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Unsettled Ground: The Whitman Massacre and Its Shifting Legacy in the American West
Washington State Book Award FinalistA highly-readable, myth-busting history of the Whitman Massacre—a pivotal event in the history of the American West—that includes the often-missing Indian point of viewIn 1836, Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, devout missionaries from upstate New York, established a Presbyterian mission on Cayuse Indian land near what is now the fashionable wine capital of Walla Walla, Washington. Eleven years later, a group of Cayuses killed the Whitmans and eleven others in what became known as the Whitman Massacre. The attack led to a war of retaliation against the Cayuse; the extension of federal control over the present-day states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and parts of Montana and Wyoming; and martyrdom for the Whitmans. Today, however, the Whitmans are more likely to be demonized as colonizers than revered as heroes. “[Tate] tells the Cayuse’s side of the story with empathy and clarity . . . a meticulously researched book . ” — The Seattle Times
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2020
107 people are currently reading
411 people want to read
About the author
Cassandra Tate
3 books3 followersA journalist, historian and author, Tate was born in Twin Falls, Idaho, grew up in Seattle, and attended the University of Washington for a year before beginning her journalism career. She worked as a reporter at the Twin Falls Times-News in Idaho and for the Elko (Nevada) News. From there she moved to the Lewiston (Idaho) Morning Tribune where she met her husband, Glenn Drosendahl, and won a yearlong Nieman Fellowship at Harvard for her environmental reporting. She was the first Idaho journalist awarded that honour.
After spending the 1976-77 academic year in Massachusetts, she and her family returned to Lewiston before moving to Seattle in 1979. Tate reviewed restaurants for the Puget Sound Business Journal, wrote for The Weekly, served as managing editor of Seattle Voice magazine and, while working as a science/medical reporter for the local Journal-American, wrote about the revival of nature at Mount St. Helens five years after the volcano erupted.
After writing op-ed pieces for The Seattle Times and magazines such as Smithsonian, she earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Washington and stayed on to get her PhD in American history. Tate turned her doctoral dissertation into a book: “Cigarette Wars: Triumph of the Little White Slaver,” published by Oxford University Press.
She later became a major contributor to HistoryLink.org, the online encyclopedia of Washington state history. She wrote more than 200 essays for HistoryLink before turning her interest in missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whitman into the book “Unsettled Ground: The Whitman Massacre and its Shifting Legacy in the American West,” which was published in November 2020.
After spending the 1976-77 academic year in Massachusetts, she and her family returned to Lewiston before moving to Seattle in 1979. Tate reviewed restaurants for the Puget Sound Business Journal, wrote for The Weekly, served as managing editor of Seattle Voice magazine and, while working as a science/medical reporter for the local Journal-American, wrote about the revival of nature at Mount St. Helens five years after the volcano erupted.
After writing op-ed pieces for The Seattle Times and magazines such as Smithsonian, she earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Washington and stayed on to get her PhD in American history. Tate turned her doctoral dissertation into a book: “Cigarette Wars: Triumph of the Little White Slaver,” published by Oxford University Press.
She later became a major contributor to HistoryLink.org, the online encyclopedia of Washington state history. She wrote more than 200 essays for HistoryLink before turning her interest in missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whitman into the book “Unsettled Ground: The Whitman Massacre and its Shifting Legacy in the American West,” which was published in November 2020.
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October 21, 2022
The most significant take away I got from reading Cassandra Tate’s Unsettled Ground: The Whitman Massacre and its Shifting Legacy in the American West is the reality embraced by the idiom that “we are a product of our time.” Tate reexamines the Whitman Massacre from the historian’s modern perspective and, to some extent, today’s social and cultural norms. Namely, Tate addresses whether the events of November 29, 1847, at the Waiilatpu Mission should be described as a massacre or justified retribution and revenge.
Tate uses the construct of “politics of memory” to frame her story, a methodological framework often used by sociologists and historians. This construct argues that the collective memory of political agents of events shape how history will be written about the event.
Unsettled Ground is very well written and edited; however, I have several criticisms that I enumerate below.
My criticism begins with the first seven chapters of Tate’s book, which, in my opinion, are nothing more than a massive abridgement of Clifford Merrill Drury’s monumental works concerning the Presbyterian missionaries of the Inland Northwest, most notably from Drury’s books Marcus Whitman, M.D., Pioneer and Martyr and Henry Harmon Spalding: Pioneer of Old Oregon. There is simply very little that Tate adds to what Drury published eighty-five years ago. But much is lost.
This Reader’s Digest condensed version skips over many details and nuances of events shaping the Whitmans’ lives, their relationships with other family members, missionaries, church leadership, government officials, and westward bound pioneers. Drury captures far more than Tate, which allows one to more fully understand the context behind November 29, 1847. I have read several book reviewers’ remarks commending Tate for her meticulous research and comprehensive account of the Whitman Massacre. Obviously, these reviewers have not read Drury’s work that Tate CliffsNotes® for her reader.
Another criticism I have is Tate’s projection and oversimplification when interpreting written letters and diary entries, which is a common issue in written histories. The benefit of reading Drury’s work is that he attempted as much as possible to understand all the events that were taking place at the time a letter or diary entry took place. Context matters. Instead, I felt as Tate was interpreting many letters and diary entries without fully understanding the situation behind them. Interpreting written words somewhat independent of all other information taking place at the time (i.e., out of context) means that Tate understood the operation of the minds of the Whitmans and others when they were writing to others.
One example is when Tate remarks that Narcissa Whitman viewed the natives of the area as inferiors or never bonded in the same way with her “adopted” Metis children relative to the “adopted” Sager orphans (i.e., whites). This sweeping view of Narcissa’s perspective is incorrect. Instead, Narcissa viewed certain practices of the natives as inferior – such as their consumption of alcohol, “false gods,” use of tobacco, and certain belief structures. She (and Marcus) saw these characteristics as inferior in whites as well – most notably among the Roman Catholics who, it seems, they despised as a representation of the devil and wholly unredeemable. There are numerous remarks and diary entries whereby Narcissa praises the natives or observes positive characteristics.
My last criticism concerns Tate’s reinterpretation of whether the events of November 29, 1847, represent a massacre. In my opinion they do. I found it absolutely amazing how similar Tate’s perspective was to that of Ann Durkin Keating’s interpretation of the Fort Dearborn Massacre, which can be found in Durkin’s book Rising Up from Indian Country. Ironically, both Tate and Keating use a sculpture to frame their revision of history - that these indiscriminate attacks were not massacres. Coincidence? Perhaps.
Tate's book suffers greatly from the construct of "presentism," which is defined as an "uncritical adherence to present-day attitudes, especially the tendency to interpret past events in terms of modern values and concepts." Let there be no mistake, the facts are rather clear and mostly unambiguous from contemporary accounts that individuals at the Waiilatpu Mission were not acting against the Cayuse in the time period preceding the massacre. Individuals at the mission were either laboring/working, in school, or sick and all were seemingly unarmed. Several of these individuals were either shot or clubbed to death by a few Cayuse over an extended period of time (i.e., it was not a short-term 30 minute explosive event).
