Each of these three chief groups of missions had its special aims, methods, and results. The Catholic was more exclusively religious, while the Protestants passed over readily from their initial religious aims to the domain of political and educational interest. The net result was tremendous in the history of the country. Among the educational institutions growing directly out of the labours of the missionaries we may mention Willamette University at Salem, the direct successor of the Methodist mission at Chemeketa; Whitman College at Walla Walla, founded by Cushing Eells as a memorial to Marcus Whitman; Pacific University at Forest Grove, Oregon, founded by a later set of Congregational Home Missionaries; and the Catholic College at St. Paul's, the successor of the school founded in 1839 by Blanchet. They rest from their labours and their works do follow them. CHAPTER VII The Era of the Pioneers: their Ox-teams and their Flatboats Events and Men who led the Way to the Pioneer Age--Kelley, Wyeth, and Bonneville--Ewing Young--Farnham, Shortess, and the "Oregon Dragoons"--The Wilkes Expedition--The _Star of Oregon_, and the Cattle Enterprise--Dr. John McLoughlin and the Americans--Dr. Marcus Whitman and his Winter Ride, and the Immigration of 1843--Retrospect of J. W. Nesmith--Features of the Journey across the Plains--Whitman's Services--Getting the Waggons across the Plains--Reaching the River and Building Boats--Delights and then Distress of the Descent of the River--Battle with the River--Condition in which they Reached Vancouver, and their Reception by Dr. McLoughlin--Subsequent Immigrations--The Barlow Road--The Donation Land Law--Quotation from Jesse Applegate. The pioneer era was ushered in by the coming to Oregon of fur-hunters, missionaries, and little bands of adventurers, who together composed the nucleus of that American community which formed the Provisional Government of 1843. There were certain individuals, too, whose agency in leading the way to the immigration movement was so unique as to deserve mention.