On
Monday, November 29, 1847, a band of Cayuse led by Tilokaikt and Tomahas entered the
crowded mission compound. Most of the occupants were sick or needy immigrants wintering at
Waiilatpu. Several were orphaned children whose parents had died on the Oregon Trail.
Tilokaikt asked Whitman for medicine. When the doctor turned his back to get it, Tomahas
struck him in the head with a tomahawk. Throughout the mission grounds, warriors opened
fire killing thirteen people, including Narcissa Whitman. The Cayuse looted and burned the
mission buildings and held 47 women and children hostage for more than a month. The plan
to kill the Spaldings failed when they found protection among friendly Nez Perce.
Officials of the Hudson's Bay Company ransomed the captives
for tobacco, clothing and ammunition. They brought the women and children and the
Spaldings down river to the safety of Fort Vancouver. In the aftermath of the massacre,
the American Board closed its mission stations in the Northwest. The Spaldings, Walkers
and Eells moved to the Willamette Valley where Henry Spalding taught school and preached.
Eliza Spalding died there in 1851.
Cayuse War
Oregon settlers were furious when they learned of the massacre. A volunteer
militia of 500 riflemen pursued the Cayuse. Few battles were fought as the Cayuse fled
into the Blue Mountains. For two years, militiamen assailed the Cayuse. Many Indians died
due to exposure to the harsh elements and lack of food. Finally, the tribe surrendered
five warriors involved in the killing. They were tried, convicted and sentenced to death.
Tilokaikt, Tomahas and three other warriors were hanged in Oregon City in the spring of
1850.
The Nez Perce Revival
The government forbade Spalding to return to Lapwai for many years. When he
did return in October of 1871, 24 years after he was forced to leave, a great spiritual
awakening among the Nez Perce began. In less than 18 months, more than 600 people were
baptized and joined the church. "This is a glorious day," Spalding wrote,
"Bless the Lord, O my soul!"
In 1873, Spokan Garry invited 70-year-old Henry Spalding to preach to the
Spokane. He rode nearly 1,500 miles, preaching to the Spokane as they fished, hunted and
gathered roots. In the 1840s, the Walkers and Eells had worked with the tribe for nine
years without seeing one turn to Christ. During the summer of 1873, more than 300 Spokane
confessed faith in Jesus Christ and were baptized. "The labor has been fearfully
severe to ride so much on rough horses in my old age," Spalding wrote, "but my
heart has overflowed with praises to God and joy in his wonderful work." Henry
Spalding died in Lapwai in 1874, leaving behind several strong churches among the Nez
Perce and Spokane. This great spiritual awakening among the Plateau tribes is known as the
Nez Perce Revival. Several of the churches born out of the revival thrive to the present
day.
CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES ARRIVE
John McLoughlin wanted the Hudson's Bay Company to bring Roman
Catholic priests to the Northwest. Many of the retired French Canadian trappers living in
the Willamette Valley were Catholics. And McLoughlin wanted to encourage more British
settlers in the area without relying on the American missionaries for religious
instruction.
So in 1838, with the help of the Hudson's Bay Company, Roman Catholic
missionaries from Quebec, Francis Blanchet and Modeste Demers, arrived in the Northwest.
Both men were well suited for the work; they were diligent and had experience working with
Indians. They established St. Paul's Mission at French Prairie in the Willamette Valley,
St. Francis Mission in the Cowlitz Valley, St. John the Apostle Mission near Willamette
Falls and mission stations at Nisqually, Walla Walla, Okanogan, Colville and several other
places.
Blanchet and Demers traveled widely and preached to tribes on the coast, in
the lowlands and east of the Cascades. If the Indians were willing, the priests baptized
their children immediately. On several occasions they baptized hundreds of children at a
time. They taught the Indians to make the sign of the cross, recite short prayers and sing
canticles - short chants or hymns used in church services. The singing was essential. One
Catholic missionary said, "Without singing, the best things are of little value;
noise is essential to their enjoyment."
They encouraged the Indians to practice the songs, prayers and gestures in
their absence and teach them to others. This teaching-one-another strategy was very
effective. Blanchet often met Indians who had never seen a priest and yet were acquainted
with the sign of the cross and could sing a few canticles.
Later, Blanchet was ordained the first archbishop of the Northwest. He sailed
to Europe to raise funds and recruit more missionaries for the work. He returned in 1847
with 21 priests and nuns. They built schools and churches throughout the region.