Moreover, the fifty-three individuals not killed were taken hostage – not as leverage to negotiate for the improvement of the treatment of the Cayuse people – but as tradable objects for firearms, ammunition, blankets, and other goods. If today's [ca. 2020] U.S. military troops were to enter a village, say in Afghanistan or Iraq, and then indiscriminately shoot and club to death unarmed men, women, and children, then I believe most common-sense observers, including Tate, would define these killings as a massacre. The common dictionary definition of massacre is: "the unnecessary, indiscriminate killing of a large number of human beings or animals, as in barbarous warfare or persecution or for revenge or plunder." To define November 29, 1847, any other way seems to me to be an attempt at revising history to fit more squarely with some of today's social and cultural norms (i.e., presentism, "we are a product of our time").
Furthermore, in my opinion, there is nothing terribly unique about the Cayuse Indians' behavior as it applied to the Whitman Massacre. It has been well established that the tribes on the Columbia Plateau (and elsewhere) had a history of violently raiding the villages of other tribes long before the arrival of individuals of European descent, usually to obtain certain resources (e.g., food, horses), killing their enemies, enslaving some, and destroying their villages. And as men of European descent began moving westward, the tribes situated in the High Plains used weapons (i.e., guns and metal axes) obtained in trade to attack their enemy tribes to the west (e.g., Blackfeet, Crows, Shoshone). While this certainly does not condone the behaviors of those of European descent settling the Columbia Plateau, the fact cannot be ignored that, culturally, violent warring behavior was nothing new to the Cayuse prior to the emergence of whites.
My criticisms aside, I commend Tate’s work in explaining the aftermath of the Whitman Massacre, something that Drury never placed great emphasis on in his work. This is the real value in reading Unsettled Ground, and I generally agree with Tate’s perspective as it squares up well against contemporary accounts. In my opinion, the trial in 1850 and the public hanging of Tiloukaikt, Tomahas, Kiamasumpkin, Iaiachalakis, and Klokomas was simply wrong. The United States had no right to try these Cayuse tribal members simply due to the jurisdictional issue – Oregon was not yet a territory – that occurred in 1848, nearly a year after the Whitman Massacre. Furthermore, the hangings did nothing in righting a wrong and likely greatly contributed to unwarranted ostracism of the Cayuse people for many decades after.
Tate uses the construct of “politics of memory” to frame her story, a methodological framework often used by sociologists and historians. This construct argues that the collective memory of political agents of events shape how history will be written about the event.
Unsettled Ground is very well written and edited; however, I have several criticisms that I enumerate below.
My criticism begins with the first seven chapters of Tate’s book, which, in my opinion, are nothing more than a massive abridgement of Clifford Merrill Drury’s monumental works concerning the Presbyterian missionaries of the Inland Northwest, most notably from Drury’s books Marcus Whitman, M.D., Pioneer and Martyr and Henry Harmon Spalding: Pioneer of Old Oregon. There is simply very little that Tate adds to what Drury published eighty-five years ago. But much is lost.
This Reader’s Digest condensed version skips over many details and nuances of events shaping the Whitmans’ lives, their relationships with other family members, missionaries, church leadership, government officials, and westward bound pioneers. Drury captures far more than Tate, which allows one to more fully understand the context behind November 29, 1847. I have read several book reviewers’ remarks commending Tate for her meticulous research and comprehensive account of the Whitman Massacre. Obviously, these reviewers have not read Drury’s work that Tate CliffsNotes® for her reader.
Another criticism I have is Tate’s projection and oversimplification when interpreting written letters and diary entries, which is a common issue in written histories. The benefit of reading Drury’s work is that he attempted as much as possible to understand all the events that were taking place at the time a letter or diary entry took place. Context matters. Instead, I felt as Tate was interpreting many letters and diary entries without fully understanding the situation behind them. Interpreting written words somewhat independent of all other information taking place at the time (i.e., out of context) means that Tate understood the operation of the minds of the Whitmans and others when they were writing to others.
One example is when Tate remarks that Narcissa Whitman viewed the natives of the area as inferiors or never bonded in the same way with her “adopted” Metis children relative to the “adopted” Sager orphans (i.e., whites). This sweeping view of Narcissa’s perspective is incorrect. Instead, Narcissa viewed certain practices of the natives as inferior – such as their consumption of alcohol, “false gods,” use of tobacco, and certain belief structures. She (and Marcus) saw these characteristics as inferior in whites as well – most notably among the Roman Catholics who, it seems, they despised as a representation of the devil and wholly unredeemable. There are numerous remarks and diary entries whereby Narcissa praises the natives or observes positive characteristics.
My last criticism concerns Tate’s reinterpretation of whether the events of November 29, 1847, represent a massacre. In my opinion they do. I found it absolutely amazing how similar Tate’s perspective was to that of Ann Durkin Keating’s interpretation of the Fort Dearborn Massacre, which can be found in Durkin’s book Rising Up from Indian Country. Ironically, both Tate and Keating use a sculpture to frame their revision of history - that these indiscriminate attacks were not massacres. Coincidence? Perhaps.
Tate's book suffers greatly from the construct of "presentism," which is defined as an "uncritical adherence to present-day attitudes, especially the tendency to interpret past events in terms of modern values and concepts." Let there be no mistake, the facts are rather clear and mostly unambiguous from contemporary accounts that individuals at the Waiilatpu Mission were not acting against the Cayuse in the time period preceding the massacre. Individuals at the mission were either laboring/working, in school, or sick and all were seemingly unarmed. Several of these individuals were either shot or clubbed to death by a few Cayuse over an extended period of time (i.e., it was not a short-term 30 minute explosive event).
Moreover, the fifty-three individuals not killed were taken hostage – not as leverage to negotiate for the improvement of the treatment of the Cayuse people – but as tradable objects for firearms, ammunition, blankets, and other goods. If today's [ca. 2020] U.S. military troops were to enter a village, say in Afghanistan or Iraq, and then indiscriminately shoot and club to death unarmed men, women, and children, then I believe most common-sense observers, including Tate, would define these killings as a massacre. The common dictionary definition of massacre is: "the unnecessary, indiscriminate killing of a large number of human beings or animals, as in barbarous warfare or persecution or for revenge or plunder." To define November 29, 1847, any other way seems to me to be an attempt at revising history to fit more squarely with some of today's social and cultural norms (i.e., presentism, "we are a product of our time").
