Marcus Whitman

Marcus Whitman was a Protestant missionary. Answering the call to bring white man's religion to the Indians, he was sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to the Oregon country in 1836. He and his wife established their mission at a grassy site near the Walla Walla River. The site was named Waiilatpu, an Indian word meaning "place of the rye grass." There ate the mission was born Alice Clarissa Whitman, the first white child born west of the Rockies and north of California, on March 14, 1837.

Besides bringing religion to the area, Whitman also taught the Indians about farming. With seed, fruit trees, and provisions secured from Fort Vancouver, Whitman cultivated 200 acres of fertile land. In 1837, new recruits arrived in the valley, bringing three more missionaries. Together the missionaries built a saw mill, a blacksmith, a grist mill, a blacksmith shop, a school, an orchard and living quarters.

The mission prospered well economically and was spiritually influential on the Indians. However, the tribes here weren't as amenable to religion as those in Idaho, and they were more resentful of the intrusion of white men on their lands. This caused the Missionary Board to consider discontinuing the missionary effort. So in 1842, Whitman went back east to talk to the commissioners. He succeeded in saving the mission. During that time the Indians grew even more suspicious. During this time, his efforts were becoming more and more directed toward helping the increasing numbers of settlers coming to the area.

Things came to a head when in 1847, a measles epidemic came to the Northwest. The Indians were already upset due to the recent murder of the son of Peu-Peu-mox-mox, Chief of the Walla Wallas. They were angered when they saw the white settlers that Dr. Whitman treated survived, while their own people died. The Indians didn't understand that they had no natural immunity and thought the doctor was poisoning them. They attacked the mission on November 29, killing the doctor and his wife, Narcissa, and twelve others. Fifty others, mostly women and children, were taken captive by the Cayuse. A month later, 47 were released to Peter Skein Ogden of the Hudson's Bay Company in exchange for blankets, cotton shirts, tobacco, guns, and ammunition.

Today's Whitman Mission National Monument was established in 1940 on the site of the original mission. The monument on the hill is known as the spot that Narcissa used to come and watch for Whitman's return from his many missions.