USA > Wyoming > The history of Wyoming from the earliest known discoveries > Part 19
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Opening of First Highway.
CHAPTER XVII.
OPENING OF FIRST HIGHWAY. 1835-1843.
THE MISSIONARIES, PARKER AND WHITMAN, PASS UP THE PLATTE, SWEET- WATER, CAND REACH GREEN RIVER-DR. WHITMAN RETURNS TO THE STATES-A ROMANTIC WEDDING TOUR-FIRST TWO WHITE WOMEN IN WYOMING-REMARKABLE FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION AT SOUTH PASS-GRAND RECEPTION GIVEN THE PIONEER WOMEN AT GREEN RIVER-ARRIVAL IN OREGON-PERILOUS RIDE OF DR. WHITMAN- PASSES THROUGH WYOMING WITH A THOUSAND SETTLERS-THE IN- DIAN MASSACRE-THE HERO OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION.
We have been passing through the days of the fur trap- pers and traders, and I have shown in the preceding pages the experiences of these men. There has been little in the story to remind us of the better side of civilization. God and humanity have hardly entered into the conditions which prevailed in a territory that afterwards became Wyoming, but in the year 1835, Reverend Samuel Parker and Dr. Mar- cus Whitman passed up the Platte River in company with Fontenelle, of the American Fur Company. The train was a large one and it was taking out goods for the Indian trade and recruits for trapping service in Wyoming. This party proceeded up the North Platte, which stream they reached about the middle of July. On the 22nd they passed Chimney Rock, and the following day Scott's Bluffs, and on the 26th they reached the mouth of Laramie River and camped at the fort, where Fontenelle remained, Thomas Fitzpatrick taking his place in charge of the train. On the 5th of August they reached the Sweetwater, and on the 7th Independence Rock, and pushed on up the river and camped one night above the Sweetwater Canon, somewhere near the spot where Lewiston now stands. The next day they continued their journey westward through the South Pass and reached the Newfork. These preachers were certainly
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observing men, as they noticed the geology of the region through which they passed. They commented on the soda deposits, and Rev. Parker gives a description of the Johns- town soda lake, which he calls crystallized Epsom salts. On the 12th they reached Green River, the rendezvous of the fur traders that season. They found there about 200 white men, mostly trappers, and about 2,000 Indians. These God- ly men were making observations as to the possibility of benefiting the Indians by religious teachings. They made up their minds that the field was a promising one and de- termined that Dr. Whitman should return to the states and procure additional missionaries to come west and spread the gospel among the red men of the mountains. Accord- ingly, the Doctor returned East in convoy of a fur train and laid before the board of foreign missions the necessity for religious teachers in the new field. Rev. Parker pur- sued his journey to the west and was escorted for eight days by James Bridger, who was going in that direction with a party of trappers. Mr. Parker, after leaving Bridger, was taken in charge by a band of Indians and safely conveyed down the Snake River, and finally reached Walla Walla. Dr. Whitman, on his return trip, brought with him two young Indians of the Nez Perces tribe. The following year, in company with Rev. H. H. Spalding and W. H. Gray and two young women and the two Indian boys, Dr. Whitman retraced his steps to the west. This man Marcus Whitman was a remarkable character and he played a conspicuous part in the history of Oregon. He was born in Russville, New York, September 4, 1802. Receiving a good education, he studied medicine and early became interested in religious matters. He was appointed a medical missionary to go to Oregon. Before starting out on his second trip westward, he married Miss Narcissa Prentis, the daughter of Judge Prentis of Angelica, New York. Rev. Spalding was mar- ried about the same time, and the two young men resolved to take their brides with them across the Rocky Mountains, thus making it a wedding tour. They went by the way of Council Bluffs, and there were joined by Mr. Gray, who
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afterwards became the historian of Oregon. The young brides are spoken of as women of great force of character. They both believed that they would be of great service to their husbands and they willingly and even joyfully under- took the journey through the wilderness and across the mountains where never a white woman had crossed before. Mrs. Whitman had enjoyed the reputation in her native village of being a sweet singer and the journey to the west was enlivened by the rich melody of her voice. Dr. Whit- man had placed the two Nez Perces boys at school in New York during the winter of 1835-36, where they had learned to speak English and had seen the advantages of civiliza- tion. These lads were taken back with the party. At Coun- cil Bluffs Dr. Whitman and his friends joined a caravan belonging to the American Fur Company, and thus the journey westward along the Platte River, the North Platte and up the Sweetwater was made. They reached the South Pass on the night of July 3rd, 1836. The following morn- ing, the Fourth of July, the fur traders pulled out, but Dr. Whitman and his wife, Mr. Spalding and wife, Mr. Gray and the two Nez Perces boys remained behind for a few hours to properly celebrate the great national holiday. Their patriotism would not permit them to pass over in silence the anniversary of American independence. They hardly knew how to proceed with the celebration, but finally Dr. Whitman took from their wagon a national flag and a Bible. Spreading a blanket on the ground, he placed the Bible upon it and taking the flagstaff in his hand he said, "Let us pray." The two women and the two white men kneeled while he with uplifted voice prayed for his coun- try and for the cause of Christ in Oregon, and he then and there took possession of the territory which afterwards be- came Wyoming, and the country beyond, in the name of God and the United States. Mrs. Whitman led in a patri- otic hymn, in which the company joined her. After the service was over the little party mounted their wagon, which was drawn by four strong horses, and followed the fur traders' caravan. Was there ever before or since such
