Page:History vs. the Whitman saved Oregon story.djvu/20

14 arrived at, and I do most cheerfully add that considering the short time allowed for writing the letter I think it, well done and consider the statements very just. "The general plan of the letter was mutually agreed upon, and after hearing the whole of it read once and parts of it more than once, I have observed nothing of importance to which I cannot give a full assent."

(Signed)"."

To this endorsement by C. Eells, Dr. Mowry never alludes, though knowing all about it as his correspondence with me shows.

Rev. E. Walker's diary (in MS., in possession of the Oregon Historical Society) reads "Monday, Oct. 3, 1842. Commenced my letter to Mr. Greene. Succeeded better than I expected. Tuesday, 4. Continued to write and make slow progress. Wednesday, 5. Busy at writing, but feel as though I could not make out a good one . . . Thursday, 6. Still at my letter . . . Saturday, 8. Finished copying my letter to Mr. Greene and read it to Mr. Eells, who approved it.' So "the short time allowed for writing the letter" was six days.

Not another word besides these 510 is there in Dr. Mowry's book, written by Rev. C. Eells, Rev. H. H. Spalding, Rev. E. Walker, or Mr. W. H. Gray, to the Secretary of the American Board while the mission continued, nor subsequently down,to May 28, 1866 (when Rev. C. Eells first endorsed the Whitman Saved Oregon story, in a letter which the Missionary Herald published in December, 1866), except that in his Appendix, Dr. Mowry prints two letters from Rev. C. Eells, and two from Rev. H. H. Spalding, written in December, 1847, and January, 1848, and relating to nothing but the dreadful massacre of November 29-December 8, 1847, ^^ which Dr. and Mrs. Whitman and twelve others perished, and which destroyed the mission, and to the rescue of the survivors by the Hudson's Bay Company's efforts; and this though there are in the American Board archives letters written by them to the American Board, between Whitman's return to Oregon, in September, 1843, and May, 1866, amounting to about 250,000 words.

Though thus chary of quoting what C. Eells, H. H. Spalding and W. H. Gray wrote prior to the publication of the Whitman Saved Oregon story, in 1864-5-6, Dr. Mowry quotes from their letters, "statements" and other publications subsequent to September, 1865, to the following amounts: