Evening star., 1909-09-12
HER0|SM OF PIONEER
Marcus Whitman'S Part in
Fixing Northwest Boundary.
VAST TERRITORY INVOLVED
States Of Washington and Oregon
Wrested From England.
WITHOUT PUBLIC MEMORIAL
Massacred by Indians in 1S47, Indi-
rect Result Of Intervention In
Boundary Dispute.
VAST TERRITORY INVOLVED
WITHOUT PUBLIC MEMORIAL

ny WILLIAM r. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
WALLA WALLA, Wash,
September 2, 1903
Marcus Whitman was one of the great
est heroes in American history. and the
value of his services In saving the Pacific
northwest to the Union cannot be over
estimated. Yet no appropriate monument
las ever been erected to his memory.
Nothing has ever been done either by the
government or the people of Washington
and Oregon to express the national graft
tude that is due his memory.
In 1895 the American board OF home
missions OF the Congregational Church
instructed DIR. Marcus Whitman. q physt-
clan of Rushvliie, N. Y, to examine the
Oregon field and to report upon the prac-
ticability OF missionary work among the
Indians. In the following spring. accom-
panied by his bride, Narcissa Prentice,
and the Rev. III. H. Spalding and wife,
DR.. Whitman started westward in the
first wagon that ever crossed the Rocky
mountains. After an unprecedented bridal
tour of three thousand miles, across the
plains and through the wilderness, the
party ended their journey at Waiilatpu.
SIX UlleS west or Tie present lONn VI
Walla Walla, where they arrived Septem-
Der /, 1886.
To instruct the Indians in the arts of
peace and civilization. DR.. Whitman
brought under cultivation 200 acres Of
land, built sristmill, sawniN and
established an industrial school for In
dian children. For eleven years he labor
ed with great tact, energy and ability,
and his conscientious devotion to the in
terests of the Indians teacher. physi-
chan. spiritual guide and friend was rec
ognized by all the whites as we'll as the
red men In the territory now known as
Washington. Oregon. Idaho and Montana.
Negotiation Of Boundary Line.
Or. Whitman had not been in Oregon
long before he recognized that the po-
ftical situation was critical and that the
government at, Washington must take
prompt and determined action to retain
possession Of the valley of the Columbia
river and its tributaries. In 1912 he learn
ed from immigrant named A. l..
Lovejoy. that Daniel Webster, then Sec
retary OF State, and Lord AshburtOn,
British minister at Washington, were ne
gotiating q boundary line between the
United States and the British possessions
and that Webster's disposition was to
surrender the valley of the Columbia to
England. Whitman became convinced
that 1t was his duty to go to Washing
ton and inform the authorities of the
Sdlue VI the leITltOTy 1ney were ABOUT TO
sacrifice, and to enter a solemn remon-
STRANGE against its surrender to the Brit
ash. He made heroic winter ride in
1923. from Walla Walla to Washington.
accompanied by Lovejoy the greater part
Of the distance.
1t was probably. the, quickest journey
ever made on horseback across the CONT
nent and the most important Not only
did his Intervention save Oregon and
Washington 10 the United States but dur
ing the following summer DR.. Whitman
personally conducted an excursion of
1.G0O brave and determined americans
across the plains and the mountains to
Oregon to keep the flag OF the United
States floating over this territory. Their
motto was "Fifty-four Forty or Fight
which meant that fifty-fouf degrees for
~ minutes Of latitude. must be the north
ern boundary of the United States.
Territory Organized.
Whitman's party was followed by a
flood of immigrants. As soon as the
boundary question was settled Oregon was
organized as a territory and the British
interests, which had been very large and
valuable. were gobbled up by Americans
The invasion of settlers caused much
unrest among the Indians and the inf1u-
ence of disappointed British spectators
was. exercised to stir up trouble The
mission at Walla Walla was visited by an
epidemic OF measels and a Cayuse chief
hreed named 10 Lewis, both Of whom had
been frequently befriended by Dr. Whit
man, took advantage of the situation to
organize a massacre. November %, 1847.
the storm broke.
An Indian named Tamchas, who had a
personal grievance against DR.. Whitman,
called at the latterS house for medicine
and. taking his benefactor unawares,
buried his hatchet In DIR. Whitman's
brains. He then proceeded to murder Mrs
Whitman and the other inmates Of the
household. This was a signal for a gem
eral attack upon the mission. All Of the
white people were killed or carried away
captives except Mr.. Osborne. the carpen-
ter. and his wife and daughter, who hid
under the floor of the porch of his house
and escaped in the night. Nancy Osborne
now Mrs. n. a. Jacobs of Portland, Ore
IS still living, and has a son who is mis-
sionary at Canton, China. She is proDa-
by the only survivor of the massacre.
The mission buildings were all destroyed
farmer named Swiegal. The college trus-
tees have tried several times to buy the
place, but Swiegal will not sell it for any
reasonable price. Seven acres, including
the graves of the victims of the massacre
row belong TO the state of Washington.
The only remains Of the mission are the
foundations of the old grist mill, the
wreck of the water wheel and the stumps
OF apple trees planted by DR.. Whitman.
-. Memorials to Whitman.
Across the road from the farmhouse is
a neat little wooden house of worship
known as the Whitman Memorial chapel,
IN which services are held every Sunday.
All of the bodies of the thirteen victims
were buried in the same pit by the SOL
diers who arrived thirty days after the
massacre. and a large fiat stone. which
was replaced in 1887 by a legislative ap-
preparation, is inscribed as follows:
I'm memory Of
Marcus Whitman.
Narcissa Prentice Whitman,
81 Andrew Rogers 1r.,
4-- James Young. tr.,
I.ucian Saunders.
Nathan kimban,
Crockett A. Vewiey.
Isaac Gillen,
John Ssyer,
Frances Sayer
Jacob Hoffmann.
Marsh,
Amos Sales
Jacob D. Hall.