The Whitman party of missionaries; first women to go overland to Oregon. When Dr. Whitman returned to New York in the fall of 1835, with a report that the Columbia River Indians were eager for teachers, the board at once commissioned him to superintend the planting of a mission in that country. He had some trouble to find helpers, but at last Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Spalding consented to go with Whitman and his newly married wife. Mr. W. H. Gray also joined the party. These two women proved their exceptional courage by undertaking the overland trip, which thus far had been accomplished by none but men. At Liberty, Missouri, the missionaries joined a company of fur traders, and travelled with them to the mountains. In addition to saddle horses and pack animals. Whitman had provided his party with a one-horse wagon. At that time there was no road beyond Fort Hall, but on account of Mrs. Spalding's feeble health, which made it impossible for her to keep the saddle, he drove this vehicle as far as Fort Boise on Snake River, thus opening a new stage in the wagon road to the Columbia.
Beginnings of the interior missions. Arriving at Fort Vancouver in September, the women were left under the protection of Dr. McLoughlin's family, while the men went up the river to begin the missions. On the Walla Walla River, about twenty miles above the fort, was a place which the Indians called Waiilatpu, where the first establishment was begun. In this prairie country timber was very scarce, and
