The Dalles Mission. "On March 22, 1836, Daniel Lee and H. W. Perkins, under the superintendency of Jason Lee, established "a Methodist mission to the Indians at The Dalles of the Columbia." It was commonly known as "The Dalles Mission" among the whites, but it was called "Wascopam" by the Indians. "Wascopam" was the name of the
REV. JASON LEE PREACHING TO THE INDIANS
fine spring of water which the missionaries used, and which is now the source of water supply for the high school that occupies the site of the old mission. "Wasco" is the Indian word for a "basin," and "pam" means a "place"; hence "Wascopam" means "the place of a basin." Also from this basin the County of Wasco received its name. At Wascopam the missionaries cultivated a farm of thirty acres, and carried on their work successfully until 1847, when the Mission was sold to Dr. Marcus Whitman, of the Presbyterian Mission near Walla Walla. His untimely death soon after, resulted in closing The Dalles Mission as well as the other three protestant missions which had been established between the Rocky Mountains and the Cascade Range."—Mrs. F. C. Crandall.
Pulpit Rock also marks the site of Wascopam Mission. It is one of the oldest pulpits in the world. It was carved