Furthermore, in my opinion, there is nothing terribly unique about the Cayuse Indians' behavior as it applied to the Whitman Massacre. It has been well established that the tribes on the Columbia Plateau (and elsewhere) had a history of violently raiding the villages of other tribes long before the arrival of individuals of European descent, usually to obtain certain resources (e.g., food, horses), killing their enemies, enslaving some, and destroying their villages. And as men of European descent began moving westward, the tribes situated in the High Plains used weapons (i.e., guns and metal axes) obtained in trade to attack their enemy tribes to the west (e.g., Blackfeet, Crows, Shoshone). While this certainly does not condone the behaviors of those of European descent settling the Columbia Plateau, the fact cannot be ignored that, culturally, violent warring behavior was nothing new to the Cayuse prior to the emergence of whites.
My criticisms aside, I commend Tate’s work in explaining the aftermath of the Whitman Massacre, something that Drury never placed great emphasis on in his work. This is the real value in reading Unsettled Ground, and I generally agree with Tate’s perspective as it squares up well against contemporary accounts. In my opinion, the trial in 1850 and the public hanging of Tiloukaikt, Tomahas, Kiamasumpkin, Iaiachalakis, and Klokomas was simply wrong. The United States had no right to try these Cayuse tribal members simply due to the jurisdictional issue – Oregon was not yet a territory – that occurred in 1848, nearly a year after the Whitman Massacre. Furthermore, the hangings did nothing in righting a wrong and likely greatly contributed to unwarranted ostracism of the Cayuse people for many decades after.
August 23, 2022
Fourth graders in are often tasked with learning about their state's history. I learned about the Whitmans as I was preparing to teach a unit to my fourth graders about Washington State history but my knowledge was cursory and one-sided. I was interested in learning more about this topic as I find learning about people and events from the region in which I live to be fascinating.
I was a little leery going into this book as I felt like the author made some outrageous claims but I was intrigued because I wanted to see if she could back up her statements. I also wanted to read a more impartial telling of the Whitman's story and their mission's history.
These missionaries were driven by the belief that they had a divine mandate to "save the heathen" and they possessed the hubris that they could accomplish this. Tate discussed the three prevailing principles that drove the Whitmans and other missionaries in Oregon country at that time: that Christianity equaled civilization and vice versa; that "the dear heathen" were living in a savage and degraded state because they did not know God; and before the Indians could fully know God, they needed to embrace culture. The Whitmans spent eleven years in Oregon and Narcissa never stopped thinking of non-white women as her inferiors.
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission's requirements for missionaries were minimal. Applicants needed only to be pious, married, and in reasonably good health. There was no expectation that candidates demonstrate cultural sensitivity, adaptability, humility, or language skills. Tate asserts that the missionaries were almost "willfully ignorant of the values, traditions, and expectations of the people they were going to be living with." The Whitmans never expressed any admiration or appreciation for native traditions, technology, or values. "They had been drawn to Oregon by the idea of saving Indians souls, but they felt no affinity for the Indians they actually encountered."
The biggest surprise I discovered upon reading this book is the fact that the Whitmans accomplished so little in converting the indigenous population. They tended to more "secular" affairs such as farming and teaching. History has taught up that they were missionaries but they couldn't claim a single convert! As early as 1842, the Whitmans "maintained only a pretense of ministering to Indians and focused instead on promoting the colonization of Oregon Country by American settlers." Yet we've dedicated state statues and colleges to two people who had so little regard for understanding, loving, or helping the people into whose land they intruded.
For such a short book, it really packs a punch. Tate discussed the Indian Removal Act, how some even viewed it an act of benevolence so that at least some of the "remnants" of the population could survive. Readers encounter the broken promises and outright lies whites told the native Americans to capture land for themselves. We encounter clashing belief systems and the failure of the missionaries (at least the Protestant ones, not the Catholics) to attempt to understand the native Americans and meet them where they were at. "The Indians were willing to graft new ideas onto old beliefs, not to abandon old beliefs altogether. The missionaries insisted that they shrug off all the remnants of their old spiritual lives and be born into entirely new ones."
Tate addresses the public's changing perceptions of the events resulting in the Whitman "massacre" and terminology has changed to now refer to it as a battle. By referring to it as a massacre, its use "prejudices and freezes the event in time."
This book is heart-rending and sad but its a valuable read that I would recommend to everyone.
I was a little leery going into this book as I felt like the author made some outrageous claims but I was intrigued because I wanted to see if she could back up her statements. I also wanted to read a more impartial telling of the Whitman's story and their mission's history.
These missionaries were driven by the belief that they had a divine mandate to "save the heathen" and they possessed the hubris that they could accomplish this. Tate discussed the three prevailing principles that drove the Whitmans and other missionaries in Oregon country at that time: that Christianity equaled civilization and vice versa; that "the dear heathen" were living in a savage and degraded state because they did not know God; and before the Indians could fully know God, they needed to embrace culture. The Whitmans spent eleven years in Oregon and Narcissa never stopped thinking of non-white women as her inferiors.
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission's requirements for missionaries were minimal. Applicants needed only to be pious, married, and in reasonably good health. There was no expectation that candidates demonstrate cultural sensitivity, adaptability, humility, or language skills. Tate asserts that the missionaries were almost "willfully ignorant of the values, traditions, and expectations of the people they were going to be living with." The Whitmans never expressed any admiration or appreciation for native traditions, technology, or values. "They had been drawn to Oregon by the idea of saving Indians souls, but they felt no affinity for the Indians they actually encountered."
The biggest surprise I discovered upon reading this book is the fact that the Whitmans accomplished so little in converting the indigenous population. They tended to more "secular" affairs such as farming and teaching. History has taught up that they were missionaries but they couldn't claim a single convert! As early as 1842, the Whitmans "maintained only a pretense of ministering to Indians and focused instead on promoting the colonization of Oregon Country by American settlers." Yet we've dedicated state statues and colleges to two people who had so little regard for understanding, loving, or helping the people into whose land they intruded.
For such a short book, it really packs a punch. Tate discussed the Indian Removal Act, how some even viewed it an act of benevolence so that at least some of the "remnants" of the population could survive. Readers encounter the broken promises and outright lies whites told the native Americans to capture land for themselves. We encounter clashing belief systems and the failure of the missionaries (at least the Protestant ones, not the Catholics) to attempt to understand the native Americans and meet them where they were at. "The Indians were willing to graft new ideas onto old beliefs, not to abandon old beliefs altogether. The missionaries insisted that they shrug off all the remnants of their old spiritual lives and be born into entirely new ones."
Tate addresses the public's changing perceptions of the events resulting in the Whitman "massacre" and terminology has changed to now refer to it as a battle. By referring to it as a massacre, its use "prejudices and freezes the event in time."
This book is heart-rending and sad but its a valuable read that I would recommend to everyone.
