286 REVEREND EZRA FISHER
10th. Travelled up the Willamette Valley about 25 miles, crossing four of the branches of Pudding River, all incon- siderable streams. The face of the country is generally about as level as the gently rolling prairies of the Mississippi Valley, except for a few points of hill in passing out of the Molalla prairie. Soil variable; generally good, yet occasion- ally inclining to be wet and clayey. Settlements sparse in the morning, but in the afternoon more compact. Spent the night with a brother formerly from Iowa. He is settled on the southwest border of Howell's Prairie, 12 miles N. E. from Salem and, far removed from church privileges, thirsting for the golden waters. It is to be lamented that Christ is too far thrust aside. Oh ! "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"
llth. Rode ten miles to Salem, a small town on the east bank of the Willamette, containing some twenty families. Here I visited two Baptist families who seem desirous of seeing the cause promoted in their place and have secured two town lots for church purposes, should they be needed for that object. I8 s This is the point where the Methodists have located their literary institution. The school at this time numbers about 70 children of both sexes. This place has a commanding central position in the Willamette Val- ley, and will probably become a place of some importance in future years. At present the health of the place is question- able. We hope the day is near when an efficient Baptist church will be gathered in this place. In the evening rode ten miles up the valley of Mill Creek through a picturesque and fertile part of the country; spent the night with a Bap- tist family who have been halting on the subject of mission measures, but are now desirous of having a church consti- tuted in their settlement, which may be done in a few months, if we can find any preacher who can visit them
185 A Baptist church was organized in Salem in November, 1850, but seems not to have survived. It was revived in 1859. Mattoon, Bap. An. of Ore. I:i?, 141. See also the letter of Aug. 23, 1853.
