East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1920-09-23
tBy Rev. J. M. corneliHouo

Back TO the stirring days in tn,
eighties, when Dr. Marcus Whitman
and Rev. II. H. Spaulding Crossed tn.
plains to teach Christianity to the In
dians. dates the beginning OF mission.
airy work among the pmatilla Indians
OF the reservation.
Most people In the Northwest know
In a general way about the early mis-
sion work among the Indians. begun
In 1896 by DIR Whitman and Rev,
spaulding who came West IN that year
with their young brides They also
know that on Nov, ~. i847 Or. and
Mrs. Whitman. together with about a
dozen others We're massacred at
Walilatpu where n mission church and
school had been begun for the chris
tianization and education OF the In
dians. Few people have read further
or remember any more relative to the
Indian mission work so bravely begun
and carried on by DIR. Whitman. Tho
general impression has gone forth
that the mission work was dropped at
the time Of the massacre at Waiilatpu,
near Walla Walla Wash, and that
Whitman College was later built UP at
Walla Walla in honor Of DIR. Whitman. |
and that nothing ever became of his
mission venture. such Is wide of the I
real truth. 1t SO happened that DR..
Whitman and Rev. Spaulding were
sent out as missionaries under the Ann
erican Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions which was the joint
Mission Board OF the Congregational
and Presbyterian churches.
Churches Separated
When the two churches separated
their mission work n few years later
the Indian mission work, formerly at
Waiiiatpu. but later moved to the
Umntilla reservation, fen TO the lot OF
the Presbyterian Home Mission Board.
as also the Indian mission work on
the Lapwai reservation in Idaho which
was begun by Rev and Mrs. Spauld-
ing, co-laborers OF Dr. and Mrs. Whit !
man. The good seed sown, the gospel
preached. the devoted lives lived were
not In vain. Those Of the Indians that 2
had become Christians under Or. .
whitman kept up their religious faith.
The Christian fires still burned In
many hearts. Prayers were offered
up and gospel songs were sung around
many tepee fires as the. years went
by. These faithful Christian people 7
were encouraged from time to time :
by visits from Rev. Epaulding. some "
Christian Indians or a minister trained =
porary mission work had been estab- y
iished by Rev and Mrs. spaulding y
among the Neg Perces. The Waiilatpu u
people later moved to the great grassy e.
plains and valley now called the Una- az
tilla reservation for the reason that u'
they were rich in Cayuse ponies. This 'e
feature OF their wealth In III
such ponies seems to have gotten them 70
the name of Cayuse Indians among the 10
White settlers so the name persists as
IN today, one never hears the name IN
applied to these people. tn
On June II, 1882. through the help en-
,f some visiting Nez Perce minister 10
md Rev. @. l.. Deffenbaugh who had as
been a missionary among the Nez ~
Perce and at that time was head OF az
he Government school on the Umattl- ~
n Indian reservation. o church iorgani-
ation was effected in the home OF az
chfef Winnamsnoot Later a school pr
,hurch was built on the Tutuilla flat. 'in
" valley which served the people as no
/ place OF worship til the new church WI
vas built In 1909 in n new location. yo
During all this time from 1s47 TO 1882 se'
! space OF IS years, no organized TN
Mission work had been done and no no
White missionary had labored among uia
hese people, yet the work of DR.. Whit IN
nan still abided in the hearts of the iai
'eople.
REV. Cornelison Accepts an
A little over n half century had nh
,assed when n few of the Christian !
indians made overtures to the old .h'
sresbytery of Eastern oregon, and .h'
trough IL to the Home Mission Board o.
4 flie Presbyterian church TO send IN
hem a missionary to live among them -
gho would learn their Language nv ~.
nd help them in every way possible. uia
his request was made in 1898. 1t ne
sas granted and such life work was ne
resented to the graduating class OF ~
s9s at the San Francisco Theological WI
seminary at san Anselmo, CAL. One ny
ounR man of that class accepted the ~ snt
indian work and came to the field on i,u
lay 6, 1893. Il was that young man 90
nd I have been at the mission con- ihs
for the past 21 years, with pn
he exception of about 16 months on ''e
he way to and in France in Y. NJ. Z. nv
1. war work Thus the mission work an
1 Tutuiila' on the Umatilla reservation se'
! seen to be a continuation of the Oh
,r. Marcus whitman mission so early WI
ut down. But 1t had taken just pe'
title over a half century, for the On
hurch and Christian people to wake wa
ID to their responsibility and send 80