May 3, 2021
Disappointing, saddening, maddening
After reading a review of this book in the Seattle Times, it immediately was on my short Christmas gift list. I was excited to read what was promised to be the newest scholarship on the Whitman Mission in what would later become Washington State and to have a "balanced" view showing how -- despite the initial good intentions of both the missionaries and the indigenous Cayuse peoples whose souls and lives the Whitmans' hoped to "save" (from their point of view) at great risk to themselves - a tragedy resulted instead in 1847. The reader gets a very readable "history" -- if you define that term as Cicero did: a form of rhetoric that uses the past to make a point "Magistra Vitae" (history as life's teacher).
Its facts are wrapped in polemical judgments disguised as an objective history, whose basic point can be summarized as, "Whitmans: very bad (maybe complicit with murderers if you look at it right), Cayuse: very good (probably justified in killing the couple and 11 other people because ... well, they deserved it because they shouldn't have been there.) The injustice and falsehood of the "histories" of the late 19th and early 20th centuries which wrongly recognized only one (white) set of victims is now "balanced" by a 21st Century perpetuation of the "noble people" myth and denial of any real virtue to the Whitmans despite the author's brief acknowledgment of (in 4 pages -- 221-224 - near the end of a 231 page book) their "undeniabl[e]" courage, self sacrifice, hard work, passé Christian faith (the author often uses the word "hubris" as a synonym), knowledge they were in danger by trying to medically treat illnesses of a people whose culture held an unsuccessful patient outcome could warrant the death penalty of the attempted healer but still tried to care for them anyway. Indeed, the day he was murdered Marcus Whitman had just returned from a late night journey in response to a request that he treat ill tribal members and found his wife Narcissa locked in her room in a deep depression over the drowning of her three year old daughter years earlier and her justified expectation she and her husband were about to be killed as they had been recently warned. When the word "massacre" and "tragedy" are repeatedly placed in quotation marks whenever the Whitmans are used in the same sentence, but not when the also horrific Wounded Knee Massacre is not (nor should either ever be), the author's rhetorical bent is revealed early.
The author repeats the question of the Director of the Tamatslikt Cultural Institute: "... was it justifiable homicide" to kill the Whitmans? From any fair and humane point of view: No it was not, ... just as the punishment later visited on the Cayuse was unjust, so too was the brutal injustice a group of Cayuse visited on the Whitmans and 11 others one November morning. Murder is murder and a polemic is a polemic - no matter what century it is written in, the color of the victims, what conventional wisdom it refects, or what good press it gets in its own time as somehow "balanced."
After reading a review of this book in the Seattle Times, it immediately was on my short Christmas gift list. I was excited to read what was promised to be the newest scholarship on the Whitman Mission in what would later become Washington State and to have a "balanced" view showing how -- despite the initial good intentions of both the missionaries and the indigenous Cayuse peoples whose souls and lives the Whitmans' hoped to "save" (from their point of view) at great risk to themselves - a tragedy resulted instead in 1847. The reader gets a very readable "history" -- if you define that term as Cicero did: a form of rhetoric that uses the past to make a point "Magistra Vitae" (history as life's teacher).
Its facts are wrapped in polemical judgments disguised as an objective history, whose basic point can be summarized as, "Whitmans: very bad (maybe complicit with murderers if you look at it right), Cayuse: very good (probably justified in killing the couple and 11 other people because ... well, they deserved it because they shouldn't have been there.) The injustice and falsehood of the "histories" of the late 19th and early 20th centuries which wrongly recognized only one (white) set of victims is now "balanced" by a 21st Century perpetuation of the "noble people" myth and denial of any real virtue to the Whitmans despite the author's brief acknowledgment of (in 4 pages -- 221-224 - near the end of a 231 page book) their "undeniabl[e]" courage, self sacrifice, hard work, passé Christian faith (the author often uses the word "hubris" as a synonym), knowledge they were in danger by trying to medically treat illnesses of a people whose culture held an unsuccessful patient outcome could warrant the death penalty of the attempted healer but still tried to care for them anyway. Indeed, the day he was murdered Marcus Whitman had just returned from a late night journey in response to a request that he treat ill tribal members and found his wife Narcissa locked in her room in a deep depression over the drowning of her three year old daughter years earlier and her justified expectation she and her husband were about to be killed as they had been recently warned. When the word "massacre" and "tragedy" are repeatedly placed in quotation marks whenever the Whitmans are used in the same sentence, but not when the also horrific Wounded Knee Massacre is not (nor should either ever be), the author's rhetorical bent is revealed early.
The author repeats the question of the Director of the Tamatslikt Cultural Institute: "... was it justifiable homicide" to kill the Whitmans? From any fair and humane point of view: No it was not, ... just as the punishment later visited on the Cayuse was unjust, so too was the brutal injustice a group of Cayuse visited on the Whitmans and 11 others one November morning. Murder is murder and a polemic is a polemic - no matter what century it is written in, the color of the victims, what conventional wisdom it refects, or what good press it gets in its own time as somehow "balanced."
August 29, 2021
Interesting history. Well researched and, in the end, a fair assessment of this moment in Washington/Oregon history. Its equal parts troubling and fascinating to watch how fact and historical account can mushroom with swelling nationalism into falsified lore.
May 17, 2021
Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa founded a mission in the Oregon Territory, what is now Washington state. They left New York in 1836 armed with the conviction that the Indian "savages" needed to become Christians. Eleven years later a group of Cayuse Indians entered the mission and killed the Whitmans and others. It was called a massacre. The people of Washington elevated the missionaries to hero status and commemorated their loss.
History usually omits some extenuating circumstances. Marcus and Narcissa despised the Indians, were ignorant of their culture and stole their land to erect mission buildings. They tried to exorcise hunting and food gathering activities, and spiritual devotion to the land, disrespecting their Indian neighbors in a thousand small ways. In eleven years not a single Indian was converted to Christianity. Eventually, thousands of white settlers braved the Oregon trail to settle on Indian land. The Whitman Massacre unleashed the will and power of the Federal government to exert a bloodthirsty revenge on native tribes who were not involved in the killing. Eventually, native people lost their freedom and the vast majority of their land.
History usually omits some extenuating circumstances. Marcus and Narcissa despised the Indians, were ignorant of their culture and stole their land to erect mission buildings. They tried to exorcise hunting and food gathering activities, and spiritual devotion to the land, disrespecting their Indian neighbors in a thousand small ways. In eleven years not a single Indian was converted to Christianity. Eventually, thousands of white settlers braved the Oregon trail to settle on Indian land. The Whitman Massacre unleashed the will and power of the Federal government to exert a bloodthirsty revenge on native tribes who were not involved in the killing. Eventually, native people lost their freedom and the vast majority of their land.
July 4, 2021
As a child I went to Marcus Whitman Elementary School in Eastern Washington, and was taught that the Whitmans were heroic missionary pioneers, massacred by the native "savages." Two new books this year, one by Blaine Harding, and this one by Tate, are telling the real story.
