November 29, 1847 was one of the darkest days in Pacific Northwest history. Presbyterian missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and 11 others who lived with them at their mission near what’s now Walla Walla died in an attack by members of the Cayuse tribe.
The Cayuse War
In the aftermath, American settlers and the U.S. Army launched a series of attacks that came to be known as the Cayuse War. Soon after that, Congress acted to designate Oregon Territory, comprising most of what’s now Oregon, Idaho and Washington, an official part of the United States, following a long delay.
In 1850, five Cayuse men were taken into custody for the Whitman murders and charged in the death of Marcus Whitman. After a brief trial, the men were convicted and then hanged at the old territorial capital of Oregon City, some 250 miles from the Cayuse homeland. What happened to the bodies of the “Cayuse Five” after the execution is not clear.
National Park Service Director has ‘Personal Connection’
“I have a strong personal connection,” said Charles Sams, former communications director for the Confederate Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and now director of the National Park Service. “My sixth-generation great-grandmother, who was married to a non-Indian, was the godmother to the Cayuse Five.”
“I think she had every intent as a Cayuse tribal member hoping to see that they would at least be sent home after they had been hung,” Sams continued. “And probably was very disappointed that they weren’t, because she knew the cultural significance of being placed back among the bones of your ancestors.”
The story of the Whitman Mission and the Cayuse is violent and complicated, even before the deaths there in November 1847. More than 170 years later, there are no clear-cut heroes or villains.
Forging Alliances in Search of the Cayuse Five
However, in recent years, Cayuse tribal members and officials with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (of which the Cayuse are a part), have been searching for healing and closure – and for justice – by working to locate the remains of the Cayuse Five and bring them home to Eastern Oregon. In this work, they have formed partnerships with academic researchers at the University of Oregon, and with elected officials in Oregon City.
Dedicating a Monument ‘Better Late Than Never’
One result of this new effort is that a monument was recently dedicated in Oregon City to commemorate the anniversary of the hanging, and to put down a permanent marker – when none had ever stood before – in tribute to the five Cayuse men who died there.
“It’s better late than never,” said Oregon City Mayor Denyse McGriff. “Oregon City has stepped up. We are sorry. We’re very deeply sorry,” Mayor McGriff continued. “And so this is really meaningful that we can come together as people to say something really bad happened.”
Teara Farrow Ferman is cultural resources manager for the tribe and a tribal member, and she took part in the recent dedication of the monument in Oregon City. She said the search is not so much about justice as it is about healing, and about making sure that the Cayuse Five know that they are still remembered.
“Just our presence in the area singing their songs, saying their names, us remembering them,” Farrow Ferman said, “they will hear that [and] they will know that we are going to continue looking for them.”
As the search for the graves of the Cayuse Five goes on – through archival records, old diaries, vintage maps as well as occasional field visits to investigate possible sites in Oregon City – Teara Farrow Ferman believes the search alone is a powerful thing, regardless of what the ultimate result might be.
“That’s healing for us,” Farrow Ferman said. “And I think it’s healing for them as well, to know that we haven’t forgotten them.”