CORRESPONDENCE 299
called, and I have not unbounded confidence in Capt. Gelston. He presented a friend of mine with an order on me for freight on the goods you shipped by him for me to Cali- fornia, after giving you a receipt on the bill of lading. The order was not paid and I presume he will not present me with his bill as I retain his receipt in the bill of lading. I wish to give you a statement of facts relative to our mis- sionary affairs in Oregon. When we came to Oregon, Ore- gon City was the only place worthy the name of a town in the whole Territory. Br. Johnson seemed providentially thrown into this city. I was providentially thrown into Tu- alatin Plains. I explored the settled part of the country generally, and in view of the fact that Br. Snelling being placed at YamHill, a place somewhat central in the Willamette Val- ley, and in view of the prospect that a place of importance would soon rise at the mouth of the Columbia, Br. Johnson complied with my suggestion that it was important to fill that opening. I removed to Astoria, but finding little could be done there till commerce increased, yet being conscious of the importance of the point prospectively, I removed eight miles to Clatsop Plains, where we have a few good members, thinking to labor there till circumstances should favor an at- tempt to build up an interest at Astoria. Things were new, everything was to be done, both in the way of providing for my family, for common schools and for the cause of Christ. The means of subsistence, except clothing and mechanics' labor, were cheap. We knew the policy of your Board in relation to the amount they give to aid the churches in sus- taining each missionary and, in the main, we approved of it. We could not expect any very rapid changes in the settle- ment of our territory, so far removed from all other settle- ments. Yet we were confident that our position was of great importance. Our brethren were generally men who had re- ceived their religious training in the West and knew but little of system in the support of the ministry and indeed had not yet generally learned the importance of ministerial
