W-Whitman Massacre

Marcus Whitman was the leader of a religious crusade among the Indians of present day Washington, Oregon and Idaho. The Indians ended up attacking Whitman's mission at Wailiatpu on November 29th, 1847. There were quite a few reasons why the Indians turned on the Whitman family, and none of them were truly their fault. First, a measles epidemic had recently visited the Indians and perhaps they failed to understand why Whitman, a man of medicine, couldn't stop the dying. Second, the indians received a plethora of diseases spread by the recently visiting Whitman's; the native people had no immunity to these diseases. Quickly admiration for the Whitman's turned to fear and hate, so 14 people were killed and 47 were taken prisoner. 

 Crutchfield, James A. It Happened in Washington. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot, 1999. Print.