In 1850 Rev. and Mrs. Dunmore were appointed missionaries to the city of Diarbekr, which had been previously visited by Dr. Grant and others. This city, known in classic history as Amida, is an ancient walled town upon the Tigris river located at the northern extremity of Mesopotamia. It was nearly a year before they reached their destination, having stopped for a time in Aintab and Urfa to study the Turkish language. The city was hot with persecution when they arrived, so that repeatedly the life of Mr. Dunmore was in peril. He was openly refused protection by Turkish officials and so became the common prey of all who were opposed to the hated Protestants. Mr. Dunmore was bold but tactful, and succeeded finally in gaining a foothold in the city, although dire persecution was meted out to those who identified themselves with him. After the work had become fairly well established there, he began explorations into the populous, prosperous, and little known regions lying to the north. He went as far as Erzerum, visiting Mardin, Arghuni, Haine, Harpoot, Arabkir and many other towns of importance—in fact including in his tours nearly every city of influence in all those extensive regions. Near the close of 1852 he was at Harpoot, and wrote most enthusiastically of the character of the Armenians he met there, and also of the strategic location of the city. He says: “The city overlooks a vast, rich plain studded with three hundred and sixty-six villages, of from one hundred to five thousand inhabitants each, nearly all Armenians, and all within a few hours’ ride of the city. It presents, therefore, the richest country and the most inviting and promising missionary field I have seen in Turkey.” He went on at length to describe the people, the climate, the accessibility of the vast populations on all sides. He urgently pleaded for missionaries to occupy the city. He not only reported upon that city, but upon many other places from twenty-five to one hundred and fifty miles away, all in the same general Euphrates river basin, presenting such a glowing account of it all that within two years two new missionary families were on their way to occupy the field. It is an interesting fact that every large place visited by Mr. Dunmore became, not many years later, either the residence of missionaries or a center of Christian operations under trained native workers.