ABCFM Missionaries

A1835 map of what would become the United States. The ABCFM Missionaries were travelling to leave the United States to enter the Oregon Country.

Journey to a Foreign Country

If you were to visit Whitman Mission National Historic Site, how far would your journey here take? Coming from western New York, Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and the other missionaries who joined them traveled over 2,000 miles, almost coast to coast across the country. In fact, when they made the trip in 1836, it wasn’t one country at all. These would-be missionaries were venturing far beyond the boundaries of the United States and through many different Indigenous nations as they headed towards the western part of the North American continent. These individuals were sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) to the Oregon Country to set up missions among the many Native nations not a part of the United States or the United Kingdom.

 

What Was the ABCFM and Why Send Missionaries?

The ABCFM was a Protestant Christian organization that sent missionaries to foreign countries both far and near. In 1833, a story was published in The Christian Advocate that inspired a wave of missionary efforts in Oregon Country. According to the article, four Flathead Indians traveled across the continent to visit William Clark in hopes of obtaining a copy of the Bible.

Four men, three of whom were actually Nez Perce, did in fact visit Clark, but the details of the visit were largely distorted based on second-hand knowledge of the interaction. These exaggerated reports inspired many hopeful missionaries from different sects of Christianity but also filled them with unrealistic expectations for the fieldwork that lay ahead.

Nevertheless, the article in The Christian Advocate was considered by many to be a sign that they must go forth and spread the word of God. Churches and missionary organizations, including the ABCFM, began searching for people to send westward. But who would be willing to leave everything that was familiar behind? Who would be capable of creating a self-sufficient mission?

 

The Missionaries and Mission Stations are Chosen

The ABCFM sent Reverend Samuel Parker to find individuals willing to establish a mission in Oregon Country. He found Narcissa Prentiss and Marcus Whitman. Eliza and Henry Spalding were already set to be ABCFM missionaries to the Osage Nation but were transferred to serve as members of the Oregon party as well. William H. Gray was the final member to be added to the initial Oregon mission effort. They were later joined by the Walkers, Eells, Smiths, and Rogers.

While the ABCFM wanted missionaries who would be self-driven, their appointees for this mission resulted in numerous quarrels over who would be in charge. As a result, five different stations were established in what is modern-day Washington and Idaho. Splitting into multiple stations quelled some of the conflict over leadership and included the bonus of reaching more potential converts, but it also made self-sufficiency harder to obtain as resources had to be stretched across all the mission stations.