# Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 37/The Protestant Ladder

THE PROTESTANT LADDER
THE PROTESTANT LADDER
By NELLIE B. PIPES
Much Has been written about the work of the missionaries among the Indians in imparting to the heathen mind their ideas of the Christian religion. The efforts of the Spaldings in translating hymns and the gospels and simple lessons into the native language have been recorded in the many letters and reports returned to the missionary board under whom they were serving.
There is one document, however, about which little has been written and which has never been reproduced. This is what is known as the Protestant Ladder, the only copy of which is owned by the Oregon Historical Society.
To understand the origin and purpose of the Protestant Ladder it may be well to review the story of the Catholic Ladder, used by the Catholic missionaries.
When Father Blanchet and Father Demers began their work among the Indians of the Oregon country in 1839 they were hampered by the difficulty of presenting the story of their religion in a simple, concrete form that could be understood by the natives. To overcome this difficulty Father Blanchet conceived the plan of using a square stick or rule on which were marked forty short horizontal bars to represent the centuries before Christ, thirty-three dots to indicate the years of the life of Christ; a cross symbolized the crucifixion. The centuries and years since the birth of Christ were represented by eighteen bars and thirty-nine points. The chiefs were then instructed in its meaning and use and aided the missionaries in carrying its message among their people. The Indians called it the sahale stick (stick from above). Later the sahale stick was superseded by a printed chart, which showed, besides the bars and points, simple drawings illustrating some of the chief events in biblical history, the ark, the tower of Babel, Solomon's temple, the tablets of stone, etc. The reformation was indicated by a branch springing from the sixteenth century bar, and three vertical bars, representing the three heretics, Luther, Calvin and Henry the Eighth. It was now called the Catholic Ladder. Different editions were printed from time to time, with elaboration of the ​crude drawings into finished pictorial emblems. A copy in the Oregon Historical Society belongs to this later period. It is printed on both sides of two large boards. Since it was engraved in Paris, with the title and legends in French, it may be one of those issued under the supervision of Father Blanchet while he was in Paris in 1844. None of the pictures or accounts of the Catholic Ladder which the writer has seen conform to the description given to Dr. Whitman by members of the Wilkes expedition in 1841, as recorded in a letter from Whitman to the American Board, November 11, 1841:
   If you see Mr. Hale or Mr. Drayton of the U. S. Exploring Squadron (& perhaps others may tell you the same) They can describe to you the picture of a tree hanging in Chief Factor McLoughlin's room at Vancouver which represents all Protestants as the withered ends of the several branches of Papacy falling off down into infernal society & flames as represented at the bottom. This gives a good idea of their manner of instruction to the Indians as drawn out in manuscript & given to them accompanied with oral instruction of a similar character. The possession of one of these manuscripts by an Indian binds him not to hear any more the instruction of Protestants so far as observation goes.
A picture of the Catholic Ladder, with an explanation of its symbolism by C. B. Bagley, may be found in his Early Catholic Missions in Old Oregon, volume II.
In the religious rivalry and hostility then existing between the sects, the success of the Catholic missionaries in converting the heathen was a matter of great concern to Spalding and his co-workers. To combat the so-called heretical teachings of the priests Spalding decided to make an appeal to the natives through pictures, and invented a chart or ladder to show what he considered the evils of the Catholic church. Spalding explains its meaning in a letter to the board February 12, 1846, as follows:
The ladder is six feet long and two feet wide, made on heavy paper, fastened to a roller at the top. The colors used in the decoration are green, red, blue, brown, yellow and black. On it are drawn two paths, the narrow one that leads to eternal bliss, and the broad road to destruction. In the lower half of the chart are pictures portraying stories from the Bible, which are readily identified. In the upper half the artist's efforts are confined to depicting the iniquities of the broad path, cul​minating in the disastrous climax for those who follow its evil way. That the lessons of the pictures may be more surely impressed some of the legends are translated into the Nez Perce language.
The general scheme of the chart can be seen in the accompanying illustration, but, unfortunately, on account of the reduction in size and the lack of color, it can give only a hint of the quality of the original. Perhaps the high point, pictorially, is the scene of the crucifixion, and the twelve apostles and Saint Paul clothed in the garb of dignity and decorum, modeled probably from Mr. Spalding's own "best suit." To give variety and distinction to the group green coat and brown trousers alternate with brown coat and green trousers. The reproduction fails to show the effective use of the red color to suggest the stream of blood and the gory heads of the Saint Bartholomew massacre, as well as the flames of the final punishment.
Looking at it today, removed from the strife and religious rivalries of that time, we are amused at the crudely drawn and colored figures, and we can well believe Mr. Spalding's testimony as to the interest manifested by the natives, but perhaps we may be permitted to wonder if this was not the childish interest aroused by the novelty of the pictures rather than by any great appreciation of the spiritual significance they were designed to convey.
As stated above, the Oregon Historical Society is fortunate in owning the original Protestant Ladder. It was presented by Mr. George F. Holman and his sister, Miss Kate Holman, who inherited it from their brother, the late Mr. Frederick V. Holman, for many years president of this society.