The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1901-03-16


being distributed as q public document;
| the Rockies: the Wilkes exploring expe~
d;tion had explored the Columbia river
ana Puget sound regions two years ear
lter. and sub-Indian Agent Elijah White
was writing frequent reports to his su-
ileriors at Washington The Ignorance
and Indifference OF the government and
the public are fictions:o of later day
In March. 1913, DR.. Whitman calIea on
Horace Greeley, and gave him an account
Of the conditions in Oregon; but In the
interview no mention was made TO the
effect that the -jeurney East was either
a po!-t.--,al errand or an endeavo~ - stir
~, :,Iplic sentiment in favor o. l-A...4gra-
r1or. Nor do either of these sHsG,ets re-
ceive any mention in the records of the
American board at Boston. L.
In the accounts of the emigration Of
! 1913 DR.. Whitman is nowhere mentioned;
as leader. The missionary joined the
emigration, but took no part in its form;
| alton. Writing from St. Louis in May,
1s43. ne says:
! Il have made up my mind that it would,
not be expedient to take any families
across this year except such as can go
at this time. For that reason I have
found it my duty to go on with the party
| myself" I'M
In i letter to he secretary Of War. re-
ceivei in June. 1914, Whitman wrote:
''"rhe government will now doubtless for
the first time be appraised through YOU
or by means of this communication Of the
| immense immigration Of families to Ore7
| son which has taken place this year.
"The fact that Whitman returned with
| the emigration of 1s43,'' explains Prof.
Bourne, "has been transformed by legend
| into the accomplishment Of a previously
| announced purpose to organize and con-
duct such a body Of en,igrants. From
| contemporary letters it is clear that Whit
| man made no claim to have organized the
! emigration or to have rendered them
! services beyond encouragement and adj
| vice and guidance. The real force behind
| the emigration was the provision for
granting lands to settlers, which It was
! e.Spected would pass congress in 1S43." =
According to Prof. Bourne. the fictitious
| narrative originated with colleague of.
Dr. Whitman at the Oregon mission, the
Rev. II. Fl. spald;rg, who underwent a
terrible nervous and physical strain at the
time Of the Whitman massacre in 1877,
and believed that the massacre was in
stigated by the Catholic missionaries.
His repeated charge at last brought forth
a reply from Father Brouillet, the vicar
general of Wal.a Walla, and nine years
later the Brouillet pamphlet was included
by j. Ross Browne in an, official report
that he made on the causes of the Indian
war in Oregon and Washing on.
Although temperate in tone, the an
s,wer of Father Brouillet made assertions
att;t116a Of the Indians iowa r1
| the Protestant missionaries and the cause
thereof, which the missionaries regarded
| as ISLANDERS. Mr.. Spalding then set out tc
| overcome the harm done. BY lecturine
on Protestant missions and the work OF
Whitman and the massacre, he: accumu-
lated mass of material which he got
published as an official document under
the title ''Early Labors of, the Mission
aries of the American Board of Foreign
Missions in Oregon" AS an element OF
this campaign. according to Prof Bourne.
'Spalding developed the legend of Marcus
Whitman and his wonderful ride, be-
cause nothing could more effectively
catch the public ear or prepare the public
mind for resentment against the Cath
'olics." Spalding, at any rate, elaboratees
upon the journey and gave especial prom.
inence to it's political result. -; ~,
Concerning the trustworthineEs O.,
Spalding as a source of information.
Prof. Bourne has unearthed a letter writ.
ten by worker in the Oregon mission
w. H. Gray, who in October, 1910, sale
of Spalding: "Duplicity is trait in his
character that never in all probability
will change" 1t is alleged that Spaldina
made changes in the text of a report by
elijah White, a United States sub-Indian
agent. White, on investigating the burn
ing of a mission mill, reported in letter
Of April l, 1S43, that Chief Feathercat
acknowledged his opinion that the mill
was burnt purposely by some disaffected
persons toward DR.. Whitman" When
! cts were quoted from the report by
spalding for his EARLY Labors,'' the fol-
lowing sentence was inserted: 1.-THE mill,
lumber and a great quantity of grain
We're burned by Catholic Indians, insti-
gated by Romanists, to break up the
Protestant mission, and prevent supplies
to the on-coning emigration by DR.. Whit
man"
Again Elijah White quotes an old chief
as saying in regard to the conference he
was holding: CLARK pointed to this day,
to you, and this occasion; we have long
waited in expectation: sent three of our
sons to Red River school to prepare for
it," Spalding changed the last clause to
sent three of our sons ito the rising sun
to obtain the book from heaven thus
mufactur1ng hrst- hand information of
the story of the Indians who came to st.
Louis for the Bible
The Pacific. a religious paper published
in San Franciscan, in the fall OF 1865 first
printed the commonly accepted story of
| Maneus Whitman and his ride. Its first
| appearance in a formal history was in
w. II Grayss History of Oregon in
1870. In a Constitutional history of the
United States. according to the Yale pro-
fesser, Won Hoist mentioned with some
hesitation in 1851. Lyon G. Tyler pre-
scented it with sorre corrective comment.
| IN Letters and Times of the Tylers''
But the period Sof its widest diffusion
and general acceptance began In 1892
with the publication of Barrow .Ore-
gorl. =
Then the legend was made the SUBJECT
Of a large number of newspaper and
magaz;pe articles. Among other vol
u1nes the story found its way into the
school histories Of scudder, Thomas,
Montgomery and Gordy. McMaster's
".Yith the Fathers and also McMaster's#
ssCns1Ol Hf1lSjnrS OF the ECllleQ SldIeSSs J.
w. Fosters Century Of American Di-
plomacy;" J. w. Burgess, The Middle
Period = and the international Encyclo-
eedia and the Encyclopedia BRITANNICA.
Baneroft's Oregon, published in 1885
|rontains true account Of the causes Of
yvhitman's journey and his connection
with the emigration of iS43.
That the generally accepted story of
Marcus Whitman Is entirely unhistorical
has been dernonst "a ted r, ~ q FIRMS prof