36 ROBERT MOULTON GATKE
to represent them as much less troublesome than other Indians on the route, seldom condescending- to the petty thefts which are so characteristic of Indians everywhere. It has so happened that the Emigrants have brought the Measles with them into this country, the present season, and of course the Cayuse Indians among the rest have caught the Contagion: numbers of them have died and in labouring to minister to the sick and dying, Dr. Whitman has lost his life. The accompanying letters in the Oregon Spectator* will shew you the horrible suspicion which entered their minds that he was secretly attempting to poison them and they at once resolved upon his destruction. I refer you to the documents in question for the particulars of this horrid massacre. They contain all the information we have up to this moment.
My acquaintance with Dr. Whitman has been limited of course, but I have recognized in him a deeply pious and indefat- igable labourer in the missionary field with a heart over- flow- ing with sympathy for the perishing Indian race, he has been assiduously labouring for years to improve their condition: And now while standing manfully at his post, he has fallen by the hand of savage violence. I desire here for myself and my brethren members of our Mission to express our deepest Christian sympathies both to his friends in the States and the Board under whose auspices he was labouring, in view of this afflictive event. The heart of this whole community at this moment throbs with emotion at the intelligence.
Nor is this all that is to be feared. The Indians threatened to go to Clear Water and to the Dalls to murder the residents in those places. The most efficient measures in our power have been adopted to send relief. A company of more than 40 have volunteered and gone to the Dalls to hold that place until a larger force can be raised and sent to the upper Country to bring away the women and children who may yet be alive, and proceed to the residences of Messres Spalding, Walker, and Eells, whose situation if they are yet alive must be iminently perilous.
Perhaps I ought to have said before this time that with the exception of Mrs. Whitman the Indians decided to spare the women and children.
The Legislature of the territory is now in session in this
- Published at Oregon City 1846-1855.
