The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1894-12-08
RoEORING a HERO.

Marcus Whitman and his work is from
the columns of the Inter Ocean, and
should be published In every paper in
the northwest:
Yesterday Whitman College, Wash
ington, observed with appropriate cere-
monies the forty seventh anniversary
of the death os DIR. Marcus Whitman
and his noble wife. 1t was an act in
which the patriotic Christian people
all over the land might well take an
interest. First, DR.. and Mrs. Whit
man were devoted missionaries, " ho
gave their lives to the service. Their
career as missionaries was such as to
call out the unqualified admiration of
all Christian people. But it may be
said they only performed their whole
duty, as thousands of other mission
aries have done who sacrificed home
and all its comforts for the work of
their Master. But there is another
reason why DIR. Whitman should be
remembered, and that was his patriot
ism. When he left home to teach
savaees the road to better lives and to
heaven he did not leave behind the
love of the flag. He carried his re-
ligion in one hand and his patriotism
in the other.
The time came, with the peculiar
conditions under which the territory
was held, when American supremacy
in Oregon was endangered. That
time found a hero in DR.. Marcus
Whitman equal to the emergency.
The long ride from Oregon to Wash
ington, D. c., in the dead of winter.
in 1912 and 1S43, in perils, in hero
ism, and in results, has never been ex-
celled in any history. The finest ro-
nance never recited a grander story.
Historians may cavil and slur and
doubt and conceal, but the facts are as
clear as the MONDAY sun that DIR.
Whitman performed service whose
value to the nation has never yet been
appreciated and for which i. Lever can
pap. 70 him more than to any other
one man ia the nation indebted for the
bringing of Oregon, Washington and
Idaho into the Union. 1t was the
heroic work of Whitman, so timely
done and so nobly done, that turned
the scale and settled the boundary
question before the Mexican war, or
before the discovery of gold. 1t is
the tlmeliness of an act as much as
the act itself that marks the genius of
its author. Had it not been done in
l843 and 1874, and the tide of immi-
grafton started into Oregon to deter
mine who should organize the new
territory, all might have been lost
The Hudson's Bay Company, in the
interests of Eogland at that time,
were the absolute rulers and masters
of Oregon. Old DR.. Mclaughlin, the
leading spirit of the Hudson's Bay
Company, was a master miad capable
of controlling an empire. With it all
he was grand man; generous and
noble in his impulses Up to that
time American statesmen had treated
Oregon with supreme contempt They
had openly said time and again In
congress that "Oregon was a desert
waste, fit only for wild beasts aud wild
men and fur-bearing animals" They
were even at the time of Whitman's
memorable ride undertaking trade of
all our interests beyond the Rockies
for fishing privileges beyond the New
England coast. Historians may con-
tiuue to sneer at Whitman and say
she had nothing to do with it," but
the fact remains that public opinion
began to change and the value of o e.
gon to be recognized from that very
year.
Following Immediately the visit of
Whitman Mr.. Webster notified Min
lister Everett that 'the United States
would consent to nothing less than the
boundary run on latitude 40 degrees"
He repeated that message and made
out the formal treaty. and yet it was
late in 1916 before England could be
persuaded to sign 1T. Suppose she
had waited three months longer, when
the Mexican war broke out, would she
have signed it2 Suppose she had
waited year longer still, until gold
was discovered, who that knows Eng
land believes she would have consented
to the boundary as 1t now exists?
Dr. Whitman never made a claim
to any extraordinary service. He
never made boast of his accomplish |
ment. In letter just now published
f'r the 6rst time, by the State lIistor
ictl Society of Oregon, he tells to his
brother at that time what his ebiect
was in making his memorable ride.
But it was never intended for the
public and never intended to beg an
honor. He never asked an office; he
never asked dollar. 1t vas love of
home and country and his conscious
ness of duty performed. We mark
DIR. Marcus Whitman as one of the
most unseltish, unique characters this
century has produced. "He was only
! poor missionary" it is true, but had ;
lie been military man, or a rich man,
md trumpeted his heroism, his famous c
ide would have been sung in praise
md poetry in all lands and languages.
All honor to our hero, Phil Sheridan,