years by real admirers of Whitman who have regretted the false aspects that they gave the life and character of the heroic pioneer and missionary. The completest disproof is that of Professor William I. Marshall, recently published in two volumes by Lowman & Hanford Co. of Seattle.
Mr. Marshall was a very persistent prober after facts of Oregon history and equally persistent in combating authors of the "legend." In 1895 he wrote Mr. Fiske a letter of eight pages, closely typewritten, exposing details of the "legend." This Mr. Fiske acknowledged with thanks and asked for more. Mr. Marshall later supplied Mr. Fiske with further information. It seems evident that Mr. Marshall gave Mr. Fiske much of the evidence on which he based the, revision of his Astoria address.
The present writer, believing himself a faithful admirer of Whitman's character and work in the acquisition of Oregon, offers the foregoing for the sake of Whitman's place in verified history. The writer feels that the time is here when this subject can be examined free from the controversy that has been urged during many years.
John Fiske's Original Version of Whitman's Missionary Enterprise Given in Oration at Astoria, May 11, 1892.
"In that same year, 1832, four Flathead Indians made a pilgrimage to St. Louis, we are told, in search of the white man's book of salvation. What manner of patent medicine their savage head may have fancied the sacred volume to contain, whether it would give them ample hunting grounds or ward off the dreaded tomahawk and still more dreaded incantations of the next hostile tribe, it would be hard to say; but the incident attracted the attention of the American Board of Missions and led to the sending of missionaries to the Indians of Oregon. Among these the coming of the Reverend Henry Spalding and Doctor Marcus Whitman, with their wives, may be said to mark the beginning of a new era in the taking possession of the country. It was in September, 1836, that they reached Fort Walla Walla, after their arduous journey.
One of the most picturesque scenes in the early history of