The Whitmans landed in Washington as pre-ordained saviors of the "heathen" native, and to that end considered not one iota of native culture worthy of respect. Their arrogance and racism, although normal for the time, is fairly breathtaking. As a third of the Cayuse tribe was dying from White-brought measles, Whitman wrote: "The Indians have in no case obeyed the command to multiply and replenish the earth, and they cannot stand in the way of others doing so." Tate documents vividly how genocide hid cleverly in the language of Christianity and Manifest Destiny. This national denial is still happening, hard-baked into the names of elementary schools, and more powerful symbols. Marcus Whitman is still one of two Washington State "heroes" in the National Statuary Hall in Washington D.C.
The Whitmans landed in Washington as pre-ordained saviors of the "heathen" native, and to that end considered not one iota of native culture worthy of respect. Their arrogance and racism, although normal for the time, is fairly breathtaking. As a third of the Cayuse tribe was dying from White-brought measles, Whitman wrote: "The Indians have in no case obeyed the command to multiply and replenish the earth, and they cannot stand in the way of others doing so." Tate documents vividly how genocide hid cleverly in the language of Christianity and Manifest Destiny. This national denial is still happening, hard-baked into the names of elementary schools, and more powerful symbols. Marcus Whitman is still one of two Washington State "heroes" in the National Statuary Hall in Washington D.C.
February 21, 2021
Breaks new ground in the analysis of this important and fascinating event in our collective history.
April 4, 2021
Nothing flashy, but historian and journalist Cassandra Tate’s readable, well-researched examination of the Whitman Mission brings a welcome modern perspective to a popularized incident in the history of the American West.
April 12, 2024
I grew up near Fort Vancouver so had heard of the Whitmans but didn’t have complete picture After visiting the Whitman mission site during Spring Break, I got more interested in the history and this book was a comprehensive and solid overview of the Whitmans and how they fit into the tapestry of PNW history and native culture. Well researched and very well written.
August 9, 2021
Classic revisionism! Ignore well documented undisputed realities, such as the true source of the measles epidemic of 1847 coming from the returning warrior of the Walla walla tribe, returning from Sutter’s Mill, in Northern California, after a failed attempt at stealing horses in 1846, along with the death of Chief Yellow Bird’s son, while attempting escape, after being busted by the employees of John Sutter for stealing hundreds of horses….then following up the following summer of 1847, by returning to Sutter’s Mill, against the advice of Dr. John McLoughlin, Chief Factor of the Hudson’s Bay Co….. with a war party out for retribution for the death of Chief Yellow Bird’s son….only to contract measles while down at Sutter’s Mill from a measles epidemic already in full swing….with almost 300 of their warriors already dead by the time they are able to limp back to the Walla Walla Valley!
And not understanding the disease, the remaining warriors immediately spread throughout the entire region, to the Cayuse, Umatilla, and other local tribes, to tell them the story, and infecting the other tribes of the region in the process!
So many other calculated omissions of CONTEXT in this book, such as the current delicate balance of power in the Oregon Country region at the time, between Britain, and the US, regarding sovereign borders of influence….specifically the Northern US border of what would become the Oregon Territory, and subsequently, the northern border of the Washington Territory!
This book leads readers of the 21st century to believe that the burning issue of the 1840’s was…whether or not the Indians should be able to continue to claim sovereignty of the region over the white emigrants by virtue of previous occupation, or not!
What a gross misrepresentation of context!
The burning issue was whether or not the United States, or Britain, with all its established economic and political clout and presence throughout this vast region, via the trapping and trading industry, backed up by the massive infrastructure of the Hudson’s Bay Co. Would prevail in securing this region for Britain!
Over time, Whitman became to recognize that the timeliness of American emigration could, and would make all the difference in settling this question of the northern border of US interests!
It wasn’t an afterthought on Whitman’s part to extend his trip back East to include Washington DC, and government officials!
It also wasn’t a coincidence that subsequent extensive emigration to the region enabled the successful signing of the British.
All of which this book ignores, along with the vital role Whitman plays in this much larger issue, by his very effective trip back to specifically, Washington DC!
The response of his efforts were not only seen by the subsequent massive emigration of wagon trains,
As well as the later signing of the “Oregon Treaty” in 1846, (over a year before the massacre at Wailatpu), by both Britain and the US, thus preventing the State of Washington from being part of present day Canada!
And no….not some modern peaceful serene cultural version of indigenous utopia! Get real folks!
And the jurisdictional issue of the trial of 1850, addressed regional US authorities acting in constitutional authority, per the terms of the “Oregon Treaty” between Britain and the United States!
And not understanding the disease, the remaining warriors immediately spread throughout the entire region, to the Cayuse, Umatilla, and other local tribes, to tell them the story, and infecting the other tribes of the region in the process!
So many other calculated omissions of CONTEXT in this book, such as the current delicate balance of power in the Oregon Country region at the time, between Britain, and the US, regarding sovereign borders of influence….specifically the Northern US border of what would become the Oregon Territory, and subsequently, the northern border of the Washington Territory!
This book leads readers of the 21st century to believe that the burning issue of the 1840’s was…whether or not the Indians should be able to continue to claim sovereignty of the region over the white emigrants by virtue of previous occupation, or not!
What a gross misrepresentation of context!
The burning issue was whether or not the United States, or Britain, with all its established economic and political clout and presence throughout this vast region, via the trapping and trading industry, backed up by the massive infrastructure of the Hudson’s Bay Co. Would prevail in securing this region for Britain!
Over time, Whitman became to recognize that the timeliness of American emigration could, and would make all the difference in settling this question of the northern border of US interests!
It wasn’t an afterthought on Whitman’s part to extend his trip back East to include Washington DC, and government officials!
It also wasn’t a coincidence that subsequent extensive emigration to the region enabled the successful signing of the British.
All of which this book ignores, along with the vital role Whitman plays in this much larger issue, by his very effective trip back to specifically, Washington DC!
The response of his efforts were not only seen by the subsequent massive emigration of wagon trains,
As well as the later signing of the “Oregon Treaty” in 1846, (over a year before the massacre at Wailatpu), by both Britain and the US, thus preventing the State of Washington from being part of present day Canada!
And no….not some modern peaceful serene cultural version of indigenous utopia! Get real folks!
And the jurisdictional issue of the trial of 1850, addressed regional US authorities acting in constitutional authority, per the terms of the “Oregon Treaty” between Britain and the United States!
January 11, 2021
This is the genre where authors like Erik Larson, Daniel Brown, Nathaniel Philbrick, Hampton Sides and Candice Millard reside. They've all written multiple historical non-fiction books that I've read and enjoyed. And I would say that Cassandra Tate holds up well against those writers.
She's not yet as well known, which has probably played the key role in this book not yet getting major national traction. But I would argue that if you put "Erik Larson" on the spine as the author, there would be considerable buzz about this effort.
