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140 REVEREND EZRA FISHER the duties of the agency, than in any other way. I would not ask this but for the scarcity of laborers in the field and the di- rect influence the accomplishment of this work will have on the public mind in Oregon and consequently upon the cause of mis- sions in and out of our churches. Respectfully submitted!, EZRA FISHER. This is to certify that I fully accord with the above request in every particular except the amount asked for. $600 here is no better than $200 in any place that I have ever lived in. GEO. C. CHANDLER. I certify that I regard Brother E. Fisher as the best minister that we have in this territory for an exploring agent and rec- ommend him as such. The amount that he asks for his ser- vices is small. HEZEKIAH JOHNSON. Oregon City, Oregon, Jan. 17, 1853. Dear Br. Hill: I have made inquiries respecting the expenses of the journey to Puget Sound from Colonel Eby, 297 the member of the leg- islature from Whitby's Island, and find that such a tour as would enable me to reach the principal settlements on the Sound would cost me about six or eight weeks and about $75 or $100. The route is first by steam to the mouth of the Cow- letz [Cowlitz], thence up that stream to the Hudson Bay Com- pany's post on the Cowletz, 2 ^ 8 at this place hire a horse to Nes- qualy [Nisqually], 299 there leave my horse and hire a crew of Indians and canoe to take me to the various places rising up 297 This was I. N. Ebey. He came to Oregon in 1848, and after a visit to Cali- fornia in 1850, settled on Puget Sound and became prominent in the community. He was murdered by Indians in 1857. Bancroft, Hist, of Wash., Ida. and Moat, PP, IS. 29, 137. Whidbey Island was first settled in 1848. Ebey settled there in 1850. Ibid, p. 10. 298 The first Hudson's Bay Company fort on the Cowlitz was one of Its old stations, and the company had a laree farm there. The Jesuits settled there in 1838. Bancroft, Hist of N. W. Coast II:6i3. The post was in the vicinity ot the present Toledo. 299 Fort Nisqually was established in 1833, four or five miles northeast of the Nisqually River. The companjr had a large sheep and cattle farm there. It was a center of the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, an organization closely allied to the Hudson's Bay Company, and was the depot for curing meat and loading vessels for Russian- American posts. Bancroft, Hist, of N. W. Coast, 11:525, 614.