THE MISSION AT WAIILATPU

One fall day in 1831, four Nez Perce men arrived in St. Louis, Missouri. They sought a meeting with General William Clark. They had met Clark some 25 years before when he had explored the country with Meriwether Lewis and the Corps of Discovery.

- Elizabeth Mackintosh Tenney

The Nez Perce men had traveled over 1,900 miles to ask Clark a question: Was it true that the white man had a book that explained the right way to worship the Great Spirit? Did the book tell what was pleasing to the Great Spirit? The book the Nez Perce were asking about was the Bible.

That story, most likely exaggerated, appeared on the front page of New York City’s Christian Advocate newspaper in 1833. Soon Protestant preachers and missionary societies were calling for volunteers to go out to Oregon Country to spread Christianity. 

Not much was known about Oregon Country in the 1830s. Only a few explorers, trappers, and traders had reached the huge territory. But two volunteers came forward. One was a 27-year-old teacher named Narcissa Prentiss. The other was a 33-year-old doctor named Marcus Whitman. Both lived in western New York state. Narcissa was a single woman, so she was not seriously considered by the missionary board. No known white women had ever made the journey. Marcus’s application was accepted. Marcus knew the Prentiss family and heard of Narcissa’s interest in becoming a missionary. He called on the Prentiss family and proposed marriage to Narcissa. She accepted.

The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) wanted Marcus to make a preliminary trip before he and Narcissa moved to Oregon Country. In 1835, Marcus went with the Reverend Samuel Parker to test the idea of establishing missions among the Indigenous peoples. Marcus learned many skills on that trip. He learned how to load a pack animal. He learned how to ford swollen streams. He learned how to live off the land and to ride long hours through all kinds of weather.