I 
 
 1 ■> \ 
 
 K \ 
 
 —R 
 
 
 v / 
 
 j Vv' - 
 
 Vv l 
 
 W \ 
 
 ♦ 
 
 MARCUS WHITMAN, M. D. 
 
 THE 
 
 PATHFINDER of the PACIFIC NORTHWEST 
 
 AND 
 
 flftavtgreb /HMssionan? of ©reoon. 
 
 A Sketch of His Life, Character, Work, Massacre, 
 
 and Monument. 
 
 By Rev. JONATHAN EDWARDS. 
 
 “ Jl?e vuorK l?e did we ouqfyt to admire 
 f\r)d wer% upjujt if u/^ should mor^ require” 
 
 * 
 
MARCUS WHITMAN, M. D. 
 
 THE 
 
 PATHFINDER OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 
 
 AND 
 
 /IDavtpreO /HMssionan? of Oregon. 
 
 A Sketch of His Life, Character, Work, Massacre, 
 
 and Monument. 
 
 IRew Jonathan EOwarfcs. 
 
 “The u/orl^ h e did we ou^ht to admire, 
 f[r)d u/er<? ur>ju$t if u/<? should mor<? require” 
 
 Spokane: 
 
 UNION PRINTING COMPANY. 
 I 892 . 
 

I 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 
 HIS unpretentious pamphlet on a great subject, is a lecture I have 
 delivered many times in the State of Washington when presenting 1 
 the claims of Whitman College. This will account for the colloquial 
 style and lack of rhetorical finish. The effort has been to present 
 the salient points as brief and comprehensive as possible. In the pre¬ 
 paration of it I have become intensely interested in the romantic 
 history of the Pacific Northwest, and have been especially impressed 
 with the important part which the early missionaries played in the 
 wonderful drama. 
 
 I am thoroughly convinced that the subject deserves careful and 
 elaborate treatment by a competent mind, and it will doubtless have it. 
 God willing 1 , by Rev. Dr. Myron Eells. 
 
 The Rev. ,T. E. Roy, D. D. of Chicago, and others, have suggested 
 that such a pamphlet as this, widely distributed, would aid in promot¬ 
 ing the interests of Whitman College and if that end is accomplished 
 the author will be abundantly rewarded. Among many works con¬ 
 sulted, special acknowledgment of indebtedness is due the following: 
 Bancroft’s “History of Northwest Coast,” “Oregon” and “Washington,” 
 Gray’s “History of Oregon,” Barrow’s “Oregon, The Struggle for Pos¬ 
 session,” Gilbert’s “History of Walla Walla County,” and “Life of 
 Marcus Whitman,” in “The Pacific,” by Rev. Myron Eells, D. D. 
 
 J. E. 
 

 Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2018 with funding from 
 Columbia University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/marcuswhitmanmdpOOedwa 
 
MARCUS WHITMAN, M. D. 
 
 f&lxe of the pacific 
 
 AND 
 
 flDartpret' /HMsstonan? of ©regon. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PIONEER MISSIONARIES. 
 
 The history of the pioneer missionaries of the Pacific- 
 Northwest is a romance. By their exertions and sacrifices they 
 have accomplished a work that entitles them the honor and 
 admiration of successive generations. They were the founders 
 of a new empire and the ushers of civilization to the land of 
 the setting sun. Bancroft says in his history of Oregon: “It is 
 in the missionary, rather than in the commercial or agricultural 
 elements, that I find that romance which underlies all human 
 endeavor before it becomes of sufficient interest for permanent 
 preservation in the memory of mankind. I believe the time 
 will come, if it be not already, when to the descendants of these 
 hardy empire-builders this enrollment will be recognized as 
 equivalent to a patent of nobility.” Few men have in equal 
 measure exhibited the heroic and self-denying spirit of the 
 Apostles as these pioneer missionaries did. Seldom have been 
 given to men such an opportunity to exert a far-reaching and 
 enduring influence upon future generations. It was their priv¬ 
 ilege to lay deep, strong and broad foundations, upon which 
 their successors have, and will, erect grand and permanent 
 superstructures. Though dead they yet speak, and we enter 
 into’ their labors. A sense of our obligation to them should 
 incite us to honor their memories and perpetuate their names. 
 
2 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SEEKING FOR THE LIGHT. 
 
 THE LONG JOURNEY OF THE FLAT-HEAD INDIANS FROM NORTHERN 
 
 IDAHO TO SAINT LOUIS. 
 
 The superficial knowledge of God which the Indians of the 
 Pacific-Northwest obtained through the members of the Lewis 
 and Clark expedition, some of the employees of the Hudson Bay 
 company,—who built a trading post west of the Rocky Moun¬ 
 tains in 1811,—and 0erh aps, what was communicated from tribe 
 to tribe from the Roman Catholic Jesuits in Lower California, 
 created within them a desire for more. It finally developed into 
 an intense passion for more light regarding the white man’s God 
 and Bible. It became the all-absorbing subject for meditation 
 and conversation. It was frequently discussed around the camp 
 fire and in the wigwam. Yea, doubtless many prayers ascended 
 to God for this true light from Heaven. 
 
 At last it was decided to make a desperate effort to obtain 
 the much desired light. In 1832, five of the Flat-head or Nez 
 Pei *ces Indians made a journey from Northern Idaho to St. 
 Louis, seeking the knowledge for which they so earnestly 
 yearned. They were feeling after the true God if haply they 
 might find Him. Two thousand miles they traveled, climbing 
 precipitous rocks and over high and rugged mountains. They 
 pressed their way through almost impenetrable forests, crossing 
 wide prairies and dismal valleys, and fording rushing streams 
 and deep rivers, all in order to find out more regarding the book 
 that told all about the Great Spirit, the hunting ground of the 
 blessed and the trail thereto. Who can conceive the hardships 
 they endured ere they reached their journey’s end? It is not 
 
known how Ion" it took them to make the journey. But they 
 reached St. Louis, and for a time they moved around silently in 
 mocassin and blanket, attracting but little attention among the 
 few thousand inhabitants. Among them were two old chiefs 
 noted for wisdom and prudence. The other three were young 
 braves selected because of their endurance and daring in any 
 perils. It was not easy for them to make known their errand. 
 They found many things to interest them, but not that one thing 
 which they felt they needed more than all else. They were 
 kindly treated, entertained, blanketed and ornamented. They 
 were lead to the cathedral and shown the altar and the pictures 
 of saints. 
 
 But withal there was a vacuum within. They were not sat¬ 
 isfied. Why? Because they had faced the perils and endured 
 the hardships of a long journey, in order that they might have 
 better ideas of the Great Spirit of the white man, and the book 
 of the white man which shows the long trail leading to the 
 Eternal Camping Ground. But this they had not found and 
 doubtless thought their journey was in vain. As the three sur¬ 
 viving braves were about starting on their return journey, sad 
 at heart and disappointed, the farewell address of one of them 
 delivered in the office of General Clark, is full of genuine pathos 
 and deserves a place among the world’s literary classics. 
 
 THE INDIAN’S FAREWELL SPEECH. 
 
 “ I came to you over a trail of many moons from the setting sun. You 
 were the friend of my fathers who have all gone the long way. I came with 
 one eye partly opened, for more light for my people, who sit in darkness. 
 I go back with both eyes closed. How can I go back with both eyes closed ? 
 How can I go back blind to my blind people? I made my way to you with 
 strong arms, through many enemies and strange lands that I might carry 
 back much to them. I go back with both arms broken and empty. The 
 two fathers who came with us—the braves of many winters and wars—we 
 
4 
 
 leave asleep by your great water and wigwam. They were tired in many 
 moons and their mocassins wore out. My people sent me to get the white 
 man’s book of Heaven. You took me where you allow your women to 
 dance, as we do not ours, and the book was not there; you showed me the 
 images of good spirits and pictures of the good land beyond, but the book 
 was not among them to tell us the way. I am going back the long sad trail 
 to my people of the dark land. 
 
 You make my feet heavy with burdens of gifts, and my moccasins will 
 grow old in carrying them, but the book was not among them. When I tell 
 my poor blind people, after one more snow in the big council, that I did not 
 bring the book, no word will be spoken by our old men or by our young 
 braves. One by one they will rise up and go out in silence. My people 
 will die in darkness, and they will go on the long path to the other hunting 
 grounds. No white man will go with them and no white man’s book to 
 make the way plain. I have no more words.” 
 
HEE-OH-KS-TE-KIN. —The Rabbit’s Skin Leggins. 
 
 (DRAWN BY GEORGE CATLIN.) 
 
 The only one of the five Nez Perce Chiefs (some say there were only four) 
 who visited Saint Louis in 1832, that lived to return 
 to his people to tell the story. 
 
 HCO-A-HCO-A-HCOTES-MIN.—No Horns on his Head. 
 
 This one died on his return journey near the mouth of Yellowstone River. 
 
 This is what Oatlin says himself. “These two men when I painted them, were 
 in beautiful Sioux dresses, which had been presented to them in a talk with the 
 Sioux, who treated them very kindly, while passing - through the Sioux country. 
 These two men were part of a delegation that came across the Rocky mountains 
 to St. Louis, a few years since, to inquire for the truth of a representation which 
 they said some white man had made among them, “that our religion was better 
 than theirs, and that they would be all lost if they did not embrace it.” Two old 
 and venerable men of this party died in St. Louis, and I traveled two thousand 
 miles, companions with these two fellows, toward their own country, and became 
 much pleased with their manners and dispositions. When I first heard the report 
 of the object of this extraordinary mission across the mountains, I could scarcely 
 believe it; but. on conversing with General Clark, on a future occasion. I was 
 fully convinced of the fact.” 
 
 See Catlin’s Eight Years, and Smithsonian Report for 1885, 2nd part. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 , . 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 '■' . 
 
 
 
 
 
 /. ■ 
 
 /V- :• ; 
 
 
 
 ( 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I ' r y 
 
 •i '* * 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 
 • • . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 J 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE JOURNEY NOT IN VAIN. 
 
 THE REFRAIN—“ THE BOOK WAS NOT THERE 5 ’ RESPONDED TO. 
 
