At length, on the 5th August, the vessel arrived at Fort Vancouver, about 7 o’clock in the evening. The governor, an excellent and truly pious man, together with his lady, and the most {77} respectable personages of the place, were assembled on the shore to receive us. As soon as the ship had cast anchor we landed, and hastened to the fort, where we were received and treated with all possible cordiality. Here we were obliged to tarry eight days, for the Rev. Mr. Blanchet, who did not arrive till the 12th, not having received my letter, informing him of our arrival. No sooner was he aware of it than he hastened to join us, bringing with him a considerable number of parishioners. He had travelled the entire night and day, and we were delighted to meet this indefatigable clergyman. Though so comfortably situated at the fort, yet we were anxious to arrive as soon as possible at the place destined us by Divine Providence. The pious religious likewise sighed after their convent home of Willamette. Monsieur Blanchet accordingly made the necessary arrangement for our departure, and we left Fort Vancouver on the 14th.
An affecting adieu awaited us. Our worthy captain stood upon the shore. The emotion was sensibly felt by each one of us. For eight months we had shared the same dangers, and so often stood together, gazing in the very face of death: could we then restrain the parting {78} tear, which seemed to gush from the fountain of the heart, as we remembered his kindness.
Our little squadron consisted of four canoes, manned by the parishioners of Mr. Blanchet, and our own sloop. We sailed up the river, and soon entered the Willamette, whose waters flow into the Columbia.
As night approached we moored our vessels and encamped upon the shore. There, grouped around the fire, we partook of our evening meal. The night was calm and serene—all nature was hushed in profound silence—all invited us to repose; but the swarms of musquetoes with which these woods abound, prevented our slumber. The religious, to whom we had yielded the tent, suffered equally with those who had nothing but the star-spangled canopy of heaven above them. You will not, consequently, be surprised, that the night appeared somewhat long, and that the morning’s dawn found us on foot. It was the festival of the glorious Assumption of the Mother of God, which, in these regions, is usually solemnized on the following Sunday. Aided by the religious, I erected a small altar. Mr. Blanchet offered the Holy Sacrifice, at which all communicated.
Finally, the 17th, about 11 o’clock, we came {79} in sight of our dear mission of Willamette. Mr. Blanchet charged himself with the transportation of our baggage. A cart was procured to conduct the religious to their dwelling, which is about five miles from the river. In two hours we were all assembled in the chapel of Willamette, to adore and thank our Divine Saviour, by the solemn chanting of the Te Deum, in which all hearts and lips joined with lively emotion.
Early in the morning of Sunday, the 18th, the day on which the Assumption is celebrated here, we saw the Canadian cavaliers arriving in crowds with their wives and children, whom they had brought from great distances, to assist at the solemn services of the church.
At 9 o’clock all were arranged in perfect order in the church; the men on one side, the women on the other. The Rev. Mr. Blanchet celebrated the August Sacrifice, assisted by twenty acolytes. The piety of his parishioners contributed much to our edification.
On arriving at the mission of St. Paul, of Willamette, we proceeded at once to the residence of the Very Rev. Mr. Blanchet, who received us with the greatest kindness, and immediately placed at our disposal everything on {80} the place. My first care was, to seek some convenient locality where, according to the plan of our Very Rev. Father General, a mother mission could be established. For this purpose I made several unsuccessful excursions into the adjacent country. The most eligible situations were already occupied. The Methodists, indeed, offered to sell me their Academy, which is a sufficiently large and handsome house, but entirely destitute of wood and arable land.[175] In this perplexity Mr. Blanchet relieved me, by a generous and disinterested offer. He proposed to examine the property belonging to the mission, and take such portions of it as I should judge most proper for our projected establishment. We accordingly set out on this new excursion; but we had scarcely proceeded two miles when we came to a point uniting every desirable advantage. Picture to yourself an immense plain extending as far as the eye can reach; on one side the snowy crests of the gigantic Hood, Jefferson, and St. Helena (the three highest peaks of Oregon), towering majestically upwards, and losing themselves in the clouds; on the east a long range of distant hills, their blue-tinged summits melting, as it were, into the deep azure of the sky; on the west the {81} limpid waters of two small lakes, on whose beautiful shores the beaver, the otter, and the musk-rat, sport in careless security, heedless of our presence. The elevation on which we were standing, gradually sloping downward, and forming a charming amphitheatre, extended to the borders of one of the lakes. I hesitated not a moment in selecting this spot for the mother mission. The sweet recollections of our first establishment on the Missouri returned to my mind; and the remembrance of the rapid progress of the Mission of St. Stanislaus, near St. Ferdinand, whose branches now extend over the greater part of Missouri, Ohio, Louisiana, reaching even the Rocky Mountains, and penetrating to the eastern boundary of America, led me to breathe a fervent prayer, that here, also, might be formed a station, whence the torch of faith would diffuse its cheering light among the benighted tribes of this immense Territory. We have also a fine view of the Willamette River, which, in this place, makes a sudden bend, continuing its course amidst dense forests, which promise an almost inexhaustible supply of materials for the construction of our mission house. In no part of this region have I met with a more luxuriant growth of pine, fir, elm, {82} oak, buttonball, and yew trees. The intervening country is beautifully diversified with shadowy groves and smiling plains, whose rich soil yields abundant harvests, sufficient for the maintenance of a large establishment. Besides these advantages, there are a number of springs, on one side of the hill, one of which is not more than 100 feet from the house, and it will probably be of great use hereafter.[176] Having now made choice of the locality, we commenced without delay the erection of the buildings. The first thing to be done was to clear the ground by cutting away the under-brush and isolated trees, after which, with the aid of the inhabitants, we constructed three wooden buildings, covered by a single roof of 90 feet; these were to serve as workshops for the brother blacksmith, carpenter, etc.
Besides these, a house, 45 by 35 feet, is now under way. It is to be two stories, and will be the dwelling-house of the missionaries.
We arrived in the Oregon Territory during the prevalence of a disease (bloody flux) which was considered contagious, though the physicians attributed it to the unwholesome properties of the river-water. Numbers of savages fell victims to it, especially among the Tchinouks, {83} and the Indians of the Cascades, large parties of whom encamped along the banks of the river, on their way to Vancouver, to obtain the aid of a physician. Those who could not proceed were abandoned by their friends; and it was truly painful to see these poor creatures stretched out, and expiring on the sand. The greater part of our sailors, and three of the sisters, were attacked by the pestilence; the Rev. Father Accolti also experienced its terrible effects; for myself, I was obliged to keep my bed during 15 long days, and to observe a rigorous diet. But the captain of our vessel was the greatest sufferer. The disease attacked him so violently, that I seriously fear he will never again return to the cherished family—the affectionate wife and children of whom he used daily to speak with so much tenderness. He was a worthy man—an experienced and skilful navigator; I esteemed him highly, although I could not forbear blaming him for the little courage he had shown in repressing the profane language of one of the passengers, who, from the time of his embarkation until we landed him at Fort Vancouver, had never ceased to offend our ears by his horrid oaths. The Almighty has denounced his curse against the blasphemer; {84} and sooner or later it will fall upon him. Poor “Indefatigable,” I tremble for thy fate.