Narcissa Prentiss Whitman (March 14, 1808 – November 29, 1847) was an American missionary in the

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been created by the Treaty of 1818, co ...

of what would become the state of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. On their way to found the

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Whitman Mission Whitman Mission National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located just west of Walla Walla, Washington, at the site of the former Whitman Mission at Waiilatpu. On November 29, 1847, Dr. Marcus Whitman, his wife Narcissa ...

in 1836 with her husband, Marcus, near modern-day

Walla Walla, Washington Walla Walla is a city in Walla Walla County, Washington, where it is the largest city and county seat. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,927 as of 2021. The population of the city and its two su ...

, she and Eliza Hart Spalding (wife of Henry Spalding) became the first documented European-American women to cross the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

Early life

Narcissa Prentiss was born in

Prattsburgh, New York Prattsburgh is a town in Steuben County, New York, United States. The population was 1,985 at the 2020 census. It is situated in the northeast part of the county, north of Bath. History Prattsburgh was formed from the town of Pulteney in 18 ...

, on March 14, 1808. She was the third of nine children of Judge Stephen and Clarissa Prentiss, and the oldest of the five girls, followed by Clarissa, Mary Ann, Jane, and Harriet. She also had four brothers. For a time, she taught primary school in Prattsburgh. Like many young women of the era, she became caught up in the

Second Great Awakening The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival during the early 19th century in the United States. The Second Great Awakening, which spread religion through revivals and emotional preaching, sparked a number of reform movements. R ...

. She decided that her true calling was to become a missionary, and was accepted for missionary service in March 1835. She was educated at the Franklin Academy in Prattsburgh before her marriage to Dr. Marcus Whitman on February 18, 1836 in

Angelica, New York Angelica is a town in the middle of Allegany County, New York, United States. The population was 1,284 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Angelica Schuyler Church, a daughter of General Philip Schuyler, sister-in-law of Founding Father ...

.Allen, Opal Sweazea. ''Narcissa Whitman: An Historical Biography''.

Binfords & Mort Binford & Mort Publishing is a book publishing company located in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1930, the company was previously known as Metropolitan Press and Binfords & Mort. At one time they were the largest book publisher in th ...

, 1959. Her birthplace in Prattsburgh is open to the public as the Narcissa Prentiss House. While the name is not much used today, the road from Prattsburgh, New York to Naples, New York was formerly called the Narcissa Prentiss Highway.

Journey west

Shortly after their wedding, the Whitmans along with the also recently married Henry and Eliza Spalding headed west for the

in March 1836 to begin their missionary activities amongst the natives. The journey was by

sleigh A sled, skid, sledge, or sleigh is a land vehicle that slides across a surface, usually of ice or snow. It is built with either a smooth underside or a separate body supported by two or more smooth, relatively narrow, longitudinal runners s ...

, canal barge,

wagon A wagon or waggon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are immediately distinguished from ...

, river sternwheeler, horseback, and foot. Narcissa kept a journal of the trip. The founder of

Ogden, Utah Ogden is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the US Census Bureau, making it Utah's eighth ...

, Miles Goodyear, traveled with them until Fort Hall. On September 1, 1836, they arrived at

Fort Walla Walla Fort Walla Walla is a United States Army fort located in Walla Walla, Washington. The first Fort Walla Walla was established July 1856, by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Steptoe, 9th Infantry Regiment. A second Fort Walla Walla was occupied Septem ...

, a

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outpost near present-day

. They then traveled on to

Fort Vancouver Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading post that was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was located on the northern bank of ...

where they were hosted by Dr.

John McLoughlin John McLoughlin, baptized Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin, (October 19, 1784 – September 3, 1857) was a French-Canadian, later American, Chief Factor and Superintendent of the Columbia District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver fr ...

before returning to the Walla Walla area to build their mission. Whitman and Spalding were the first white women to cross the Rocky Mountains and live in the area. She was something of a novel addition to the community for the local Native Americans, the Cayuse.

Whitman Mission

The

began to take shape in 1837, eventually growing into a major stopping point along the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what is now the state of Kans ...

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

missionary

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would stop off in 1838 at the mission on his way east to gather reinforcements in the United States for his mission in the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the eas ...

. Then, in 1840, mountain man

Joseph Meek Joseph Lafayette "Joe" Meek (February 9, 1810 – June 20, 1875) was a pioneer, mountain man, law enforcement official, and politician in the Oregon Country and later Oregon Territory of the United States. A trapper involved in the fur trade b ...

