Should statue of famed Missionary stay in nation’s Capitol?

By Teresa Neumann

As with every state in the union, Christians played a large role in Oregon’s history, and the Rev. Jason Lee—known as the “Preaching Statesman”—ranks top among them. Born in Quebec in 1803, Lee was educated at Wilbraham Academy in Massachusetts. He was later ordained in the Methodist Episcopal Church and assigned as a missionary to the as yet unsettled Pacific Northwest. Once he arrived (no easy feat in itself) he settled in what is now Salem, Oregon, on the Willamette River.

One of Lee’s first accomplishments was to build a log-constructed mission school to educate the Native residents. He later instituted the first school for white American settlers, called the Oregon Institute, presently known as Willamette University, the first college in Oregon Territory.

Lee’s Parsonage—the oldest wooden frame house in Oregon—still stands in close proximity to the State Capitol, where his body rests within the Lee Mission Cemetery. After his death, two statues were erected to commemorate his contribution to Oregon; one in the grounds alongside the Oregon state capitol building featuring the circuit rider astride his horse, and the other, erected in 1954, in the National Hall of Fame in Washington, DC in recognition of his help in the development of the Pacific Northwest.

That, however, may soon change if some in Oregon have their way.

According to Christian News Northwest, at issue is the fact that each state is only allowed two statues in the U.S. Capitol Hall. In Oregon’s case, in addition to Lee’s statue, there stands a statue of the “Father of Oregon,” famed fur-trader, doctor and businessman, John McLoughlin. If a bill currently making its way through the Oregon Legislature to commission a statue of the late Mark Hatfield, longtime governor and U.S. Senator, to replace Lee’s statue succeeds, the “Preaching Statesman” will no longer be represented in Washington.