Although Catholic missionaries found the Indians receptive to their forms of
worship, getting them to renounce their sins was another matter. One priest working among
the tribes of the Puget Sound wrote, "If to be a Christian it were only necessary to
know some prayers, and sing canticles, there is not one among them who would not adopt the
title; but an important point still to be gained is a change in their morals. As soon as
we touch this chord, their ardor is changed into indifference."
Despite frustrations and difficulties, Catholic missionaries labored to win the
Indians to the Catholic faith. One priest named Lionnet, working with the Chinook Indians
near Astoria, wrote his superior,
Francis Blanchet (top left), Peter John DeSmet (top right) and Modeste Demers traveled
throughout the Northwest proclaiming the Catholic faith to the Indians.
"My savages begin to communicate with the grace. God had put his arms around
them and their frightened course is opening to the light of truth…" Lionnet
baptized many Chinooks, but when he moved, they fell away. One local observer said that
the Chinooks had a general idea of the Catholic faith, "But no one believed it. In
the absence of the priest, they all returned to their old heathenism again."
Another prominent Catholic missionary was Peter John DeSmet. He and his helpers
worked among the Flatheads, Nez Perce and other tribes of the Columbia Plateau and the
Rocky Mountains. Their mission field stretched hundreds of miles across the mountain
ranges and valleys of the West. They founded many missions including Sacred Heart among
the Coeur d'Alene and St. Ignatius at the site of present-day Spokane. DeSmet came to be
called the "Missionary of the Rockies."
Mother Joseph
In 1856, Mother Joseph and four other Sisters of Providence came from
Montreal, Canada to the Northwest and began works of mercy to the Indians and settlers. As
a young girl, Mother Joseph excelled in all she did. She wanted to be a nun. When she
entered the convent at age 20, her father said...
The following sample is drawn from Chapter 6, Working the Land and Building Towns,
1850-1910. This sample describes the discrimination against the Chinese and the efforts
that Christian leaders took to try and prevent it, a part of the story left untold in
secular texts.
CHAPTER 6
WORKING THE LAND AND BUILDING TOWNS
...cotton from the east and south to ports on Puget Sound for shipping to China. Before
long, the Great Northern made huge profits, and Hill was able to purchase the financially
strapped Northern Pacific. Hill then controlled the two transcontinental railroads to the
Pacific Northwest.
Railroads brought an explosion in population. In 1883, the year the
Northern Pacific was completed, the population of Washington, Oregon and Idaho was 300,000
people. Just twenty years later, the population had increased over seven times to
2,140,000.
James Hill, built the Great Northern Railway and then bought the Northern Pacific
Railroad.
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE CHINESE
In the 1860s, thousands of Chinese men came to America to work on the Central
Pacific, the first transcontinental railroad. In 1871, when work began on the Northern
Pacific, 2,000 Chinese laborers came from San Francisco to grade and lay track from Kalama
on the Columbia River to Tacoma. After the railroads were constructed, the Chinese settled
in the towns of Puget Sound and Portland. They worked in the fields, logging camps and
fish canneries. They ran laundries and did manual labor that many whites were unwilling to
do. Some Chinese began businesses and retail shops of their own. In Idaho, half the miners
in 1870 were Chinese.
When tough economic times came, white resentment toward the Chinese grew. The
Knights of Labor, a workers' union active in the Northwest, blamed the Chinese for low
wages and few jobs. "Treason is better than to labor beside a Chinese slave,"
they said. Signs began to appear on the streets of Puget Sound cities stating: "The
Chinese Must Go!" Some residents resented the sight of pony-tailed Chinese working in
their conical straw hats. Tacoma, Seattle, Puyallup, Olympia and other towns called for
the expulsion of the Chinese. Many Chinese fled to Canada or Oregon in order to escape the
mounting tension.
Tacoma had the largest population of Chinese in Washington. In 1885, out of a
total population of 6,900, more than 700 were Chinese. The mayor of Tacoma and other civic
leaders agreed with the Knights of Labor that the city would be better off without the
Chinese. The leading newspaper in town hoped that Tacoma would soon be known as "a
town without a Chinaman." Threats against Chinese and vandalism against their
property increased.
