History of the Oregon Country

It was very interesting to visit the Willamette Heritage Center in Salem Oregon. The Methodist Missionaries first settled here in the 1830s having sailed around Cape Horn. 

Jason Lee was the first Missionary and was appointed by the Methodist Episcopal Church as a minister to the Indians. After about a year’s worth of fundraising and other preparations, Lee and four co-laborers (Cyrus Shepard, Courtney Walker, Philip Edwards, and nephew Daniel Lee) joined the second expedition of Nathaniel Wyeth when it left Independence, Missouri, for Oregon in April 1834. Following a journey of four and a half months, the Lee delegation arrived at Fort Vancouver on September 15, 1834. While originally sent to minister to the Flatheads, Lee found upon his arrival that “the real Flat Head Indians were few in number, and had no settled habitations.” Additionally, Dr. John McLoughlin, the Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC) chief factor at the fort, recommended to the missionaries that they select a mission location close to Vancouver so that they could ensure protection in the event of an Indian attack. Accordingly, Lee decided to settle in Kalapuya country, about sixty miles south of Fort Vancouver, along the Willamette River, northwest of what is today the town of Brooks. Here, in fall 1834, the missionaries built a barn and the original mission house, which was used for schooling, church services, and“domestic purposes.” 

Some earlier history:

On November 18th 1805 the Lewis and Clark expedition arrived at the mouth of the Columbia river and established fort Clatsop.

David Thompson (for the North West Company)  explored the length of the Columbia River arriving at Fort Astoria in 1811.


Prior to 1810 the Oregon Country (otherwise known as the Columbia District) was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders. It consisted of what is to-day British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and parts of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. 

In 1818 it was agreed that the Oregon Country would be shared between Britain and the United States.

In 1846 the Oregon treaty settled the dispute by establishing the 49th parallel as the boundary between British territory and the US.

The 1846 treaty was in part agreed because of the American settlement of the area and it appears that the Mission established by Jason Lee.

The museum and buildings brought alive this part of history. There is attached a museum of a wool mill that was established on the site.  

In 1859 Oregon became the 33rd US state.