Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/452



294 THE CENTEiNNIAL HISTORY OF OREGON

the same decision. The result was that Mr. Spalding settled at Lajiwai among the Nez Perees Indians, on what is now the western edge of the state of Idaho ; while Dr. Whitman settled on the Walla river near the site of the present town of Walla Walla.

The site of what came to be commonly known as the Whitman mission was well chosen ; not so much from the point of view of a mission to the Indians as from the point of view of a vantage ground from which to influence the destinies of the Oregon country. It lay near the junction of the two principal trade routes from the east and near to one of the chief forts of the Hudson's Bay com- pany. It was a station at once for observation and influence. The various interests of this whole region centered here as in no other place. The various currents of travel that were to determine the ultimate destiny of this region passed this way as at that time they passed nowhere else. Dr. Whitman proved to be the man for the place ; quick to grasp the significance of the situation and bold and prompt to seize and use its opportunities.

The life of Whitman in Oregon falls into two well marked periods. The first of these extending from the establishment of the mission in 1836, to Octo- ber, 1842, was the period of his distinctively missionarj- work. The second, extending from that eventful year to his death in 1847, was marked by a wider activity in which, while keeping the interests of his mission and the welfare of his Indians as his central object, he yet exerted well-directed efi:orts toward furthering the nation's interests in the Oregon country.

Dr. Whitman's conception of his mission to the Indians and the persist- ence with which he strove to carry it out, are indicative of the character of the man. His ideal for the Indians was that they should become not only Chris- tians, biit peaceful and thrifty citizens. With this ideal before him he at once set about to instruct them in the faith and morality of the Christian religion, to give them an elementary education in their own tongue, and to instruct them in agricultural and other arts of a peaceful and settled life. His efforts toward these ends in this earlier period promised a fair measure of success. As the fruit of his and Mrs. Whitman's patient instruction and consistent daily lives, a few of the natives were brought to embrace the Christian religion; some of whom commanded the highest respect of the white man by their lives of con- sistent piety and integrity. A school was early established, and though main- tained under the utmost difficulties, enrolled considerable numbers of the In- dians, reaching at one time an enrollment of more than one hundred. Agri- culture, too, was taught, with promising results. More than one immigrant and early traveler on visiting the mission remarked on the prosperous appear- ance of the mission farm, and observed with special interest the well cultivated farms of the Indians that surround it.

The attitude of the Cayuse Indians, among whom Dr. Whitman settled, to- ward Dr. Whitman and his work changed at the end of this period. The mis- sion had been established on the invitation of prominent men of the Indian tribes, and the missionaries and their wives had been made welcome. But from the fall of 1839. to the end of this period the feelings of the Indians show a change from that of cordial good will to one of suspicion and faultfinding, which resulted in the later years in threats, and even in over acts of violence. Several things contributed to this change of attitude. One was the indirect