married Rev. Elkanah Walker, March 5, 1838; crossed plains horseback that year to Whitman Mission; first child, Cyrus, born at Mission, Dec. 7, 1838; died Forest Grove, Oregon, Dec. 5, 1897." Mary Richardson Walker came to Oregon as a missionary. Legacy collection records indicate that her son Cyrus was the first white male born in the Oregon Territory. Case is made of wood and leather. Case cover was replaced with archival board during conservation.

Portrait of Reverend Alvin F. Waller

Cased photograph featuring a portrait of Reverend Alvin F. Waller. He sits next to a table and holds a large Bible on his lap. He poses in front of several tree branches. The photographer's name, H. Campbell, is on the bottom left of the image. Waller was a Methodist missionary who arrived in Oregon in 1840. Case has been replaced with archival board.

Campbell, Hamilton, 1812-1863

Portrait of Reverend Ephraim Roberts and his wife, Myra Farrington Roberts

Cased photograph featuring a portrait of a man and woman standing next to each other. The man stands on the left, wearing a suit and looking at the camera. The woman stands on the right, wearing a dress with a white collar. She looks to the left of the camera. Typed note on envelope reads, "Rev. Ephriam (sic) Peter Roberts (Congregationalist missionary) and Myra (Farrington) Roberts. White Salmon, Washington Territory 1862-1865 then to The Dalles, Oregon until his death in California, February, 1893. He was born in Dorset, Vermont, October 23, 1825. His wife Myra died in Oregon in 1912." Notes in legacy collection records indicate this may be a copy of an ambrotype. Case is made of leather.