In March 1831, three Nez Perces and one Flathead Indian traveled to St. Louis to see General William Clark. They made the long journey east to learn about the white man, his religion and to seek the "white man's Book of Heaven".

William Walker, a half-breed Wyandotte, an educated man who had been converted to Christianity, learning of their journey wrote a letter to a New York business man who was interested in establishing Christian missions among the Indians. The letter was published in a widely read newspaper, generating an almost immediate response.

Although two of the Indians died in St. Louis, a third died on the way home and the surviving Indian was killed shortly after reaching his tribe in a raid by the Blackfeet, their journey had far reaching results.

METHODIST MISSION:
On April 28, 1834, Jason and Daniel Lee and two lay assistants, Cyrus Shepard and Philip Edwards, left St. Louis for Oregon in the company of Captain Nathaniel Wyeth and his adventurers and trappers. Upon their arrival at Fort Vancouver September 15, 1834 they commenced choosing a site for the mission. In October 1834 the first mission in the Oregon country was established on the Willamette River north of the the present day city of Keizer.

In 1837, in response to a request for additional help, another group of missionaries were sent to join Lee. Still needing more assistance, he returned east in 1838 to plead his case. Shortly after his departure his wife and new baby died and were buried in a single grave at the mission. A messenger was sent to advise him of his loss. Lee continued on to the east and by the following spring he had raised contributions totaling about $100,000, had recruited 51 people to join forces with those already on the Willamette, and had met and married Lucy Thompson.

Upon his return to the mission with the reinforcements, it was decided to move the mission to a more healthful location in what is now downtown Salem. The ensuing years were hard ones for Lee. His second wife died after only two years and the differing philosophies with his laymen created tensions that finally resulted in his recall. He returned to Stanstead, Canada, in poor health, and died there shortly before his 42nd birthday in 1845. It wasn't until 1906 that he was reinterred in the Lee Mission Cemetery in Salem beside his two wives, baby son, and daughter.

CATHOLIC MISSIONS:
After Jason Lee set up his mission in 1834, French Catholic residents of nearby French Prairie requested of Dr. McLoughlin that a Catholic priest be sent to them so that they could attend their own church.

The first two Catholic missionaries in the Pacific Northwest were Father Francois Blanchet and his assistant Father Modeste Demers. St. Francis, the first Catholic mission, was established on the Cowlitz River in 1838, under Father Demer's charge. In 1840, the St. Paul Mission was established at French Prairie, under the direction of Father Blanchet. Eventually both priests were elevated to the rank of Bishop. Father Blanchet became Bishop of Oregon and Father Demers became Bishop of Vancouver Island.

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