Whitman College Arminda @ Whitman College Other Walla Walla and Regional Collections Whitman College and Northwest Archives 1935 Walla Walla Valley, The Cradle of the Pacific Northwest Stephen B.L. Penrose Follow this and additional works at: http://arminda.whitman.edu/other_ww
NARCISSA PRENTISS WHITMAN
.~~.I=========...~,. f~' '~l Walla Walla Vall~y THE CRADLE of thlz PACIFIC NORTHWEST By S'rEPHEN B. L, PENROSE P1'esident of Whitman College (I ~ C; ~ CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ~~I=========~~
Th~ Crad(~ of th~ Pacific Northw~st Ubi domus, ibi demtls The first American white child born west of the Rocky Mountains was Alice Clarissa, only daughter of Dr. Marcus Whitman and Narcissa Prentiss Whitman, his wife. The baby was born March 14, 1837, at Waiilatpu, the mission station of her parents. In the early morning of September 1, 1836, two American white women, Narcissa Prentiss Whitman and Eliza Hart Spalding, had emerged from the dark forests of the Blue Mountains and looked out upon the great Inland Empire at their feet toward the shimmering Columbia River in the distance. They were accompanied by their husbands, Dr. Marcus ''1hitman and Rev. Hem:y Spalding, and by a young man, W. H. Gray, who was later to become the first historian of Oregon. The little party were missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, then the joint organization of the Congregational and Presbyterian churches, and they had corne across the continent from New York State to bring the gospel to the Indians. Dr. Whitman and his wife were both of New England stock, their ancestors having settled in Massachusetts from England before 1635. They were well educated for their day, and came from comfortable homes of godly and hard working parents. They built their home at ''1aiilatpu on the Walla Walla River, twentyfive miles from Fort Nez Perce of the Hudson's Bay Company, and Mr. and Mrs. Spalding built their home at Lapwai on the Clearwater. These were the first American homes to be established on the Pacific Coast and the coming of these two white women, the first to cross the American continent, marks the real beginning of American civilization west of the Rocky Mountains. The doctor installed his bride in a log cabin made from trees which he cut in the Blue Mountains twenty 80784
miles away. The floor was hard trodden clay, and across the openings in the rough walls skins and blankets were hung to keep out the cold night air and the prowling savage. ",Vhen an American traveler, T. J. Farnam, visited the mission in 1839, he wrote "the old mission house stands on the northwest bank of the river, about four rods from the water side, at the southeast corner of an enclosure containing about two hundred and fifty acres, two hundred of which are under good cultivation. The products in the fields and in the garden are all of good quality and abundant." A large house, 100 feet by 40 feet,.for the use of travelers and future immigrants, was in process of construction. A grist mill, the first in the Inland Empire, was in operation. The first mothers meeting for the women of the mission had been organized, a temperance society, and a church, Presbyterian in name and Congregational in practice. Meanwhile, Dr. ",Vhitman had learned the Indian language, had helped his wife with her teaching of the Indian children who crowded to the first school east of the Cascade Mountains, had ministered to the physical and spiritual needs of the Indians, and had acted as physician and surgeon for distant regions, riding when needed to the mission of Mr. and Mrs. Spalding at Lapwai, 120 miles to the east; to Tshimakain, 200 miles to the north, where, in 1838, a new mission of the American Board had been begun by Rev. Cushing Eells, Rev. Elkanah Walker and their wives; and even down to Vancouver, 300 miles westward, where the great post of the Hudson's Bay Company was located. In those days the ownership of the Northwest was in doubt. The land was held under a treaty of joint occupancy between England and the United States, with the understanding that eventually the country which had the greater number of settlel's in the field woui"d become its owner. The people of the United States were ignorant of its value, while the British Hudson's Bay Company was deriving a rich annual revenue from trade with the Indians. Dr. Whitman learned of the
FORT NEZ PERCE fertility of the soil, the vastness of the river system, the extent of its forests, and its mineral resources. He became profoundly convinced of the value of the country to the United States. In September, 184.2, a little party of travelers from the East brought word that a new treaty was about to be negotiated between England and the United States, which, it was believed, would settle the Northwest boundary line. In the absence of reliable information concerning the value of the country it was likely that the United States would amiably allow Great Britain what she desired in the Northwest, in return for concessions elsewhere. Dr. Whitman resolved to inform his government concerning the great value of the land of his adoption. To the remonstrances of his fellow-missionaries he said, "Gentlemen, though I am a missionary I am not expatriated. To Washington I will go." On October 3, 184.2, he started to cross the continent with one white companion, Lovejoy, who had just brought from the East news of the impending treaty. Dr. Whitman had other business than interviewing the government at Washington, for his fellow-missionaries had entrusted him with important correspondence ad-
