birdienl | 100 things challenge - 31: Narcissa Whitman

Narcissa Whitman (together with Eliza Spalding) was the first woman of European descent to cross the Rocky Mountains into the Oregon territory. She did this in 1836, when on her way with her husband dr. Marcus Whitman to found a mission among the Native Americans together with Henry and Eliza Spalding.

The journey, previously considered an unheard-of journey for women, was undertaken over 7 months by sleigh, canal barge, wagon, river sternwheeler, horseback and foot. The journey was not only arduous, it was also dangerous for a woman, as she was the first female many of the mountain men had seen in years.

Narcissa had always dreamed of becoming a missionary, but being an unmarried woman, this was impossible. After dr. Marcus Whitman visited Narcissa's family in Angelica, New York in 1836, they agreed to be married. Whether this was a marriage of convenience is not clear, but Narcissa speaks full of respect and love about her husbands in her letters. The couple left for Oregon on the day following their wedding.

The mission they started (near present day Walla Walla in Washington) became an important stopping point along the Oregon Trail. Narcissa and Marcus Whitman had one daughter, Alice, who drowned in a nearby river when she was only two. Despite this devastating loss, Narcissa opened her house and heart to many other children, among whom the seven Sager orphans, whose parents had both died while travelling the Oregon Trail.

The reason for posting about Narcissa Whitman in my 100 things challenge was because of the novel The Doctor's Lady by Jody Hedlund, which I read recently. Though fictional, it is based largely on the journal and letters of Narcissa Whitman.