Whitman Mission

 Uncle Devin loves to go places that you read about stuff under glass...aka-museums.  So we thought it would be a good time to check out the Whitman Mission while they were here this weekend.

The kids were excited to see an old Conestoga wagon and since there weren't any signs that said not to touch....

....we threw Bailey in the back and snapped a picture before she even realized what was going on!  Sometimes it is rough being the little one.

It was interesting to walk around the Whitman's Settlement and read about the history of the place, but we were sad that the building are not there any more.  They had stones marking out where the buildings and each room use to be, so the kids had fun checking the map and finding the location that Dr. Whitman died after being shot...

 ...and of course Narcissa Whitman. She was shot inside the house, but was able to make it outside before dying.

 Then Uncle Devin, Blake and I make the trek up the hill to the Whitman Monument and to the grave site they buried everyone who died that day.

We all knew the story of the Whitman Massacre but it was interesting to watch the film they had and learn that after a few years the Native Americans were getting tired of the Whitmans being there and even accused Dr. Whitman of poisoning their children when they began to die of things like small pox.  They were warned by leaders from all three of the Indian tribes and also some of their friends that if they wouldn't leave something bad would happen to them....unfortunately they didn't listen. They said that if they were to return home they would've been seen as failures and weren't willing to live with that stigma.  I'm guessing they didn't realize dying was the "something bad" that they warned would happen or they might have changed their minds.