I live in Washington state, so I had heard about the Whitman Massacre, with a couple of missionaries being killed by Native Americans. But I didn't know much more. It was a pivotal series of events in the history of the Northwest, playing a role in Washington, Oregon and Idaho becoming U.S. states (at the time, Britain also was in play for control of the region).
Tate thoroughly re-tells the story and makes a persuasive case that Native Americans, more so than the Whitmans, were the victims.
It's not as long as all of the other books I have read by those other notable authors. It's about 230 pages broken into ten chapters. But that's the appropriate length of the issue.
Excellent work by Cassandra Tate. I hope we see another book by her in the future.
She's not yet as well known, which has probably played the key role in this book not yet getting major national traction. But I would argue that if you put "Erik Larson" on the spine as the author, there would be considerable buzz about this effort.
I live in Washington state, so I had heard about the Whitman Massacre, with a couple of missionaries being killed by Native Americans. But I didn't know much more. It was a pivotal series of events in the history of the Northwest, playing a role in Washington, Oregon and Idaho becoming U.S. states (at the time, Britain also was in play for control of the region).
Tate thoroughly re-tells the story and makes a persuasive case that Native Americans, more so than the Whitmans, were the victims.
It's not as long as all of the other books I have read by those other notable authors. It's about 230 pages broken into ten chapters. But that's the appropriate length of the issue.
Excellent work by Cassandra Tate. I hope we see another book by her in the future.
September 9, 2021
A couple of times a month, I go to Whitman Mission (I only live four miles away) to walk the dog, sit by the river, take in the sunset from the hill crowned by the obelisk/shaft, or show visitors our most famous historic site. The familiarity of the place made it easy for me to stay interested in Cassandra Tate's Unsettled Ground. But so did her writing.
Tate thoroughly researched her reappraisal of the 1847 tragedy that makes this place famous and accounts for the ubiquity of the name Whitman throughout the valley. She interviewed tribal members, park rangers, and college professors. She drew from letters and news articles from the 1830s and '40s, while also consulting a variety of high-quality secondary interpretations. There are, amidst the wealth of quotes and data she unearthed, some editing errors--percentages that don't add up, mileage claims that don't make sense... But overall, the scholarship here is first-rate. One of my reasons for picking up the book was to decide if it would be a good choice for my college writing students. Yes, it is.
And I don't think they will be bored by it (at least, not most of the time). Tate folds her research into a rich narrative tapestry. She's every bit as good a storyteller as she is a researcher. Like me, my students will be drawn by the local connections and the fresh look at a story they've grown up with. Some will be irritated, I suspect, by Tate's fairly harsh criticism of the Whitmans, which they will see as part of a sustained liberal attack on American historical icons and values. But if they're honest and fair, they will have to acknowledge that she sees the Whitmans, and the Cayuse, in their full humanity. She analyzes the coming of the "massacre" and its aftermath in balanced, measured terms. Her judgment is sound.
For people far from the Walla Walla Valley, the value of Tate's book comes from its broadening of this story to an examination of the ongoing controversy over the canonization and rejection of past American heroes. Whom should we remember, and perhaps honor, from our past, and in what ways? These are vital questions, and I haven't read any book that sheds more light on them than Unsettled Ground. Nor have I read many that infuse historical events with more narrative pull.
Tate thoroughly researched her reappraisal of the 1847 tragedy that makes this place famous and accounts for the ubiquity of the name Whitman throughout the valley. She interviewed tribal members, park rangers, and college professors. She drew from letters and news articles from the 1830s and '40s, while also consulting a variety of high-quality secondary interpretations. There are, amidst the wealth of quotes and data she unearthed, some editing errors--percentages that don't add up, mileage claims that don't make sense... But overall, the scholarship here is first-rate. One of my reasons for picking up the book was to decide if it would be a good choice for my college writing students. Yes, it is.
And I don't think they will be bored by it (at least, not most of the time). Tate folds her research into a rich narrative tapestry. She's every bit as good a storyteller as she is a researcher. Like me, my students will be drawn by the local connections and the fresh look at a story they've grown up with. Some will be irritated, I suspect, by Tate's fairly harsh criticism of the Whitmans, which they will see as part of a sustained liberal attack on American historical icons and values. But if they're honest and fair, they will have to acknowledge that she sees the Whitmans, and the Cayuse, in their full humanity. She analyzes the coming of the "massacre" and its aftermath in balanced, measured terms. Her judgment is sound.
For people far from the Walla Walla Valley, the value of Tate's book comes from its broadening of this story to an examination of the ongoing controversy over the canonization and rejection of past American heroes. Whom should we remember, and perhaps honor, from our past, and in what ways? These are vital questions, and I haven't read any book that sheds more light on them than Unsettled Ground. Nor have I read many that infuse historical events with more narrative pull.
February 8, 2025
It is indeed refreshing to read an account of the infamous Marcus and Narcissa Whitman incident that gets us closer to the truth regarding their murders at their mission in Walla Walla in 1847. Through exhaustive research including the copious letters of the Whitman's, Tate tells us a story with two sides. One half of the story is that of a group of self-righteous religious zealots who were absolutely convinced that they were acting on God's will by going into the wilderness and "converting" the heathens to a Christian way of thinking. These missionaries did not see the land as belonging to anyone and saw no problem with setting up shop in the middle of land that had been wild since time began. The other, untold side of the story is of course that of the Native Americans who did not understand the ways of these Christian missionaries but who tried to come to an understanding on how the two factions could co-exist. Enter an outbreak of measles that nearly wipes out the Native population- taking the Indians at a shockingly disproportionate number, and you have a recipe for disaster. Add to this equation, a group of young Indian hotheads who wanted retribution and you have the death"s of 11 people and a conflict that was never entirely resolved.
The book is a great study in the creation of myth and the way the historical record can be one-sided and biased when the narrative is created from a single perspective. Tate does a terrific job balancing the scale by presenting us with a second perspective - that of the Natives who were trying to cope with the phenomenal invasion of White settlers.
There were times, especially in the first half of the book, where I felt Tate's various accounts could have been tightened up and strung together in a more cohesive way. However, the book gets its sea legs and the second half tightens up for a flowing narrative.
As a student of Native American culture and traditions - particularly in the Pacific Northwest, I was gratified to read an account of the Whitman tragedy that tells both sides of the story. It's about time.
The book is a great study in the creation of myth and the way the historical record can be one-sided and biased when the narrative is created from a single perspective. Tate does a terrific job balancing the scale by presenting us with a second perspective - that of the Natives who were trying to cope with the phenomenal invasion of White settlers.
There were times, especially in the first half of the book, where I felt Tate's various accounts could have been tightened up and strung together in a more cohesive way. However, the book gets its sea legs and the second half tightens up for a flowing narrative.
As a student of Native American culture and traditions - particularly in the Pacific Northwest, I was gratified to read an account of the Whitman tragedy that tells both sides of the story. It's about time.
