Page:Essays in Historical Criticism.djvu/95

 are a pure invention, one of three conclusions is forced upon us. Either this story was invented by Marcus Whitman himself and reported years afterward by Spalding and Eells, or it was invented in common by Spalding and Eells, or Spalding invented it and Eells copied it from him. The last is, I believe, the true solution. But if this is accepted Cushing Eells can no longer be brought forward as an independent witness in confirmation of Spalding's story, for he draws from that story the material with which he supports it!

Having reviewed the evidence upon which the legendary account of the causes of Dr. Whitman's journey is based, I will now proceed to examine the tradition of what he achieved in Washington and to offer an explanation of the origin of its unhistorical features. That Dr. Whitman contemplated going to Washington during his absence in the east is clear from the statements in the letters of Mrs. Whitman and Dr. White, and it is not improbable that his intention was strengthened, if not suggested, by his conference with Dr. White.

What purpose Dr. Whitman had in going to Washington is to be learned from the letters of his companion, A. Lawrence Lovejoy, supplemented by his own letter to the Secretary of War and the draft of a bill which he submitted. It is true that Lovejoy's letter was not written until 1876, but