dressed to the American Board at Boston, but his primary object was political and he went first to vvashington by the most expeditious route. His winter ride from vvaiilatpu to Washington was full of romantic ancl terrible adventures. It has been called "the greatest ride in history." Blocked by Indians on the warpath, and snows in the northern mountains, he turned south through L'tah and made his way to Bent's Fort on the ATkansas RiveT. Thence he hastened to '~Tashington, his face and hands and feet ftozen by exposure. Lovejoy remained in the Mississippi Valley to arouse interest in Oregon and urge people to join the wagon train which, it was hoped, would cross the continent that summer. Dr. Whitman reached 'Vashington on the third of March, 18,j,3, and Congress adjourned the next day. He could make no impression on Daniel vvebster, then SecretaTy of State, but was more successful with President Tyler. He obtained from the latter virtual agreement that no settlement of the Northwest boundary line would be made until the chance had been given to demonstrate that Oregon could be reached by wagons, and hence was accessible for settlement by the United States. Seven years before Dr. Whitman had taken across the mountains the first wagon to the Pacific Northwest. Horace Greeley wrote in the New Y01'J,; T?'ibune about Dr. Whitman as he passed through New York to Boston. He transacted his business with the American Board and reported that he was received coolly for abandoning his post. Then he turned westward and, after a brief visit in western New York State to see his family and the family of Mrs. vvhitman, he overtook the wagon train which had afready started from the Missouri River, and was speedily elected its guide. Two hundred wagons, eight hundred or more American settlers, and two thousand horses and oxen composed the great wagon train of '43 which moved slowly westward across the prairies, through the Rocky Mountains to j i
Waiilatpu, and down to the ", illamette valley. That wagon train blazed a trail so broad and clear across the continent that thereafter settlers poured westward in an unending stream. Soon the Americans vastly outnumbered the English and when by treaty, June 17, 1846, the Northwest boundary line was settled, it was drawn at the 49th parallel, the present boundary. A vast region of immense natural resources had been saved to the United States by the wagon train of '43 and by the doctor who rode at its head, who had been prophet enough to foresee the value of the country and hero enough to risk his life to save it. But it was evident that the coming of so great a tide of white settlers would disturb and terrify the Indians. They felt that they would be driven from their homes and they blamed Dr. 'Whitman for his part in hastening the tide. On November 29, 1847, the discontent and hate which had gathered like a storm suddenly broke. Dr. and Mrs. Whitman were killed and scalped. All the boys and men in the mission were also killed, while the women and children, some forty in number, were held by the Indians for their own purposes and for ransom. In the lust for blood and destruction the mission build- WHITMAN MISSION
ings were burned down, the orchard was hacked to pieces and scarcely a vestige was left of the mission station in which the good doctor and his wife had spent their lives for those who slew them. For the next eleven years the upper country was devastated by Indian wars, all white men were driven from it and, by order of the United States army, it was closed against white settlement. In May, 1855, a great council of the Indian tribes was called at vvalla vvalla by Isaac 1. Stevens, the newly appointed first governor of Washington Territory. Five thousand Indians assembled in the largest council probably ever held on the American continent. Governor Stevens' object was to persuade the warring tribes to settle on sepai'ate reservations allotted to them permanently by the Government. It was the first time that the reservation policy was put into effect. He succeeded, but only the Nez Perce Indians remained faithful to the treaty which their chiefs had signed. The other tribes again took to the warpath and were not finally subdued until 1858 by Col. George Wright and a large force of United States cavalry. Col. Wright established a stockade post on Mill Creek at the present city of vvalla Walla and immediately thereafter settlers began to pour into the newly opened country. In October, 1859, a town government was organized and the name of Walla Walla adopted. After the 'Whitman massacre Rev. Cushing Eells had been forced to abandon his mission at Tshimakain among the Spokane Indians and had taken refuge in the vvillamette valley waiting the chance to return to the upper country. When Col. Wright had established peace Father Eells visited the ruined Whitman mission and standing by the great neglected grave, in which all the victims of the massacre had been buried, dedicated himself to founding a suitable memorial to his murdered friends, Dr. and Mrs. Whitman. He resolved to establish a school for the education of the boys and girls who should grow up in that region.
MEMORIAL BUILDING-WHITMAN COLLEGE On December 20, 1859, he obtained from the Territorial Legislature at Olympia a charter for "Whitman Seminary, an institution of learning for the instruction of persons of both sexes, in science and literature." This was the first institution for higher education to be chartered in Washington Territory. In 1882 a new charter was obtained, changing the name to Whitman College, and this continues as the living memorial to Dr. and Mrs. Whitman, "a college founded by a saint in memory of a hero." Meanwhile the city of Walla Walla had been grow-
ing in size and strength. The first Cong'l'egational church in the Territory was organized in Walla Walla in 1865. St. Vincent's Academy for Girls, 1864, and St. Paul's School for Girls, 1872, indicated the early interest of the citizens in education which, with "the growth of Whitman College, has been typical of the town. The first bank in the Territory was chartered in 1869, and the first National bank in 1871. The first railroad, from the Columbia River to "\Valla "\Valla, was completed in 1872. The town was at first the headquarters of a rich cattle country and then the outfitting station and winter quarters for thousands of miners after gold had been discovered in Idaho and Montana. It remained the largest and most influential town in ~Tashington Territory until 1879 when it was surpassed in population by Seattle. When the upland, covered with rich bunch grass and supposed suitable only for grazing, was found to be adapted for the growing of wheat, the valley speedily became transformed into a rich agricultural region. '~Talla 'Valla has become a city of homes, of churches and of schools, an educational center where broad streets, shaded by great trees are lined with comfortable homes surrounded by lawns and gardens. Its mild climate, that of northern Virginia, its altitude 1000 feet above sea level, its wide plain at the foot of the Blue Mountains, make it a delightful place of residence. But with all its prosperity and comfort it does not forget its.pioneer days and is proud of its romantic history as the CRADLE OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. BUY WALLA WALLA FIRST INLAND PTO. & PUB. CO. WALLA WALLA