96 ROBERT H. BLOSSOM
failure in constituting the Synod. Brother Geary, after wan- dering- a few days in the mountains in an unsuccessful attempt to get through, returned to his home. I returned by boat to Portland a town of 400 or 500 inhabitants and we resumed our journey up the Willamette Valley and settled in Benton County, and on the 24th day of September, 1853, organized the First Presbyterian Church of Corvallis, the majority of whom were members of the colony in crossing the plains.
PRESBYTERY MEETS IN PORTLAND.
"My next attempt to meet with the brethren in Presbytery was in Portland, October 1, 1853; and in doing so I traveled on foot sixty miles from Corvallis to Champoeg, thence by boat to Portland, and returned in like manner. This was the first meeting of the Oregon Presbytery since its erection in September, 1851. The members were Rev. Lewis Thompson, Rev. E. R. Geary, Rev. Robert Robe, and Alva Condit, elder from the Clatsop Church. Rev. J. L. Yantis, D. D., and Rev. J. A. Hanna presented their letters and were received and en- rolled. I then reported the organization of the First Presby- terian Church of Corvallis, which was received and enrolled.
"In answer to a request from interested persons in Portland for church services Rev. J. L. Yantis, D. D., was appointed to preach in Portland as often as convenient and to organize a church as soon as the way appeared clear. And he, with the as- sistance of Rev. Geo. F. Whitworth, did organize the First Church of Portland, January 1, 1854. Well do I remember seeing Dr. Yantis plodding through mud and water on his little gray pony on his way to Portland, a distance of eighty miles. It was during this meeting of Presbytery that I became acquainted with Mr. and Mrs. W. P. Abrams. They were charter mem- bers of the church and were very efficient in its life and prog- ress, and yet they remained warm frierids of the Congrega- tional Church though loyal to the Presbyterian Church in all of its interests.
"But I must relate another meeting of Presbytery under difficulties. Presbytery stood adjourned to meet in Oregon
