THE WEDDING JOURNEY ACROSS THE PLAINS.
The romance of the Oregon Mission did not end with the call of the
Flathead Indians. This was savage romance, that of civilization
followed.
The Methodists sent the Lees in 1834, and the American Board tried to
get the right men for the work to accompany them, but failed. But in
1835 they sent Dr. Marcus Whitman and the Rev. Samuel Parker to Oregon
upon a trip of discovery, to find out the real conditions, present and
prospective.
They got an early start in 1835 and reached Green River, where they
met large bodies of Indians and Indian traders, and were made fully
acquainted with the situation. The Indians gave large promises, and
the field seemed wide and inviting. Upon consultation it was agreed
that Dr. Whitman should return to the States and report to the
American Board, while Dr. Parker should go on to the Columbia. Two
Indian boys from the Pacific Coast, Richard and John, volunteered to
return with Dr. Whitman and come back with him the following year.
The Doctor and his Indian boys reached his home in Rushville, New
York, late on Saturday night in November, and not making known the
event to his family, astonished the congregation in his church by
walking up the aisle with his Indians, and calling out an audible
exclamation from his good old mother, "Well, there is Marcus Whitman."
Upon the report of Dr. Whitman the American Board resolved to at once
occupy the field. Dr. Whitman had long been engaged to be married to
Miss Narcissa Prentice, the daughter of Judge Prentice, of Prattsburg,
New York, who was as much of an enthusiast in the Oregon Indian
Mission work as the Doctor himself. The American Board thought it
unwise to send the young couple alone on so distant a journey, and at
once began the search for company. The wedding day, which had been
fixed, was postponed, and valuable time was passing, and no suitable
parties would volunteer for the work, when its trials and dangers were
explained.
The Board had received word that the Rev. H. H. Spalding, who had
recently married, was then with his wife on his way to the Osage
Mission to enter upon a new field of work. It was in January and
Whitman took to the road in his sleigh in pursuit of the traveling
missionaries. He overtook them near the village of Hudson and hailed
them in his cheery way:
"Ship ahoy, you are wanted for the Oregon Mission."
After a short colloquy they drove on to the hotel of the little
village. There the subject was canvassed and none of its dangers
hidden. Mr. Spalding promptly made up his mind, and said:
"My dear, I do not think it your duty to go, but we will leave it to
you after we have prayed."
Mrs. Spalding asked to be left alone, and in ten minutes she appeared
with a beaming face and said: "I have made up my mind to go."
"But your health, my dear?"
"I like the command just as it stands," says Mrs. Spalding, "Go ye
into all the world and preach the Gospel, with no exceptions for poor
health."
Others referred to the hardships and dangers and terrors of the
journey, but Dr. Spalding says: "They all did not move her an iota."
Such was the party for the wedding journey. It did look like a
dangerous journey for a woman who had been many months an invalid, but
events proved Mrs. Spalding a real heroine, with a courage and pluck
scarcely equaled, and under the circumstances never excelled. Having
turned her face toward Oregon she never looked back and never was
heard to murmur or regret her decision.
This difficulty being removed, the day was again set for the marriage
of Dr. Whitman and Miss Prentice, which took place in February, 1836.
All authorities mark Narcissa Prentice as a woman of great force of
character.
She was the adored daughter of a refined Christian home and had the
love of a wide circle of friends. She was the soprano singer in the
choir of the village church of which she and her family were members.
In the volume of the magazine of American History for 1884, the
editor, the late Miss Martha J. Lamb, says:
"The voice of Miss Prentice was of remarkable sweetness. She was a
graceful blonde, stately and dignified in her bearing, without a
particle of affectation." Says Miss Lamb: "When preparing to leave for
Oregon the church held a farewell service and the minister gave out
the well-known hymn:
'Yes, my native land I love thee,
All thy scenes I love them well;
Friends, connection, happy country,
Can I bid you all farewell?'
"The whole congregation joined heartily in the singing, but before the
hymn was half through, one by one they ceased singing and audible sobs
were heard in every part of the great audience. The last stanza was
sung by the sweet voice of Mrs. Whitman alone, clear, musical and
unwavering."
One of the pleasant things since it was announced that these sketches
would be written, is the number of people, that before were unknown,
who have volunteered charming personal sketches of Dr. and Mrs.
Whitman.
