Willamette Mission State Park

Infobox park
park= Willamette Mission State Park


image size=
caption=
type=Public, state
location=Marion County, Oregon, United States
coordinates= coord|45|4|47.0166|N|123|1|50.3868|W
size= 1,680 acres
opened=
operator=Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department
annual visitors=
status= Open all year

Willamette Mission State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Oregon, located about four miles north of Keizer adjacent to the Wheatland Ferry and east of the Willamette River.

History

The park is the site of the Willamette Mission, established in 1834 by Jason Lee, who traveled to the area to convert Native Americans in the Oregon Country to Christianity. The missionaries built a one-room house that served as a school, chapel, hospital, and living quarters. They later added onto the house and built a barn. In September 1837, more missionaries arrived and built a blacksmith shop, granary, and a hospital, and a building that doubled as a school and a dining hall. The mission later moved in 1840 to Salem (known then as Chemeketa). In a flood in 1861, the mission site was extensively damaged, and the Willamette River changed its course. The mission site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Willamette Station Site, Methodist Mission in Oregon. The state park now contains a "ghost structure" that shows the location of the former mission buildings. [cite web|url=http://www.oregonstateparks.org/images/pdf/wm.pdf|title=Willamette Mission State Park brochure|publisher=Oregon Parks and Recreation Department|accessdate=2008-05-13]

Details

Located along the east bank of the Willamette River, the 1,680 acre park contains eight miles of hiking trails along the river. [Haight, Abby. White water, wild winds: The recreation is exceptional. "The Oregonian", September 30 2007.] The park is home to what was formerly the largest known black cottonwood in the United States. [ [http://www.odf.state.or.us/DIVISIONS/resource_policy/resource_planning/big_tree/champs/blcotton.asp?id=401010205 Oregon Department of Forestry] ] [It was beaten by a tree in Cowlitz County, Washington in 2007: [http://www.americanforests.org/downloads/bigtrees/2008_NB_Tree_Reg.pdf National Register of Big Trees] , American Forests] The Willamette Mission Cottonwood was designated an Oregon Heritage Tree by the Oregon Heritage Tree Committee. [ [http://www.oregontic.com/heritage/docs/heritage-brochure-2008.pdf Historical Marker and Heritage Tree brochure] , Oregon Travel Information Council]

ee also

*List of Oregon State Parks

References

External links

* [http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_139.php Willamette Mission State Park] (official website)