Allen Weir

“ While his work has been carried on by other devoted and able men, and its sphere of usefulness will go on broadening like the waves rippling from a stone cast into placid waters, yet the impetus given to it all by the man himself who laid broad and deep foundations, will continue as an abiding example for all who follow. ”

“ When Jason Lee came from the Eastern States to the "Oregon Country," in 1834, he came as a vigorous young preacher of the word of God, fired with enthusiasm in his mission and message to the native tribes of the Northwest, his ambition to Christianize and civilize them, and imbued with a lively conception of the magnitude and importance of this country and of his undertaking. ”

“ Jason Lee would have graced any position of honor and responsibility to which the American people might have called him, and would have risen equal to any emergency. The splendid institution of learning here in Salem, with its long, honorable, and highly useful career, is a fitting monument to the man. ”

“ The State of Washington desires to acknowledge her debt of gratitude to him, and to add her tribute to his memory to-day.
Life, death, eternity! How vast, how deep, how solemn are these three words! Astronomy can not tell us where the bounds of this visible universe are. Theology can not determine the locality of that invisible universe from which no traveler returns. But we are told that somewhere, "in our Father's house," are many mansions. ”

“ Someone has said that a man's life history should not be written until fifty years after his death—meaning, I suppose, that if he had any animosities or imperfections during his lifetime they should be permitted to die out and be forgotten. Besides, the progressive and far-seeing statesman, the man who is ahead of his day and generation, is not always appreciated until after events have justified his course. ”

“ The country will be settled, and that speedily, from some quarter, and it depends very much upon the speedy action of Congress what that population shall be and what shall be the fate of the Indian tribes in that territory. It may be thought that Oregon is of little importance, but rely upon it there is the germ of a great state. ”

“ Lee also enlisted the active support of Caleb Cushing in his plan to add more stars to our National emblem from the far Pacific Northwest. On January 17, 1839, he wrote to Mr. Cushing from Middletown, Connecticut, referring to the memorial and to the "Oregon Question":
"You are aware, sir, that there is no law in the country to protect or control American citizens, and to whom shall we look, to whom can we look, for the establishment of wholesome laws to regulate our infant and rising settlements but to the Congress of our own beloved country. ”

“ The little band under his leadership were the first to raise the Stars and Stripes in these ends of the earth, the first to put forth a successful effort to establish a local self-government here, and the first to bring to the attention of the Government of the United States the importance and desirability of extending National protection to the people and exercising National authority over this vast domain. ”

“ We need hardly allude to the commercial advantages of the territory. Its happy position for trade with China, India and the Western Coast of America. The growing importance, however, of the islands of the Pacific is not so generally known or appreciated. ”