, whom the Whitmans met on their journey to the area, stopped off on his way to the Willamette Valley. Built at Waiilatpu, the settlement was about six miles (10 km) from Fort Walla Walla and along the Walla Walla River. At the mission, Whitman gave Bible classes to the native population, as well as teaching them Western domestic chores that were unknown to the Native Americans. Besides the missionary goals of converting the natives, she also ran the household. Her daily activities included cooking, washing and ironing clothes, churning butter, making candles and soap, and baking. Her letters home recounted her loneliness and life at the mission. On March 14, 1837, on her twenty-ninth birthday, Whitman gave birth to the first white American born in Oregon Country. She named her Alice Clarissa after her grandmothers, and she would be their only natural child. Unfortunately, the child drowned in the Walla Walla River on June 23, 1839 at age two. Unattended for only a few moments, she had gone down to the river bank to fill her cup with water and fell in. Though her body was found shortly after, all attempts to revive her failed. However, other children came to the mission, including the

Sager orphans The Sager orphans (sometimes referred to as the Sager children) were the children of Henry and Naomi Sager. In April 1844 the Sager family took part in the great westward migration and started their journey along the Oregon Trail. During it, both ...

, to whom Whitman became a second mother. Just before winter, in late 1842, Marcus traveled back east to recruit more

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

for the mission. During the time he was away, Whitman traveled west and visited other outposts in the territory including Fort Vancouver, Jason Lee's

Methodist Mission The Methodist Mission was the Methodist Episcopal Church's 19th-century conversion efforts in the Pacific Northwest. Local Indigenous cultures were introduced to western culture and Christianity. Superintendent Jason Lee was the principal leader fo ...

near present-day

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary bet ...

, and another mission near

Astoria, Oregon Astoria is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the northwest corne ...

. Marcus returned with his nephew, Perrin, from his trip east in 1843.

Whitman massacre

Throughout their time in

, the Whitmans periodically encountered trouble with the native tribes. The Cayuse and the Nez Percé tribes were suspicious of the activities and the encroachment of the Americans. As early as 1841, Tiloukaikt had tried to force them to leave Waiilatpu and the ancestral homeland. In 1847, a

measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...

epidemic broke out among the native population, which lacked immunity to the disease and it spread quickly. The American population had some limited immunity to measles which meant a lower mortality rate than the natives. This discrepancy stirred discontent among the natives who felt Marcus was only curing the white people while letting Indian children die. The resentment boiled over on November 29, 1847, when Tiloukaikt and others attacked the mission, killing both Whitmans. This event would be remembered as the

Whitman massacre The Whitman massacre (also known as the Walla Walla massacre and referred to as the Tragedy at Waiilatpu by the National Park Service) was the killing of the Washington missionaries Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa, along with eleven others ...

, in which eleven others were killed, including the young brothers John and Francis Sager. Many more were taken hostage. Five Cayuse were hanged for murder; see Cayuse Five

Likeness

According to author O. W. Nixon, who published a portrait of Whitman drawn after her death: "No authentic picture of Mrs. Whitman is in existence. This portrait of her has been drawn under the supervision of a gentleman familiar with her appearance and with suggestions from members of her family. It is considered a good likeness of her."

References

Bibliography

*Jeffrey, Julie Roy. ''Converting the West: A Biography of Narcissa Whitman''. University of Oklahoma Press, 1991 *Schwantes, Carlos Arnaldo. ''The Pacific Northwest: An Interpretive History''.

University of Nebraska Press The University of Nebraska Press, also known as UNP, was founded in 1941 and is an academic publisher of scholarly and general-interest books. The press is under the auspices of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the main campus of the Unive ...

, 1989, 1996 *Thompson, Erwin N. ''Whitman Mission National Historic Site: Here They Labored Among the Cayuse Indians''. National Park Service Historical Handbook Series No. 37, 1964 * Eaton, Jeanette. ''Narcissa Whitman: Pioneer of Oregon''. Harcourt, Brace, & Co., 1941

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitman, Narcissa 1808 births 1847 deaths 1847 murders in the United States 19th-century American people 19th-century American women People from Prattsburgh, New York American Presbyterian missionaries Presbyterian missionaries in the United States Cayuse War Female Christian missionaries Female murder victims Oregon Country Oregon pioneers Oregon Trail Washington (state) pioneers Pre-statehood history of Washington (state) People murdered in Washington (state) Cowgirl Hall of Fame inductees