 It seems providential that the true object of the long journey 
 of the brave Indians was communicated to the world. In the 
 office of General Clark there was a religiously disposed young- 
 man. He heard the farewell address of the Indian and was 
 deeply impressed by it. In his correspondence to eastern 
 friends he made it known. When first made public it was 
 denied, which lead some one to inquire of General Clark as to 
 the object of the Indians in making the long journey to St. Louis, 
 and he declared that it was to obtain more knowledge pertaining 
 the white man’s God and Bible. Truly the Indians returned to 
 their country disappointed. Their journey was apparently a 
 failure, but not really so. The mournful refrain “The Book 
 was not there,” had a sympathetic hearer not on earth alone but 
 also in Heaven. No one can seek after God in vain. God 
 responds to the prayers of the human soul. He will meet man’s 
 highest aspirations. The deepest desires will be satisfied. The 
 speech made by the Indians in General Clark’s office was made 
 a divine pivot on which turned the destiny of thousands of In¬ 
 dians, and resulted in one of the most romantic chapters in 
 American history. The failure of the Nez Perces or Flat-head 
 Indians to find the Book reached the ears of the officers of two 
 foreign Missionary Boards and touched their hearts. They said, 
 “The Book they will get if possible.” They were the officers 
 of the Methodist Episcopal Board of Missions, and the American 
 Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. The former 
 mission board sent out the first missionaries, Revs. Jason Lee 
 
and Daniel Lee, who did excellent work, for which they deserve 
 to be everlastingly remembered. Among the first to respond to 
 the call of the latter mission board was Marcus Whitman, M. D. 
 a brief sketch of whose life, character, death and consequences 
 we here present. 
 
7 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MARCUS WHITMAN’S EARLY LIFE. 
 
 EARLY TRAINING. RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. CONVERSION. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES. 
 
 He was born at Rusliville, Yates Co., N. Y., September 4th, 
 1802, and descended from a New England stock characterized 
 by a proportionate blending of the intellectual and moral, and 
 remarkable for longevity. As with many others who have been 
 prominent in history, and who have blessed mankind by their 
 noble deeds and self-denying lives, he seemed to have been 
 providentially saved from the mouth of death while an infant in 
 the cradle. The mother during a lonely hour, went to spend a 
 little time with her husband who worked in his shop across the 
 road. On returning to the humble log cabin, she was startled 
 to find that a stick had rolled from the fireplace and had come 
 in contact with the cradle which was on fire, and baby Marcus 
 was almost suffocated. But he was saved, for their was a great 
 work for him to do. There were many things in his early life 
 that tended especially to prepare him for his great life work. 
 
 He was reared amid the environments of a pioneer home, 
 and was made familiar with the privations incident to such life, 
 which,—other things being equal,—tend generally to promote 
 true manliness. His father dying when he was but eight years 
 old, necessitated on his part the early exertion of physical and 
 intellectual powers, resulting in a well developed body, and a 
 wholesome degree of self-reliance, independence, determination 
 and purpose in life. In childhood he was strongly impressed 
 with religious truths and loved to read the Bible. 
 
 He also gave evidence of a passion for adventure and ex¬ 
 ploration, as well as an inclination towards the work of the 
 
8 
 
 Gospel Ministry. His religious training was attended to with 
 scrupulous care, both by his parents at home, and his grand¬ 
 father Deacon Samuel Whitman, of Plainville, Mass., with 
 whom he spent some years after the decease of his father. He 
 was converted during a revival season when seventeen years of 
 age, but for reasons unknown to us, he did not make a public 
 profession of his faith until live years later. He first united 
 with the Congregational Church in his native place, but subse¬ 
 quently became a member and a ruling elder of the Presbyterian 
 Church at Wheeler, N. Y., from which church he was dismissed 
 when he came to Oregon. After receiving a good common 
 school education he studied latin with Rev. Moses Hallock of 
 Plainville, and Rev. David Page, of Rushville. At this time he 
 had in view the work of the Gospel Ministry, but physical ail¬ 
 ment led him to study medicine and in due time he received his 
 diploma. After four years of practice as a physician in Canada, 
 he returned home fully resolved to undertake the necessary 
 preparation for his chosen profession. But God’s ways were not 
 his, and again his plans were frustrated by physical pain from 
 which he suffered—more or less—all his lifetime. Soon after 
 this he became part owner with his brother in a saw mill. His 
 varied experiences in early life, eminently fitted him to be the 
 practiccal and progressive missionary and broad-minded patriot 
 by which he immortalized his name. 
 
 ‘ 4 God works in a mysterious way, 
 His wonders to perform. ” 
 
CHAPTER Y. 
 
 BECOMING A MISSIONARY. 
 
 To Rev. Samuel Parker is due the honor of being the first 
 one to oiler himself as a missionary to Oregon under the Amer¬ 
 ican Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. He left 
 New York in 1834, but reached St. Louis too late to go with 
 the American Fur Company. Not being able to go any farther 
 that season, he returned to New York for the purpose of creating 
 an interest in Indian Missions, and inducing others to join him, 
 and thus he became instrumental in leading Dr. Marcus Whitman 
 to become a missionary to Oregon. This was in the winter of 
 1834-5. Both of them started in the summer of ’35, but after 
 reaching the Green river and seeing some of the Indians for 
 whom they intended to devote their lives, Dr. Whitman was so 
 impressed with the magnitude of the work before them, that he 
 felt it his duty to return and make a mighty effort to bring 
 others with him. Two Nez Perces Indians accompanied him, 
 and on a Sunday morning he lead them in their native garb into 
 the church in his home in New. York. These are little things 
 and apparently accidental, but how infinitely important consid¬ 
 ered in their far-reaching influence. Parker returning to New 
 York from St. Louis and finding Marcus Whitman; the latter re¬ 
 turning from Green river and finding one of the grandest women 
 for a wife. For soon after this we find him united in the bonds 
 of matrimony with Miss Narcissa Prentis of Prattsburgh, N. Y., 
 daughter of Judge Stephen Prentis. She is described as a hand¬ 
 some and accomplished young lady, refined and commanding in 
 appearance, hair and complexion light, amiable and cheerful in 
 disposition, a beautiful singer, and in all respects fitted to fill a 
 
10 
 
 large place. In early life like Mary she had chosen the good 
 part which cannot be taken away, and had been an active and 
 devoted servant in the vineyard of the Lord. 
 
 By such a life she had developed into a strong Christian 
 character. She was permeated and illuminated by the spirit 
 which makes true heroes and heroines. She could truly say: 
 “Here, Lord take me;" and thus was ready to go wherever He 
 would lead her. Such was the woman that offered herself as a 
 missionary to the Indians of the Pacific Northwest. Dr. Whit¬ 
 man is described as somewhat above medium in height, closely 
 built, broad shoulders, iron gray hair, deep blue eyes, large 
 mouth, with perceptive organs well developed. Not disposed 
 to be fastidious, but rather indifferent to outward appearance; 
 business-like in manner and methods. Ready to make and 
 express his opinion ; always energetic, progressive and devoted 
 to his work irrespective of consequences. Naturally a leader of 
 men, he possessed the combined qualifications of a general, 
 statesman and missionary. 
 
11 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE LONG JOURNEY. 
 
 MISSIONARY HEROINES. 
 
 HEROES INDEED ARE THOSE THAT DO WORK THAT IS EARNEST, 
 
 BRAVE AND TRUE. 
 
 In the spring of 1836, we find Marcus Whitman, M. D. and 
 wife, Rev. H. H. Spalding and wife, and Mr. W. H. Gray ready 
 to start on their long journey to the far-away Oregon. It was a 
 scene that would have delighted the hearts of angelic beings. 
 Five brave hearts with the power of the Holy Spirit upon them, 
 undertaking a task that seemed to need superhuman courage. 
 In the name of the Most High God, and relying upon His grace, 
 they are determined to face obstacles and perils indescribable, 
 and enter upon a great and glorious mission, nothing less than 
 the civilizing and christianizing of the wild savages of the far 
 west. For though three had preceded them as missionaries, yet 
 they were the ones that introduced Christian civilization among 
 the natives of the Pacific North-west, They were the primary 
 agencies in destroying the monstrous monopoly of the Hudson’s 
 Bay Company, which for a century and a half utilized the north¬ 
 ern portion of this continent for fur and peltry. They were the 
 John the Baptist preparing the way for the coming multitudes, 
 and the heralds of the great coming immigration of family life. 
 The Missouri border population, always restless, had been trying 
 to push toward the Pacific coast. But the officials of the Hud¬ 
 son's Bay Company succeeded in keeping them away from their 
 vast dominion. All that tried to cross the Rocky mountains had 
 been discouraged by representations of hardships and dangers to 
 be encountered, resulting in scattering them in the mountains or 
 turning them in the direction of California. We find the mem- 
 
12 
 
 bers of the little missionary band on their way. They move 
 from city to city about as rapidly as possible in those days. At 
 St. Louis they find the American Fur Company preparing for its 
 annual expedition to the mountains. They did not become under 
 the protection of said company until they reached Council Bluffs. 
 Here they joined the great caravan with about two hundred per¬ 
 sons in all and six hundred animals. They bad been repeatedly 
 warned on the way of the presumption of attempting to take 
 their wives across the plains and over the mountains. The offi¬ 
 cials of the American Fur Company remonstrated against assum¬ 
 ing the responsibility of protecting them, and only jdelded be¬ 
 cause of the service rendered them by Dr. Whitman during their 
 trip the previous season. 
 
 On they went, day by day. The monotony of the journey 
 being broken by interruptions of various kinds and scenes of 
 perpetual variations. Who can conceive of the obstacles they 
 had to encounter as they moved along the vast prairies where 
 the antelopes and buffalos roved, through dense forests, across 
 swamps and wide and deep rivers overflowing their banks. But 
 the courage of the women never failed them. Mr. Spalding on 
 account of frequent misfortunes and the feebleness of his wife, 
 was sometimes ready to give up in despair, but Mrs. Spalding 
 would invariably express a determination to press on towards 
 their destination or die in the attempt. She gave evidence of 
 phenomenal endurance. Being feeble when they started she 
 suffered much on the way. At one time she failed to keep up 
 with the company, and it was thought that she could not live, 
 but she rallied again and was spared to do a great work among 
 the indians, especially in translating portions of the Scriptures 
 and some hymns into the Nez Perce language. The mountain 
 men acted especially gallant toward these women. 
 
