Willamette Mission State Park preserves the site of the Willamette Mission, founded by Jason Lee in 1834 in the Oregon Country. Created to convert Native Americans to Christianity, the mission began with a simple one-room building used as a school, chapel, hospital, and living quarters, then expanded as more missionaries arrived in 1837 and added several working buildings. The settlement became known as Mission Bottom before the mission moved to Salem in 1840. Flood damage in 1861 heavily altered the original site, but the park still preserves its location, now marked by a ghost structure, along with river trails and the notable Willamette Mission Cottonwood.