Christian Leaders Defend the Chinese
Christian ministers rushed to the defense of the Chinese. The Protestant
ministers of Tacoma published a declaration of support for the Chinese and condemned the
idea of expulsion. They declared the expulsion order "prejudice and wrong."
"We are God's watchmen," the ministers wrote, "under oath to speak for
God." The Reverend W.D. McFarland defended the Chinese from his pulpit. When several
members of his congregation walked out in the middle of the sermon, he shouted after them,
"Go! Go! I will preach until the benches are empty." Thugs threatened to kill
McFarland; so for a time he wore a holster with two pistols.
Father Peter Hylebos, pastor of St. Leo's Catholic Church, carried a club
into the streets and warned men in his neighborhood against hurting the Chinese. "Go
about your business and may the grace of God go with you," Hylebos told them.
"And by the Eternal you will need it if you lay a violent finger on one of those
yellow brothers of yours."
But threats of expulsion and violence convinced hundreds of Chinese to flee
the city. On November 3, 1885, an armed mob in Tacoma rounded up the Chinese
and forced them onto a train bound for Portland. They stole property and burned Chinese
homes and businesses to the ground. Seattle and several other Northwest communities
followed suit. In Pierce City, Idaho, a mob lynched five Chinese men.
Portland had the largest population of Chinese immigrants in the Northwest,
numbering between 6,000 to 10,000 people. The Knights of Labor organized anti-Chinese
demonstrations and riots in Portland in 1886. Protesters smashed windows in Chinese shops
and threatened the Chinese with violence if they did not leave the city. However, white
business leaders resisted the Knights and soon crushed the anti-Chinese crusade. Still,
many Chinese fled Portland, returning to China or moving to the eastern half of the United
States where they were safe from the anti-Chinese fervor of the West Coast...
The following samples are drawn from Chapter 7, Two World Wars and One Great
Depression. The first reading is the chapter introduction on William Boeing, the second
sample contrasts Communist writer, Anna Louise Strong with Presbyterian minister, Mark
Matthews.
CHAPTER 7
TWO WORLD WARS AND ONE GREAT DEPRESSION
William Boeing, with mail pouch, and test pilot Eddie Hubbard, stand on a Lake Union
dock after completing the world's first international air mail flight in 1919. They
carried letters from Vancouver, B.C. to Seattle in a Boeing seaplane.
WILLIAM BOEING
The largest company in the Northwest during the 20th Century was born on July
4, 1914. On that day, a barnstorming pilot gave William Boeing, a Seattle businessman, a
ride in a seaplane. After several flights, Boeing told a friend, "I think we can
build a better airplane." Boeing took flying lessons, hired a designer and a mechanic
to build a plane, and the Boeing Airplane Company was underway.
Boeing owned a lumber company and large tracts of timberland. He also ran a
furniture factory and a boatyard. In those days, airplanes were constructed mostly from
wood, primarily spruce, because it was lightweight and durable. In less than two years,
Boeing and his partners had designed and built a quality seaplane. He used carpenters and
cabinet makers from his furniture factory to construct the wings, body and tail. Boeing,
himself, test piloted the seaplane from Lake Union on its first flight.
He promoted the plane to private companies and to the United States military.
The timing was perfect, because America had just entered the First World War in 1917, and
the military needed airplanes. The navy placed an order for 50 of Boeing's seaplanes. Not
long afterward the army ordered planes too. Rival companies could not match the low price
of Boeing airplanes because they had to pay market prices for spruce, while Boeing logged
and milled the wood from his own timberland.
After the war, orders for planes dried up. Boeing kept his employees busy making
furniture. His workers turned out dressers, tables and nightstands until demand for
airplanes returned. In the 1920s, the Boeing Company designed a fighter plane that the
army purchased. But the company struggled...
Although striking workers behaved peacefully, federal
troops were called in during the Seattle General Strike in February of 1919.
Anna Louise Strong;
From Christianity to Communism
Anna Louise Strong's ancestors were Pilgrims who arrived in the New World in
the 1630s. For 300 years their offspring prospered in America as earnest Christian
believers. Anna Louise's father, Sydney Strong, was a Congregational minister in Seattle.
Anna and her father wrote a series of pamphlets called "Bible Hero Classics."
The series was a great success and the pamphlets were used in Sunday school classes across
the country. But Anna Louise grew restless in Seattle and moved to New York.
