page_title: Henry H. Spalding
section_title: Impact of the Whitman massacre
hierarchical_section_title: Henry H. Spalding / Mission in the west / Impact of the Whitman massacre
caption_attribution_description: English: Daughter of Henry Spalding
context_page_description: Henry Harmon Spalding, and his wife Eliza Hart Spalding were prominent Presbyterian missionaries and educators working primarily with the Nez Perce in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The Spaldings and their fellow missionaries were among the earliest Americans to travel across the western plains, through the Rocky Mountains and into the lands of the Pacific Northwest to their religious missions in what would become the states of Idaho and Washington. Their missionary party of five, including Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa and William H. Gray, joined with a group of fur traders to create the first wagon train along the Oregon Trail.
context_section_description: On November 29, 1847, Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and twelve male emigrants (ten adult men and two boys of 15 and 18) of their mission at Waiilatpu, Washington were murdered at the hands of several Cayuse. The natives blamed them for introducing deadly diseases, including the measles, as the tribe had experienced a recent epidemic and a number of children had died. The Spaldings' daughter Eliza, who was staying at the Whitman's mission school, escaped injury along with 45 other women and children. Little Eliza served as a translator, as she was the only survivor knowing Nez Perce. Two days later en route to the Whitmans', Spalding learned of the murders from Father John Baptist Brouillet, who had heard what had happened and had gone to the mission to assist with the burials. He warned Spalding that he too might be in danger. Spalding secured some provisions from the priest and headed for Fort Walla Walla. Spalding was able to rejoin his family at Lapwai where they had found shelter with William Craig and the Nez Perce, who held the Spaulding party as "hostages for peace". From there, he wrote Bishop Francis Norbert Blanchet, requesting he use his influence to forestall any military reprisals.
  After a tense month negotiating the release of the massacre survivors, protected by some friendly Nez Perce, the Spalding family evacuated down the Columbia to Oregon City, Oregon.  The Spaldings were brought into the home of Alvin T. Smith in what is now Forest Grove, Oregon. They stayed with the Smiths for a few months while the ABCFM was notified (via ship). After reaching safety, Spalding was less eager for peace. His brother-in-law joined the punitive expedition, and Spalding pledged $500 from the American Board for its expenses. Concerned over continuing violence between Native Americans and settlers in the area, and against Spalding's wishes, the ABCFM decided to make the abandonment of the mission permanent.
  He was much discomfitted when his letter to Bishop Blanchet became public and blamed Blanchet. Upon further reflection, Spalding, who had long held deep-seated feelings against Catholics, decided that they were behind the massacre. When the Oregon Spectator refused to become embroiled in a religious dispute, Spalding published his views in the short-lived Oregon American and Evangelical Unionist. Peter Hardeman Burnett responded with a rebuttal in the August 1848 issue. Father Brouillet, who had warned Spalding at some considerable risk, felt Spalding most ungrateful. Brouillet's account was printed in the New York Freeman's Journal.
  The Spaldings built a small home in the area, while Eliza became the first teacher at Tualatin Academy, which eventually grew into Pacific University. Henry served as an academy trustee for many years. In May 1849 they relocated to Brownsville, Oregon in the south end of the Willamette Valley and established a homestead in modern North Brownsville. Spaulding served as pastor of the Congregational Church. He was also postmaster and acted as commissioner of common schools for Oregon between 1850 and 1855.  Eliza died on January 7, 1851.  On May 15, 1853 Henry married Rachel Smith, the sister-in-law of Oregon missionary John Smith Griffin, who had arrived the previous fall.
  In his last years, Henry's employment depended on his church funding sponsorships and relations with the US Indian Affairs agent. To his great delight, he returned to the Nez Perce in September 1859, and to Lapwai in 1862. In the late 1860s, he was back in Brownsville. He blamed much of his difficulties in the mission field on the Catholic Church, and on the federal government. He felt strongly enough about the latter that, in October 1870, he took a steamship to San Francisco, then rode the new transcontinental railroad to Chicago, then to his birthplace, to New York City, Boston, and Washington DC. In March 1871 he testified before the US Senate. He did not return to the Northwest until September. In 1871 he created a federally sponsored Indian school under the Peace Policy to the Indians sponsored by Ulysses S. Grant.  Un
caption: Eliza Spalding Warren
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