DE MOFRAS EXPLORATION OF OREGON

during two years on the Upper Missouri and the south branch of the Columbia. 29 In 1834, several persons from New York and Boston formed the Columbia River Fish- ing and Trading Company. Captain Wyeth took com- mand of the expedition by land, while a ship was sent by sea to the Columbia. He was accompanied by five Metho- dist ministers, with their wives 30 ,under orders of Mr. Lee; a learned naturalist, Mr. Townsend, and a distinguished botanist, Mr. Nuttall. 31 Captain Wyeth passed by Fort Hall, erected a short time before by the North American Company 32 on the Port Neuf river, one of the upper tribu- traies of the south branch of the Columbia. Arrived at the Columbia, he chose some land between the two branches of the Willamette on Multnomah island 33 , where in Novem- ber, 1834, he set up a factory built of wood and called it Fort William, but was forced to abandon these points im- mediately, as he was not able to endure the competition of the Hudson's Bay Company. Fort William no longer exists, and Fort Hall is occupied by the Hudson's Bay Company, which bought it from the Americans. 34 Mr. Lee and the Methodists were located at various points on the Willamette and Columbia. In 1835, Messrs. Parker and Whitman, Baptist ministers 35 , were despatch- ed by the committee at Boston to found establishments on the other side of the Rocky Mountains. Mr. Parker ar- 29 Washington Irving: The Rocky Mountains from the Journal of Cap. Bonneville. 2 v., N. Y ., 1836.— de Mofras. 30 Jason Lee and his nephew, Daniel Lee, Cyrus Shepard, Courtney M. Walker and Philip L. Edwards, none of whom was married. For sketch of Edwards see California hist. soc. quar. v. 3, Apr., 1924. 31 See Narrative of a Journey across the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River, by J. Townsend. Phil., 1839., p. 176. —de Mofras. 32 Fort Hall was built by Wyeth in July 1834. See Sources of Oregon History, v. 1, pts. 3 -6, p. 147, 227. 33 Sauvie's Island. 34 See Memoir of Capt. Wyeth in the Documents of Congress, No. 101, p. 6, Feb. 16, 1839. [25 Cong., 3 Sess. H. R . 101]. —de Mofras. 35 Rev. Samuel Parker and Doctor Marcus Whitman were Congega- tionalists, sent by the A. B. C . F . M . Dr.. Whitman was not a minister, but a doctor of medicine. At Green River Dr. Whitman returned East for reinforcements, and Mr. Parker continued his journey to the Columbia.