A venerable friend who often, he fears, attended church more for the
songs of Miss Prentice than for the sermons, was also at their
wedding. The venerable J. S. Seeley, of Aurora, Illinois, writes: "It
was just fifty-nine years ago this March since I drove Dr. and Mrs.
Whitman from Elmira, N. Y., to Hollidaysburg, Pa., in my sleigh. This
place was at the foot of the Allegheny Mountains (east side) on the
Pennsylvania canal. The canal boats were built in two sections and
were taken over the mountains on a railroad.
"They expected to find the canal open on the west side and thus reach
the Ohio River on the way to Oregon. I was with them some seven days.
Dr. Whitman impressed me as a man of strong sterling character and
lots of push, but he was not a great talker. Mrs. Whitman was of
medium size and impressed me as a woman of great resolution."
A younger sister of the bride, Mrs. H. P. Jackson, of Oberlin, Ohio,
writes: "Mrs. Whitman was the mentor of her younger sisters in the
home. She joined the church when eleven years old, and from her early
years expressed a desire to be a missionary. The wedding occurred in
the church at Angelica, N. Y., to which place my father had removed,
and the ceremony was performed by the Rev. Everett Hull. I recollect
how deeply interested the two Indian boys were in the ceremony, and
how their faces brightened when the doctor told them that Mrs. Whitman
would go back with them to Oregon. We all had the greatest faith and
trust in Dr. Whitman, and in all our letters from our dear sister
there was never a word of regret or repining at the life she had
chosen."
The two Indian boys were placed in school and learned to read and
speak English during the Winter.
The journey down the Ohio and up the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers
was tedious, but uneventful.
Those who navigated the Missouri River, fifty years ago, have not
forgotten its snags and sand bars, which caused a constant chattering
of the bells in the engineer's room from morning until evening, and
all through the night, unless the prudent captain tied up to the
shore. The man and his "lead line" was constantly on the prow singing
out "twelve feet," "quarter past twain," then suddenly "six feet,"
when the bells would ring out as the boat's nose would bury in the
concealed sandbar.
But the party safely reached its destination, and was landed with all
its effects, wagons, stock and outfit.
The company was made up of Dr. and Mrs. Whitman, Rev. Mr. and Mrs.
Spalding, H. H. Gray, two teamsters and the two Indian boys.
The American Fur Company, which was sending out a convoy to their port
in Oregon, had promised to start from Council Bluffs upon a given
date, and make them welcome members of the company. It was a large
company made up of two hundred men and six hundred animals. On the
journey in from Oregon, in 1835, cholera had attacked the company, and
Dr. Whitman had rendered such faithful and efficient service that they
felt under obligations to him. But they had heard there were to be
women along and the old mountaineers did not want to be bothered with
women upon such a journey, and they moved out promptly without waiting
for the doctor's party, which had been delayed.
When Dr. Whitman reached Council Bluffs and found them gone, he was
greatly disturbed. There was nothing to do but make forced marches and
catch the train before it reached the more dangerous Indian country.
Dr. Spalding would have liked to have found it an excuse to return
home, but Mrs. Spalding remarked: "I have started to the Rocky
Mountains and I expect to go there."
Spalding in a dressing gown in his study, or in a city pulpit, would
have been in his element, but he was not especially marked for an
Indian missionary. Early in the campaign a Missouri cow kicked him off
the ferryboat into the river. The ague racked every bone in his body,
and a Kansas tornado at one time lifted both his tent and his blanket
and left him helpless. He seemed to catch every disaster that came
along. A man may have excellent points in his make-up, as Dr. Spalding
had, and yet not be a good pioneer.
He and his noble wife made a grand success, however, when they got
into the field of work. It was Mrs. Spalding who first translated
Bible truths and Christian songs into the Indian dialect.
It seemed a discouraging start for the little company when compelled
to pull out upon the boundless plains alone. But led by Whitman, they
persevered and caught the convoy late in May.
The doctor's boys now proved of good service. They were patient and
untiring and at home on the trail. They took charge of all the loose
stock. The cows they were taking along would be of great value upon
reaching their destination, and they proved to be of value along the
journey as well, as milk suppliers for the little party.
The first part of the journey Mrs. Whitman rode mainly in the wagon
with Mrs. Spalding, who was not strong enough for horseback riding.
