here they labored among the Cayuse Indians
It is a distinct pleasure to acknowledge my indebtedness to Jack Farr, formerly with the National Park Service, and Robert L. Whitner, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash., who prepared the material on which most of this manuscript was based.
E. N. T.
Contents
Page [Call from the West] 10 [Samuel Parker and the American Board] 13 [“We Want You for Oregon”] 15 [Those Who Answered the Call] 18 [The Oregon Country] 19 [The Trip West] 25 [A Welcome at Fort Vancouver] 27 [Starting a New Life] 29 [The Cayuse Indians] 34 [Reinforcements for Oregon] 39 [A Community Rises at Waiilatpu] 41 [The Mission Children] 50 [Missions in Oregon] 53 [The Ride East] 57 [A Caravan on the Oregon Trail] 61 [The Gathering Storm] 64 [The Massacre] 66 [The Harvest of Violence] 71 [Preservation of the Past] 74 [Testimony from the Earth: A Folio] 76 [Suggested Readings] 92
Waiilatpu is the site of the mission founded among the Cayuse Indians in 1836 by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman. After 11 years of ministering to the Indians and assisting emigrants on the Oregon Trail, these missionaries were killed and their mission destroyed by the Indians whom they sought to help. The Whitmans’ story of devotion, nobility, and courage places them high among the pioneers who settled the Far West.
In 1836 five people—Dr. Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, the Reverend Henry and Eliza Spalding, and William H. Gray—successfully crossed the North American continent from New York State to the largely unknown land called Oregon. At Waiilatpu and Lapwai, among the Cayuse and Nez Percé Indians, they founded the first two missions on the Columbia Plateau. The trail they followed, established by Indians and fur traders, was later to be called the Oregon Trail.
Narcissa Whitman and Eliza Spalding were the first white women to cross the continent; the Whitmans’ baby, Alice Clarissa, was the first child born of United States citizens in the Pacific Northwest. These two events inspired many families to follow, for they proved that homes could be successfully established in Oregon, a land not yet belonging to the United States.
In the winter of 1842-43, Dr. Whitman rode across the Rocky Mountains in a desperate journey to the East to save the missions from closure. On his return to Oregon, another chapter in the western expansion of this Nation was added when he successfully encouraged and helped to guide the first great wagon train of emigrants to the Columbia River. The Whitmans’ mission throughout its existence was a haven for the overland traveler. Medical care, rest, and supplies were available to all who came that way.