Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/453



THE CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF OREGOX 1^9.-,

inlliu'iii-c (if till' (Jntliolic iinssioiuii'ics who had coiue into the region in ISlJl). Thisai'osc not from liostilily on Ihr pari of these missionaries personally toward the I'rotestant niissionarios, hnt it was an inevitable result of theii- variant teaching, unsettling the minds of the Indians, and still fui-ther, from a |>oliiy differing from that of the I'rotestant missions in following the Indian in iiis roaming life, and not insisting on his settling in one place to a life of industi-y. The treatment, too, by the missionaries, of their wives, was on an equality with themselves, of¥ended the leading Indians, as being a constant rebuke to their own conduct, and as tending to cause in their wives restlessness and discontent. Finally, the coming of the white settler in such numbers as to attract the at- tention of the Indians and awaken their fears that they should be dispossessed of their lands by the white men, contributed to this growing spirit of hostility toward the Protestant missions. The situation of the mission on the highway of immigration of that period made it peculiarly open to this influence. In a letter of JMay 2, 1840, Mrs. Whitman writes:

■'A tide of immigration appears to l>c moving this way rapidly. A great change has taken place even since we entered the coiintry, and we have no rea- son to believe it will stop here. Instead of two lonely American females we now number fourteen, and soon may twenty or forty more, if reports are true. We are emphatically situated on the highway between the states and the Colum- bia river. ' '

The fall of 1S42 brought a still larger inunigration, numliering more than one hundred and including many families. It was an immigration well .suited to impress the Indians as it passed through their lands, and further to arouse their appi'chensions for the future.

With the arrival of this immigration affairs at Walla Walla mission seem to have reached a crisis. There had been for some time a growing feeling at the headquarters of the Board of ]\Iissions at Boston that the results of the mission at Walla Walla were not satisfactory. ^lissionaries at that day were expected by the board that commissioned them to confine themselves strictly to the re- ligious instruction and care of those to whom they were sent. Even education had not yet come to be regarded as a proper part of their work, while instruc- tion in industry and secular arts must have appeared quite aside from it. Be sides, news had reached the Board of unpleasant differences among the mis sionarirs themselves, which seemed to bode ill for the work of the mission. Whitman now learned that the order for the abandonment of the Walla Walla mission, if not already issued, was the least imminent. A less far-sighted and courageous man than he might have welcomed the order to leave the post where hardshijis were great and where perils from the natives were thickening around him. But it was not of Whitman's character to abandon a post which, peril- ous as it was. he felt was important to the cause of missions and to the interests of his country to hold. lie would not abandon it without fir.st making a de- termined effort to secure from the mission board its continuance and reinforce- ment, and from the government at Washington provisions and the adoption of measures that would bring content to the Indians and open an easier and safer highway for intending immigration.

Accordingly, on the 2nd of October. 1842. within a month after the arrival at Walla Walla of the immigration of that year, Whitman was on his way to