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Fort Vancouver, sketched by Henry J. Warre
in 1845.
WASHINGTON STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
In the 1830s, several groups of missionaries arrived
in Oregon Country. It was a world of numerous inter-connected tribes,
fur trappers, and fur trade families. American Board missionaries
Dr. Marcus and Mrs. Narcissa Whitman, Rev. Henry and Mrs. Eliza
Spalding, and Mr. William Gray traveled with the annual fur caravan
of 1836 to reach their missionary sites. Narcissa and Eliza bought
supplies at Fort Vancouver, the western headquarters of the Hudson
Bay Company's (HBC) fur trade operation.
For eleven years the Whitmans' mission at Waiilatpu
served as an outpost of Christianity. During this time the Whitmans
saw the decline of the fur trade. They also saw and were instrumental
in the beginnings of the overland migration to Oregon. The Waiilatpu
mission served as a way station for a variety of travelers: Fur
traders, explorers, scientists, artists, other missionaries, and
eventually emigrants on the Oregon Trail.
Throughout their tenure at Waiilatpu, the Whitmans'
lives were enmeshed with the fur traders. Supplies for the mission
were purchased from HBC posts at Fort Vancouver and Fort Walla Walla.
Overland mail was carried by the HBC's express. The Whitmans raised
three children of fur trappers: the daughters of American trappers
Jim Bridger and Joe Meek; and David Malin, son of a Spanish trapper.
After the deaths of the Whitmans, it was the HBC, led by Peter Skene
Ogden, who came and ransomed the surviving hostages.
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