Narcissa Whitman:
Brave Woman Pioneer
Grade 2 or 3
Melissa Lorinovich
I guess that I got my adventurous attitude from my parents. They were pioneers, and so I was brought up in that way. Oh, yeah my name. I am sorry, I forgot my manners for a few moments. Let me properly introduce myself. My name is Narcissa Whitman. Some of you may know who I am, but today I will tell you a few more parts of my life that you have never heard. Have you ever crossed a river in a covered wagon? Have you ever eaten cooked horse meat? These are just a few of the interesting things that I did in my life.
When I was a little younger than you, I was given jobs or chores to do by my mom. We had to make our own clothes and candles, bake our own bread, gather eggs, and do many other things. The entire family had to help out to make sure that everything got sone. Sunday was my favorite day. We put away all of our work and went to church. It was in church one Sunday that I heard a missionary speaker. Then he came to our house for dinner. He talked about how people needed to go and tell the Indians about God. At this point I knew I wanted to go live by the Indians and tell them the good news that I knew about God.
When I got older I tried as hard as I could to go and share my good news about God to the Indians; but not one mission board would send a single young woman out to the Indians in the West. Then I met a man named Marcus Whitman. We fell in love and were married on February 18, 1836. The next day we started our trip to the west. This trip had never been completed by a female. This made me very excited about the entire trip.
The trip was much too difficult to make by ourselves, so we met up with another couple, the Spaldings. The four of us and a guide set out to meet some fur trappers that were on their way to trade their furs over the Rocky Mountians. It was safer to ride in large groups because of some hostile, or mean Indians that were out in the wilderness.
We finally made it to the Walla Walla River. Marcus and I decided to call our home Waiilatpu, which means the place of rye grass. This was our home for the next eleven years. Marcus and I had a daughter; but sadly when Alice was almost two years old, she drowned. There was nothing that Marcus or I could do. After getting over the sadness of losing my daughter, Marcus and I took in many children. These were children whose parents died while they were making the trip to the West.
After Marcus and I had been there for awhile, there were some problems with some of the other missionaries and the Indians. We had always had a good relationship with the Indians; however, some were blaming Marcus and I for a measles epidemic that was going through their villages even though people living in the mission had measles also. One morning some Indians came into the house for some medicine and while Marcus was preparing the medicine, they killed him. While trying to save the other white settlers that were staying in the mission, I took a bullet in the chest and also died. Out of all of the missionaries only Marcus and I were killed.
This story should be told from the view point of Narcissa Whitman. This is what happened to her and Marcus and the Spaldings.
Worksheet for "Brave Pioneer Woman"
- Name at least two things that Narcissa Whitman did as a child to help her parents.
- Why did Marcus and Narcissa have to travel with a group of fur traders instead of by themselves?
- The Indians killed Narcissa and Marcus for what reasons?
- Why do you think that the mission board would not send a single woman out to be a missionary?
- What other things do you think made the Indians upset at the Whitmans and other white people? What was happening at this time in history?
Outline
I. Introduction
A. Parents were pioneers
B. Done things that students haven't
II. Narcissa's childhood
A. The chores that had to be done
B. Had to make everything on their own
C. Sunday my favorite day
D. Heard missionary
E. Desire to go and tell the Indians about the Lord
III. Narcissa's middle years
A. Letters to mission boards
B. Always rejected
C. Meeting Marcus
IV. To the Indians
A. The trip with the Spaldings
B. Meeting up with the fur traders
C. Reaching our "mission", Waiilatpu meaning the place of rye grass
D. Alice, our daughters accident
E. Taking in the orphaned children
V. The final days
A. Problems with the Indians
B. Marcus helping the Indians and them killing him
C. Narcissa getting shot
Props:
A bonnet for Narcissa
Picture of covered wagon
Questions and Answers
1. Name at least two things that Narcissa Whitman did as a child to help her parents.
helped making clothes, gathering eggs, making candles, gathering food
2. Why did Marcus and Narcissa have to travel with a group of fur traders instead of by themselves?
to protect themselves from hostile Indians that may attack them
3. The Indians killed Narcissa and Marcus for what reasons?
they thought that they were responsible for the measles epidemic that was spreading through the villages
4. Why do you think that the mission board would not send a single woman out to be a missionary?
she would not be able to protect and take care of herself, it was a dangerous trip to make with a bunch of me, how she would support and protect herself when she got to where she was going to live
5. What other things do you think made the Indians upset at the Whitmans and other white people? What was happening at this time in history?
that so many white people were moving onto their land and not respecting it. A lot of pioneers were moving west to settle and start new lives.
Citations:
Allen, Opal Sweazea. Narcissa Whitman An Historical Biography. Portland, Organ: Metropolitan Press, 1959.
Sabin, Louis. Narcissa Whitman Brave Pioneer. New Jersey: Troll Associates, 1982.