There were thirteen Canadians in John Jacob Astor's expedition of 1810. Most were Catholic, and many, like Étienne Lucier, settled in the Willamette Valley. By 1829, Lucier had established a permanent land claim next to the Willamette Fur Post near Champoeg on the French Prairie. On March 22, 1836, he and 15 other French Canadian settlers on the petitioned sent to Norbert Provencher, the titular Bishop of Juliopolis, to request a priest for the settlement. Missionary priests, Rev. François Norbert Blanchet and Rev. Modeste Demers arrived at Fort Vancouver on November 24, 1838.