Whitman, Marcus

Marcus (1802-1847), an American missionary and pioneer. He was a native of Rushville, New York. He was educated as a physician at Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He practiced medicine in Canada for a time. In 1834 he entered the service of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and was authorized to establish a mission among the Indians on the Oregon. In 1836, with his young wife and three associates, he crossed the plains and reached the present site of Walla Walla, Washington, then included in the general region known as Oregon. His was the first wagon to reach Oregon. He established a mission and was followed soon by emigrants. The Hudson Bay Company was making every effort to secure exclusive possession of this region. Hearing that a boundary treaty was pending, and fearing that the United States government might fail to realize the value of the region, Whitman, not waiting for summer, journeyed in the dead of winter 3,000 miles on horseback to lay the future possibilities of Oregon before Congress. He arrived at Washington, March 3, 1843. His representations as to the natural resources, fertility of the soil, and accessibility of the country, had, no doubt, weight in determining the United States government to stand for and secure the forty-ninth parallel as our northern boundary. In 1843 Whitman returned to his work, following the Oregon trail at the head of 200 prairie schooners. The women and children rode; the men walked and drove a herd of cattle. November 29, 1847, this devoted missionary, his wife, and twelve associates were massacred by the Cayuse Indians. Whitman College at Walla Walla is his memorial.