Episode 57: The Massacre

When the Whitman family wagons made their way to the Pacific Northwest, they were literal trailblazers. Not only were they some of the first non-native people to cross the Rocky Mountains, they included the first white woman to make it so far West. Accomplishments aside, the Whitman’s brought more than their own curiosity and sense of adventure. They also brought religion, other settlers and eventually death. As the white man took over more and more land, the Native American’s asked, then begged for the colonization to stop. And when the Whitman’s refused to heed the warning, they were met with a massacre.

Join Murder in the Rain as we take you waaaaaay back to learn about some of the Native American history of the Pacific Northwest, the journey of the Whitman family and why it shouldn’t take an axe to the head for people to respect the space of others.

The Captive, 1891 picture by E. Irving Couse. It was alleged to have been based upon an incident involving Cayuse chief Two Crows and a Whitman Massacre survivor Lorinda Bewly (photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

Whitman Massacre, photo courtesy of Legends of America

Cayuse Chief Umapine, by Joseph Kossuth Dixon, 1913 - photo courtesy of Legends of America

Cayuse woman in Oregon, Edward S. Curtis, 1910 - photo courtesy of Legends of America

Marcus Whitman. Sketch possibly by Paul Kane - photo courtesy of Oregon Encyclopedia

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Sources

PBS - The West | Willamette Week - Twin Tomahawks | Legends of America - Cayuse Tribe | Oregon Encyclopedia - Whitman Massacre | YouTube - Whitman Mission NHS Movie | NPS - History Culture