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a Fourth of July celebration? It is true the fireworks were absent, the booming of cannon did not disturb the silence which at that time prevailed at South Pass, but the spirit of 1776 was present in that patriotic little company. As I in after years passed over that divide which separates the waters which flow to the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Gulf of California, I thought how fortunate it would be if the ground whereon that celebration was held could have been marked. I am sure if the good women of our state knew the spot, they would erect upon it a monument to Mrs. Whitman and Mrs. Spalding, the first white women to cross the State of Wyoming and the Rocky Mountains.
At Green River Dr. Whitman's party rested for ten days. More than 200 white men had gathered there for the annual rendezvous, besides several thousand Indians. The scene was not different to the one Dr. Whitman and the Rev. Parker had witnessed the year before, but the arrival of the wedding party was an additional incentive to the rugged trappers to enjoy themselves. The sight of two white women was indeed a welcome one to men who had for years lived in the mountains. They extended every courtesy and kindness to these brave young wives, who had come to them bearing civilization in their hands, as well as sweet womanly ways, to the mountains and plains. The Indians, not to be outdone by the white men, searched the country round for delicacies for the white squaws. They brought to their tents the mountain trout, as well as venison and elk meat, and not content with this, the warriors put on their war paint and to the number of 600 mounted their horses and riding several hundred yards off on the prairie, wheeled into line and with war-whoops and yells rode down upon the tents occupied by Mrs. Whitman and Mrs. Spalding. It looked very much as if the tents and their occupants were to be trampled to the earth by the oncoming squadron, but fortunately when the warriors reached a point a few yards from the tents they gracefully wheeled to the right and left and passed over to the prairie beyond. These were gallant warriors and magnificent riders, and
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Opening of First Highway.
their display of horsemanship was intended as the highest compliment they could pay to the first white women they had ever beheld. It cannot be said that the two ladies fully appreciated the wild charge of the six hundred; they felt the earth tremble under the heavy tread of the horses, and when they saw them bear down upon their tents, for the time being, at least, they were panic stricken, and it was not until the clatter of hoofs had died away in the distance that they were restored to perfect peace of mind. The In- dians got up war dances to please the ladies, and while they were conducted in the most lavish manner, I fear that these fair women, who had been nurtured in Christian and cul- tured homes, were not well pleased with the entertainments provided by the savages.
From Green River they pushed forward. After encoun- tering many dangers and overcoming many difficulties, they at last reached their destination, Fort Walla Walla. It will be understood by the reader that this was no ordinary journey. The distance traveled was 3,500 miles, and a greater part of the way, two-thirds of the distance, was through an unsettled country and much of it inhabited by savage tribes. They forded rivers, climbed steep moun- tains, and were obliged to live on the wild meat they se- cured by the way. There was no sentiment connected with the journey; stern duty called them to the work to which they had devoted their lives, and they bore the hardships without a murmur. The fur trapper had introduced into the country a bravery that was never daunted, but the Whitman party brought to the west, patriotism as well as Christianity, and these were to bear fruit and result in great good to the millions who have since that day conquered a province and founded states on the western slope. I am glad that I am able to show that Marcus and Narcissa Whitman had a share in bringing civilization to our state. It will be seen before this chapter is finished that Dr. Whitman's little party was the entering wedge that broke savage rule and made Wyoming the highway on which was borne a high type of civilization. The West has produced many charac-
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ters who deserve a conspicuous place in history, but none of them are more worthy of praise than Dr. Marcus Whit- man. His is a character which stands out in bold relief on the western horizon. Though nominally only a missionary. doctor, he developed statesmanship of the first order. He makes us feel that there is high honor to be gained in pio- neer work. At this time Oregon included all of what is now Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and a part of southwestern Wyoming; therefore whatever befell the old geographical division known as Oregon is of interest in an accurate his- tory of our state. The conditions, at that time, of the coun- try beyond the mountains, in part, at least, apply to Wyo- ming.
