Tragic Consequences of Manifest Destiny

In the 1840s the Native Americans were becoming more fearful of losing their homelands and missionaries were doing little to calm those fears.  Instead of helping them adjust to Americans, Catholics and Protestants were fighting over their souls with warnings of hell should they make the wrong choice - either Catholic or Protestant. 

Marcus Whitman, a medical missionary was killed in November 1847 after preaching for 11 years among the Cayuse Indians in Oregon.  White men were crowding Oregon country and the last migration brought measles which decimated the Cayuse.  Although Whitman tried to help, they saw him as a sorcerer who was secretly poisoning them to get their land. 

November 29 brought more bad news. Three more Indians had died.  One daughter belonged to the  Chief Tiloukaikt, who had already lost two others to the sickness.  After a funeral held by Whitman, Tilukaikt and other Indians entered the mission kitchen.  While the chief engaged Whitman in conversation, a warrior, Tomahas, struck the missionary from behind using a tomahawk.  Niloukaikt hacked at Whitman's face, a third Indian shot him in the neck.  After the slaughter was over, 13 whites were dead, including Whitman's wife, who rushed in after her husband had already been wounded.

This is just one instance of the tragic consequences of man's ruthless need for land, to the exclusion of all else standing in his way.  In the white man's attempt to "Christianize" the natives, he caused untold horrific events like this one. 

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Today in Pioneer History: "On March 20, 1823, Ned Buntline, the "dime millionaire" and discoverer of Buffalo Bill Cody, was born in Stamford, New York.

Settling Oregon

Once in Oregon Country, Marcus Whitman and Rev. Spaulding settled deep in the interior on the advice of John McLaughlin, from Hudson Bay Company.  In 1840, Oregon's American population amounted to fewer that 200 people, all of them in Willamette Valley.  Their right to settle there came from the Anglo-American agreement of 1818, but there was no governing body.  There seemed little need for courts or legislature until 1841.

In 1842 a situation arose that changed the need for a legal course of action.  A young, successful cattle rancher named Ewing Young had become the wealthiest American in Willamette Valley.  He also died suddenly without a will.  The question became - who got his property? 

Jason Lee called upon American settlers to meet and create a court to devise a constitution and a legal code.  They were to meet again in 1843.  These first meetings would give Oregon settlers a political structure from which to seek United States annexation.

Back East, missionary reports got wide publicity.  Letters from settlers told of rich land, giving Midwest farmers hope that economic conditions could be better for them and their families.  The Rockies were no longer the barrier to the limit of migration west.  The concept of Manifest Destiny was born - that the republic had a divine mission to spread from coast to coast.

In the spring of 1841, the first wagon train of 69 pioneers set out.  Half arrived in Oregon, the other half in California, but neither arrived with wagons in tow.  The next year, 1842, a group of 100 pioneers traveled from Missouri to Oregon also abandoning their wagons and possessions.  Finally in 1843, Whitman was returning from a trip east and helped guide the first wagon train of almost 1000 pioneers to the Pacific Coast. They arrived with all their wagons and supplies. 
The Great Emigration was in full swing.  By 1850, over 44,000 pioneers had traveled the Oregon Trail.

Next time...Jesuits Among the Native Tribes
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On January 24, 1848, Aamillwright named James Marshall discovers gold along the banks of Sutter’s Creek in California, forever changing the course of history in the American West.

Fever for Oregon

Jason Lee as we have seen was establishing the Willamette Valley.  Other men of God were turning their eyes to Oregon as well, among them a young physician from New York, Marcus Whitman.  In 1834 he petitioned the Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions to finance his trip to Oregon as a doctor and teacher.  They proposed that 55 year old Rev. Samuel Parker, who had volunteered for missionary service earlier,  accompany Whitman to determine if Oregon was suitable for God's work.

Whitman and Parker set out with a pack train heading for the fur trapper's yearly rendezvous in the Rockies.  The Rev. Parker was not given a warm welcome among the rowdy trappers, but Whitman gained a somewhat grudging respect when he removed an arrowhead from the back of Jim Bridger.  Whitman told Bridger that was surprising that no infection had been found in his back, Bridger replied, "Meat don't spoil in the Rockies!"

Whitman and Parker parted company after the Rendezvous.  Whitman went back east, where he was determined, despite his ignorance of Oregon Country, to convince his eastern superiors that new missions were desperately needed and that women and wagons could easily travel the long, dangerous route over the mountains to the Pacific Northwest.

While back East, Whitman married Narcissa Prentiss who shared his religious dedication and in 1836, the two set out again for Oregon, this time accompanied by the dour and difficult Rev. Henry Spaulding and his wife.  Narcissa proved to be an able and tough pioneer through the difficult journey. 

For a time, the party was joined by Hudson Bay trappers who were headed for Fort Vancouver, but the lack of fresh meat, difficult terrain, and Whitman's unyielding determination caused considerable grief.  Eventually they abandoned the wagons and made the trip by horseback.  Whitman was still convinced that with a large party, willing to put forth the effort, could bring wagons over the Oregon Trail. 

Next time...Settling in Oregon
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Today in Pioneer History: "On January 19,  1883,  heavy fog in the North Sea causes the collision of two steamers and the death of 357 people on this day in 1883.The Cimbria  collided with The Sultan.

Whitman's Oregon Tales

In 1843 Marcus Whitman, a missionary, started Oregon's mythology with his writings of the vast trains of wagons journeying to Oregon and settling in the lands beyond all "possibility of seizure by the British who are hiding in the underbrush" (his words)

It is said he went to President Tyler to procure vast numbers of immigrants to "march to the Northwest and toss the Redcoats into the Columbia River".  By that time the Oregon Trail had been well defined for almost 10 years and Oregon was safe from the British, if not from the Indians.

Although some legends credit Whitman with the settling of Oregon, both events are coincidental and not believed to be true.  In any case, Whitman was later murdered by Walla Walla Indians.