Mary Marsh Cason's Account of the Death of the Whitmans view entire page
Mary Cason lived northeast of Corvallis
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| Marcus Whitman |
I was born in Springfield, Illinois [Sangamon
County], in the year of 1836 [October 8th]. Soon after my birth my father moved
from Springfield and opened up a farm in the big bend of the Sangamon river. We
lived there until 1847 when there was a big rush for the Oregon Territory. My
father sold out, so in April of 1847 - Father, Mother, Brothers and I started
for Oregon, overland, a journey of near 3000 miles. It would take about six
months to make the trip. A person that has never made such a journey cannot
imagine the trials and hardships that they have to endure. I, myself, cannot
realize them for I was too young. It was more of a pleasure trip for me. I can't
remember many of the different places we passed, although I do remember
Independence Rock. It is a very large rock - nearly as large as one of the small
hills we see here. I went upon it and saw a great many names with dates carved
upon it. One or two long drives had to be made, driving night and day for water.
When Snake River was reached there was trouble in crossing. The wagon beds had
to be propped up high. One wagon and team got into deep water and floated down-
stream. My brother would not let me stay in the wagon but took me on a horse
with him across the river - guided by an Indian. Before we got to Bear River my
dear Mother took sick and when we reached Soda Springs - just a short distance
beyond, she died. We had to bury her there on the lonely plain, no coffin to lay
her in, not even a rude box - just wrapped in her bed. It was awful and a great
many more shared the same fate. We journeyed on until we reached Dr. Whitman's
Missionary Station in October. Father, being tired of travel, concluded to stop
there until spring - then go on to the Willamette Valley. He got employment from
the Doctor.
It was on the 29th of November, about 2 o'clock in the afternoon that the
Indians broke out and murdered the Doctor and Mrs. Whitman and eight others. Six
families were living in adobe (unk.) not far from the doctor's house. Father and
I occupied an upper-room, where we cooked our meals and slept. He had come in
and had his dinner, his last dinner, and had gone to work - attending the grist
mill. That was the last time that I ever say my poor dear father.
I was washing the dishes when I heard the report of a gun. It was the gun that
killed Gillion, the tailor. He was doing some sewing of some kind when an Indian
stood in the door and shot him. At the same time the horrible work was going on
outside. I and some others went upstairs where we could look from a window and
see a part of the conflict near the Doctor's house. Three or four men were
butchering a beef there. I saw them engaged with quite a number of Indians. Mr.
Kimball was dealing hard with several, he having an axe to fight with. He fought
desperately for awhile but they killed him at last. I saw Mr. Hall chased by an
Indian with an uplifed tomahawk (the Indian on a horse) but Mr. Hall made his
escape. Meanwhile Mrs. Whitman had barred the doors and windows to keep them out
of the house - but they broke in anyway. I saw them break into the house, led by
Joe Lewis, the instigator of the trouble. There they finished their bloody work
for that day. Mr. Sails and Beverly were sick and were not killed that day. A
week later they were killed on their beds. Afterwards, I saw Beverly laying
outside the house with his head almost torn from his body. He laid there all
night. All of the dead bodies were buried in one grave by the four men who were
not killed - Elam Young, his two sons and Mr. Smith. When the Indians killed the
two sick men I was so freightened I ran to an Indian for protection - one who
claimed to be friendly.
After the horrible work was done there were nearly 50 widows and orphans in
captivity - expecting any time to share the same fate of the others, but we were
spared - only to endure the fear, suspense and cruel treatment that an Indian is
capable of inflicting. For one month the prisoners were kept well guarded and
made to work. One old fellow put me to knitting for him a pair of long - legged
socks. I got one nearly made when Governor Ogden of the Hudson Bay Company came
to our relief and bought us from the heathens and took us away. We went in
wagons to Fort Wallila (?). The first day there we were put in batteaux and
started down the river. The batteaux were open boats with canvas to spread over
the top to keep the rain out. Whenever a head showed up the Governor would
holler, "duck that head." I, for one, suffered with the cold and I
suppose the others did too, for we were so scant of clothing.
When we reached The Dalles the volunteers were there. My brother was one of them
as he had gone on down to the Valley in the fall. We journeyed on down the
Columbia and up the Willamette River to Oregon City. There we were turned loose
with thankful hearts that we had escaped the merciless foe. Most of the children
had their mothers but I was entirely alone among strangers. My brother being
with the volunteers, so I was left to the charity of the people. You know how an
orphan would fare among perfect strangers. They are soon not wanted any longer.
In 1849 my brother went to California, but before he left he found me a home
with Mrs. A.L. Lovejoy who was very careful of my welfare. There I remained
until I was married to James P. Cason, son of F.C. Cason, who crossed the plains
in '43.
When we arrived at Oregon City a lady gave me a piece of bread and mollasses. I
did enjoy it for bread was not very plentiful those days. There was plenty of
salmon and sometimes boiled wheat for a change.
I do not know how many of the survivors of that massacre are living that are as
old as I am. I have a picture of Doctor Whitman's buildings and of the neglected
grave in which he and the others are buried.
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| For a generation: the Whitman gravesite: an overturned wagon and a mound of dirt. |
The Americans demanded the Cayuse turn over the alleged murderers of the Whitmans or the Cayuse would be wiped out. Since no specific individuals were named, the Cayuse nation turned over 5 individuals. Joe Meek says that when he asked them why they gave themselves up, they replied: "Didn't your Savior give his life for your people?"
The Indictment
The Jurors of the United States, within and for said
District, on their oath present: That on the twenty ninth day of November in the
year of our Lord on thousand eight hundred and forty seven, at Wai-it-at-pu in
said county, the said place being then and there in the Indian country certain
Indians named Telakite, Tomahas, otherwise called the murder, Clokomas,
Isiaasheluckas, Isholhot, and Kiamasumkin, with 
with
certain other Indians whose names to the Jurors are unknown, with force and arms , in and upon one Narcissa Whitman, she not then and there being an Indian, feloniously, wilfully, and of their malice aforethought, did make an assault, and that the said Indians, certain guns, muskets, and pistols, each of the same then and there being loaded and charged with gunpowder and bullets, which guns, muskets, and pistols, they the said Indians in their hands then and there had and held to, against, and upon the body of the said Naricissa Whitman, then and there feloniously, wilfully, and of their malice aforethought did shoot and discharge, and that the said Indians with the bullets aforesaid, out of the muskets, guns and pistols aforesaid, then and there by force of the gunpowder shot and sent forth as aforesaid, the said Narcissa Whitman, in and upon the body of her the said Narcissa Whitman, then and there wilfully, feloniously, and of their malice aforethought, did strike, penetrate and wound, giving to the said Narcissa Whitman then and there with bullets aforesaid so as aforesaid, shot, discharged an sent forth out of the muskets, guns, and pistols aforesaid, by the said Indians in and upon the body of the said Narcissa Whitman, several mortal wounds. of which said mortal wounds, the said Narcissa Whitman then and there died. And so the jurors aforesaid upon their oath aforesaid do say that the said Telakite, Tomahas, otherwise called the murderer, Clokomas, Isiaasheluckas, Isholhot, and Kiamasumkin, with certain Indians whose names to the said Jurors are unknown, her the said Narcissa Whitman did then and there in manner and form aforesaid feloniusly, wilfully and of their malice aforethought,kill and murder, and then and there in and upon the body of said Narcissa Whitman, did commit the crime of wilful murder, in manner and form aforesaid, against the peace and dignity of the said United States, and contrary to the fore of the statute in such case made and provided.
And the Jurors aforesaid, on their oath aforesaid, do further present, that on the twenty ninth day of November in the year of our Lord on thousand eight hundred and forty seven, at Wai-it-at-pu in said county and district , the said place being then and there in the Indian country, certain Indians named Telakite, Tomahas, otherwise called the murder, Clokomas, Isiaasheluckas, Isholhot, and Kiamasumkin, with certain other Indians whose names to the said Jurors are unknown, with force and arms, in and upon one Narcissa Whitman, she not then and there being an Indian, feloniously, wilfully, and of their malice aforethought, did make an assault, and that the said Indians, with certain knives, tomahawks, and other weapons as yet unknown to said Jurors, which said knives, tomahawks, and weapons, the said Indians then and there in their hands had and held, her the said Narcissa Whitman, in and upon her head, neck, shoulders, breast, and back, then and there feloniously, wilfully and of their malice aforesaid did strike, cut, and thrust, giving to the said Narcissa Whitman then and there with the knives, tomahawks and weapons aforesaid, in and upon the body of her the said Narcissa Whitman, several mortal wounds, of which said mortal wounds the said Narcissa Whitman then and there died: and so the Jurors aforesaid upon their oath aforesaid, do say that the said Telakite, Tomahas otherwise called the murderer, Clokomas, Isiaasheluckas, Isholhot, and Kiamasumkin, with certain other Indians whose names to said Jurors are unknown, her the said Narcissa Whitman , in manner and form aforesaid , then and there feloniously wilfully and of their malice aforethought did kill and murder, and did then and there, upon the body of the said Narcissa Whitman, in manner and form aforesaid, commit the crime of wilful murder,
Against the Peace and Dignity of the said United States, and contrary to the form of the Statute in such case made and provided.
