Methodist Missionaries Venture into Oregon & Washington 2 Years Before Oregon Territorial Status, Presentation Copy of Travelogue

A first edition copy of Daniel Lee and Joseph H. Frost, Late of the Oregon Mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church, "Ten Years in Oregon" (New York: J. Collord, Printer, 1844), dedicated by the co-author's wife as "Presented to / Miss Frances E. Howe[l] / By her friend / Mrs. J. H. Frost" on the front endpaper. With original brown leather boards, gilt embossed spine, and two engravings, "The Albatross" on the title page, and a "Chenook Canoe" in the table of contents. A pull-out folding map facing the title page is entitled "A Sketch of the Columbia River, and Adjacent Country." Several appendices provide limited glossaries of the Killemook, Checalish, and Clatsop dialects. Expected surface wear including stains, scuffs, and cracking to spine. Scattered foxing and dampstain within. A small part of the dedicatory inscription shows evidence of ink erosion. Else near fine. 7.125" x 4.375" x 1.5." 12mo. 344pp.

"Ten Years in Oregon" documents the climate, history, and indigenous customs found in the area corresponding to present day northwestern Oregon and western Washington state. The 8.75" x 7" pullout map, just one of the wonderful special features of this travelogue, shows the lands, rivers, mountains, and coasts of an area which would be granted Oregon Territorial status just two years later, in 1846. The map depicts basic topographical features but also highlights the location of U.S. military forts, mission landmarks, and Indian settlements. Recognizable summits such as Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainier, and Mt. Olympus make the map with the same nomenclature as today. Yet major cities of the Pacific Northwest, like Vancouver, Seattle, Olympia, Portland, and Salem, do not, due to the fact that they had just been or had not yet been founded. Indigenous peoples identified on the map include the Nez Perce, Chenook, Cayuses, Callapooya, and Chehalish.

The Willamette Mission in present day Oregon was established by French Canadian Methodist missionary Jason Lee (1803-1845) in 1834; it is represented on the foldout map as "Walamet Mission" near the foot of Mt. Hood. Lee and other missionaries traveled west at the request of four Flat head Indians (the Salish people from present day Montana) who expressed an interest in Christianity. Co-author Daniel Lee was the nephew of mission leader Jason Lee. Joseph H. Frost (1805-1866) was a New York Methodist missionary who left the mission in 1844. The Willamette Station Site associated with the Methodist Mission in Oregon is on the National Register of Historic Places.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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