U74 



WILLAMETTE V .\ L L E Y. 



than twenty years before, saying, " he was still Michael La Framboise, 

 only older." 



I was glad to meet with a guide of such intelligence ; and having 

 mounted our horses, we rode through the Willamette Valley. In it 

 we passed many small farms, of from fifty to one hundred acres, 

 belonging to the old servants of the Company, Canadians, who have 

 settled here : they all appear very comfortable and thriving. We stop- 

 ped for a few hours at the Catholic Mission, twelve miles from Cham- 

 pooing, to call upon the Rev. Mr. Bachelet, to whom I had a note of 

 introduction, from Dr. M'Laughlin, and who received me with great 

 kindness. Mr. Bachelet is here settled among his flock, and is doing 

 great good to the settlers in ministering to their temporal as well as 

 spiritual wants. 



He spoke to me much about the system of laws the minority of the 

 settlers were desirous of establishing, but which he had objected to, 

 and advised his people to refuse to co-operate in; for he was of opinion 

 that the number of settlers in the Willamette Valley would not war- 

 rant the establishment of a constitution, and as far as his people were 

 concerned there was certainly no necessity for one, nor had he any 

 knowledge of crime having been yet committed. 



Annexed to Mr. Bachelet's house is a small chapel, fully capable 

 of containing the present congregation. 



They are erecting a large and comfortable house for Mr. Bachelet, 

 after which it is intended to extend the chapel. These houses are 

 situated on the borders of an extensive level prairie, which is very 

 fertile, having a rich deep alluvial soil ; they also have near them 

 a forest of pine, oak, &c. They are now occupied in turning up 

 the fields for the first time. Mr. Bachelet informed me that it was 

 intended to take enough of land under cultivation to supply a large 

 community, that will be attached to the mission ; for it is the intention 

 to establish schools here, for the instruction of the Indians as well as 

 the Canadians and other settlers. He has already ten Indian children 

 under his care. Mr. Bachelet informed me that the mission had been 

 established about a year, and that it had already done much good. 

 When he first arrived all the settlers were living with Indian women, 

 whom they have since married, and thus legalized the connexion. 

 This was the first step he had taken towards their moral improve- 

 ment, and he had found it very successful. There were about thirty 

 Canadian families settled here, besides about twenty persons who 

 have no fixed residence, and are labourers. The number of Indians is 