But soon she took to her pony and liked it so much better, that she
rode nearly all the way on horseback. They were soon initiated into
the trials and dangers of the journey.
On May 9th Mrs. Whitman writes in her diary: "We had great difficulty
to-day. Husband became so completely exhausted with swimming the
river, that it was with difficulty he made the shore the last time. We
had but one canoe, made of skins, and that was partly eaten by the
dogs the night before."
She speaks of "meeting large bodies of Pawnee Indians," and says:
"They seemed very much surprised and pleased to see white women. They
were noble looking Indians.
"We attempted, by a hard march, to reach Loup Fork. The wagons got
there at eleven at night, but husband and I rode with the Indian boys
until nine o'clock, when Richard proposed that we go on and they would
stay with the loose cattle upon the prairie, and drive them in early
in the morning. We did not like to leave them and concluded to stay.
Husband had a cup tied to his saddle, and in this he milked what we
wanted to drink; this was our supper. Our saddle-blankets with our
rubber-cloaks were our beds. Having offered thanksgiving for the
blessings of the day, and seeking protection for the night, we
committed ourselves to rest. We awoke refreshed and rode into camp
before breakfast."
Here they caught up with the Fur Company caravan, after nearly a
month's traveling. These brave women, with their kindness and tact,
soon won the good-will and friendship of the old plainsmen, and every
vestige of opposition to having women in the train disappeared and
every possible civility and courtesy was extended to them. One
far-seeing old American trader, who had felt the iron heel of the
English Company beyond the Stony Mountains, pointing to the little
missionary band, prophetically remarked: "There is something that the
Honorable Hudson Bay Company cannot drive out of Oregon."
In her diary of the journey, Mrs. Whitman never expresses a fear, and
yet remembering my own sensations upon the same journey, I can
scarcely conceive that two delicately nurtured women would not be
subjected to great anxieties.
The Platte River, in that day, was but little understood and looked
much worse than it really was. Where forded it was a mile wide, and
not often more than breast deep to the horses. Two men, on the best
horses, rode fifty yards in advance of the wagons, zig-zagging up and
down, while the head-driver kept an eye open for the shallowest
water and kept upon the bar. In doing this a train would sometimes
have to travel nearly twice the distance of the width of the river to
get across. The bed of the river is made of shifting sand, and a team
is not allowed to stop for a moment, or it will steadily settle down
and go out of sight.
[Illustration: DR. MARCUS WHITMAN.
At the time of his marriage.]
A balky team or a break in the harness requires prompt relief or all
will be lost. But after all the Platte River is remembered by all old
plainsmen with a blessing. For three hundred miles it administered to
the comfort of the pioneers.
It is even doubtful whether they could have gone the journey had it
not been for the Platte, as it rolls its sands down into the Missouri.
The water is turbid with sand at all times, as the winds in their wide
sweep across sandy plains perpetually add to its supply. But the water
when dipped up over night and the sand allowed to settle, is clear and
pure and refreshing.
The pioneers, however, took the Platte water as it ran, often
remarking: "In this country a fellow needs sand and the Platte was
built to furnish it." In June Mrs. Whitman writes: "We are now in the
buffalo country and my husband and I relish it; he has a different way
of cooking every part of the animal."
Mrs. Whitman makes the following entry in her diary, for the benefit
of her young sisters:
"Now, H. and E., you must not think it very hard to have to get up so
early after sleeping on the soft ground, when you find it hard work to
open your eyes at seven o'clock. Just think of me every morning. At
the word 'Arise!' we all spring. While the horses are feeding we get
breakfast in a hurry and eat it. By that time the words 'Catch up,
catch up,' ring throughout the camp for moving. We are ready to start
usually at six, travel until eleven, encamp, rest and feed, and start
again at two and travel till six and if we come to a good tavern, camp
for the night."
A certain number of men were set apart for hunters each day and they
were expected to bring in four mule loads of meat to supply the daily
demands. While in the buffalo country this was an easy task; when it
came to deer, antelope and birds, it was much more difficult work.
The antelope is a great delicacy, but he is the fleetest footed runner
upon the plains and has to be captured, generally, by strategy. He has
an inordinate curiosity. The hunter lies down and waves a red
handkerchief on the end of his ramrod and the whole herd seems to have
the greatest desire to know what it is. They gallop around, trot high
and snort and keep coming nearer, until within gun shot they pay
dearly for their curiosity.
