In 1836, there was some concern that Narcissa and Marcus could not go west. Another couple in the party would be necessary so that Narcissa would not be the only ...
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March is Women’s History Month and there is no better example of New York Women’s achievements than Narcissa Prentiss Whitman, one of the first two non-Indian ...
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On February 18, 1836, Narcissa Prentiss and Marcus Whitman were married. Within days of their marriage they would begin the journey that took them west to a new ...
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On Sunday, February 28, Marcus and Narcissa and the Nez Perce boys were in Rushville, visiting his mother, Mrs. Calvin Loomis, and other relatives. Narcissa ...
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Born today in 1808 to Stephen and Clarissa (Ward) Prentiss in a small town named Prattsburgh. Narcissa Prentiss. She was the third child of nine and the eldest ...
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Narcissa spent her 28th birthday, March 14, in Pittsburgh, having spent the previous day in bed with a headache at the Exchange Hotel, while Marcus attended the ...
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From: The Letters and Journals of Narcissa Whitman.
March 28.- We have just come on board the Majestic. It is rightly named, for it is one of the largest ...
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The party arrived in Saint Louis, MO on Tuesday afternoon, March 29. Narcissa wrote, "Husband has been to the post office expecting to find letters from dear, dear ...
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As the team prepares for the rest of the trip mostly by land we take one more look at Narcissa's thought from the river. Learn more about the paths the steamboats ...
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Having arrived at their halfway point, Liberty, MO, on April 7 and ended the portion of the trip on water, the Whitman’s and Spaldings took some time to purchase ...
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On April 19th a single man, William Henry Gray , unexpectedly arrived with an appointment from the American Board to join the Wihtman-Spalding party as a mechanic. ...
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Henry Spalding left Liberty on Wednesday, April 27, with two supply wagons and the animals headed for the Oto Agency Mission on the north bank of the Platte River. ...
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On Sunday, May 1st as they attend the funeral service of Mrs. Satterlee the Fur Company's boat suddenly appeared on its voyage up the river. This was a shock to all ...
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Sunday, May 8, Marcus, Narcissa and Eliza stayed at the Methodist Mission for the Kickapoo Indians near Fort Leavenworth. Monday, they continued their difficult ...
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The spring rains had swollen the Platte River and made it very difficult. Driving the livestock across was a simple matter, the real problem was the wagons and ...
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On Tuesday, May 24, they rode for 60 miles and arrived at the Loup Fork of the Platte River late that night, to discover that the Fur Company’s caravan was camped ...
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June 3 – On June 3, 1836 Narcissa wrote to her sister, Harriet and brother, Edward. It was a Friday evening and they had just made camp near the bluffs over ...
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In her letter to Harriet and Edward Narcissa wrote, “I never saw anything like buffalo meat to satisfy hunger. We do not want anything else with it. I have eaten ...
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The travelers arrived at Fort William at the confluence of the Laramie and North Platte Rivers in what is now Wyoming, on Monday, June 13. In her diary, Eliza ...
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The missionaries were happy for the eight day respite at Fort William. Eliza wrote that June 19th was “the first Sabbath that we have spent in quietness and rest ...
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One hundred and 80 years ago, on July 4, 1836, a party made up of men from The American Fur Company and a small group of missionaries crossed over the Rocky ...
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The American Fur Company party, including the missionaries, arrived at the Green River Rendezvous on July 6. Hundreds of Indians and trappers came annually to trade ...
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Whitman and Spaulding had decided to take the southern route through the mountains to Walla Walla even though they would be a small party. Their concerns ...
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Let’s let Narcissa write this week’s Facebook post (her spelling and punctuation!).
“Dearest Mother. We commenced our journey to Walla Walla July 18th 1836, ...
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Narcissa:
25th Came fifteen miles today. Very mountainous. Encamped on Smith’s creek a small branch of Bear River. Bear River emties into Salt Lake (called on ...
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From Narcissa's journal:
August 2nd Had an unusual long ride today. Heat excessive. Truly I thought "the Heavens over us were brass, & the earth iron under our ...
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Narcissa’s journals are so rich with descriptions in this final leg of the journey that we are truly overwhelmed by the need to edit and extract. If we have ...
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Approaching Snake Fort, McLeod went ahead with most of his men, so the missionaries were able to slow their progress down to the speed of the cattle. On the 15th, ...
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After a restful Sabbath on which Mr. Spaulding was invited to preach in the Fort, they left for Walla Walla on the 22nd. One branch of the river was too deep to ...
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Sorry this one is longish, but Narcissa is so happy for the journey to be ending that I had a hard time leaving her words out!
Aug 28th "After dinner we left the ...
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On Sunday, September 4th the Whitmans and Spaldings enjoyed a rest “first after completing a long journey, first in the vicinity of our future labours.” The ...
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I’m not sure if we’ve mentioned them before, but some of the Indians the Whitmans met were called Flatheads. At the Cascades, “another important fall in the ...
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Narcissa reported in her diary in September 19th that it had been decided that the women would stay at Fort Vancouver just until Marcus and Henry decided on ...
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Still at Fort Vancouver, Narcissa wrote “We are invited to a ride as often as once a week for exercise and generally ride all the afternoon. Today Mrs. McLaughlin ...
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Last week we reported that Narcissa could “scarcely find as much time” as she wanted for writing. Now we find that there are no more entries until October 18, ...
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On October 18th, the Montreal Express arrived bringing “news from distant friends, both sad and pleasing.” (Googling ”Montreal Express” brings up a lacrosse ...
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On October 22, it rained, the first rain Narcissa had seen since July 22. She wrote” In all the journey have not suffered any inconvenience from rain, while last ...
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On October 29th, in her diary, Eliza expressed her hopes for the future “we are now preparing to leave in a few days, to locate, we trust for life, in the ...
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Although it rained for 3 days while they traveled up the Columbia River, Narcissa kept dry by staying under oilcloth. She described the evening stops “At night, ...
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Narcissa, Henry and Eliza and their escorts arrived at Fort Walla Walla on Sunday, November 13. It had rained almost every day of the trip from Fort Vancouver. ...
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