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Murder at the mission : a frontier killing, its legacy of lies, and the taking of the American West / Blaine Harden.

Harden, Blaine, (author.).

Summary:
"The New York Times bestselling author of Escape From Camp 14 returns with the riveting and revealing story of one of the most persistent "alternative facts" in American history: the story of a missionary, a tribe, a massacre, and a myth that shaped the American West In 1836, two missionaries and their wives were among the first Americans to cross the Rockies by covered wagon on what would become the Oregon Trail. Dr. Marcus Whitman and Reverend Henry Spalding were headed to present-day Washington state and Idaho, where they aimed to convert members of the Cayuse and Nez Perce tribes. Both would fail spectacularly as missionaries. But Spalding would succeed as a propagandist, inventing a story that recast his friend as a hero, and helped to fuel the massive westward migration that would eventually lead to the devastation of those they had purportedly set out to save. As Spalding told it, after uncovering a British and Catholic plot to steal the Oregon Territory from the United States, Whitman undertook a heroic solo ride across the country to alert the President. In fact, he had traveled to Washington to save his own job. Soon after his return, Whitman, his wife, and eleven others were massacred by a group of Cayuse. Though they had ample reason--Whitman supported the explosion of white migration that was encroaching on their territory, and seemed to blame for a deadly measles outbreak--the Cayuse were portrayed as murderous savages. Five were executed. This fascinating, impeccably researched narrative traces the ripple effect of these events across the century that followed. While the Cayuse eventually lost the vast majority of their territory, thanks to the efforts of Spalding and others who turned the story to their own purposes, Whitman was celebrated well into the middle of the 20th century for having "saved Oregon." Accounts of his heroic exploits appeared in congressional documents, The New York Times, and Life magazine, and became a central founding myth of the Pacific Northwest. Exposing the hucksterism and self-interest at the root of American myth-making, Murder at the Mission reminds us of the cost of American expansion, and of the problems that can arise when history is told only by the victors"-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780525561668
  • ISBN: 0525561668
  • Physical Description: xxxi, 432 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm
  • Publisher: [New York] : Viking, [2021]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references (pages [409]-416) and index.
Subject: Whitman, Marcus, 1802-1847.
Spalding, Henry Harmon, 1803-1874.
Whitman Massacre, 1847.
Cayuse people > Missions > Northwest, Pacific.
Cayuse people > Columbia Plateau > History > 19th century.
Nez Percé people > Missions > Northwest, Pacific.
Nez Percé people > Columbia Plateau > History > 19th century.
Missionaries > Northwest, Pacific > History > 19th century.
Northwest, Pacific > History > 19th century.
Columbia Plateau > History > 19th century.

Available copies

  • 10 of 11 copies available at SPARK Libraries. (Show)

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 11 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Albright Memorial Library 979.5 HARDEN (Text) 50686015717692 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Cambria County Library 979.503 H259m (Text) 85131001777581 CACM Non-Fiction Available -
Gettysburg Library 979.5 HARDEN (Text) 35740635781420 Nonfiction Available -
Hamburg Public Library 979.5 HAR (Text) 33249023635984 Non-fiction Available -
Milton Public Library 979.503 HAR (Text) 33226000971335 MLTM Adult Non-Fiction Available -
New Castle Public Library 979.503 Harden (Text) 31902005421557 NWCM Non-Fiction Available -
Reading Public Library RPL - Main 979.503 Har (Text) 33223008733098 Non-fiction Available -
Shamokin Coal Twp Public Library 979.5 HAR (Text) 23175000560337 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Bethlehem Main Library 979.5 (Text) 33062009506487 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Dingman Township Library 979.5 HAR (Text) 30352101346517 Nonfiction Checked Out 04/12/2024


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