A Historic Journey.

In 1836 Narcissa Whitman and Eliza Spalding accompanied their husbands, Marcus and Henry, respectively, on a momentous journey to the Pacific Northwest in order to set up missions among the indigenous peoples of the region. They were the first Euro-American women to cross the Rocky Mountains, and their evangelical motivation seemed to ennoble Westward expansion to the Eastern establishment. Similarly, the murder of the Whitmans eleven years later marked the severance of any lingering connection between Indian evangelization and national destiny. The Whitmans' role in the opening of the West and Northwest to white settlement gave them a place in history, yet it is their personal story that offers closer insight into the nature of sacred encounters in the Columbia Plateau.

The Whitmans and Spaldings.

Narcissa Prentiss had been swept up in the revivals of Western New York...