Process Paper
Matthew Maschio
Process Paper
My topic is how death of Marcus Whitman affected relationships with Cayuse Indians. I chose this topic because I wondered how the white settlers and the Native Americans developed their relationship with each other.
I started my research wanting to learn about the development of the state of Oregon. That led me to the Cayuse Massacre. I used “Early Oregon Scenes: A Pioneer Narrative (In Three Parts, I.): Overload Trail, 1848” by James D. Miller. This was a journal that gave me a traveler’s perspective, although this was after Marcus Whitman’s death. This article can be found on JSTOR. Next, I used information from a documentary by Ken Burns called “The West” to give me information about people who went to the West and their relationship with Native Indians. Lastly, I looked at letters by Narcissa Whitman to learn what her perspective was on life in Waiilaptu and how the Cayuse Indians behaved and what their culture was like. My best source was “Early Oregon Scenes: A Pioneer Narrative (In Three Parts, I.): Overload Trail, 1848” because it is a journal about a child who heard rumors about potential war in Oregon. This source helps show the effects of the Marcus Whitman massacre, and how the relationships between white settlers and the Cayuse Indians already were damaged.
On November 29th 1847, the Cayuse Indian leader Tikoukaikt and several other Cayuse Indians entered Marcus and Narcissa’s house and killed them and twelve others. Many events lead to the brutal massacre and effected the settlement of the west. First, when the Whitmans arrived for missionary purposes, the tension between the white settlers and the Cayuse intensified because they lacked an understanding of each other’s culture. There was also a sudden outbreak of measles that nearly abolished the Cayuse tribe. Finally, Joe Lewis a Canadian man known for his troublesome behavior, spread false rumors about the Whitmans to the Indians which escalated the tension. As a result, Tikoukaikt lead some of the Cayuse tribe members into the Whitman residence to slaughter and burn the missionary building they lived in. The outcome of this event lead to an unorganized group of militia men which hunted the Cayuse tribe down. Rumors about the massacre that spread east belated the growth and development of the Oregon Territory and severely affected the relationships between the Native Americans and the White settlers. Also, the white settlers and Native American Indians both developed stereotypes of each other. My main arguments in my thesis was that the Whitman massacre was caused by the rejection of the Cayuse culture by the Whitmans, the black measles outbreak that nearly exterminated the Cayuse tribe, and the rumors spread by Joe Lewis. As a result, the Cayuse massacred the Whitmans, and by doing so, it made the relationships between Natives Indians and White settlers tense in the pacific northwest, and it stunted the growth of the Oregon Territory.
Process Paper
My topic is how death of Marcus Whitman affected relationships with Cayuse Indians. I chose this topic because I wondered how the white settlers and the Native Americans developed their relationship with each other.
I started my research wanting to learn about the development of the state of Oregon. That led me to the Cayuse Massacre. I used “Early Oregon Scenes: A Pioneer Narrative (In Three Parts, I.): Overload Trail, 1848” by James D. Miller. This was a journal that gave me a traveler’s perspective, although this was after Marcus Whitman’s death. This article can be found on JSTOR. Next, I used information from a documentary by Ken Burns called “The West” to give me information about people who went to the West and their relationship with Native Indians. Lastly, I looked at letters by Narcissa Whitman to learn what her perspective was on life in Waiilaptu and how the Cayuse Indians behaved and what their culture was like. My best source was “Early Oregon Scenes: A Pioneer Narrative (In Three Parts, I.): Overload Trail, 1848” because it is a journal about a child who heard rumors about potential war in Oregon. This source helps show the effects of the Marcus Whitman massacre, and how the relationships between white settlers and the Cayuse Indians already were damaged.
On November 29th 1847, the Cayuse Indian leader Tikoukaikt and several other Cayuse Indians entered Marcus and Narcissa’s house and killed them and twelve others. Many events lead to the brutal massacre and effected the settlement of the west. First, when the Whitmans arrived for missionary purposes, the tension between the white settlers and the Cayuse intensified because they lacked an understanding of each other’s culture. There was also a sudden outbreak of measles that nearly abolished the Cayuse tribe. Finally, Joe Lewis a Canadian man known for his troublesome behavior, spread false rumors about the Whitmans to the Indians which escalated the tension. As a result, Tikoukaikt lead some of the Cayuse tribe members into the Whitman residence to slaughter and burn the missionary building they lived in. The outcome of this event lead to an unorganized group of militia men which hunted the Cayuse tribe down. Rumors about the massacre that spread east belated the growth and development of the Oregon Territory and severely affected the relationships between the Native Americans and the White settlers. Also, the white settlers and Native American Indians both developed stereotypes of each other. My main arguments in my thesis was that the Whitman massacre was caused by the rejection of the Cayuse culture by the Whitmans, the black measles outbreak that nearly exterminated the Cayuse tribe, and the rumors spread by Joe Lewis. As a result, the Cayuse massacred the Whitmans, and by doing so, it made the relationships between Natives Indians and White settlers tense in the pacific northwest, and it stunted the growth of the Oregon Territory.
Whitman Massacre Process Paper | |
File Size: | 25 kb |
File Type: | doc |