 The true nobility of the women seemed to impress them. 
 They felt honored in having them in the country. After the 
 
13 
 
 party had reached the rendezvous of the American Fur Com¬ 
 pany on Green River, one of the mountain men is reported to 
 have said, pointing to the women: “There is something the 
 Honorable Hudson’s Bay Company can not expel from the 
 country.” How true those words proved to be, for the advent 
 
 of these women was the beginning of a new era in the history of 
 the Pacific North-west. In this company we truly find the ele¬ 
 ments or germs of Christian civilization. Something that can 
 not be expelled or suppressed. With them we find a quart of 
 wheat, the Bible, and two wives. This meant the tilling of the 
 soil, cultivated farms, harvest fields, flour mills, pure morality, 
 light of the Gospel, family life, the Christian home and nurture. 
 On June 6th they reached Laramie. A month later they enter 
 the famous South Pass where the waters of the continent divide. 
 Soon they were on the height of the Rocky mountain. 
 
 A SUBLIME SCENE. 
 
 There is a scene connected with their journey which de¬ 
 mands extraordinary attention in view of its great significance. 
 It is one that arouses all that is good within us, and has been 
 pronounced as hardly paralleled in American records for historic 
 grandeur and far-reaching consequences. It is sublimely beau¬ 
 tiful and inspiring in its effects, and would baffle the genius of a 
 true poet to describe it with adequate fitness. They were yet 
 high on the Rocky mountains with the great expanse of the 
 Pacific slope opening before them like a magnificent panorama. 
 Their hearts were profoundly moved as they witnessed the land¬ 
 scape unfolding its delightful scenes, and as they viewed the 
 vast empire given them to win for King Emanuel. 
 
 There we find the little group of five missionaries, and the 
 two Nez Percesboys that Whitman took with him to New York, 
 selecting a spot where the bunch grass grew high and thick. 
 Their hearts go out to God in joyful adoration for his protecting 
 care over them thus far, especially so, because they felt the 
 
14 
 
 greatest difficulties had been overcome, and they had now en¬ 
 tered the country for the people of which they had devoted their 
 lives. The sky is bright above them, the sun shines serenely 
 and the atmosphere is light and invigorating. The sun continues 
 his course and illuminates the western horizon like a flame of 
 Are, as if striving to give them a temporary glimpse of the vast 
 domain between them and the Pacific Ocean. They spread their 
 blankets carefully on the grass, and lift the American flag to 
 wave gracefully in the breeze, and with the Bible in the centre 
 they kneel, and with prayer and praise on their lips, they take 
 possession of the western side of the American continent in His 
 name who proclaimed u peace on earth and goodwill toward 
 men.” How strongly it evidences their faith in their mission and 
 the conquering power of the King of Peace. What a soul- 
 inspiring scene. Is it too much to say that it caused a thrill 
 among the angelic hosts above ? A scene truly inspiring to con¬ 
 template, and worthy a place on the canvas among the master¬ 
 pieces of the world’s great artists. It was an act the far-reaching 
 consequences of which secured to the United States government 
 300,000 square miles of the Pacific coast. 
 
15 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 TAKING THE FIRST WAGON ACROSS THE ROCKY 
 
 MOUNTAINS. 
 
 “patient endurance attaineth to all things.” 
 
 To attempt to take women across the Rocky mountains was 
 considered perilous and imprudent, but to take a wagon across 
 was pronounced absolutely impossible. But even such a stupend¬ 
 ous undertaking, a task inconceivably difficult, was not too much 
 for the indomitable Whitman. 
 
 The officers of the Hudson’s Bay Company were determined 
 that he should not succeed, or even make the attempt. At Fort 
 Laramie they exhausted their persuasive powers in their endeavor 
 to prevent him from taking the wagon any farther. From their 
 standpoint this was perfectly reasonable. They knew that to 
 demonstrate the possibility of taking a wagon across the Rocky 
 mountains meant the settlement of Oregon, for it was practically 
 making a highway from the Missouri to the Columbia. It sug¬ 
 gested the end of the supremacy of the Hudson’s Bay Company 
 in the Pacific North-west. But Whitman’s wagon did leave Fort 
 Laramie despite all obstacles and oppositions, and was taken 
 across the Rocky mountains. After travelling over mountain 
 fastnesses that seemed impassable, in the way of compromise 
 with those who constantly remonstrated, he converted his wagon 
 into a two-wheeled vehicle, taking the other two wheels with 
 him. In such a cart, amid countless difficulties, did the two 
 missionary heroines reach Fort Boise. The task was done, and 
 the apparently impossible was accomplished. A small band of 
 missionaries had opened a highway to the Pacific coast. 
 
16 
 
 We can hardly conceive the possibility of accomplishing a 
 more difficult task, and one more far-reaching and salutary in its 
 influences. It would be difficult to find another act which has 
 so marked American history. Though the wagon was not taken 
 farther than Fort Boise at this time, it was soon taken to Walla 
 Walla. 
 
 Dr. Whitman possessed the indomitable will, immovable 
 determination and irrepressible grit that made no obstacles insur¬ 
 mountable. He could say with Napoleon, and put it to better 
 use : “There shall be no Alps.” 
 
 " Thou in our wonder and astonishment, 
 
 Hast built thyself a livelong monument.” 
 
 Mr. W. H. Gray, a companion of Whitman on the journey, 
 says in his “ History of Oregon : ” 
 
 “ Whitman’s perseverance demonstrated a great fact the practicability 
 of a wagon road over the Rocky mountains. You that have rolled over that 
 vast plains and slept in your Concord coaches or Pullman palace cars, have 
 never once imagined the toil and labor of that old off-hand pioneer, as he 
 mounted his horse in the morning and rode all day in the cold and heat of 
 the mountains and plains, to prove that a wagon road was practicable to the 
 waters of the Columbia.” 
 
 He further says: 
 
 “From Soda Springs to Fort Hall his labor was immense, yet he over¬ 
 came every difficulty and brought it safe through. I have thrice travelled 
 the same route, and confess I can not see how he did it, notwithstanding I 
 was with him and know he brought the wagon through.” 
 
 “ Will ever the edict be uttered, O man, 
 
 ‘ Thus far and no farther,’ reach if you can ? 
 
 Nay, the broader the grasp of the intellect fine, 
 
 The farther recedes the horizon’s fine.” 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ESTABLISHING A MISSION. 
 
 SUPERSTITIONS OF THE INDIANS. FIRST WHITE CHILD BORN. 
 
 PROGRESS. MISSIONARY REENFORCEMENT. 
 
 Dr. Whitman and his missionary associates reached Fort 
 Walla Walla, now Wallula Junction, September 2, 1836. They 
 received a cordial welcome from the officials of the Hudson’s 
 Bay Company. A mission station was established on the Walla 
 Walla river, six miles west of the present city of Walla Walla, 
 under the charge of Dr. Whitman. It was called Wai-i-lat-pu, 
 the place of rye grass. North of it there is an elevation about 
 200 feet above the level of the valley. Looking in a south¬ 
 eastern direction we are impressed with the scenic beauty of the 
 view. The land is almost level for twenty miles, with the silvery 
 affluent of the Walla Walla river winding its way through — 
 fringed on each side with strips of timber. And away in the 
 distance we behold the towering heights of the Blue mountains. 
 The missionaries were received gladly by the Cayuse Indians. 
 These Indians, with the Walla Wallas, who occupied the region, 
 although in some respects superior Indians were exceedingly 
 wild and superstitious. They believed that some of the beasts 
 and reptiles then existing had once been men, and were at that 
 time able to convey their language to the living. Some pro¬ 
 fessed to have received wonderful knowledge through birds as 
 to future honor and wealth. At the same time they were quite 
 susceptible to religious impressions, and seemed to have a real 
 desire to know the better way. There was a great amount of 
 preparatory work necessary. Dr. Whitman and wife, and W. H. 
 Gray, went to work with a will and vigor. They built log and 
 
18 
 
 adobe houses. They built some fences also and prepared gen¬ 
 erally for the winter, in addition to preaching and teaching. 
 What their hands found to do they did with their might. They 
 were encouraged in their labors. Dr. Whitman writes: “ I have 
 abundance of evidence of the restraining power of religious 
 truth upon the minds of the natives, both from their remarks 
 and my own observations.” The gospel was proving itself to 
 be the power of God to those that believed. A father said to 
 an Indian boy who lay dying: “You are dying, do you know it? 
 He replied, I am not dying, I shall always live.” The father 
 inquired, “Do you think, and what do you think about?” The 
 reply was, “I think about Heaven. I love God more than any 
 one else.” 
 
 March 4th, 1837, a daughter—Alice Clarissa—was born to 
 Dr. Whitman and his wife, the first white child born in the 
 Pacific Northwest. When a little over two years old she was 
 drowned in the Walla Walla river. In the fall of 1838, they 
 received missionary reenforceinents in the persons of Revs. 
 Cushing Eells and Elkanah Walker and their wives. The first 
 printing press came from the Sandwich Islands in 1839, the first 
 to come to this coast, and completing the civilizing agencies. 
 The first to operate on the printing press was Rev. H. H. Spald¬ 
 ing who had established a mission among the Nez Perces, and 
 the first book was printed in the language of that tribe. 
 
