By Mike Kuhn
The missionary odyssey of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman has aroused much historical interest. The couple was commissioned in the 1830’s by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) to evangelize native tribes of the American Pacific Northwest—the Cayuse, Nez Perce and Umatilla tribes. In many ways the couple modelled self-sacrifice in a cruel and unforgiving environment. Narcissa was the first white woman to cross the Rocky Mountains. Marcus was a doctor (though his practice of medicine concurred with the rudimentary techniques of his day). Accordingly, he was known to the tribes as a “Te-wat”—a healer. Tragedy struck when their daughter drowned in a nearby river. The couple persevered and were instrumental in adding three new states—Washington, Oregon and Idaho—to the United States. Their efforts were memorialized in a statue of Marcus Whitman erected in the nation’s capital and a college that bears their name near Wala Wala, Washington.
The Oregon Trail and the Whitman Mission Station
Marcus Whitman’s Statue in the US Capitol
The Whitmans’ story, however, is not a triumph but rather a tragedy.