The Willamette Mission Development

Thanks to Jim Sheppke, former State Librarian for the state of Oregon, I received a digital copy of the thesis “Mill Place” on the Willamette a new Mission house for the Methodists in Oregon, 1841-1844, by Elisabeth Brigham Walton, June 1965, produced for the University of Delaware.  This digital book is now available from the Willamette Heritage Center. I promptly sent it along to a few other anthropologists and historians who would appreciate it and began to eagerly wade through this well-researched thesis. A few new understandings of the actions of the early Methodists in Oregon have emerged from this … Continue reading The Willamette Mission Development

Memorial on behalf of the Indians of California, 1850

The appeal below, suggests the reservation system for the tribes of California. Pastor Woodbridge’s detailed memorial addresses what scholars today are discovering about the 19th century tribes. The Tribes were not simply savages as suggested for some 100 years of histories written about the region, but instead they were losing resources and food sources and would periodically, forced by hunger, raid the American farms and ranches for food. They were undergoing massive environmental changes and cultural adjustments. At the same time they were being starved, they were under a constant barrage of attacks from the Americans who killed indiscriminately. The … Continue reading Memorial on behalf of the Indians of California, 1850