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1. See T. R. Garth, "The Archeological Excavation of Waiilatpu Mission," Oregon Historical Quarterly, XLIX (1948), 117-36. 

2. The Indians had a near pathological fear of epidemics, which in the past had devastated Indian tribes throughout the Northwest. Whole villages were sometimes wiped out. See L. M. Scott, "Indian Diseases as Aids to Pacific Northwest Settlement," Oregon Historical Quarterly, XXIX (1928), 144-61. [Reprinted from PACIFIC NORTHWEST QUARTERLY, Vol. 40, No. 4, October, 1949] 

3. Archeological work was carried on under the auspices of the National Park Service. 

4. Floor 4 is the packed virgin soil--compacted by the walking back and forth of missionaries, Indians, and immigrants during the Mission period (1836-1847). (See Figure 1.)

5. In some areas two levels of floor 3A are recognizable. It is conceivable that the first or lowest of these represents the level first walked on by the soldiers of 1848 and the second or higher one the level walked on after they had begun reconstructing the building and shortly before they had put in a board floor. It is on this higher level that the second layer of ash is encountered along with charred flooring.

6. Floor 3 represents the ground level (surface) from about 1856 to 1872.

7. Mrs. Whitman to her mother, May 2, 1840. Transactions of the Oregon Pioneer Association (1891), 136.

8. Mrs. Whitman to her parents, April 11, 1838, in C. M. Drury, Marcus Whitman, M.D., Pioneer and Martyr (Caldwell, Idaho, 1937), 187.

9. H. H. Spalding, "Property Belonging to the A.B.C.F.M., and Pertaining to the Waiilatpu Mission Station," in M. M. Richardson, The Whitman Mission, (Walla Walla, 1940) 150.

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10. Spalding, in Richardson, Whitman Mission, 150.

11. T. R. Garth, "Early Architecture in the Northwest," Pacific Northwest Quarterly, XXXVIII (1947), 224-27.

12. Nancy O. Jacobs, "Reminiscences of Josiah Osborn and His journey to the Pacific Coast and Life at the Whitman Mission," MS, Whitman College.

13. Of 18 charred joists analyzed 10 proved to be black cottonwood and 8 were ponderosa pine. Of 3 sleepers identified, 2 were ponderosa pine and one was cottonwood. We are indebted to Professor Harvey D. Erickson of the College of Forestry at the University of Washington for the identifications.

14. T. J. Farnham, Travels in the Great Western Prairies, in R. G. Thwaites, Early Western Travels, XXVIII (Cleveland, 1906), 333-37.

15. 41st, Congress, 3rd Session, Executive Document No. 37, 27 ff.

16. The inventory (Richardson, op. cit., 151) mentions an "Outkitchen with Store room above 20 x 24." The 20-foot width as well as the location of the description following an enumeration of items in the Indian Room of the Mission House might lead one to the conclusion that the outkitchen was part of the Mission House, i.e., that rooms I and K had been reconverted into an outkitchen. Although this is a possibility, the greatest weight of evidence points to the First House, a building 75 feet to the south, as being the outkitchen referred to in the inventory. Although this building was actually 30 by 36 feet, Spalding was often inaccurate as to the dimensions he quotes. Two years after the massacre it would be surprising if he could still accurately enumerate the dimensions of all buildings at the Whitman Mission, which he had only visited from time to time, his own mission being near present-day Lewiston, Idaho. Besides, in 1847 the First House may have been little used except as a storehouse and outkitchen in summer (this function is mentioned in letters), and so not well remembered by Spalding and others. If the outkitchen referred to in the inventory had been in rooms I and K, there would not have been much space for a storeroom above- as there was only a low attic here. The First House, on the contrary, had a half-story above the main part of the house. We found no evidence of a floor in rooms I and K, whereas the inventory lists elaborate flooring and joists for the outkitchen as well as a good fireplace, all of which were to be found in the First House.

17. Richardson, op. cit., 55.

18. Quantities of this charred rye grass were found in the course of the excavations.

19. Richardson, op. cit., 149-55.

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20. Miles Cannon, Waiilatpu, Its Rise and Fall (Boise, 1915), 112.

21. The windows probably had double-hung sashes that slid up and down to open similar to most present-day windows, though there is nothing to indicate this in the records.

22. Spalding also finished some of his house interiors in this manner. See Spalding's Diary, MS, Whitman College.

23. Spalding to Greene, October 15, 1842. Copy, Oregon Historical Society Collection.

24. Her father, Stephen Prentiss, was a prominent "Master carpenter" in New York.

25. The inventory. See Richardson, op. cit.

26. For an excellent contemporary appraisal of Mrs. Whitman's character see the letter by Rev. H. K. W. Perkins to Jane Prentiss, October 19, 1849. Drury, op. cit., 458-60.

27. She may have introduced the locust tree to eastern Washington, having requested locust seeds in one of her letters. "Locusts" are mentioned in the inventory of property at the mission. Richardson, op. cit., 149.

28. In mounting such a tooth, the old tooth was cut off flush with the gum. Then the porcelain tooth was mounted on a metal peg cemented into the stump of the old tooth.

29. A dance was held around one of the bottles, the Indian shamans performing to nullify its evil influence. Later the bottle was buried in a wooden box. See H. H. Spalding, "Early Oregon Missions," Walla Walla Statesman, February 9, 1866.