Mower County transcript., 1899-08-23

tESs'O .oAAuS UuO dOIuO COdSV OuC AuCu
nearer Boston" than it then wasl In
which foolish anti.expaDsionist senti-
ment Daniel was very much like. At
tktnson, Hoar and the other Boston
'''anties" OF today,
But President Tyler, to bis credit
.be it written, heard Whitman's story
with more interest, and said: "Dr.
whitman, your story is all right, but,
after all, Oregon cannot be saved to
1.-The United States because it cannot
be settled from the East. You can
not take wagons over the Rocky
mountains."
= Cant take wagons over the Rocky
mountains" exclaimed Whitman.
why, Mr.. President, seven years
ago l took over the fist wagon that
ever crossed the Rocky mountains; it
Is at Waiilatpu now"
WELL" said the President, "if you
can show the accession of Oregon
and that the mountains can be crossed
by wagons, will see that the land is
not given to Great Britain"
>, With this promise from President
! Tyler, Whitman had achieved the
fobject of his trip. and so interested
had many people become, through his
| exertions, in that far western region
by this time, that he had no trouble
In organizing an immense wagon
train without delay and starting west
ward with it. There were two hun
dred wagons and a thousand people
in the train, and it was the first cara
van Of the kind that ever crossed the
Rockies.
|: Entering Oregon by the route that
Whitman knew so we'll, the new SET
tiers and others who rapidly followed,
soon filled the land, and so empha-
sized the claims of the United States,
that Great Britain, in 1916, was forced
to relinquish her claim up to the 49th
parallel of latitude.
I Thus, of Marcus Whitman, the hero
Eof Oregon, as of no other man, it is
said, "He added three stars to the
galaxy of "Old Glory"
The story of Whitman's death by
massacre Is sad one, for be fell a
martyr to his country's cause just as
{ truly as if he had fallen on the field
of battle. The Hudson's Bay COM
lpany was so angry at the loss of Ore
Fpn, where they owned the hunting
and trapping monopoly, that their
traders began at once to stir up the
Indians against Whitman and his
missionary helpers. The ignorant
savages were made to believe that
Whitman had designs upon their
lands and their horses, and intended
to take everything away from them.
On the 29th Of Novem Der. lS47, as DR..
Whitman was in the very act Of giving
medicine and relief to sick Indian
boy, he was stealthily approached
from behind by an Indian, who killed
the good doctor by blow on the head
with Ratchet. Mrs. Whitman was
then murdered by rifle bullet in her
breast, and both were scalped. Twelve
| others OF the missionary party were
also scalped before the uprising was
quelled by the arrival of United
States troops. But Washington, Ore
gon and Idaho remained our possess
sion In spite Of murder and intrigue
and wrong. Whitman was but 45
years old at the time Of his massacre.
We visited Whitman college, the
Congregational institution at Walla
Walla, named after the honored pi-
oneer, we passed through the town of
Whitman named after him and we
find on the map Of Washington a
county named after him. Other mon
uments show the appreciation of this
hero in the great state which he saved
to the Union.
Do you wonder that we felt an in.
tense thrill of patriotism as we stood
last Fourth of July amid the sur
roundings Of Whitman's useful life
and treacherous death and realized
something of the debt the great Pa
citic Northwest owed to him? Is not
his unseltish life an inspiration and
an example for the rising generation
of today? Is not the story of this
God-fearing and God-following man
interesting to our readers? We be-
lieve that true greatness lies along
the trend Of his life and deeds. We
are sure that all can profitably become
familiar with such bright chapters
from our national history.
@. D. BELDEN,
| AUGUST Flower.
ut is surprising fact, says Prof,
| HOutOn, that in my travels in all parts