DEC 6: Tensions High Following Whitman Massacre

A statue of Presbyterian missionary Marcus Whitman. (Credit: Library of Congress)

Tensions remain high among white settlers in the Pacific Northwest one week after the deadly attack on Presbyterian missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whitman by members of the Cayuse band of Indians. Another 11 settlers were killed on November 29, 1847, along with the Whitmans at their settlement.

The Whitmans were attacked by a small group of Cayuse men who suspected that Whitman, a physician, had poisoned the 200 Cayuse in his medical care during an outbreak of measles that included the Whitman household. The killings occurred at the mission the Whitmans established in 1836 at the junction of the Walla Walla River and Mill Creek in what is now southeastern Washington near the city of Walla Walla.

The Whitman Massacre became a decisive episode in the U.S. settlement of the region, causing Congress to take action determining the territorial status of the Oregon country. The Oregon Territory, which included present-day Washington state, was established on August 14, 1848, to protect the white settlers.