 It is surprising to think of the amount of work done the first 
 three or four years. In the book entitled “Travels across the 
 Great Western Prairies, the Anahuac and Rocky Mountains,” by 
 Thos. J. Furnham, we have a description of things as he found 
 them at the Whitman Mission, the latter part of September, 1839. 
 He found about 250 acres enclosed, 200 of which was under 
 good cultivation. The products were wheat, Indian corn, 
 beans, pumpkins, Irish potatoes, beets, carrots, onions, turnips, 
 rutabagas, water, musk and nutmeg melons, squashes, asparagus, 
 
19 
 
 tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, etc. The quality was good and the 
 crop abundant. He found two buildings and one in course of 
 construction, and a small grist-mill. He says: ‘‘It appeared to 
 me quite remarkable that the Doctor could have made so many 
 improvements since the year 1836; but the industry which 
 crowded every hour of the day, his untiring energy of character 
 and the very efficient aid of his wife in relieving him in a great 
 degree from the labors of the school, are perhaps circumstances 
 which render possibility probable, that in three years one man, 
 without funds for such purposes, without other aid for that 
 business than that of a fellow-missionary for short intervals, 
 should fence, plow, build, plant an orchard, and do all the other 
 laborious acts of opening a plantation on the face of that distant 
 wilderness, learn an Indian language, and do the duties, mean¬ 
 while, of a physician to the associate stations on the Clearwater 
 and Spokane.” He found forty or fifty Indian children between 
 the ages of seven and eighteen in the school and pronounces 
 Mrs. Whitman an indefatigable instructor. In 1842, the Indians 
 were cultivating from one-fourth to four acres of land, and had 
 seventy head of cattle and some a few sheep. At the same time 
 the missionaries had many difficulties to contend with. They 
 were dealing with shrewd and savage Indians disposed to wander, 
 seldom remaining more than three months in the same place. 
 The best disposed were becoming tired of steady work, losing 
 their enthusiasm for improvement, leaving the school at times 
 very small. The Jesuit missionaries came into the country and 
 divided the religiously disposed Indians, and the mill was 
 burned. And saddest of all there was some discord existing 
 among the Prostestant missionaries themselves. At the same 
 time, amid all difficulties and discouragements, the work was 
 prosecuted with all possible vigor. 
 
20 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE BROAD-MINDED AND PATRIOTIC SPIRIT 
 
 OF DR. WHITMAN. 
 
 the Hudson’s bay company. 
 
 THE U. S. statesmen’s ESTIMATE OF THE COUNTRY. 
 
 Dr. Whitman was a large hearted, broad-minded, progres¬ 
 sive and practical man. The world in which he lived was not 
 narrow, but one, the horizon of which was ever expanding. His 
 conception of his mission, was, what some might consider extra¬ 
 ordinary, for it comprehended all that pertained to man’s wel¬ 
 fare. He was a man that grasped the situation in all its bearings, 
 and a man of prophetic vision. While dilligently engaged in 
 missionary work as a preacher, teacher and physician, he at the 
 same time studied the soil of the country, its nature, the best 
 methods to make it produce, its geography, relation to other 
 countries, and its resources, and seemed to fully appreciate its 
 wonderful possibilities. These things greatly impressed him. 
 They presented to him an opportunity that implied a great 
 responsibility. With his extraordinary far-sightedness he could 
 not be indifferent to these things. The thought urged itself on 
 him:—Here is a grand, fertile and rich country to be possessed 
 by some people,—by whom \ 
 
 His attachment and loyalty to his country was second only 
 to his love and devotion to his Master, Jesus Christ. He felt 
 that to have such a vast country of such diverse resources, 
 capable of sustaining a great population, to be a part of the best 
 government under the heavens was worthy of prayerful consid¬ 
 eration, in view of its bearing upon the progress of Christ’s 
 Kingdom on the earth. He could not feel that it was his mission 
 
21 
 
 to labor for a few, as much as to set himself to the task of saving 
 the whole country for Christ. Men of narrow capacities are 
 prone to live in and for the present, or the immediate future, 
 while those of larger capacities in their plans and undertakings 
 comprehend the remote future. They have a faith that enables 
 them to sow seeds the fruits of which they do not expect to reap. 
 There were several things that impressed Dr. Whitman as de¬ 
 manding attention in the interest of Christ’s Kingdom. 
 
 I. The monopoly of the Hudson's (Bay Company, and the 
 purpose of the officials to keep out American settlers ft om Oregon. 
 They used every means to prevent American immigrants on their 
 way to Oregon from reaching their destination, and to turn them 
 in the direction of California. They exaggerated the difficulties 
 and dangers of the trip. They made all but Dr. Whitman 
 believe that to take a wagon across to the Columbia was an im¬ 
 possibility. They represented that no company had crossed the 
 Snake and Columbia rivers without the loss of lives. Sure death 
 at the hands of savage Indians or from famine was predicted. 
 Articles in magazines and papers, and books of travels repre¬ 
 sented the country as impassable. This company by various 
 means had succeeded in making the American people generally 
 to believe that Oregon was useless save as a hunting ground. 
 Every effort was made to secure the country to the British gov¬ 
 ernment. Plaus were in operation to bring into the country a 
 large immigration from the British provinces. Dr. Whitman 
 was more favorably located than any of his missionary associates 
 to understand the plans of the company, and he fully appreciated 
 the situation. 
 
 II. He was impressed that it was especially important that 
 the officials at Washington, (D. C. should be informed as to the 
 value of the country . 
 
 III. He was convinced that nothing could frustrate the 
 plans of the Hudson’s (Bay Company, and secure the country to 
 the United States but a large immigration of American settlers. 
 
22 
 
 To read the speeches of American statesmen at Washington, 
 D. C. containing their opinions of Oregon and the whole Pacific 
 coast, is to-day a source of amusement. One said that he would 
 not give a pinch of snuff for the Territory of Oregon and thanked 
 God for placing the Rocky Mountains between the rest of the 
 United States and it. It was compared with the Desert of 
 Sahara, and of all countries on the face of the earth the least 
 favored by heaven, the mere riddlings of creation. The distance 
 and character of the intervening country was declared an obstacle 
 that could never be overcome. A railroad to the Columbia 
 could never be thought of. The mines of Mexico and Peru dis¬ 
 emboweled were pronounced to be scarcely able to pay a penny 
 in a pound of the cost. The extravagence of the suggestion was 
 declared as surpassing all modern vissionary scheming. Dr. 
 Whitman felt that the deluded statesmen should find out the 
 truth. He had been imnressed for some time that he should go 
 to Washington for the purpose of imparting to them accurate 
 information regarding Oregon, and also, do all he could to induce 
 a large American immigration to follow him to the country and 
 thus save Oregon to the United States. 
 
23 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE DARING AND PERILOUS JOURNEY. 
 
 THE PRIMARY OBJECT. 
 
 A scene witnessed at Fort Walla Walla while visiting a 
 patient thoroughly aroused Dr. Whitman. The officials of the 
 Hudson’s Bay Company were rejoicing in view of the news which 
 had just been received of the arrival at Fort Colville, 300 miles 
 up the Columbia river of a colony from British Columbia. An en¬ 
 thusiastic young priest shouted u Hurrah for Oregon,” u America 
 is too late.” “We have got the country.” Dr. Whitman’s pat¬ 
 riotic spirit was thoroughly stirred. It had become perfectly 
 clear to him what his duty was. He returned home fully deter¬ 
 mined to attempt the trip to Washington. A conference of the 
 missionaries was called. When they came together he submitted 
 to them his plans, stating clearly that his primary object was to 
 save Oregon to the United States. They could not appreciate 
 the situation and the national exigency as he did. They inti- 
 mated that he was hardly justified in taking such a journey for 
 such a purpose while employed by a missionary society, and his 
 emphatic reply was: “I am not expatriated by becoming a mis¬ 
 sionary.” So relates Rev. Cushing Eells, D. D. the only sur¬ 
 viving member of the conference. Seeing his mind so unalter¬ 
 ably fixed they unanimously approved of his going. The weep¬ 
 ing wife as heroic as he, was willing to sacrifice her husband—if 
 necessary—for the good of her country. He was soon on the 
 saddle and ready for the perilous journey. It was October 3d, 
 1842, and A. L. Love joy, a young man who but recently had 
 arrived at the mission,— and an Indian guide—were his only 
 companions. Committing themselves and being committed to 
 
24 
 
 the Divine care they started. The summits of the Blue Moun¬ 
 tains in the distance were already sprinkled with snow indicating 
 that the winter’s cold blasts were approaching. They moved 
 rapidly across the beautiful Walla Walla valley. After about 
 two hours’ ride they were watched climbing the sloping and 
 fertile fields rising toward the Blue Mountains, and were soon 
 lost in the distance. On they pushed their way from hill to hill 
 with naught to guide them but the Indian’s trail. They pitched 
 their tent by night beside some flowing stream or gurgling 
 spring, and ere they laid their heads to rest on soddy pillow, 
 devoutly did they commit themselves to the tender care of Him 
 who watches over all his own. They pressed their way through 
 narrow gorges where no sound was heard but the echo of their 
 own march. They hurried on through storms and mountain 
 barriers so that in eleven days they had left behind them 340 
 miles, and were at Fort Hall. From thence they took a south¬ 
 erly direction hoping thereby to escape the deep snow. Never¬ 
 theless, the weather soon became very severe. But on they 
 moved across wide and dismal deserts which threatened death at 
 every step, through forest fastnesses the home of wild and fero¬ 
 cious beasts, over craggy heights where one misstep would surely 
 result in death. On they went, though the storm turned the day 
 to premature night and compelled them to seek shelter in dark 
 ravines. On through streams and rivers whose boiling torrents 
 warned them back. On, though innumerable difficulties had to 
 be encountered. On, though guide after guide failed them. 
 On, though feet and hands were frozen. There is no alternative, 
 —press on they must or die. At one time on account of storm 
 and snow they had to depend entirely on the instinct of the 
 animal. 
 
25 
 
 4 ‘On, On, and on, the dumb beast pressed, 
 
 Uncertain and without a guide, 
 
 And found the mountain’s curves of rest, 
 
 And sheltered ways of the divide, 
 
 His feet grew firm, he found the way, 
 
 With storm-beat limbs and frozen breath, 
 
 As keen his instinct to obey 
 
 As was his master's eye of faith. 
 
 Through sunless days and starless nights, 
 
 Towards Toas and far Santa Fee, 
 
 O’er table lands of sleet and hail, 
 
 Through pine-roofed gorges, canyons cold, 
 
 Now fording stream incased in mail 
 Of ice, like Alpine knights of old, 
 
 Still on, and on, forgetful on, 
 
 ’Til far behind lay Walla Walla, 
 
 And far the fields of Oregon.” 
 
 Bent’s Fork was reached January 3d, and there Lovejoy 
 remained to join the doctor on his return journey. Dr. Whit¬ 
 man reached St. Louis in due time in his fur garments and buck¬ 
 skin breeches, and bearing many marks of the severity of the 
 weather which he had endured. In haste the saddle was ex¬ 
 changed for stage and he was soon moving for Washington, 
 reaching there March 3d, 1843. By newspaper articles and a 
 circular he did all he could to create an interest in' Oregon and 
 to induce emigration thereto, offering himself as a guide on 
 his return journey. 
 
