What event launched the protestant missionary movement in Pacific Northwest

Catholic and protestant missionaries tried to convince Pacific Northwest Indian people to adopt Christian beliefs and European economic and cultural systems from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries. They also became involved in the issues revolving around European American settlement, treaties, and Indian rights

nothing certain is known about what happened, but it seems that the country declined gradually, perhaps due to bad government, or, more likely, due to a series of bad harvests, which resulted in widespread and recurrent famine.