That we may fully understand Dr. Whitman's third appearance in Wyoming, I will relate in a brief manner what happened after the arrival of these missionaries on the Pacific border. Oliver W. Nixon, in his book, "How Marcus Whitman Saved Oregon," tells in a charming way the story of the new home of the Whitmans. He says:
"Picture that little missionary band as they stood to- gether in Fort Walla Walla in September,1836,and consulted about the great problems to solve .. It was all new. There were no precedents to guide them. They easily understood that the first thing to do was to consult the ruling powers of Oregon-the Hudson Bay Company officials at Fort Van- couver. This would require another journey of 300 miles, but as it could be made in boats and the Indians were capi- tal oarsmen, they resolved to take their wives with them, and thus complete the wedding journey. The gallant Dr. McLoughlin, Chief Factor of the Hudson Bay Company, was a keen judge of human nature, and read men and wo- men as scholars read books, and he was captivated with the open, manly ways of Dr. Whitman and the womanly accom- plishments of his fair young wife, who had braved the perils of an overland journey with wholly unselfish purposes. Whitman soon developed to Dr. McLoughlin all his plans and his hopes. Perhaps there was a professional freema- sonry between the men that brought them closer together, but by nature they were both men endowed richly with the best manly characters. Dr. McLoughlin resolved to do the best thing possible for them, while he still protected the
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interests of his great monopoly. Dr. Whitman's idea was to build one mission at the Dalles, so as to be convenient to shipping; McLoughlin at once saw it would not do. He had already pushed the Methodist mission far up the Willam- ette, out of the way of the fort and its work, and argued with Whitman that it would be best for him to go to the Walla Walla country, three hundred miles away, and Spalding one hundred and twenty-five miles farther on.
"He argued that the river Indians were far less hopeful subjects to deal with, and that the bunch-grass Indians, the Cayuse and Nez Perces, had expressed a great anxiety for the teachers. This arrangement had been partially agreed to by Mr. Parker the year before. After a full canvass of the entire subject, Dr. McLoughlin promised all the aid in his power to give them a comfortable start.
"At his earnest petition, Mrs. Whitman and Mrs. Spal- ding remained at Vancouver while their husbands went back to erect houses that would shelter them from the com- ing winter. To make Mrs. Whitman feel at ease, and that she was not taxing the generosity of her new friends, Dr. McLoughlin placed his daughter under her instruction, both in her class work and music. Every effort was made to in- terest and entertain the guests; the afternoons were given to excursions on the water or on horseback, or in rambles through the great fir forests, still as wild as nature made them.
"There is a grandeur in the great forest beyond the stony mountains unequaled elsewhere. In our northern latitudes the undergrowth is so thick as to make comforta- ble traveling impossible, but in the fir woods, and in the pine and redwood forests of Oregon, there are comparatively few of such obstructions. The great giants ten or twelve feet in diameter, two hundred and seventy feet high, and one hundred feet without a limb, hide the sun, and upon a summer day make jaunts through the forest delightful to a lover of nature.
"It was a grand rest and a pleasing finale to the hard- ships of the wedding journey for these heroic women, and Mrs. Whitman, in her diary, never a day neglects to remem- ber her kind benefactors. They rested here for about one and a half months, when Mr. Spalding came after them and reported the houses so far advanced as to give them shel- ter."
I must not linger to tell the whole story of Dr. Whit- man's life in far-off Oregon. Suffice it to say that Mrs.
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Whitman reached her new abode on December 26, 1836. They remained there working to better the condition of the savages; Mrs. Whitman teaching the Indian school, and the doctor looking after the sick, not only among the Indians, but among the white people connected with the trading posts and missions, and thus matters drifted on.