26 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 WHITMAN’S OBJECT IN GOING TO WASHINGTON. 
 
 This seems to be the place to present concisely the evidences 
 regarding his primary object in making the trip east, and to 
 show that he did reach Washington and had a hearing. We 
 have the testimony of eleven of his contemporaries who were 
 intimately acquainted with him. His missionary associates 
 ought to be considered reliable witnesses. They certainly knew 
 his purpose in making the journey and their veracity should be 
 deemed unquestionable. These missionaries were the late H. H. 
 Spalding, Elkanah Walker, Hon. W. H. Gray and Rev. Cushing 
 Eells, D. D. who is still living. Their unanimous testimony is 
 that he went to Washington to save Oregon to the United States. 
 Their testimony is corroborated by Dr. William Geiger, who 
 had charge of Dr. Whitman’s station while he was absent in the 
 east, and also Hon. A. L. Lovejoy, who was Whitman’s com¬ 
 panion on the journey; by Mr. P. B. Whitman, who accom¬ 
 panied him on his return trip; Hon. Alanson Hinman, who 
 taught school at the doctor’s station the winter following his 
 return; Dr. S. J. Parker, Ithaca, N. Y., son of the Rev. S. 
 Parker, the first missionary of the A. B. C. F. M. to Oregon, 
 and the late Rev. Wm. Barrows, D. D. who saw Dr. Whitman 
 at St. Louis when on his way to Washington. More satisfactory 
 witnesses, it seems to me could hardly be conceived. “It 
 is only necessary to say it was the work of Whitman in that 
 memorable ride to save Oregon to the Republic. He asked no 
 money from the government. He was not working for wages. 
 He only asked that the government would stand firm and refuse 
 
27 
 
 to give Oregon to England until he had time to lead a caravan 
 of Americans across the mountains.” 
 
 That he did reach Washington there can be no doubt. We 
 have the testimony of several reliable witnesses on this point. 
 We could mention Dr. Geiger, Mr. P. B. Whitman, A. L. 
 Love joy, Judge Otis of Chicago, who met him at Buffalo, New 
 York, and many more. But the evidence is now indisputable. 
 The documents recently discovered in the War Department at 
 Washington settle the question. In them we have irrefutable 
 proof that Dr. Marcus Whitman did go to Washington City in 
 the winters of 42-43, and held a conference with the Secretary 
 of War, and exerted influences which had powerful effect in 
 saving Oregon to the Union. They were written in 1843 after 
 his return to Wailaitpu Station. The letter begins thus:— 
 
 “In compliance with the request you did me the honor to 
 make last winter while at Washington.” It refers to the im¬ 
 mense migration of families to Oregon which had taken place 
 that year, which he had piloted. The route is described in the 
 bill. The bill is thus described: “A bill to promote safe inter¬ 
 course with the Territory of Oregon, to suppress violent acts of 
 aggression on the part of Indians west of the Indian Territory.” 
 The purpose of the bill is to have “established at suitable dis¬ 
 tances and in convenient and proper places, to be selected by the 
 President, a chain of agricultural posts or farming stations, 
 extending at intervals from the present most usual crossing of 
 the Kansas river to the Willamette Valley, Oregon.' 1 The object: 
 “to set examples of civilized industry to the Indian tribes, keep 
 them in proper subjection to the laws of the United States, 
 suppress violent and lawless acts along the said frontier line, 
 facilitate the passage of troops and munitions of war and trans¬ 
 portation of mail.” 
 
 The letter and bill exhibit the statesmanlike character of 
 the author. 
 
28 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE WORK ACCOMPLISHED. 
 
 A LARGE IMMIGRATION TO OREGON LED BY DR. WHITMAN. 
 
 Dr. Whitman did what he could while in the east, through 
 the newspapers and a circular, to create an interest in Oregon 
 and to induce a large immigration thereto. His visit to Boston 
 was brief, and he was ready to start on his return journey April 
 20th, 1843. 
 
 We find the emigrant train at Independence, Mo. May 22d, 
 1843, ready for the untried journey. There are two hundred 
 and ninety-five men over sixteen years old, eight hundred and 
 seventy-five persons in all, with one hundred and eleven wagons, 
 and two thousand horses and cattle. What a tremendous under¬ 
 taking, attempting to take one hundred and eleven wagons over 
 rough and rugged mountains, a thing declared impossible by 
 those who professed to know the most about them. 
 
 The officials of the Hudson’s Bay Company spared no pains 
 in showing that there was no secure and expeditious way. The 
 rivers could not be forded on account of the torrents without 
 loss of men. 
 
 The missionaries of 1840, who had brought their wagons as 
 far as the mountains, had been persuaded to exchange them for 
 pack animals. So also Dr. White’s party of one hundred and 
 thirty-seven persons in 1842. But Dr. Whitman could declare 
 with confidence that wagons could be taken across the moun¬ 
 tains, for in 1836, he had taken one to Boise, and Dr. Robt. 
 Newell and others had brought three to Walla Walla in 1840. 
 And so, Mr. Jesse Appleton one of the company bears witness 
 
that u his great experience and indomitable energy were of price¬ 
 less value to the migrating column.” The people were often 
 discouraged and some disposed to murmur, and even Captain 
 Grant the pilot, was at one time ready to give up in despair, but 
 Dr. Whitman’s determination and perseverance and constant 
 encouragement enabled them to prevail. 
 
 The success of this immigrant train in crossing the Rocky 
 Mountains with their wagons is one of the greatest feats recorded 
 in history. The writer has been told by many who have travelled 
 overland ten, twenty, and thirty years afterwards, that no one can 
 have a conception of the difficulties only those who have ex¬ 
 perienced them. The testimonies as to the value of Dr. Whit¬ 
 man’s services to the immigrants are abundant, and without his 
 council and leadership it is hardly possible that they could have 
 crossed the mountains. Hon. El wood Evans, says: “ We zeaU 
 ously unite in ascribing to that visit the greatest results in the 
 future of Oregon, the grandest services to that large train, the 
 importance that flowed from his successful leading of that large 
 train through to the Columbia with their wagons. Those results, 
 those conclusions, are glorious to Tr. Whitman’s memory.” 
 And Mr. Jesse Appleton says : “It is no disparagement to 
 others to say that to no other individual are the emigrants of 
 1843 so much indebted for the successful conclusion of their 
 journey as to (Dr. Marcus Whitman.” 
 
 The Walla Walla Valley was reached the latter part of 
 September, one month before the arrival of the so-called path¬ 
 finder, General J. C. Fremont. Thus it can be said that the 
 humble missionary is the true pathfinder of the pacific 
 
 NORTH-WEST. 
 
 The immigrants led by Dr. Whitman outnumbered all the 
 Hudson’s Bay Company employees and the Red river immigrants, 
 and their coming had demonstrated that people could reach the 
 Columbia and bring wagons with them. Thus it has been truly 
 
30 
 
 declared to be the “turning point in the history of Oregon. 1 ' 
 And we can truly say that to the humble missionary, we are 
 primarily indebted that the stars and stripes float over the coun¬ 
 try of wonderful and diverse resources, and destined to be pop¬ 
 ulated by millions of people, known as the “Pacific North-west." 
 
 The Hon. J. B. Allen, U. S. Senator from Washington, in 
 an address at Whitman College said—“To the missionary pre¬ 
 eminently are we indebted to-day, that the stars and stripes float 
 over W ashington, and that it is under the allegiance of this 
 Republic and not Great Britain, and while according the full 
 mead of praise to others, and especially to those of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, for their noble and patriotic services, under 
 the most untoward circumstances, we believe that to Dr. Marcus 
 Whitman, more than to any other single individual, is our debt 
 of gratitude the greatest. Fired with a love for his country 
 only excelled by that to his God; inspired with an enthusiasm 
 for its welfare, only surpassed by that in his missionary labors; 
 intelligently informed of the vast and varied resources, the com¬ 
 mercial and climatic advantages, and the natural value of this, to 
 most others of his countrymen, terra incognita; foreseeing with 
 a prophet’s vision its mighty future, and fearing that through 
 ignorance, indifference or deception, it was about to be bartered 
 to the English government; without regard to personal comfort 
 or safety, and with winter impending, in 1842, he entered upon 
 the task of crossing the continent, in which he succeeded though 
 encountering obstacles, hardships and dangers in every form ; 
 performing a journey 4 of most disastrous chances, of moving 
 accidents, of hair-breadth escapes. ’ ” 
 
 “But, to inspire the Secretary of State, and the adminis¬ 
 tration with some approximate idea of the value of this region, 
 and persuade them that wagons and women could be transported 
 into it, was a harder and less successful task. He obtained 
 reluctantly however, an opportunity of refuting the impressions 
 
31 
 
 made through British agencies, and the following season, after 
 exhibitions of leadership, perseverance, and skill, worthy of a 
 military commander, verified his representations by conducting 
 through to the Columbia river an emigrant train consisting of 
 eight hundred and seventy-five men, women and children, and 
 about two thousand horses and cattle.” 
 
 Thus the great work was accomplished, and this grand 
 country secured to the United States, through the instrumen¬ 
 tality of a humble missionary. And should we not see to it that 
 his memory is suitably honored % 
 
32 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYRS OF THE PACIFIC 
 
 NORTHWEST. 
 
 After his return from the east Dr. Whitman and his wife 
 labored among the Indians with characteristic vigor. 
 
 But there were several things tending to counteract their 
 influence and to alienate the Indians from them. The Roman 
 Catholic Jesuits established a mission quite near to them, and a 
 half-breed Indian, known as Joe Lewis, endeavored to persuade 
 the Indians that it was the intention of the white people to take 
 their lands. The killing of a young Walla Walla Chief by the 
 Americans in California had helped to create animosity against 
 them. 
 
 The officials of the Hudson's Bay Company, who had won¬ 
 derful influence over the Indians, were doubtless showing favor 
 to the Jesuits because they were counted as British subjects. 
 Dr. Whitman was not just such a man as they wanted around. 
 The measles also prevailed among the Indians and proved fatal 
 in many cases. All these things tended to make the Indians 
 hostile to Dr. Whitman and his mission. He and his wife had 
 been apprehensive of danger for some time. There are some 
 reasons for believing that the Doctor had seriously thought of 
 abandoning the mission. But like a brave and loyal man he 
 kept to his post hoping and praying for the best. 
 
