The Letters and Journals of Narcissa Whitman

Published: Written 1836-1847

Note: Narcissa and companion Eliza Spaulding were the first white women to 
travel the Oregon Trail. Narcissa was killed in the Whitman Massacre

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Preface

Narcissa Whitman and Eliza Spaulding were the first white women to travel 
the Oregon Trail. In Oregon, the Waiilatpu mission, established in 1836 
and run by Narcissa and her husband Marcus, became a way station for 
immigrants. One wagon train brought an epidemic of measles, and hundreds 
of Indians died. Some Cayuse Indians thought the Whitmans poisoned them so 
that they could take their lands and horses. On November 29, 1847, Cayuse 
Indians attacked the mission, killed fourteen whites including the 
Whitmans, and took surviving women and children as captives. Hostilities 
ended when five Indians surrendered in 1850, they were convicted and 
hanged in 1851.



CONTENTS:

Part 1
   Crossing the Continent in 1836
      March 15 - August 27

Part 2
   Crossing the Continent in 1836
      August 28 - December 5

Part 3
   Life at Waiilatpu, Oregon Territory
      March 1837 - March 1842

Part 4
   The Oregon Trail
      September 1842 - October 1844

Part 5
   The Oregon Trail
      April 1846 - October 1847
   The Whitman Massacre
      April 1848