April 21, 2021
I went into this with some wariness...I'm pretty suspicious of white people writing history right now and the title is a little problematic (the whole idea of the Whitman "Massacre" is pretty one-sided, although to be fair if it hadn't included that phrase I wouldn't have known what she was talking about and may not have bought the book.) But the blurb promised a book looking at the issue from a very necessary perspective, and it delivers.
This is an historical event that really needs to be seen from both sides and with the understanding that one side has been missing from the narrative for a very long time. I think she did a great job acknowledging that and honoring it. She includes voices from the Native community who talk about a break in the historical record caused when a culture that passes its stories down through oral tradition have something happen they can't talk about and that we may never fix the break in the historical record and yet her research is fantastic and she showcases the culture in ways few historians have done before. This book is accessible, readable, and is really required reading for anyone who wants to understand the history of the Pacific Northwest and the American West.
My one big beef about this book is it does get repetitive. Little things, like the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute, the only museum on the Oregon Trail run by Native Americans, get described repeatedly, almost as if she doesn't expect the book to be read as one solid narrative, which is weird because it is eminently readable. So those kinds of things are annoying but they are very minor annoyances.
The author's note in the front indicates that she uses the term "Indian" to describe Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest because of the preference of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and I'm glad that note is included because the terminology seemed odd to me.
This is an historical event that really needs to be seen from both sides and with the understanding that one side has been missing from the narrative for a very long time. I think she did a great job acknowledging that and honoring it. She includes voices from the Native community who talk about a break in the historical record caused when a culture that passes its stories down through oral tradition have something happen they can't talk about and that we may never fix the break in the historical record and yet her research is fantastic and she showcases the culture in ways few historians have done before. This book is accessible, readable, and is really required reading for anyone who wants to understand the history of the Pacific Northwest and the American West.
My one big beef about this book is it does get repetitive. Little things, like the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute, the only museum on the Oregon Trail run by Native Americans, get described repeatedly, almost as if she doesn't expect the book to be read as one solid narrative, which is weird because it is eminently readable. So those kinds of things are annoying but they are very minor annoyances.
The author's note in the front indicates that she uses the term "Indian" to describe Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest because of the preference of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and I'm glad that note is included because the terminology seemed odd to me.
May 18, 2022
History books about obscure topics are hard to write. Ultimately, if you aren't interested in the era and/or the event, it is hard to get too excited about relatively insignificant events. So hats off to Mrs. Tate who manages to make this a fairly interesting read.
She does this in two ways. The first is by focusing on people. She fleshes out all the characters involved with explorations of their characters, thoughts (as were recorded) and actions. She also explored the interaction of individuals in a cultural context, but not as part of a cultural myth.
Which is the second way she excelled in writing this history. She attempted to outline the events in a relatively neutral manner and then talked about how the perception of this story has evolved over the years. I appreciate that she engaged historical empathy, trying to place all participants in the context of their worlds, not judging the participants from our modern lens of cultural myths that people love to employ.
In fact, this strength was the greatest weakness of the book. She approached this story as a true historian, trying to understand what happened contextually and conveyed this very well...in the last chapter. I think the author could have spent more time on this facet of our book as it was some of her most insightful writing.
At any rate, I wouldn't say this is a must read history book, but it is quite well done, considering the dry underlying material. If you get a chance to read it, then go ahead and pick it up off the shelf.
She does this in two ways. The first is by focusing on people. She fleshes out all the characters involved with explorations of their characters, thoughts (as were recorded) and actions. She also explored the interaction of individuals in a cultural context, but not as part of a cultural myth.
Which is the second way she excelled in writing this history. She attempted to outline the events in a relatively neutral manner and then talked about how the perception of this story has evolved over the years. I appreciate that she engaged historical empathy, trying to place all participants in the context of their worlds, not judging the participants from our modern lens of cultural myths that people love to employ.
In fact, this strength was the greatest weakness of the book. She approached this story as a true historian, trying to understand what happened contextually and conveyed this very well...in the last chapter. I think the author could have spent more time on this facet of our book as it was some of her most insightful writing.
At any rate, I wouldn't say this is a must read history book, but it is quite well done, considering the dry underlying material. If you get a chance to read it, then go ahead and pick it up off the shelf.
June 3, 2023
Tate successfully runs the gauntlet between two conflicting cultures and histories to tell the true story of the incident that took the lives of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman as well as others. Carefully and painstakingly researched, this volume should be read by everyone interested in understanding the importance of cross-cultural studies. In the 19th century settling of the West our government, our churches, and our people failed to learn from older cultures (like those of Britain and France) and refused to take the time to listen carefully to those who preceded us on the North American continent (the native Americans). While the specter of white supremacist thought must be considered among all the errors and evils, Tate rightly avoids making it the key factor. The key factor was just plain arrogant ignorance. We need heroes, but our heroes must be real, not those constructed out of fertile imaginations and lies. Monuments to false heroes, like monuments displaying racism, need to be kept somewhere in some museum where future generations can see the mistakes of their ancestors. We cannot learn from the past if we annihilate the evidence revealing our past. I grew up in Wyoming at a time when state history classes in the public schools taught the myth of the Whitmans as gospel truth. As I grew up and became more aware of the broader scope of the history of the West and the clash of cultures, I began to question what I had been taught. This book by Tate confirmed my suspicions and revealed the true history that hopefully is now being taught in schools across our nation.
March 21, 2025
I thought “Unsettled Ground” by Cassandra Tate was a captivating and entertaining read. I found the book fascinating and would recommend it to anyone interested in the complex history of the Whitman massacre and native American people. The book examines the Whitman Massacre of 1847, an event that changed the course of Native American history and settler relations. Tate does a good job of telling this story with both historical accuracy and emotional depth. The plot focuses on Dr. Marcus Whitman and his wife, Narcissa, who were missionaries trying to convert the Cayuse people to Christianity. However, the relationship between the settlers and the Native Americans becomes tense as sparks start to fly, especially after a devastating outbreak of measles. When the Cayuse people blame the Whitmans for the deaths caused by the disease, the situation escalates into violence, and the massacre occurs. What I found fascinating was Tate’s exploration of the different perspectives involved. The book shows how cultural misunderstandings, broken promises, and the harsh realities of colonization led to tragedy. Tate does an excellent job of portraying the difficulties and hardships of these historical events. Overall, even though this wasn’t my typical genre of book, Unsettled Ground was a well written and captivating book that offers important lessons. Anyone interested in Native American history, the Oregon Trail, or the conflicts of the American West will find this book worth reading and hard to put down.