To avoid danger and failure of meat supplies before leaving the
buffalo country, the company stopped and laid in a good supply of
jerked buffalo meat. It was well they did, for it was about all they
had for a long distance. As Mrs. Whitman says in her diary:
"Dried buffalo meat and tea for breakfast, and tea and dried buffalo
meat for supper," but jokingly adds: "The doctor gives it variety by
cooking every part of the animal in a different way." But after all it
was a novel menu for a bridal trip.
By a strange miscalculation they ran out of flour before the journey
was half ended. But, says Mrs. Whitman, "My health continues good, but
sister Spalding has been made sick by the diet."
On July 22d, she writes:
"Had a tedious ride until four p. m. I thought of my mother's bread as
a child would, but did not find it. I should relish it extremely well.
But we feel that the good Father has blessed us beyond our most
sanguine expectations. It is good to feel that He is all I want and if
I had ten thousand lives I would give them all to Him."
The road discovered by the pioneers through the South Pass seems to
have been made by nature on purpose to unite the Pacific with the
Atlantic slope by an easy wagon road. The Wind River and Rocky
Mountains appear to have run out of material, or spread out to make it
an easy climb. So gentle is the ascent the bulk of the way that the
traveler is scarcely aware of the fact that he is climbing the great
"Stony Mountains."
Fremont discovered the pass in 1842 and went through it again in 1843,
and Stanbury in 1849, but it is well to remember that upon this
notable bridal tour, these Christian ladies passed over the same route
six years before "The Pathfinder," or the engineer corps of the United
States, ever saw it.
It is always an object of interest to know when the top has been
reached and to see the famous spring from which the water divides and
runs both ways. Our missionary band, accustomed to have regular
worship on the plains, when they reached the dividing of the waters
held an especially interesting service. The Rev. Dr. Jonathan Edwards
graphically describes it. He says:
"There is a scene connected with their journey which demands
extraordinary attention in view of its great significance. It is one
that arouses all that is good within us, and has been pronounced as
hardly paralleled in American records for historic grandeur and
far-reaching consequence. It is sublimely beautiful and inspiring in
its effects, and would baffle the genius of a true poet to describe it
with adequate fitness. They were yet high on the Rocky Mountains, with
the great expanse of the Pacific slope opening before them like a
magnificent panorama. Their hearts were profoundly moved as they
witnessed the landscape unfolding its delightful scenes, and as they
viewed the vast empire given them to win for King Emanuel.
"There we find the little group of five missionaries, and the two Nez
Perces boys that Whitman took with him to New York selecting a spot
where the bunch grass grows high and thick. Their hearts go out to God
in joyful adoration for His protecting care over them thus far,
especially so, because they felt the greatest difficulties had been
overcome and they now entered the country for the people of which they
had devoted their lives. The sky is bright above them, the sun shines
serenely and the atmosphere is light and invigorating. The sun
continues his course and illuminates the western horizon like a flame
of fire, as if striving to give them a temporary glimpse of the vast
domain between them and the Pacific Ocean. They spread their blankets
carefully on the grass, and lifted the American flag to wave
gracefully in the breeze, and with the Bible in the center, they
knelt, and with prayer and praise on their lips, they take possession
of the western side of the American continent in His name who
proclaimed "Peace on earth and good will toward men." How strongly it
evidences their faith in their mission and the conquering power of the
King of Peace. What a soul-inspiring scene."
Continuing her diary, Mrs. Whitman says: "I have been in a peaceful
state of mind all day."
July 25th she writes: "The ride has been very mountainous, paths only
winding along the sides of steep mountains, in many places so narrow
that the animal would scarcely find room to place his foot."
It is upon this date that she again mourns over the doctor's
persistence in hauling along his historic wagon. Even the good wife in
full sympathy with her husband failed to see it as he did; it was the
pioneer chariot, loaded with a richness that no wagon before or since
contained.
On July 25th: "Husband has had a tedious time with the wagon to-day.
It got stuck in the creek, and on the mountain side, so steep that the
horses could scarcely climb, it was upset twice. It was a wonder that
it was not turning somersaults continually. It is not grateful to my
feelings to see him wearing himself out with excessive fatigue. All
the most difficult portions of the way he has walked, in a laborious
attempt to take the wagon." Those who have gone over the same road and
remember the hard pulls at the end of long ropes, where there was
plenty of help, will wonder most that he succeeded.
