The bodies of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman,
and others killed on November 29-30, 1847
are buried under the marble tombstone on the right.
The headstone on the left marks the resting
place of William Gray and his wife.

Walking towards the Shaft Hill from the Visitor Center, there is a fenced off area that is a small cemetery. There is a large marble tombstone with words and names inscribed on what has become known as the Great Grave--

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF

MARCUS WHITMAN

NARCISSA PRENTISS
WHITMAN

ANDREW ROGERS JR.

LUCIEN SAUNDERS

NATHAN KIMBALL

CROCKETT A. BEWLEY

ISAAC GILLEN

JOHN SAGER

FRANCIS SAGER

JACOB HOFFMAN

MARSH

AMOS SALES

JACOB D. HALL

_________________________

MASSACRED NEAR THIS SPOT
BY CAYUSE INDIANS

NOV. 29-30, 1847.

(Please note -- Isaac Gillen's last name should be spelled Gilliland. Jacob D. Hall should be Peter D. Hall).

The Great Grave houses the bodies of those killed at Whitman Mission on November 29 - 30, 1847. Previous to the placement of the marble tomb in 1897, the bodies had only been protected from wild animals by a mound of dirt and an overturned wagon. The current tombstone is in the same location chosen by the Oregon Volunteers in 1848. On the 50th anniversary of what was called the "Whitman Massacre," the bodies were re-interred in the permanent gravesite.

William Gray, an associate of Whitman's, had moved on to the Willamette Valley in 1842. After the Whitman's deaths and until his own death in 1889, he tried to raise money for a proper grave and a memorial to the American Board missionaries. Gray was buried in Astoria, Oregon, but was re-interred in 1916 at Waiilatpu, the place he had assisted Whitman in missioning to the Cayuse people.