The Whitman Massacre Perspectives: Part 1, Marcus Whitman

Welcome back to Myths & Mischief! This is your Lovable Lord of Lore, today’s mischievous myth is the first in a series of five involving different perspectives about the events surrounding the Whitman Massacre which started the path to statehood for Washington.

Marcus Whitman

While the draw to the Northwest and its resources are appealing, I have found that there are so many people there that could use my services as a doctor and a missionary. If I could reach them, there could be thousands of souls saved. It will be a lot of hard work, but with my belief in God as my focus, I figure that I can endure anything.

I have just set out with a group of trappers led by Jim Bridger. Sam Parker and I are heading out West to find a location of a future mission. It was a tough journey. The trappers didn’t seem to be too happy to have us along. Being new to the wilderness, they spent a lot of time warning us and explaining things.

Along the way, an epidemic of cholera broke out. I tended to the men and tried to keep their spirits up. While we were waiting for the last few men to regain their strength, Jim told me about a problem with his back. While up in the mountains about seven years earlier, he was shot in the back with an arrow. The metal arrowhead had been lodged in his back ever since. I used a scalpel and tweezers from my medical supplies and removed the arrowhead before stitching him up as good as new. I guess it had been a constant pain for some time, and between that and the recovery from cholera, the men started looking at us differently after that.

Once we arrived in the Northwest, Sam and I decided that I would return East to gather people and supplies and Sam would stay, pick out a suitable location, and start building.

When I got back, I went to the council and informed them on what had transpired. Then I went home for a well deserved and needed rest. I barely had enough time to put my things down before a woman was standing at my door. She introduced herself as Narcissa Prentiss and proposed marriage to me. I thought she was joking, but she went on to explain that it was the only way she could fulfill her calling to do missionary work in the Northwest. Maybe it was the fatigue from the long trip, but she seemed to make enough sense. However, the council said that we could not go West alone.

Narcissa said that she knew of another missionary who had just married that shared her interests in the Northwest. It turns out that Henry and Eliza Spalding had originally refused because Eliza was with child. Shortly after the miscarriage, they changed their mind. Before we knew it, we had thrown everything we had into a couple of wagons and headed West. It was the first time I had traveled with a woman, and being married was challenging enough. By the time we made it to Vancouver, we had only one wagon left, Narcissa had gotten pregnant, and the first women had crossed the continent as well as the first wagon.

We met with John McLoughlin at Fort Vancouver. He told us that Sam Parker had given up and left without doing any work for our settlement. John also advised that we go South of the Columbia River to set up and work with the more peaceful Natives that could be found there. Despite that recommendation, Narcissa convinced me to go East and work with the Cayuse Indians. They had little exposure to white people and were known to be unwelcoming toward settlers at times.

The Spaldings were in what John described as a “less hostile environment,” but I figure someone has to be the first one to work with the Cayuse, and with their close proximity to the trail East, they need to be worked with so settlers are safe. I am hoping that my prior experience with mountain men have given me enough insight to be able to communicate with them.

We started building as soon as we found a location. We built the necessary buildings and the first irrigation system in the area. We built our church and a school, then built housing. We started attracting the Cayuse as well as local Mountain Men. I even found Jim Bridger and his new native wife visiting, he left his daughter with us so we could care for her and give her an education. We took in everyone we could and tried to show them the benefits of a civilized life, religion, and education. Things started out very well, but we were never convinced that everything was going according to our plans.

Other than the reluctance of the Natives to change their hedonistic ways, the first problem we encountered was that some of them were stealing our melons. We had worked hard to grow enough food for everyone in the mission, and welcomed anyone to dine with us. So I made it a point to talk to the Cayuse about it and let them know in no uncertain terms were they allowed to eat our food. Unfortunately, they ignored our civilized agreement and continued to eat the melons from our fields. I felt there was no other way to make my point than to inject the melons with emetics. I figured if they got sick from the fruit, they would stop taking it. I am not sure if I got the desired reaction. They seemed to be upset with this instructional gastric gesture.

It wasn’t too long after this incident that more and more settlers started showing up. All of them were tired from their travels and some were sick with various ailments. The natives seemed to catch whatever was brought to the mission, their immunities were not as strong as the settlers and I did what I could but many of them did not survive. I nursed the settlers back to health and did everything I could with the Natives to no avail. I figured at least I could make them as comfortable as possible. Despite all of my efforts, the Natives are not happy with me. They think I am letting the sick Natives die and just treating the settlers. I can’t convince them otherwise.

As if I didn’t have enough problems, Alice Clarissa, our oldest daughter, drowned in the river! Narcissa and I are devastated. We don’t know what happened, but this is the biggest setback we have had out here. I don’t know what we will do with our other problems since our focus has been on our lost child.

I got a message that called me East to give an account on the progress we are making. It seems that many of the missions have been struggling and there is a possibility that they are going to close them all down. I can hardly believe that after all I have been through that they want to quit now. Just think about all the souls that could be saved.

I understand that the Cayuse are not happy with us, and they seem to really dislike Narcissa, but I have decided that I need to go back East at once. I guess my claims for saving souls rang true because the board decided to continue with the mission. So I spent some time gathering up supplies and believers. By the time I got back to the mission, I had brought with me a thousand settlers. I figure if the Natives can see how civilized people live, they will want to learn our ways and everything will work out.

It doesn’t seem that the Cayuse were happy to see me back. With the flux of new people, also came a series of diseases. Half of the Cayuse had died and there was nothing I could do about it. The remaining Cayuse accused me of killing them. I am rather uneasy around them now.

It seems as though something is going to happen. I don’t know what, but I intend to find out about it and calm everyone down so we can get back to doing God’s work again.

I can hear voices outside, but it is awfully late for a house call.

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