Clifford Merrill Drury had a noteworthy career as a pastor, seminary professor, historian, and Navy chaplain. Born in 1897 in Early, Iowa, Drury was a graduate of Buena Vista College and San Francisco Theological Seminary and earned a PhD from the University of Edinburgh.

As a pastor, Drury served in Shanghai, China, and Moscow, Idaho. While in Moscow, Drury’s proximity to the Nez Perce Indians sparked an interest in the history of early missionaries in the Pacific Northwest. This interest launched a writing career that culminated in twenty-two books and numerous magazine articles. In 1938, Drury began a twenty-five-year career of teaching church history at San Francisco Theological Seminary, taking leave to serve as a Navy chaplain during World War II.

Drury’s major publications include Henry Harmon Spalding, Pioneer of Old Oregon (1936), Marcus Whitman, M.D., Pioneer and Martyr (1937), Elkanah and Mary Walker, Pioneers among the Spokanes (1940), Diaries and letters of Henry H. Spalding and Asa Bowen Smith (1958), First White Women over the Rockies (1963-1966), and Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and the Opening of Old Oregon (1976).

Drury received honorary degrees from Buena Vista, Azusa, Whitworth, and Whitman colleges. He was also honored by the Presbyterian Historical Society, the United States Navy, and the Washington State Historical Society.