Are These the Whitmans?

 

Based on Waiilatpu Press article
Vol. 16, No. 1
Winter, 1995

Park Rangers are looking at pieces of broken glass for the answer to a 25 year old question. Are two sketches in the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada, really sketches of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman? If so, they are the only two likenesses of the Whitmans that were ever made while they lived at Whitman Mission. The story begins with the Canadian artist Paul Kane, who visited Whitman Mission in July, 1847.

Paul Kane had spent the winter of 1842 in London, England, where he met the American artist George Catlin. Catlin had documented the culture of the American Indian with his pictures and had a gallery of his paintings in London. Kane was fascinated by Catlin's paintings. Returning to Canada, Kane found the Indian way of life was disappearing. He decided to do as Catlin had done and record what remained of Canadian Indians' way of life.

Sir George Simpson, Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, permitted Kane to travel west with the company's fur brigade. They left on May 9, 1846. After crossing the Rocky Mountains, Kane continued along the Columbia River to Oregon and arrived at Fort Vancouver on December 6, 1846. He spent the winter sketching the region around Fort Vancouver.

On July 18, 1847, Kane started for Whitman's Mission. In Wanderings of an Artist, Kane wrote that he remained at Whitman Mission four days, but his journal states that he stayed two days. Dr. Whitman accompanied Kane to the lodge of Tiloukaikt and Tomahas (two of the Cayuse who were to kill Whitman 4 months later) where Kane sketched them.

Among the Kane sketches in the Royal Ontario Museum is one labeled "The Whitman Mission." Kane does not mention sketching the mission's "T"-shaped house in his journal, but it would appear that he had. Neither did he mention sketching Marcus and Narcissa Whitman. Kane did not label or give titles to everything he drew.

Ross Woodbridge, a student of the Whitman story, went to the Royal Ontario Museum to study a collection of 500 Kane sketches and paintings. He was hoping to find something of interest about the Whitmans. He not only found the drawing of the Mission House, but also two sketches that resembled the Whitman and Prentiss (Narcissa's) families. The resemblances are so striking that many believe they are the Whitmans themselves. From those images found by Woodbridge in the Royal Ontario Museum, the artist Drury Haight painted portraits of the Marcus and Narcissa based on the sketches. The paintings hang in the lobby of Whitman Mission National Historic Site Visitor Center.

But could one really know? Is there any proof? Could these be the only sketches drawn from life of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman? Many artists have painted the Whitmans, using descriptions written by people who stayed at the mission, or who were assisted by relatives of Marcus or Narcissa who had last seen the missionaries in New York, before they left for the Oregon Country. It is not surprising that all the portraits are different.

We do not know which image of Marcus and of Narcissa is most accurate. No one with the "new" technique of photography came to Whitman Mission before the Whitmans' deaths in November, 1847. The sketches were torn or cut from a larger sketch book. The sketch of "Narcissa" is about 4" by 5 1/8", with the pupils of her eyes only ¼" apart. The "Marcus" sketch is about 3 ½" by 4 7/8" with the distance from his chin to his eye at ½". These are small sketches!

In the Kane sketch of "Narcissa" is the vague outline of a large fruit tray or compote (this does not appear in the Haight painting). It appears that there is a base, a stem, and then an essentially flat, circular tray with about a one inch lip or rim along the circumference. If we can find the compote in the artifact collection that was excavated from the mission, then we would have some strong evidence that the sketch of "Narcissa" with the compote actually did come from Whitman Mission.

When the Whitmans were killed, some of the buildings were ransacked, and many of the Whitman's possessions were destroyed. A glass compote, if it did exist, would probably not survive the destruction that occurred November 29, 1847. Archeologists could expect to find the solid glass stem, most fragments of the glass base, and at least some of the glass tray, especially the curved rim pieces. The compote glass should be distinctive from flat window glass, because it should have regular lines or grooves in it, or some kind of decoration, and be thicker than window glass fragments in the collection.

Every piece of glass in the artifact collection must be inspected for this project. Flat fragments of window glass will be set aside, then pieces that could have come from the base and the tray of the compote hopefully can be identified. Three glass stems have already been located - the easiest part of a compote to identify, and also the strongest.

It will take some time to study every piece of glass. Out of the 35,000 item collection there are approximately 6,000 artifacts made of glass. The artifact collection is one of the most important resources at the park.

Park rangers are dedicated to preserving the artifacts, while using them in an effort to support the circumstantial evidence that already exists. Rangers will be able to provide visitors with new information about Marcus and Narcissa Whitman as the collections are studied.