August 31, 2021
This book was recommended to me by a national park ranger at the Whitman Mission National Historic Site during our visit there in June 2021. I was looking at another book and she suggested this one, although it was sold out. I requested it as an interlibrary loan through my local library. The library decided instead to purchase it for their collection. After reading it, I can wholeheartedly state that the library made a wise decision. I recall as a child reading the orange Young Americans series books about Marcus and Narcissa Whitman. I can't completely condemn this series because it sparked my lifelong affinity for American history, but they certainly deify individuals who were nothing but humans with all their foibles. In contrast, Unsettled Ground presents a fair unbiased history of the Whitmans and their mission among the Cayuse Indians, the white expansionism into Oregon, and the ongoing realignment of history. The book is deeply researched and well-written. Having visited the historical site two months ago certainly assisted me in picturing the events as they happened, but the reader will be able to adequately understand the events without that luxury. American history aficionados definitely need to read this volume.
May 23, 2021
For 150 years, the Marcus and Narcissa Whitman were honored as martyrs. They had come as a young married couple to Oregan territory to set up a mission and be missionary guides to the Cayuse Native Americans. The massacre of the Whitman's at their mission by the Cayuse was considered unprovoked, and the Native Americans paid dearly for that. Now in this deeply researched, eye opening book, we learn the real story, the 'back' story of what went on before this massacre occurred. The reader is able to see the different perspectives and viewpoints of all parties, and can understand this tragedy as another example of the white person having no idea about Native American culture and beliefs. The incident was truly a tragedy, but in many ways, the Whitmans had brought it on themselves. We see everyone involved, both white people, Indians, and the government that sponsored the Whitmans with fresh eyes. This is an excellent and thought-provoking book.
December 28, 2021
This book walks us through the lives of the Presbyterian missionaries who founded the mission near Walla Walla as well as what we know about their neighbors the Cayuse people. The missionaries faced terrible hardships in their journey and in establishing life in Washington (Oregon Country). They also appeared to care little for the Cayuse, but only in conversion (and even that fell by the wayside). By current view, their lack of empathy for the Cayuse and blindness to the ties that bound them to the land is both dreadful and obvious barriers to the missionaries' goals. Less is known about the details regarding the Cayuse, since the only written records are from white outsiders. Now, Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa are no longer revered. The book provides a historical basis for viewing this event and more insight into missionary work and manifest destiny. I found it to be well-written and a good read.
June 20, 2021
I have been fascinated by the Whitman story for years. My oldest son is a graduate of Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA & I've visited the national historic site where their mission once existed. This book answered many questions for me. It was fascinating--couldn't put it down. It is extensively researched & footnoted & details the Whitman story exquisitely. As often happens, the facts are quite different than the myth & the Whitman saga is no exception. Arrogance, miscommunication & absolutely no interest in partnership makes the killings --it was not a massacre--inevitable. It's refreshing to know the truth. The author also heartily endorses the Pendleton Round-up & their Happy Valley event. I hope more authors are rewriting Northwest history so my grandchildren will know the truth.
June 7, 2021
“To say there were cultural differences vastly understates the reality. Christian missionaries and Indigenous people of the West had nothing in common. The Cayuse were openly social, giving gifts and moving freely among one another's lodges. The Whitmans built fences, locked their doors and had no gifts to give. The missionaries had a rigid belief system; the Cayuse, Tate writes, "were religious synthesizers willing to graft new ideas onto old beliefs." Distrust grew when measles caused numerous deaths among the Cayuse, mostly children, but relatively few among white settlers.”
April 28, 2022
This was a great historical and neutral perspective on the Whitman Mission Tragedy: Tate demonstrates how the ultimate disaster of the mission was brought about by a clash of cultures, although by the end of the book I still felt myself judging the Whitmans more than anybody else.
Additionally, the voice of Bobbie Conner (director of the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute) is weaved in throughout the text, which I found to be an incredibly helpful and local modern viewpoint. Tate also examines the impact of the Whitmans on local (Walla Walla), state, and national institutions.
Additionally, the voice of Bobbie Conner (director of the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute) is weaved in throughout the text, which I found to be an incredibly helpful and local modern viewpoint. Tate also examines the impact of the Whitmans on local (Walla Walla), state, and national institutions.
January 16, 2023
Very readable, fascinating account of the Whitman "Massacre" of 1837, delving into historical records to reassess the context and what really happened.
I loved learning about the characters involved and reading their own and others' words about them. It's no surprise that Marcus and Narcissa Whitman weren't totally innocent missionaries (What missionaries trying to change other cultures are?)... but i had no idea about their connections with the Oregon Trail (good for whites, not for those already living in that region).
I loved learning about the characters involved and reading their own and others' words about them. It's no surprise that Marcus and Narcissa Whitman weren't totally innocent missionaries (What missionaries trying to change other cultures are?)... but i had no idea about their connections with the Oregon Trail (good for whites, not for those already living in that region).
August 6, 2023
The author gives a complete and unbiased account of the “Whitman massacre” in Oregon in the 1840s, pointing out the clash of cultures between the Cayuse Indians and the Protestant ministers. While the event is difficult to justify, it is understandable in the context of white men stealing the Cayuse land and threatening their way of life. There were worse “massacres” of Native Americans in retribution, and they were forced to give up 99% of their land to ever increasing hordes of settlers. Whitman and his cohorts come across as “ugly Americans” who should not be honored.
December 18, 2020
The story of the Whitman mission in the very early days of the Oregon Territory is fascinating. The author here has done a commendable effort at revisiting one of the iconic instances of deadly conflict between native peoples and settlers of the American West. I believe that more factual, balanced and nuanced study of the era of settlement by European immigrants and the resulting displacement and destruction of indigenous communities is long overdue.
January 15, 2021
If you are a resident of the Pacific Northwest, or interested in learning more about tales of the great Western frontier then this book is must read. Tate does stellar job illustrating the widely varying perspectives between indigenous people and the white settlers of the time. This book offers a great depth of historical context that is the type of education children should be learning in history class; that relations between the settlers and natives
was...complicated.
was...complicated.
April 4, 2021
Great read that can make you uncomfortable because it doesn't tell the story only from the missionary's view as all other books do. When I went to the Mission National Site in 2018, I bought the two volume set by Drury and loved it! When I saw this book I had to read it and it explains in an overall viewpoint as the author gently but firmly shatters what culture has stamped this event with. Read the book to see what I mean and am trying to say.
September 20, 2021
I really appreciated this well researched, well written book. Having been born and raised in Washington state I had heard the name Marcus Whitman but knew very little about him. Like all good biographies, this taught me so much about the history of my country and my state. Fraught with confusion, prejudice and misunderstanding, this heart breaking moment in history was both a product of its time and a harbinger of more disturbing forces that would continue well into the 20th century.
August 5, 2024
For those of us who grew up in the Northwest, the Whitman massacre was part of the history that we learned in school. Tate, a historian, does an excellent job of telling the story and setting the background. She also includes the Native American perspective of the missionaries that had settled on their land. She makes understandable their defense at the trial.
I appreciated her review of how Marcus Whitman became a legendary figure in Washington and Oregon.
I appreciated her review of how Marcus Whitman became a legendary figure in Washington and Oregon.
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