In Julie Roy JeffreyÆs biography of Narcissa Whitman, Converting The West, the author claims that there are at least two stories that must be told regarding the mid-nineteenth century Pacific Northwest. The author maintains this notion because Whitman was an ethnocentric, Christian missionary who with her husband joined the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions (ABCFM). Whitman was determined to save the ôheathen savagesö of the Pacific Northwest, the Cayuse Indians, from what she believed was certain damnation if they were not brought to Christ and converted to Catholicism. WhitmanÆs efforts to bridge the gap between these two worlds ended in failure, with the massacre of Whitman and her husband and others by the Cayuse, who were eventually hunted down and robbed of their lifestyle. Therefore, the two stories of the mid-nineteenth century Pacific Northwest represent the story of White settlers contrasted with the story of native Indians.
The Whitmans established the ABFM station in Waiilatpu in 1836. In their ethnocentric frame of mind, the Whitmans thought they were bringing not only salvation to the Cayuse Indians, they also believed they were bringing them the benefits of white civilization, such as methods of farming. The Cayuse Indians viewed the Whitmans and other settlers as invaders, out to exploit their land with the aid of Indian labor. These are the two disparate stories of the mid-nineteenth century of the Pacific Northwest to which Jeffrey refers. While NarcissaÆs intentions were honorable, her background and breeding preached emotional Christianity with harsh justice and inflexibility. We are told ôothers would comment on NarcissaÆs cultivation and interest in æcivilized lifeÆ and ærefined societyÆö (Jeffrey, 26).
When confronted with the cultural gap between the Cayuse and her own culture, Narcissa openly expressed disdain for Cayuse customs and
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