Whitman Massacre - November 29, 1847

On this day in 1847, a group of Cayuse tribespeople killed 13 people at the Whitman Mission, as they believed that physician and religious leader Marcus Whitman was deliberately spreading measles. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Welcome Back everyone. I'm Eves and you're listening
to This Day in History Class, a show where we
peel back a new layer of history every day. Today
is November nineteen. The day was November eighty seven, members

(00:28):
of the Kayus Native American tribe murdered missionaries Marcus Whitman
and Narcissa Whitman, along with eleven other people. The Whitman Massacre,
as it became known, marked the beginning of the Kyuse War,
a conflict between the Kayus people and the US government
and American frontiers people. In eighteen thirty six, Marcus and

(00:48):
Narcissa Whitman founded the Whitman Mission among the Cayus near
present day Walla Walla, Washington. It was the second Protestant
mission in the Oregon Country, a region between the Pacific
Ocean and the Rocky Mountains in the Pacific Northwest. The
Woodman's built up the mission over the years, but tensions
escalated between the missionaries and the Caius. The Caius refused

(01:11):
to ben to Marcus's will and become full time farmers,
weren't interested in learning from the Woodman's and did not
care about Christianity. The Caius also maintained that since the
Woodman's built the mission on their land, they were obligated
to give them goods, but in the tribe members eyes,
Marcus wasn't fulfilling his obligations. Aware of the Woodman Missions,

(01:34):
struggled with the Caius and with money. The American Board
of Commissioners for Foreign Missions even ordered the mission to
close in eighteen forty two, though the board later rescinded
its order. The mission soon became a place where immigrants
on the Oregon Trail stopped to rest, gather supplies, and
receive care and treatment. As more people moved west, there

(01:56):
was an influx of white immigrants in the area. The
Jyus were aware of the harmful effect the arrival of
white populations was having on Native American tribes in other places.
They brought with them disease, and in eighteen forty seven,
an epidemic of measles killed half the Cayu's people. The
Cayus were hungry, sick, and unhappy with how stingy Marcus

(02:18):
was in his trading, and Marcus was unable to keep
the epidemic under control for the Cayus, even though he
had been caring for white and Native American people who
had been affected. They believed that Marcus, as a doctor
and religious leader, was essentially killing their families to make
room for more white immigrants. This was not unprecedented, as

(02:39):
Native Americans in the Northwest had been threatened with germ warfare,
and their beliefs about the power white people had over
medicine was exploited. On November eighteen forty seven, a group
of Cayus tribesmen attacked the Woodman Mission, which was sheltering
dozens of people, mostly immigrants. They killed thirteen people, including

(03:01):
Narcissa and Marcus. They destroyed most of the buildings at
the mission and held around fifty women and children captive
for weeks. Two children died and the other captives were ransomed.
Historians agreed that the Cayus were defending their tribe since
the Cayus believed that Marcus was allowing measles to spread

(03:21):
among them. News of the massacre reached Washington, d c.
In eighteen forty eight, and Congress responded by establishing the
Oregon Territory that August, the Provisional Legislature of Oregon and
Governor George Abernathy authorized volunteers to go to war against
the Cayus, and a unit of volunteers was dispatched to

(03:43):
the Dows. Fighting soon broke out and the Cayus War
continued sporadically for several years. The war did not turn
out well for the Cayus. I'm Eve Stepcote and hopefully
you know a little more about history today than you
did yesterday. Feel free to share your thoughts or your
innermost feelings with us and with other listeners on social

(04:06):
media at t d i h C podcast, and you
can email us at this Day at i heart media
dot com. Thanks for listening to today's episode. We'll see
you again tomorrow. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio,

(04:32):
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