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Jason Lee ( June 28, 1803 – March 12, 1845) an American missionary and pioneer, was born on a farm near Stanstead, Quebec. He was the first of the Oregon missionaries and helped establish the early foundation of civil government in the Oregon Country.

1 Biography

Lee attended the village school and by the age of 13 was self-supporting. After a conversion experience, he attended Wilbraham Academy , graduating in 1830. Between 1830 and 1832 he was minister in the Stanstead area and taught school.

In 1833 he was chosen to head a mission for the Flatland Indians . He and his party traveled overland, arriving in Fort Vancouver in 1834. After the site of their first mission was abandoned as unhealthy, the missionaries settled on the Willamette RiverThe Willamette River (pronounced "wi-LAH-mut") is a tributary of the Columbia, approximately 240 mi (386 km) long, in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward between the Coastal Range and Cascade Range, the river and its tributaries fo, northwest of the present site of SalemSalem is the capital of the state of Oregon in the United States of America, and county seat of Marion County. As of 2003 it has a population of 142,940. It lies in the center of the fertile Willamette Valley, one of the most productive agricultural regio, OregonOregon is a state located in the western United States bordering the Pacific Ocean, California, Washington, Idaho, and Nevada. Its northern border lies along the Columbia River and the east along the Snake River. Two north-south mountain ranges the Coasta. In 1836Events January Book by Maria Monk claims that she was sexually exploited in a Canadian convent February 3 United States Whig Party holds its first convention in Albany, New York. February 23 The siege of the Alamo begins in San Antonio, Texas. February 24 and 1837Events January 10 DePauw University founded in Greencastle, Indiana January 26 Michigan is admitted as the 26th U. State February 8 Richard Johnson becomes the first Vice President of the United States chosen by the United States Senate February 11 Americ he helped to draft a petition for the establishment of a territorial government, and in 1838Events January 6 Samuel Morse first publicly demonstrates the telegraph. January 8 Alfred Vail demonstrates a telegraph using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code) January 12 Joseph Smith, Jr. and Sidney Rigdon flee Ohio for Missouri Marc he journeyed east to present the petition in Washington, D.C.. Lee continued to found missions during the 1830s and became increasingly active in the territorial organization of the Oregon settlement, encouraging its ties with the United States. He presided over the preliminary meeting for territorial organization held at ChampoegChampoeg pronounced sham-POO-ee ( SAMPA /aem. i/), is a former town in the U. state of Oregon. Now a ghost town, it was the primary settlement in the Willamette Valley in the early 1840s and was site of the first provisional government of the Oregon Count in 1841, and in 1843 he was instrumental in the formation of a provisional government. He also worked to promote education and formed the plan that resulted in the founding of Oregon Institute (now Willamette University). Problems with the mission led to his return to headquarters in New York in 1844.

While he was visiting his sister in Stanstead, his health failed; he died on March 12, 1845. His remains were reinterred in Salem, Oregon, in 1906.

In 1953, the state of Oregon donated a bronze statue of Lee to the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall Collection.