In 1838, two years after the Whitman party passed through Wyoming, another band of missionaries went over the same trail. There were nine persons in all, some of them being wives of the missionaries, and these were followed by others in 1839, but none had wagons. In 1840 some mission- ary ladies, Mrs. Littlejohn, Mrs. Clark and Mrs. Smith, fol- lowed the North Platte and Sweetwater west. These ladies were accompanied by their husbands, and also by Mr. and Mrs. Walker. The latter were not missionaries, but settlers intending to locate in Oregon. In the year 1841 several more under the direction of General Palmer passed over the road on their way to Oregon. These people were well outfitted and employed wagons. In 1842, a party made up of twenty-one protestant ministers, three Roman Catho- lic priests, thirty-four white women, thirty-two white chil- dren and thirty-five American settlers, in charge of Elijah White, used this highway and reached their destination, Oregon, safely. By this time the road up the North Platte, the Sweetwater, and across the meadows of the Green River Valley had become well marked by wagons, but the past was nothing when compared with what was to come.
Elijah White was a man of considerable ability and force of character, all of which he needed to insure the safety of so large a party. At Independence Rock, on the Sweetwater, he was met by a large number of Sioux Indians and ordered back, and the information was given him that the Indians would no longer permit their country to be in- vaded by white men. Mr. White was a diplomat of the first water, and he proceeded to deal with the situation that con- fronted him in a manner worthy of a great leader. He drew from the painted savages their grievance against white men and the reason for thus prohibiting his journey further
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west. He was informed that the trappers, who were then numerous in the country, had killed a number of Indians and in consequence of this there had been a meeting of sev- eral tribes and the edict had gone forth not only that no more white men would be allowed to come into the country, but those already there would be pursued, driven out, or killed. Mr. White told them that his party were not trap- pers or traders, but were farmers on their way to their homes on the Columbia, and that they did not propose to return. The party, he said, were friendly to the Indians and recognized the fact that they had the right to prohibit them from passing through their country, but he hoped the Indians would allow them to pursue their journey, that they might reach the Columbia before winter set in. He then distributed among them such merchandise as he could spare, after which he was told to go his way in peace but to never again invade their country. Fremont says that Fitzpatrick saved the party. With White's company was General Amos L. Lovejoy, a man of character and ability. When General Lovejoy and Dr. Whitman met, of course it was natural that they should talk over the conditions prevailing east, and national affairs. Lovejoy showed himself thor- oughly posted, and Dr. Whitman learned from him that the Ashburton treaty would come before Congress during the winter, and in all probability this treaty would receive final action before the adjournment of Congress, March 4, 1843. Oregon, under the treaty with England in 1818 and again in 1828, was left open to the free use of either party, the words of the treaty being:
"It is agreed that any country that may be claimed by either party on the northwest coast of America, westward of the Stony Mountains, shall, together with its harbors, bays, creeks, and navigation of all rivers within the same, be free and open for ten years from the date of the signature of the present convention, to the vessels, citizens and sub- jects of the two powers; it being well understood that the agreement is not to be construed to the prejudice of any claim which either of the two high contracting parties may have to any part of said country; the only object of the high
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contracting parties in that respect being to prevent disputes and differences among themselves."
This was simply a joint occupancy to be settled by those who should in after years become occupants of the territory. As the case stood, the English had the best of it, as the Hudson Bay Company assumed the control of Oregon and all its affairs. The American fur traders invaded the terri- tory, but they were rudely treated by representatives of the great British monopoly. Year by year it was understood that every Englishman in the country was working to in- duce people of his own nationality to come to the terri- tory. American missionaries who were on the spot saw clearly the trend of affairs and realized that the Hudson Bay Company was working in the interest of England. Dr. Whitman had talked the matter over with Dr. Eells, Rev. Spalding, Jason Lee and General Lovejoy, and all of them had agreed that the one practical thing to be done was to lead into the country a large number of American settlers.
