To the Editor of the Oregonian:
This being the thirty-seventh anniversary of the Whitman massacre, it seems not an inappropriate time in which to answer some of the aspersions cast upon the dead missionary by Mrs. F. F. Victor, through the columns of the Oregonian, in its issue of November 7th.
She therein accuses Dr. Whitman with falsehood, deception, office-seeking, trying to deprive the Indians of their lands, trying to enrich himself at their expense, and at the expense of the emigrants, yet has not one word of commendation for any act of his life. As thirty-seven years have passed since our valley was reddened by the blood of this man, to whom Mrs. Victor denies the crown of martyr, it would seem that she might have found a more graceful work than that of dragging the murdered missionary from his grave, to heap such opprobrium on his memory as hitherto has never been done, even by his most bitter enemy. In her ghoulish work Mrs. Victor outdoes all other calumniators of the dead. For more than forty years it has been claimed by his most intimate acquaintances and co-workers in the missionary cause, that in the winter of 1842-3 Dr. Whitman did make the horseback journey from here to the Atlantic States, and that he did visit Washington city, for the purpose of showing to the government the importance of Oregon as related to the United States. Also, that he was, in some degree at least, successful in the object of his mission. If this be true, his countrymen owe him a debt of gratitude that they do not seem in a hurry to pay, as his bones lie in a neglected grave, unmarked by stone or tablet. The idea is scouted that this "uncouth missionary" could have enlightened Daniel Webster about Oregon, because Mr. Webster had aspired to the presidency in 1836.
