Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 24.djvu/403

 Peter Skene Ogden 371 erected a crude flour mill, and he cultivated land near his mission. He was a brave man, who showed his quality by living at his mission after threats by the Indians, and after he was warned by Dr. McLoughlin of danger from the Indians. Dr. McLoughlin knew the Indians and their character better than any other man who ever lived in the Oregon Country. Dr. Whitman also showed his bravery by his long winter trip with Amos L. Lovejoy, in 1842, to prevent the discontinuance of the Whitman mission and other missions connected with it. He and his wife had taken under their care orphans and other children. He deserves great credit as a brave, pioneer missionary in Oregon's early days. His fame has been lessened by false declar- ations, made after his death, by some of his associates and by others who have sought notoriety and a kind of reflected glory by asserting that Whitman saved Oregon, and that his ride East in 1842 was for that purpose. But these assertions are false and made by foolish friends. Dr. Whitman made no such claim. His supposed friends have tarnished his reputation by these false assertions. It is not necessary to go into details as to the cause of the massacre. It came about through several causes. Early Oregon immigrants, including the immigration of 1847, brought with them certain diseases which became epidemic with the Indian tribes. Notably the measles was the cause of the death of a great many Indians, who sought to cure this disease by the use of sweat-holes and then plunging into cold water, which almost necessarily was the cause of their deaths. The Indians held their medicine men to strict accountability for failure to cure diseases, and they looked upon Dr. Whitman as a white medicine man. It was asserted that Dr. Whitman poi- soned these Indians who died from their own foolish actions. In addition, they were largely influenced by the lies and machinations of Joe Lewis, a half-breed Indian, and