276 OVERLAND EXPEDITION TO SAN FRANCISCO. 



the other mission gentlemen. He is, they say, the only Mis- 

 sionary among them who pays any attention to his proper du- 

 ties ; this statement, if we may judge the tree by its fruit, 

 is not erroneous. Most of these gentleman have turned their 

 attention to farming, and think more about their crops than 

 they do of the great cause which they have been sent out to 

 advance ; the number of Indian children to whom they give 

 instruction does not exceed twenty, and the adult Indians 

 living about the settlement, are entirely neglected. 



On the 8th of September we bade adieu to the banks of the 

 Willamette. A complete list of the names of the persons 

 who now formed the party, will be found in the Appendix. 



At first we had our share of drawbacks ; a thousand things 

 were now to be done, which had not been thought of before, 

 nor could they have been foreseen. Many of the pack-saddles 

 were found to be either too large or too small ; the strength of a 

 number of the horses had been overrated, and the packs which 

 it had been intended they should carry, had in consequence to 

 be reduced or exchanged for others which were lighter. Then 

 there was a list to be taken of all the packs and the animals 

 which belonged to the government, and those which did not. 

 All this produced delay and confusion for a time, but, when 

 finally all was right, and the expedition made a start, it 

 moved on at a fine rate, and by 4 o'clock P. M. we reached 

 Mr. Turner's place, where we encamped for the night. 



Mr. Turner supports himself by supplying the Willamette 

 settlement with beef semi-weekly, and he made us a present 

 of a fine bullock. He is a native of New York, but has been 

 thirteen years in Oregon ; has an Indian woman to keep house 

 for him, and seems perfectly contented. He has been to 

 California several times, and in 1834 he formed one of a 

 party of sixteen settlers, who set out to go there to purchase 



