A History of Oregon, 1792-1849: Drawn From Personal Observation and Authentic InformationGray, W. H. (William Henry)
History
A History of Oregon, 1792-1849: Drawn From Personal Observation and Authentic Information
Gray, W. H. (William Henry)
Frontier and pioneer life -- Oregon; Oregon Territory -- History
the company.
The first printing-press in Oregon was received as a donation from the
mission of the American Board of Foreign Missions in the Sandwich
Islands, to the mission of the Board in Oregon. It reached its
destination at Lapwai, and was put in operation by Mr. E. O. Hall, of
the Sandwich Islands Mission, and commenced printing books in the Nez
Percé language. Both Mr. Rogers and Mr. Spalding soon learned to set
type, and print the small books required for the Indian schools that had
been kept at the stations. The books and instructions were furnished
gratuitously to all the Indians that wished to receive them. This caused
special efforts on the part of the priests to counteract the influence
of the books printed by Spalding. To illustrate their ideas, and show
the evil of heretical books and teachings, they had a representation of
a large tree, with a cross on top, representing all religious sects as
going up the tree, and out upon the different branches, and falling from
the end of the branch into a fire under the tree, with a priest by the
side of the fire throwing the heretical books into it. This was an
interesting picture, and caused much discussion and violent
denunciations among the Indians. Mr. Spalding, to counteract the
influences of the Roman Catholic tree among the Indians, had Mrs.
Spalding paint a number of sheets of cap-paper, commencing with Adam and
Eve in the garden of Eden, representing the shrubbery, and all kinds of
fruits, and the serpent, and the angel (after the fall) as guarding the
garden; giving the pictures of most of the prominent patriarchs; Noah
and the ark, and the prophets, down to Christ and the twelve apostles;
showing the crucifixion of Christ by the Roman soldiers, and on down to
the time when they adopted the cross as a form of worship, and the
priests as kneeling to images. Spalding's pictures were in such form,
and contained so much Bible history and information, that his Indian
preachers, to whom he gave them, could attract larger crowds of Indians,
to listen to the instructions given by Spalding, than those who had the
Catholic tree. This exasperated, or stirred up, as the Indians expressed
it, all their bad feelings toward each other, and caused quarrels
between those that were friends before,--a repetition of sectarian
quarrels in all ages, and among every people not understanding the true
principles of a genuine Christianity.
The main object of the priests was to destroy all interest in books, and
thereby check the growing influence of the American missionaries in the
country, substituting pictures and beads in place of knowledge.
CHAPTER XXV.
Independent missionaries arrive.--Their troubles.--Conversion of
Indiana at the Dalles.--Their motives.--Emigrants of
1839.--Blubber-Mouth Smith.--Re-enforcement of the Methodist
Mission in 1840.--Father De Smet.--Rev. Harvey Clark and
associates.--Ewing Young.--Names of missionaries and settlers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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