 He could say: We see not, know not; all our way 
 
 Is night,—with Thee alone is day: 
 
 From out the torrents troubled drift, 
 
 Above the storm, our prayers we lift. 
 
 Thy will be done. 
 
33 
 
 On the 22d day of November, in the year 1847, one of the 
 saddest events in the history of the Pacific Northwest occurred, 
 and is known in history as the 
 
 WHITMAN MASSACRE. 
 
 Dr. Whitman and his most noble wife, and twelve others 
 that belonged to the mission station in some way, were mur¬ 
 dered by the savage Cay use Indians, and forty-six taken as cap¬ 
 tives. Having attended the funeral of an Indian in the morning, 
 the Doctor had returned home, and with his wife was attending 
 their three sick adopted children. Early in the afternoon an 
 Indian came in at a side door and inquired for Dr. Whitman. 
 Following this the war chief Ti-lau-kait came in and talked with 
 the Doctor,—who was sitting on a settee,—for the purpose of 
 attracting his attention, while another Indian by the name of 
 Tam-a-has, came in stealthily and taking his tomahawk from 
 under his blanket struck the Doctor a stunning blow on the head. 
 Other blows followed in quick succession, which left him pros¬ 
 trate and unconscious. The fiendish murderer cried, “I have 
 killed my father. Now the signal was given, probably by the 
 demoniacal half-breed Joe Lewis, and the work of death began 
 amid whoops and yells, and was done as savages only can do it. 
 Great excitement followed ! When Mrs. Whitman took in the 
 situation she cried, “Oh the Indians ! The Indians ! That Joe 
 Lewis has done it! ” The other women shrieked wildly as they 
 heard the roar of musketry, the noise of furious riding and war 
 clubs, and could see no way of escape. Death stared them in 
 their faces in all its hideousness. Mrs. Whitman was shot in 
 the breast by a young Indian for whom she had done many acts 
 of kindness. She prayed for her adopted children and for her 
 parents. To the women who cried “We are not prepared to die, 
 what shall we do? ”—while in the agonies of death—she replied, 
 “Go to Jesus and ask him and he will save you.” Her last 
 
34 
 
 words were—as near as can be found—“Jesus, come quickly.” 
 
 One Indian who was a favorite at the mission, deliberately 
 chopped the face of the Doctor while he was breathing his last. 
 They had now tasted of the blood and their savage natures were 
 thoroughly aroused. They enjoyed doing the work of death. 
 
 In their savage rage they broke down windows and doors, 
 and rushed into the house and from room to room, using clubs, 
 tomahawks and knives, right and left—hacking the faces of their 
 victims in a terrible manner. Many bullets pierced the body of 
 Mrs. Whitman and others. The dying were treated with indig¬ 
 nity until the shadows of the night drove the cruel Indians to 
 their lodges. The school children also were tormented in various 
 ways. Those killed on this day, in addition to Dr. Whitman 
 and wife, were Messrs. Rogers, Hoffman, Sanders, Grillan, Marsh, 
 John and Francis Sager. Mr. Kimball, who had been wounded, 
 hid himself, but as he was going to quench his thirst the next 
 day he was shot and killed. So also was Mr. Young while re¬ 
 turning with his team from the mill to the mission. Helen M. 
 Meek died in a few days from neglect. 
 
 Two sick men, Messrs. Saler and Bewley were killed after 
 some Indians had visited the Roman Catholic Bishop at Umatilla, 
 making in all fourteen that were murdered on that memorable 
 day. Some made their escape by great effort and suffering. 
 
 Mr. Canfield, though wounded made his way to the brush 
 and hid therein until night, and then fled to Spalding’s mission 
 at Lapwai. Mr. Hall also found a hiding place in the brush and 
 reached Fort Walla Walla the next morning. It is said he was 
 refused admission and conveyed across the Columbia river,— 
 never to be heard of afterwards. Mr. Osborne raised a board in 
 the floor at the outset of the massacre and hid himself and family 
 underneath until night. When the Indians had retired they 
 started for Fort Walla Walla. After three nights travel and 
 three days hiding amid suffering,—especially on the part of Mrs. 
 
35 
 
 Osborne, who had been recently confined—they reached the fort 
 and were saved. The rest were held as captives, and three of 
 the young women were dragged by Indian chiefs to a torture 
 worse than death. 
 
 This is the unvarnished story of the massacre of the first 
 Christian martyrs of the Pacific Northwest, among them Marcus 
 and Narcissa Whitman, two as consecrated missionaries as 
 ever devoted their lives to carry the gospel to heathen nations. 
 Both in the prime of life, he in his 45th year and she in her 39th 
 year. They doubtless died martyrs to Republican and Pro¬ 
 testant principles. They died at their post, victims of the 
 savage rage of those whom they desired to save and elevate. 
 
 “ Greater love hath no man than this that he give his life 
 for his friend.” We mourn their early deaths when we think 
 what they could have accomplished, had they been permitted to 
 live to good old age to prosecute and complete their work. In 
 the midst of their usefulness they were cut down, but the work 
 goes on though the workers pass away. 
 
 His ways are not our ways, His ways are past finding out. 
 He maketh the wrath of the heathen to glorify him. 
 
 They doubtless accomplished more in death than they could 
 by living many years longer, for sacrifice is the primary con¬ 
 dition of life. Through their instrumentality influences were 
 put in operation whose potency for good will never cease. 
 
 u Their works do follow them.” 
 
 “All things fulfill their purpose, low or high; 
 
 There is no failure death can never mar 
 The least or greatest of the things that are; 
 
 Until our work is done we cannot die." 
 
36 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 AFTER THE MASSACRE. 
 
 A few days subsequent to the awful tragedy according to 
 the testimony of the Jesuit Priests, the bodies of the dead were 
 sewed in sheets and buried a little distance from the scene. But 
 the graves were made so shallow that the bodies were exhumed 
 by the prairie wolves, so that when the volunteers reached the 
 spot the following year they found the bones scattered abroad. 
 They dug a large grave and deposited what remained all to' 
 gether. The officials of the Hudson’s Bay Company secured the 
 release of the captives. Five of the murderers were brought to 
 trial in May, 1850 and were hung at Oregon City. 
 
 As time advances leaving the tragic scene behind, the work 
 
 accomplished by Dr. Whitman in life and death, is more and 
 
 more appreciated and his praises are scattered far and wide. 
 
 * 
 
 We regret that his grave is not adorned by an imposing 
 monument and we hope and trust that the day is not far distant 
 when it will be. But his admirers have and do try to erect a 
 monument, to honor his memory and perpetuate his name, more 
 enduring than granite or iron. 
 
 “The finest monuments that men erect 
 Have little value wheresoe’er they rise, 
 
 Unless they tell of some good action wrought, 
 
 Some noble work that time cannot disguise." 
 
 All the early missionaries of the Pacific Northwest accom¬ 
 plished great and permanent work, and their names, with in¬ 
 creased honor and glory will be transmitted to posterity, for they 
 were the “Apostles paving the way for American occupancy.” 
 
 I 
 
37 
 
 But it is no disparagement to other pioneer missionaries to 
 say that the name of the martyr Whitman must be placed above 
 them all. Though his remains lie in an obscure place, unnoticed 
 by the passer by, with no polished granite or marble to mark the 
 spot, his name will never die. 
 
 He will always be remembered for what he has done, 
 
 A noble and true man was he, born to make an impression 
 upon his contemporaries and succeeding generations. A true 
 and loyal patriot. A zealous and practical missionary. A mag¬ 
 nanimous Christian, energetic, heroic, far-seeing, self-sacrificing, 
 of whom it has been well said: ‘'No danger could daunt or hard¬ 
 ship deter from performing what he deemed his duty. 1 ’ His 
 name is embalmed forever in the history of the Northwest. It 
 falls to the lot of but few to win such fame, and few there are 
 who so well deserve it. 
 
 Bancroft, the historian, says:—“The missionary, Dr. Whit¬ 
 man, was no ordinary man. I do not know which to admire 
 most in him, his coolness or his courage. His nerves were of 
 steel, his patience was excelled only by his fearlessness; in the 
 mighty calm of his nature he was a Caesar for Christ. 
 
 The solid granite erected to perpetuate the memory of the 
 hero of many battles, will crumble into dust and disappear 
 before the four winds of heaven; the name of the inventor, in¬ 
 scribed upon iron and steel, will be erased by the teeth of time,— 
 but the name of Marcus Whitman, who died a martyr to grand 
 principles, will live forever in the hearts and affections of man¬ 
 kind. 
 
 Hezekiah Butterworth, in his work entitled—“The Log 
 School House on the Columbia,”—a tale of the Pioneers of the 
 great Northwest, says:—“whether the mission to the Cay use 
 and Walla Wallas, which Dr. Whitman established on the bend 
 of the Columbia, was then regarded as a home or foreign field 
 of work, we can not say. 
 
38 
 
 The Doctor’s solitary ride of four thousand miles, in order 
 to save the great Northwest territory to the United States, is 
 one of the most poetic and dramatic episodes of American his¬ 
 tory. It has proved to be worth to our country more than all 
 the money that has been given to missionary enterprises. 
 
 Should the Puget Sound cities become the great ports of 
 Asia, and the ships of commerce drift from Seattle and Tacoma 
 over the Japan current to the Flowery Isles and China ; should 
 the lumber, coal, minerals, and wheat fields of Washington, 
 Oregon, Montana and Idaho, at last compel these cities to rival 
 New York and Boston, the populous empire will owe to the 
 patriotic missionary zeal of Dr. Whitman a debt which it can 
 only pay in honor and love. 
 
 And does not an institution of learning, bearing the name 
 of such a man deserve the patronage and support of all the 
 citizens of this Pacific Empire, yea, all the United States? For 
 all are indebted to him. Should it not enlist the true interest 
 not only of the present, but also of future generations. 
 
39 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 WHITMAN’S MONUMENT. SEMINARY and COLLEGE. 
 