Our government had for many years neglected Oregon. It was a part of the Louisiana purchase, but as England made the claim that the Spanish title had become extinct by the Nootka treaty of 1790, the English claim being that Captain Vancouver, the commander of a British vessel, had discovered the Columbia, and yet notwitstanding this fact it was in evidence that Captain Gray had discovered the mouth of the river and had given the information of its whereabouts to Captain Vancouver. The whole of the mat- ter is that the United States cared little about Oregon, as it was supposed to be a barren waste. As late as 1842 a proposition had been made to trade Oregon for the mackerel and cod fisheries of Newfoundland, and this report reaching Whitman, he made up his mind to at once cross the Rocky Mountains to see President Tyler and Secretary of State Webster. Winter had fairly commenced; snow was many feet deep in the mountains. It was all that any ordinary man could do to cross the wilderness and plains in the sum- mer season, but Dr. Whitman was no ordinary man. He talked the proposed journey over with Mrs. Whitman and
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explained to her the necessity of his arriving in Washington before the adjournment of Congress. He said that Oregon must be saved to the United States, and that he believed it was his duty to make this journey, in fact to undergo any hardship, that his countrymen might be benefited. Mrs. Whitman was not only the wife of a missionary, but a loyal American woman. She was not ignorant of the danger of crossing the mountains in the winter, but she felt that her country required the sacrifice and that God would protect her husband on his mission of humanity. Under the rules of the missionary board, the members of the local mission had to be consulted and their consent obtained before a missionary could leave his post. Runners were sent out at once to the different stations with a demand for their im- mediate presence. They came, and without a dissenting voice all agreed that the subject was of great importance, but they doubted the wisdom of undertaking such a journey across the mountains at that season of the year. Dr. Whit- man assured them that it was not only possible to do it, but that he was ready and willing to undertake the great journey regardless of what might happen him. Just here a new difficulty was encountered. Not only must the local missionaries approve of the application for leave of absence, but the Home Mission in Boston must give its consent. This was out of the question, as there was no time for such neces- sary delay. Dr. Whitman said his service in the missionary cause did not prevent him from serving his country, and that he would go even though the missionary board dis- missed him for being absent from his post. When it was finally settled that he should start, his associates said that some one must be found to accompany him. It was impor- tant that this person should be a man of great courage and endurance. General Lovejoy, who had been taken into the conference, was asked if he would go, and he promptly re- plied, "I will accompany Dr. Whitman." Two days later they were ready for the journey. They reached Fort Hall without delay or accident, but there the snows on the route were reported twenty feet deep, and so they veered to the
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south and added a thousand miles to the journey, passing near what is now Salt Lake and finally coming out at Santa Fe, New Mexico. From there they took the Santa Fe trail and finally reached St. Louis. Such a journey was perhaps never before undertaken and successfully accomplished. As late as 1876 General Lovejoy told the story of this remark- able trip. He says :
"I was the doctor's traveling companion in that ardu- ous and trying journey, but it would take volumes to de- scribe the many thrilling scenes and dangerous hair-breadth escapes we passed through, traveling, as we did, almost the entire route through a hostile Indian country, and enduring much suffering from the intense cold and snow we had to encounter in passing over the Rocky Mountains in midwin- ter. I crossed the plains in company with Dr. White and others, arriving at Waiilatpui the last of September, 1842. My party encamped some two miles below Dr. Whit- man's place. The day after our arrival he called at our camp and asked me to accompany him to his house, as he wished me to draw up a memorial to Congress to pro- hibit the sale of ardent spirits in this country. The doctor was alive to the interests of this coast, and manifested a very warm desire to have it properly represented at Wash- ington, and after numerous conversations with the doctor touching the future prosperity of Oregon, he asked me one day in a very anxious manner if I thought it would be possi- ble for him to cross the mountains at that time of the year. I told him I thought he could. He next asked, 'Will you ac- company me?' After a little reflection I said I would. His arrangements were rapidly made. Through the kindness of Mr. McKinley, then stationed at Walla Walla, Mrs. Whit- man was provided with suitable escorts to the Willamette Valley, where she was to remain with her missionary friends until the doctor's return. We left Waiilatpui October 3, 1842, traveled rapidly, reached Fort Hall in eleven days, remained two days to recruit and make a few purchases. The doctor engaged a guide and we left for Fort Uintah. We changed the direct route to one more southern, through the Spanish country via Salt Lake, Taos and Santa Fe. On our way from Fort Hall to Fort Uintah we had terribly severe weather. The snows retarded our progress and blinded the trail, so we lost much time. After arriving at Fort Uintah and making some purchases for our trip, we
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