268 John H. Mitchell— Oregon 
that the boundary question is finally and fully settled. * * * The 
British government has rendered more than strict justice required; but 
John Bull is generous, and was bound to be something more than just to 
his promising son Jonathan, who will no doubt make a good use of the 
Fabien (ena ree: 
“Yours truly, James DovuGuass.” 
It was not until 1850 that the people of Oregon had a semi- 
‘monthly mail, through a service established between San Fran- 
cisco and Portland, Oregon. 
The first attempt at sending mail across the continent from 
Oregon territory was in 1838, fifty-seven years ago, when letters 
were carried from the Willamette valley, in Oregon, to Medport, 
Missouri, in sixty days, including two days’ detention at Lapwai 
and two days at Fort Hall, carrying to Reverend Jason Lee, the 
Oregon missionary then in the east, the sad intelligence of the 
death of his wife in Oregon. 
The first Printing Press west of the Rocky Mountains. 
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, now the state of Idaho, then 
a part of Oregon territory, and was put in operation by Mr E. O. 
Hall, of the Sandwich Islands mission, and commenced publish- 
ing books in the Nez Percé language. This was in 1838, fifty- 
seven years ago. It was the first printing press west of the Rocky 
mountains. The first newspaper published within the lhmits of 
the present state of Oregon was established at Oregon City seven 
years later, in 1845. It was called the “ Oregon Spectator.” 
The first white Birth and Burial. 
The first white American child born on the Pacific coast was 
the daughter of Dr Whitman and wife, born near Walla Walla 
in 1839. On June 26, 1838, Mrs Maria Pitman, wife of the mis- 
sionary, Reverend Jason Lee, died near Salem, Oregon. She was 
the first white American woman to close her eyes in death west 
of the Rocky mountains. Today, on an humble headstone which 
marks her last resting place in Salem, Oregon, may be read the 
following inscription: 
* 