 Immediately following the cruel tragedy, which made a 
 profound impression throughout the Pacific Northwest, the set¬ 
 tlers in the Willamette Valley (there were none east of the Cas 
 cade mountains) organized into a military force and marched 
 into the Indian country, defeated the Indians in many battles 
 and brought the murderers to trial and execution. All the Pro¬ 
 testant missionaries, located in the Northeastern part, were led 
 out of the country under military protection. Among them 
 were Revs. Cushing Eells, D. D. and Elkanah Walker, who had 
 established a mission in 1838, among the Spokane and Colville 
 Indians, about 25 miles northwest of the present city of Spo¬ 
 kane. The locality is now called Walker’s Prairie. The mis¬ 
 sionaries went to Forest Grove, Oregon, and there labored in 
 connection with the foundation and early development of Tual¬ 
 atin Academy and Pacific University. 
 
 In eleven years, the Walla Walla and the whole upper Col¬ 
 umbia country was declared open to settlement. Very soon the 
 Rev. Cushing Eells, D. I), familiarly known all over the country 
 as Father Eells, and respected by all classes for his honesty and 
 sincerity, mounted his horse and proceeded toward the scene of 
 the massacre. In due time he reached the sacred spot. By the 
 side of the “great grave,” as he calls it, where lie the mortal 
 remains of his heroic missionary associates and others, he made 
 a solemn vow before God, that he would endeavor to erect an 
 endurable monument to the martyred Whitman. 
 
 These are his words : 
 
40 
 
 “As financial agent for the A. B. C. F. M., I went to Walla 
 Walla to look after their interests. I passed over the ground 
 that had received the blood of martyred missionary co-laborers. 
 I stood beside the great grave that contains a portion of the 
 remains of those massacred. The past, the then present, and 
 the probable future were then thought of. 1 believe that the 
 power of the highest came upon me. Under the conviction thus 
 produced, I determined then and there, to attempt the erection 
 of a monument to the memory of Dr. Whitman in the form of 
 a school of high Christian character. 
 
 With apostolic faith, zeal, and perseverance he undertook 
 and continued the great task. 
 
 SACRIFICES. 
 
 Dr. Fells testifies that the deprivations incident to early 
 missionary work among the Indians of Spokane, though for part 
 of three years the family were prisoned in snow, were more 
 easily borne than those connected with the formative period of 
 Whitman College. He and his son batched in a log shanty with 
 earth for floor and roof. During the most severe winter known 
 in the Walla Walla valley they slept in a freight wagon covered 
 with a thick canvass. Ten years of hard labor were spent in 
 preaching, teaching, and chopping wood by the men, and Mrs. 
 Fells gave ten years of arduous toil after she was fifty-seven 
 years of age, making butter, raising poultry, etc., all to start 
 Whitman Seminary. By such sacrifices four thousand dollars 
 were accumulated to erect the first building. 
 
 Truly the institution had its birth in prayer and was bap¬ 
 tized with tears. Connected with its history are sacrifices worthy 
 of the early fathers of the Christian Church. A paper read by 
 the late Rev. P. B. Chamberlain, organizer of the Congrega¬ 
 tional Church of Walla Walla, and the first Principal of the 
 Seminary, at a memorial meeting held June 3d, 1888, contain 
 

Rev. CUSHING EELLS, D. D. 
 
 The Founder of Whitman Seminary and College. 
 
 He came to Oregon under the A. B. C. F. M. in 1838, 
 
 THE FIRST MISSIONARY AMONG THE SPOKANE AND COLVILLE INDIANS. 
 WAS AN ACTIVE MISSIONARY FOR OVER 50 YEARS. 
 
 THE OLDEST PROTESTANT MISSIONARY ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 
 
 “Not Slothful in Business, Fervent in Spirit, serving 
 
 the Lord.” 
 
 
41 
 
 sucli a concise and comprehensive history of the institution in its 
 incipiency and early development, that we have deemed it proper 
 to insert it here complete. 
 
 EARLY HISTORY OF WHITMAN SEMINARY. 
 
 The history of an institution is often very analogous to the history of a 
 person. It comes into being helplessly, feeble and wholely inexperienced, 
 and consequently needing the vigilant protection and the devoted care of 
 its friends. 
 
 In its first spasmodic efforts it but awkwardly creeps, and when first 
 placed upon its feet it can only totter and tumble. But it gradually gains 
 strength by exercise and learns wisdom by repeated falls. 
 
 It must also pass through the critical period of youthful impulsive¬ 
 ness and indiscretion, possibly inordinate self-conceit, and only after years 
 of labor and loss and partial success does it arrive at maturity, take on 
 resolute strength and reliable wisdom and stand forth, “rejoicing as a strong 
 man to run a race,” ready to enter the list of life and join the army of the 
 world’s workers. Such especially has been the history of Whitman Sem¬ 
 inary now grown into Whitman College. 
 
 As Minerva the goddess of wisdom is fabled to have sprung from the 
 brain of Jupiter, so this institution sprang from the brain of its founder, 
 though not like Minerva, “full grown and completely armed.” 
 
 After the sadly tragical death of Dr. Whitman, it was very natural that 
 his associates in toil and danger, should have conceived the idea of erecting 
 some memorial monument to his memory. It was also quite as natural that 
 in deciding upon the character of such a monument, what would be appro¬ 
 priate as a memorial of the man and his mission, the final if not the first 
 decision should be that of an institution for high Christian education. 
 
 Such a project took positive practical shape when it was formally char¬ 
 tered by a special act of our Territorial Legislature of 1859. 
 
 Of the original Board of Trustees, nine in number, two were residents 
 of this valley, two at or near the Dalles, one at Oregon City—soon afjeD 
 wards of Portland,—two at Forest Grove and one as far up the Willamette 
 valley as Brownsville, while the general field Marshal (the founder of the 
 institution) was often passing to and fro along the whole extended line. 
 
42 
 
 Surely no infant ever so sprawled in his most awkward attempts at 
 creeping. 
 
 It is certainly no impeachment of your intelligence or your discernment, 
 to assume that very few of you can conjecture any adequate reasons, for 
 such a state of affairs as a Board of Trustees, whose every official move 
 must be decided and sanctioned in formal meetings, scattered along a line 
 of three or four hundred miles of difficult and expensive travel. 
 
 But there were reasons real and adequate, involving interesting items 
 of history which can be given in a few words. As all practical work con¬ 
 nected with the institution was to be done here, it was, of course necessary 
 that some of the Trustees should reside here. 
 
 But at that early day among all the residents of this valley, it was im¬ 
 practicable (though this should perhaps be whispered confidentially rather 
 than spoken out loud) to find nine men, or even a quorum of five qualified 
 to fill such an office. There were some worthy citizens here, but they were 
 not men of such a degree of education and settled religious convictions, as 
 rendered them competent and trustworthy custodians of such an institution, 
 especially in its feeble and forming period. Most of the Trustees therefore 
 had to be selected elsewhere and for various reasons were wisely selected 
 as they were. 
 
 The efforts to secure a meeting of even a quorum of a board thus scat¬ 
 tered were often trying if not ludicrous. If one or two from here could be 
 induced to go to the Dalles, and the one at Portland meet them there,—with 
 those residing there, a quorum could be secured. If some from the Dalles 
 and some from Forest Grove could be convened at Portland, again a quorum 
 was obtained. Or, as a last resort, one starting from here and picking up 
 one at the Dalles, and still another at Portland, and proceeding to Forest 
 Grove, with the two residing there, a quorum was also the result. The first 
 of such meetings was held at Forest Grove in December, i860, at which the 
 Board was formally organized, a Constitution and By-Laws adopted, and the 
 Seminary located. 
 
 But this first location was not where it now is, but upon the old Mission 
 claim where Dr. Whitman labored, died, and lies buried. This location was 
 selected partly that the memorial might stand as near as possible to the 
 scene of the event to be commemorated, partly from prudential moral 
 reasons, still more perhaps, from the fact that at that time this city had no 
 assured existence such as it has since obtained. The reason for changing 
 the location was the rapid growth of Walla Walla and a large influx of pop¬ 
 ulation into the surrounding country, and other considerations of practical 
 
T3 
 
 wisdom. The result was that at a meeting of the Trustees,—now somewhat 
 changed in persons, held here in Nov. 1864, the Seminary was re-located, 
 “ at or near the City of Walla Walla.” Five years thus passed after the 
 scool was chartered before it was permanently located—and even then it 
 was “only on paper,” if not “a castle in the air,”—for as yet it had no abid¬ 
 ing place, no settled habitation. Having broadly located it “at or near the 
 City of Walla Walla,” then commenced a wearisome, perplexing struggle 
 to find a desirable and obtainable site, or academical grounds, for being 
 only beggars, forced to secure grounds as a donation, we could not sum¬ 
 marily take our pick according to our real preference. Several different 
 locations came up for consideration and were carefully canvassed by the 
 Trustees. One was where Judge Lassater’s residence now stands, one near 
 where the Brick Church now stands, and another on Second street, near 
 what is now the wood yard. All of these sites were then vacant and desir¬ 
 able, but in each case there were found to be peculiar difficulties involved. 
 Some conditions weighed against the first. The second was upon A. B. 
 Roberts’ Homestead Claim, having still some years to run, and hence could 
 not at the time be deeded to the Board of Trustees. The third was upon 
 the Showble claim, the owner’s wife being for some years mentally dis¬ 
 qualified to affix her signature to any legal document. 
 
 On all sides, therefore, circumstances were adverse, and after almost 
 unlimited planning, waiting, working, possibly worrying, all of these sites 
 were abandoned and the present location finally decided upon and formally 
 accepted in May, 1866. 
 
 Seven years were thus consumed in striking the first stroke of Whitman 
 Seminary. Then commenced real work in real earnest, raising of funds by 
 soliciting subscriptions and the erection and partial completion of the first 
 school building, both of which were accomplished in a few months, and in¬ 
 teresting dedicatory services were held in the school room on the thirteenth 
 of October, 1866, and the school was opened immediately afterwards. 
 
 For want of any suitable teachers at command, I was invited by the 
 Trustees, to take the oversight of the school for a while, employing assist¬ 
 ants to do most of the work of instruction. The school being thus fairly 
 inaugurated, at the close of the second term I resigned my position, and the 
 founder of the institution became also its Principal for several succeeding 
 years. Of his labors and those of many other successive teachers through 
 many fitful, changeable years it is not my province now to speak, save 
 perhaps to add that at two or three subsequent periods, for a like reason of 
 
44 
 
 no available teachers—for many years our chief difficulty—I carried the 
 school on as best I could for brief periods of one or two terms, once perhaps 
 a full school year. 
 
