Two Perspectives on Narcissa Whitman

Is she just a heroine of American history, or is that really what she was about? This is Women's History Month and on this day, in 1808, Narcissa Whitman was born. I'm being lazy today and recycling something I already wrote. LOL. This was a paper I wrote in high school, but it still conveys the point I want to make today, as we remember this heroine of faith and of American history.

   Many have heard of Narcissa Prentiss-Whitman (1808-1847), but many have heard of her from different perspectives. While the world sees Narcissa Whitman as a heroic adventurer- the first white woman to cross the Rocky Mountains, we see her as a dedicated Christian, who, despite her flaws, was committed to winning the lost souls of the Native Americans to Christ.

   So, what does the world have to say about Mrs. Whitman? Two quotes from a book published by National Geographic show us the part of her life which they focus on. The first is referring to her after she has been living in the land of the Cayuse for a while:

As for Narcissa Whitman, gone was the confident bride bound for western adventure… What would this proper housewife have said, if she could, to her romantic teenage self, back in New York, reading and daydreaming about noble missionary work? (Harness, 104)

   This quote is true in showing that, after some time actually living among the Native Americans, Mrs. Whitman’s expectations from when she was still back east, probably changed considerably! She likely felt some confidence when she first set out. But the author wrongly describes her with the phrases “bound for western adventure” and “romantic teenage self” which degrade her calling from God to be a missionary to the Native Americans. She was not bound for adventure; she was going to preach the Gospel to the lost! “In the end, Mrs. Whitman wanted to be a homemaker. Young Narcissa Prentiss had wanted to stand out, to do something extraordinary.” (Harness, 133) Once again, her true purpose, though mentioned at other parts of the book, is not what is focused on. Like most women of that era, she likely wanted to be a homemaker, but her calling from God was to be a missionary. She did not want to stand out or do anything extraordinary; she humbly desired to follow God’s calling.

   To understand her true calling, we would be wise to look at Mrs. Whitman’s own writings, describing her calling and her longing to reach the Native Americans for Christ. At the age of sixteen, in a letter to the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, she wrote:

I frequently desired to go to the heathen, but only half-heartedly and it was not until the first Monday of Jan. 1824 that I felt to consecrate myself without reserve to the Missionary work. (Harness, 24)

Here, we see, not a romantic would-be adventurer, but a Christian young woman, with a calling from God to reach the lost. As we read through her diaries and letters, we get mostly a chronicle of her life on the trail and at the mission in Walipatu, but mixed in with descriptions of events, people, challenges, and customs, we find quotes like this one,from a letter to her mother on July 27th, 1836: “I am making some little progress in their language-long to be able to converse with them about the Saviour.” (Whitman and Spalding, 17) Here we hear, in her own words, Mrs. Whitman’s longing to share the Gospel with the Native Americans.

   Though they seemed unsuccessful in converting any Native Americans, or getting them to follow ‘civilized’ practices of the time, the Whitmans remained true to their mission.  When wagon trains of white settlers brought and epidemic of measles to the area, in 1847, Native Americans began dying by the dozens, due to a combination of not being used to this disease, and their own ‘treatments’ which made the disease all the more fatal. The Native Americans were angered when they saw whites getting well from Dr. Whitman’s care, but their own people dying. Friends of the Whitmans saw the growing anger and tried to convince them to leave.  Stickus, a faithful friend of the Whitmans, warned them to: “…go away “until my people have better hearts.”” (Whitman and Spalding, 163) But the Whitmans remained where God had called them, ministering to, and caring for settlers and Native Americans alike, regardless of the danger. On November 28th, 1847, the Whitmans and twelve others, including some of their adopted children, were massacred by the angry Cayuse Native Americans.

   What prompted Mrs. Whitman to dedicate herself to such work, and to stay true to it, in the face of failure and even death? As a young girl, she grew up hearing stories of missionaries, as her mother, Clarissa Prentiss-a devout Presbyterian, led meetings of the Female Home Missionary Society in the Prentiss’ home. Along with the influence of Protestant missionary work, she also had a personal calling from God to take the Gospel to the Native Americans.

Mrs. Whitman was far from perfect, and was very much indoctrinated in the ‘proper’ way of life at the time, which caused much abrasion with those she desired to help.   Yet, as we look at her life and, yes, her death, we see how it parallels with God’s Word. Her dedication to spreading the Gospel heeds Christ’s command in Matthew 28:19&20: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Her willingness to remain at Walipatu, in the face of danger, and her eventual death, clearly illustrates Jesus’ words in John 15:13: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Though most of the Native Americans were far from friends, she was willing to lay down her life for them, just as Jesus was willing to lay down His life for those who nailed Him to the cross.

   So, what do we see Narcissa Prentiss-Whitman as? Do we see her as an adventurous heroine, as the world makes her sound, or as a Christian woman, called to bring the Gospel to the lost? Think to yourself: Which would she rather be remembered as: the first white woman to cross the Rockies, or a humble servant of Christ?

Harness, Cheryl. The Tragic Tale of Narcissa Whitman and a Faithful History of the

          Oregon Trail.  Washington D.C.: National Geographic, 2006.

Whitman, Narcissa, Eliza Spalding. Where Wagons Could Go. Introduction the Bison

          Books Edition, 1997.  Ed. Clifford Merrill Drury.  Arthur H. Clark Company, 1963