A true Bill.
F.W. Pettygrove Foreman
Amory Holbrook U.S. Attorney, for District of Oregon
Testimony of Dr. John McLoughlin, head factor,Hudson Bay Company, Fort Vancouver; founder, Oregon City; voted by the Oregon State Legislature as 'the Father of Oregon'(click here):
Dr. John McLoughlin, having been called on the part of the said Defendants testified that in the year eighteen hundred and forty or eighteen hundred and forty one he warned the said Whitman of his danger in residing among the Cayuse people that he invited him to come and spend the winter with him at Vancouver an that in the spring he the said Whitman could go to the Willamette that if he the said Whitman would absent himself from the said people for two years they would feel his loss and invite him to return which he could do in safety He warned him against giving medicine to Indians as they Indians killed their medicine men.
Defendant's Request for a Witness's Presence
The United States }
vs }
Telokite et al }
Telokite
One of the defendants makes oath that a certain Indian named Quishem now in the Cayuse country he thinks will be a material witness for the defendants in this case. That the materiality of said witness was not known in time to have him in attendance at this term of the court. He expects & believes that said witness will prove that the late Dr Whitman administered medi-cines to may of the Cayuse Indians and that afterwards a large number of them died, including amongst them the wives and children of some of these defendants. He expects further to prove by said witness that a certain Joseph Lewis, who resided at Waiilatpu informed these defendants a few days before the 29 November 1847 that the Cayuse Indians were dying in consequence of poison being administered to them by the late Marcus Whitman and he had heard Dr. Whitman say that he would kill off all of the Cayuse Indians by the coming of the ensuing spring-that he would then have their horses and lands. Witness will also prove it is the law of the Cayuse Indians to kill bad medicine men.
Oregon City, May 24, A.D. 1850
United States vs.Telakite
Tomahas, or murderer
Clokamus
Isiaasheluckas
Kiamasumkin
We as petitt Jurors in the above case find the Defendants Telakite Tomahas otherwise called the murderer Clokamus Isiaasheluaas and Kiamasumkin guilty of the charge as set forth in the indictment.
[signatures of jurors: Hiram Straight, Forman, Joseph Parrot, J.T. Hunsaker, William A. Cason, Andrew Jackson, Albion, Post, Samuel Welch, Joseph Olfrey, John Densmore, Anson Cone, John Ellenburgh, A.B. Holcomb]
Transcript of the appeal motion:
The United States vs.Telekite et al
Motion for a new Trial
The Defendent Telokite, Tomahas, Clockamas, Isiaaskelukas, Kiamiasumkin come and say that they court ought to grant them a new trial for the reasons following -to wit -
1st that the crime charged in the Indictment was not proved to have been committed within the County for Clackamas, the Territory of Oregon or the jurisdiction for the Court.
2nd that their is an error in the charge of the court to wit- "that there is no necessity to prove that the facts given in evidence occurred in the place alleged in the Indictment it is sufficient that they occurred within the County or other extent of the courts jurisdiction if the evidence raised a violent presumption that the offence which the prisoners were indicted (was?) committed in the District where they are tried it is sufficient" And that that part of the charge of the Court in which the Court said "that the Jury might infer that the surrender of the Defendants by the Cayuse nation as the murderers the nation knowing best who those murderers were, as an official fact communicated by him to the Jury should go to the Jury, and be received by them as evidence of the identity of the accused the Honorable O.C. Pratt not having been sworn and stated the same in evidence and tat there was no evidence before this court that the Cayuse nation had surrender the Defendents as the murderers.
Teloquoit his mark
Tomahas his mark
Clokamas his mark
Isiaasheluckas his mark
Kiamasumkin
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| the Assassination of Marcus Whitman": from Marcus Whitman M.D.: Pioneer and Martyr by Clifford Merrill Drury. There were many lurid stories circulated about the killings, some true, some not. For example, Joe Meek, who executed the convicted men, says he stepped on the knot around the neck of the man who had killed his daughter Helen Mar (named after a character in Scottish Chieftains, a novel popular with fur trappers click here). If he did so, it was an act of cruely. Meeks daughter Helen, who had boarded with the Whitmans, actually died of the flu several days after the killings. |
- Court Documents from Clackamas County District Court