author
Myron Eells
1843–1907
A Pacific Northwest missionary and writer, he left behind vivid accounts of Indigenous life, language, and history in the late 19th century. His books blend firsthand observation with the values and assumptions of his era, making them both informative and historically revealing.
2 Audiobooks
About the author
Born on October 7, 1843, Myron Eells was an American Congregational missionary, collector, and scholar of Indigenous peoples in the Pacific Northwest. He was the son of missionary Cushing Eells and spent much of his life in Washington Territory, especially around Skokomish and Hood Canal, where he worked closely with Native communities and wrote extensively about the region.
He is remembered for books such as Ten Years of Missionary Work Among the Indians at Skokomish, Washington Territory and for writings on Chinook Jargon, regional history, and Native traditions. Beyond missionary work, he built significant collections of books, papers, and artifacts, and his research has made him a recurring source for historians of the Pacific Northwest.
Eells died on January 4, 1907. Readers today often approach his work with two perspectives at once: as a valuable record of languages, customs, and events, and as writing shaped by the missionary viewpoint of the 19th century.