The company arrived at Fort Hall on August 1st. Here they succeeded in
buying a little rice, which was regarded a valuable addition to their
slender stock of eatables. They had gone beyond the buffalo range and
had to live upon the dried meat, venison and wild ducks or fish, all
of which were scarce and in limited supply.
Speaking of crossing Snake River Mrs. Whitman says: "We put the packs
on the tallest horses, the highest being selected for Mrs. Spalding
and myself.
"The river where we crossed is divided into three branches, by
islands. The last branch is half a mile wide and so deep as to come up
to the horses' sides, and a very strong current. The wagon turned
upside down in the current, and the mules were entangled in the
harness. I once thought of the terrors of the rivers, but now I cross
the most difficult streams without a fear."
Among the novel ferries she speaks of was a dried elk skin with two
ropes attached. The party to be ferried lies flat down on the skin and
two Indian women swimming, holding the ropes in their mouths, pull it
across the stream.
One of the notable qualities of Dr. Whitman was his observance of the
small things in every-day life. Many a man who reaches after grand
results overlooks and neglects the little events. Mrs. Whitman says:
"For weeks and weeks our camping places have been upon open plains
with not a tree in sight, but even here we find rest and comfort. My
husband, the best the world ever produced, is always ready to provide
a comfortable shade from the noonday sun when we stop. With one of
our saddle-blankets stretched across the sage brush or upheld by
sticks, our saddle blankets and fishamores placed on the ground, our
resting is delightful."
Among the notable events of the journey was when the party reached
Green River, the place of annual meeting of the Indians and the
traders. It was this place that Dr. Whitman had reached the year
previous. The Green is one of the large branches of the Colorado,
which heads among the snow banks of Fremont's Peak, a thousand miles
away. In its picturesque rugged beauty few sections excel the scenery
along the river, and now the whole scene, alive with frontier and
savage life, was one to impress itself indelibly upon the memories of
our travelers.
There were about two hundred traders and two thousand Indians,
representatives of tribes located many hundreds of miles distant. The
Cayuse and Nez Perces, who expected Dr. Whitman and his delegation,
were present to honor the occasion, and meet the boys, John and
Richard, who had accompanied the doctor from this place the year
before. The Indians expressed great delight over the successful
journey; but most of all they were delighted with the noble white
squaws who had come over the long trail. They were demonstrative and
scoured the mountains for delicacies in game from the woods and
brought trout from the river, and seemed constantly to fear that they
were neglecting some courtesy expected of them.
They finally got up a war tournament, and six hundred armed and
mounted Indians, in their war paint, with savage yells bore down
toward the tents of the ladies, and it was almost too realistic of
savage life to be enjoyed.
Here the brides were permitted to rest for ten days, and until their
tired animals could recuperate. The scenery along the last three
hundred miles was most charming, and almost made the travelers forget
the precipitous climbs and the steep descents. The days sped past, and
the wagon being left behind to be sent for later on, the wedding party
marched more rapidly. They reached Walla Walla River, eight miles from
the fort, the last day of August, and on September 1st they made an
early start and galloped into the fort. The party was hospitably
received.
Says Mrs. Whitman: "They were just eating breakfast when we arrived,
and soon we were seated at the table and treated to fresh salmon,
potatoes, tea, bread and butter. What a variety, thought I. You cannot
imagine what an appetite these rides in the mountains give a person."
We have preferred to let Mrs. Whitman tell in her own way the story of
this memorable wedding journey. The reader will look in vain for any
mourning or disquietude. Two noble women started in to be the
helpmeets of two good men, and what a grand success they made of it.
There is nowhere any spirit of grumbling, but on the contrary, a
joyousness and exhilaration. True womanhood of all time is honored in
the lives of such women. It was but the coming of the first white
women who ever crossed the Rocky Mountains and notable as an heroic
wedding journey, but to the world it was not only exalted heroism, but
a great historic event, the building of an empire whose wide-reaching
good cannot easily be overestimated.
It was an event unparalleled in real or romantic literature, and so
pure and exalted in its motives, and prosecuted so unostentatiously,
as to honor true womanhood for all time to come.