History & Memory - Facts and Interpretation

The National Park Service (NPS) oversees, preserves and promotes historic sites, parks and other spaces all across the United States. In 2011, out of the twenty-two thousand employees within its service, only one hundred and eighty-two were formerly employed as historians. In that same year the NPS published its report Imperiled Promise: The State of History in the National Park Service which had been sent to fifteen hundred members, (both current and retired,) of the park service. Five hundred and forty-four of those surveyed responded and generated over eight hundred pages of discursive replies. Out of all that discussion there emerged a fairly common thread - the National Park Service was doing a pretty bad job of maintaining historic credibility. Many noted that its content was 'sporadic' - some sites were doing a great job but many others were doing a really poor one. One respondent accused them of "timid interpretation."

But is this fair? The NPS was originally charged with preserving the parks and markers without worrying too much about cultural interpretation or current education. It spent time and man-power on the upkeep of sites that were deemed historically significant and would be looked at by the American public as a part of their shared past. With so much money spent on simply preserving those sites, is it even possible to stay current with changes in historical memory? The report suggests yes. Obviously more money is needed and better training for all involved but the biggest change would be hiring additional historians and allowing them to do their job alongside other non-NPS historians.

One historic site the park service oversees is the Whitman Mission, originally known as Wailaptu in Walla Walla. The Whitman Mission, established by Narcissa and Marcus Whitman with the blessing of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, was set up in 1836. There were several other such missions in the region established around the same time including the Tshimakain Mission overseen by another famous couple, Mary and Elkanah Walker. The missionaries had all left the East coast to move west into a territory that was still fairly unknown. Fur traders used the trading routes from Canada into Washington and Oregon but this was one of the first times white men and women had set up homes in order to civilize and convert the Native tribes in that area.

The Whitman's spent ten years with the Cayuse Indians - their intent to convert not only their spiritual lives but their tribal customs also. They wanted the Cayuse to settle down and grow crops, to attend church and to seek salvation for their 'wickedness.' The tribes were initially curious and some of them did indeed convert to Christianity but their curiosity and patience wore thin when more missions continued to settle bringing disease. In 1847, after years of living reasonably peacefully with the Whitman's, a band of Indians descended upon the Mission and slaughtered twelve people including Narcissa and Marcus.

And that is often how the Whitman Mission is remembered. Two missionaries filled with zeal and a desire to teach and convert the Cayuse tribes were butchered for their efforts. Of course, there are always two sides to a story and it is how we remember and memorialize this site today that is interesting. Scholars have moved away from calling it the 'Whitman Massacre' and instead use terms such as 'conflict' or 'tragedy.' The Whitman's may have originally desired to do good works but they lacked any cultural understanding of the tribes they administered to and were impatient and often angry with them. The Cayuse were unimpressed. After their members began dying of diseases brought with other settlers they had had enough. It is thought that the Indians who killed the twelve people may have actually been from a neighboring tribe but the fact remains, twelve people lost their lives and around fifty-two were captured and held for ransom.

The NPS keeps most of the bloody details out of the public eye and only barely touches upon the underlying reasons for the killings. School children learn about the tribes as well as the mission but it's a pretty sanitized program. The Whitman College itself used to devote an annual celebration to the Mission and freshman students were required to visit the Mission. Today, the college and the town have tried to move past this part of their history.