 And thus the Seminary, now developed into the College, of whose pres¬ 
 ent character and work you have all had favorable opportunity—during its 
 late interesting commencement exercises to judge for yourselves,—origin¬ 
 ated, grew, improved, increasing in strength and experience and in influence, 
 as was from the first hoped and labored and prayed for. 
 
 Over all of which, all lovers of sound Christian education may well 
 rejoice, and they who bore the burden and heat of the day of its early 
 struggles congratulate themselves that they “did not labor in vain nor spend 
 their strength for naught” but here too, possibly “budded better than they 
 knew.” 
 
\ 
 
 The late REV. P. B. CHAMBERLAIN, 
 
 First Principal of Whitman Seminary. 
 
 Organizer and First Pastor of the Congregational Church 
 
 of Walla Walla, Washington. 
 
 a noble man, an eloquent preacher with strong convictions 
 
 AND COURAGE TO EXPRESS THEM. 
 
 HE POSSESSED A GOOD DEGREE OF THE SPIRIT OF 
 THE PROPHETS AND MARTYRS. 
 
 With Boldness Declared He the whole Counsel of God. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
45 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Whitman College—Retrospective and Prospective. 
 
 Next to its founder and those intimately connected with it all 
 through its history, no one has done more for Whitman College 
 than the late Rev. G. H. Atkinson, D. D. of Portland, Oregon. 
 He was elected a member of the Board of Trustees of the Sem¬ 
 inary in December, 1880, and it was the beginning of a new era 
 for the institution. Very soon plans were inaugurated having 
 in view the development of it into a College. In the fall of 
 1882 the Academic department opened with Dr. A. J. Anderson 
 as principal, his wife and sons assisting him as teachers. During 
 the year a freshman class was secured, which met the necessary 
 conditions in order to be placed on the list of the American 
 College and Educational Society 11 to receive aid. In 1883 the 
 charter was changed giving it all the privileges of American 
 Colleges. In the same year the College Hall was erected at a cost 
 of $16,000, and through the instrumentality of Dr. Anderson, 
 two acres of land were added to the campus by the late Dr. D. S. 
 Baker. During this year and a part of 1884, Rev. Cushing 
 Eells, D. D. visited New England in behalf of the College and 
 obtained $11,000 for it. Notwithstanding his career has been 
 one abundant in labor and full of sacrifices, he declares it to be 
 the hardest year of his life. In 1884, also, Mrs. N. F. Cobleigh 
 canvassed a part of New England and obtained $8,000, where¬ 
 with to transform the old Seminary building into a commodious 
 Ladies’ Hall. With improvements subsequently made through 
 her instrumentality, it is now one of the most convenient for 
 the purpose intended in the State. A small Science Hall has 
 been erected since. All these substantial evidences of progress, 
 
46 
 
 with considerable addition in the number of students, we find 
 during the early years of Dr. Anderson’s administration. As 
 compared with like Institutions under similar circumstances its 
 growth on the whole has been wholesome. It is the only college 
 in the upper Columbia Empire that has survived the various 
 changes incident to a new country, although many attempts to 
 establish colleges have been made by various denominations. 
 The college has been an inestimable blessing to the region of 
 which it is a centre. But with superior equipment it would 
 have accomplished better work. It is in urgent need of means 
 wherewith to keep pace with the material progress of the country 
 and adjust itself to the new order of things in this great state. 
 A country rich in resources deserves and demands a college 
 adequately equipped. 
 
 After nine years of hard work. Dr. Anderson resigned in 
 July, 1891, and the following November, Rev. James F. Eaton 
 assumed the presidency. Since then a great effort has been and 
 is being made to strengthen and broaden the foundations. The 
 standard of scholarship has been raised and new methods adopted. 
 
 The institution has been to a great extent reorganized, and 
 it is the aim and purpose to develop it into an ideal American 
 College as rapidly as resources will permit. Whitman College 
 is admirably located in the “Garden City” of the Inland Em¬ 
 pire. It has an immense field. There is no educational institu¬ 
 tion having a complete college curriculum between it and the 
 North Pole; not one within 500 miles south; not one east of the 
 Cascade mountains and but one within 1500 miles east. It draws 
 students a distance of 300 miles in all directions. Many of the 
 most successful business and professional men and women of this 
 region point to it with pride as their alma mater. Some of its 
 graduates have taken a high stand in eastern post-graduate and 
 professional schools, and some are already giving indications 
 that they will become leaders of men. Several have and are 
 preparing for the work of the Gospel ministry. 
 
47 
 
 The leading Walla Walla paper says of it— 
 
 k *It is our pride. It is the cap sheaf of the educational 
 institutions of Walla Walla, and should be the pride and boast 
 of every good Walla Wallan. It has a corps of exceptionally 
 good instructors under the guidance of a man possessing breadth 
 of intellect, liberal education and an enthusiastic desire to be 
 successful in his chosen field of labor, with students who rank 
 in natural ability with the best product of any land. But it is 
 deficient in facilities. It lacks room in which to grow. It lacks 
 library and apparatus, the tools of education.”— Union-Journal. 
 
 But we are hopeful. We rely on Him whose is the earth 
 and the fullness thereof, and who rules in the hearts of men. 
 With his blessings we shall overcome all difficulties. 
 
 We rejoice that we are able to say that a new and enlarged 
 campus for the College department is in sight in a most desirable 
 and accessible suburb of the city, which we hope to see adorned 
 with suitable buildings in the near future. 
 
 Surely an institution founded by the most apostolic char¬ 
 acter, and in memory of the most famous person in the Pacific 
 Northwest, to whom we are more indebted than to any other, 
 will be near the hearts of all good people. 
 
 We shall use the words of the president in the last bulletin: 
 
 “That it may speedily receive from those to whom a gracious Provi¬ 
 dence has given abundance, increased facilities for securing and keeping a 
 faculty, and for the care of worthy students, and for the pursuit of re¬ 
 searches after truth, is our earnest prayer. Only thus can our fair State be 
 preserved from the blight of mere money getting with no worthy objects as 
 to its expenditure, and from moral and mental darkness. We have no way 
 of forecasting the future save of the past. That teaches us that the finest 
 and most fertile land may become a desert for the wickedness of the inhab¬ 
 itants thereof. It is enlightened, moral citizens that make a country 
 habitable and life worth living. They are the foundation stone of free 
 America. In the production of these no agency has been more potent than 
 
48 
 
 the Christian College. The continuance and enlargement of the same 
 agency which originally produced the American type of Christian civiliza¬ 
 tion are needful for its continuance.” 
 
 We commend to those who have been blessed with worldly 
 riches the words of the great philanthropist George W. Childs 
 of Philadelphia, in the Ladies ’ Home Journal :— 
 
 c ‘ I sometimes feel that the only money I have is that which 
 I have given away. The rest is just waiting. The money that 
 I have spent upon other people has been that which I have most 
 enjoyed.” 
 
- 
 
 S 
 
 : /i? ,iv , * " '■ ’ ‘I ? 
 
 , . - < ••' ' • ;. ' ' 
 
 ..' ,;- . i .: ;>vxkv vkw'li :■ 0:'}MW 
 
 ■■ ■ 
 
 t 
 
 , ■'■,./ I " . ' . ; ^":Vv ■ . 9 ■. ■* ;,. $ 
 
 ‘ 
 
 l \ . . , „ • • t 1 '■'•■■■■■ > f ' • i' ;•• H 
 
 t ■ * * • • <■■• i. • 'V- ■, . , • I-,,. %';• ; (' v ■ *• < ■?' 'v n % *";<• •• ; ' w 
 
 * 
 
 ■ 
 
 *. : ' . x ■ V.-t- •'■: v • ' x ; W^ v 7 
 
 ■ ■• j •’ ' : ' ■.' :> >■; r ; : <, .;: •. 
 
 s ■ _ 
 
 wtiBUBBsnnR 
 
 :, .. ■.•• ■; ■ ' ‘-iv? X— '■;'v.-r;■" T'.'-Ij: 
 
 : ■ >: i?:r; ■■. : XX V .VX'X . 
 
 ■'. .'-!'’ ',/Mf ■ , 1 x>£*i • ’v!?' ; -• • " ,l vi* ; .Vwk I. ' -/: : ,/• S’ • 
 
 i vi’; '•’ • •?*$’.• ■■• T‘;y , -• ' • *:%*'ffa .•• f.. J‘if* 
 
 ■' 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 ' 
 
 . 
 
 V • vY ' :, 'fv U< v .. ■;■■ 
 
 ::; :v M .Vi'. . ' . " :.-r; iVV'v. ' .,. ■.■?'■■:■■£&&■, X.XXX;'X.- : V '"■■'■' '" ; Y '' '.'' : v : ' '* '-’t- 
 
 i . 
 
 ' 
 
 - V 
 
 
 ■■■■' ' " •• •; ..• ' .. . ■’.■•, J T v ia; ^ W V '• ■^;p' '.ftisvii 
 
 $£$ . 
 
 ■ 
 
 ; ■ •; : \ i . k:,,; > e 
 
 ■ 
 
 t- U r / , ' \ . i v 
 
 l 
 
 , .V . ■;■ ■ : ■ ■ - ‘ ' ;, ■,*. 
 
 :■: ' - > ■ '■■• ipr >\ ' ■ '■ p-:- 
 
 * . ■;^ ' V-y s. • . ' v JHkra] 
 
 .■"•■ .tf - ■ f’v. -'-ct , -v'T 
 
 •.■ / V >’• . />*•«';, x -v. .• i>r) vjh 
 
 ■ 
 
 / v;d ; =■ V ■■ ■.;■■■ k, •. ' ■ ■ u ■ :■ v ; 
 
 'i ■ i''v - . . .. j$k s "X; ; X, ■ '%.x, : -■ 
 
 ■ 
 
 ■ p-i,v 
 
 ' ' : -X : X’v‘ 
 
 <■ - - " ■■ . i'..’, ss wzai aaw: 1 aw 
 
 IP 
 
 ' ' ' .... . '■ : ' ■. ' '< i-i, & ■ ' .-"V-v- •■ 
 
 ■ 
 
 ”■, ' :: ■ ■ ’■ \ , . i ’' ■ : > 
 
 '"MvA r 
 
 ■ 
 
 .