She was heartsick by the terrible living quarters of the poor and the
dangerous and unhealthy working conditions of children. Strong befriended people who
believed that communism was the answer to the problems of the world. She threw her
energies into passing child labor laws, strengthening workers' unions and promoting
socialist causes. She stopped attending church and drifted from her Christian upbringing.
Strong returned to Seattle and joined the IWW, writing articles in support of
the Seattle General Strike and the Communist Revolution in Russia. In 1921, she visited Russia and befriended the communist leaders. For most of the rest of
her life, Strong lived and worked in the Soviet Union and China. She dedicated herself to
the promotion of communism throughout the world. She praised communist governments in
articles, books and newsletters. She called the United States an imperialist nation and a
source of evil in the world. "The USSR carries the great hope of mankind," she
wrote. She revered Mao, the communist leader of China, and wrote: "I am willing to
believe that Mao's works are the greatest and best yet appearing for the present epoch,
that he is 99.99 percent god, but not 100 percent."
When communist leaders persecuted Christians, closed churches and executed
hundreds of thousands of people, Strong said nothing. She died in China in 1970, at the
age of 84, far from her homeland, family and Christian roots. The Seattle Times newspaper,
commenting on her life, wrote, "What a woman of her brilliance, drive and public
spirit might have accomplished for her native America or her city of Seattle had she not
become an early and lifelong convert to the communist religion."
Mark Matthews, Seattle Minister
The most famous minister to serve in the Pacific Northwest was Mark Matthews,
pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Seattle from 1902 to 1940. When Pastor Matthews
arrived, the membership at First Presbyterian was 400. Before long, it grew to more than
9,000 members. Under his leadership, the church established 28 branch churches in the
area, including Japanese and Chinese congregations, which ran Sunday schools, worship
services and community outreach programs.
The six-foot-six-inch Matthews, who wore a tall top hat, became the most
widely recognized person in Seattle. Sightseeing guides in the 1920s and 1930s brought
tourists by the church and boasted, "Seattle's First Presbyterian Church -the largest
Protestant church in the world!"
Pastor Matthews stood firmly for the inerrancy of the Bible when liberal
theologians tried to undermine the faith. Liberals taught that the Bible was a book of
human origin written to teach good behavior. They said that Christ was a great moral
teacher, not God in human flesh. Matthews preached powerfully against these errors.
"Christianity is not a system of doctrine," he said, "nor is it a
beautifully wrought out moral code. It is the person Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God,
the living, pulsating Son of God."
Matthews believed that Christians must work to improve their communities. He spoke out against a corrupt mayor and police chief and led a
movement which saw them removed from office and sentenced to prison. Matthews received
death threats and warnings that his family would be harmed if he battled corruption and
criminal activity in the city. He bought two pearl-handled pistols for protection and
carried on the fight. He worked to stamp out gambling, prostitution and graft. He helped
to establish a juvenile justice system to reform young delinquents and keep them out of
adult prison. Scores of troubled youths were released to Pastor Matthews's personal care.
Many of these young men turned to Christ and went on to lead productive lives, thanks to
Matthews's guidance...
Mark Matthews (left), pastor of Seattle's First
Presbyterian Church, dedicated his life to spread the Gospel. Anna Louise Strong (right)
dedicated her life to spread communism.
The following are excerpts from Chapter 8
CHAPTER 8
RECENT TIMES (1945-Present)
"Be very careful, then, how you live not as unwise
but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." Ephesians
5:15-16
JIM ELLIOT, MISSIONARY MARTYR
On January 8, 1956, five American missionaries, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Nate
Saint, Pete Fleming and Roger Youderian, stood on a sandy bank of a river deep in the
jungles of Ecuador. They were waiting for the Aucas, a violent and isolated tribe never
before contacted by Christians. The men had worked for months trying to cultivate trust
with the Aucas. They had dropped gifts to the Aucas from a small airplane and left
presents for them in the jungle. They had learned a few words of greeting in the Auca
language. They hoped that they could befriend the Aucas and lead them to new life in Jesus
Christ. Now they had taken the bold step of flying to a clearing and making camp in the
heart of Auca territory.
One of the missionaries was a bright, athletic man named Jim Elliot. Elliot
grew up in Portland, Oregon, and was raised by his devout parents to love the Lord. He
reveled in the beauty of the Northwest and enjoyed hiking, canoeing and mountain climbing.
He climbed all the major peaks of the Cascade Mountains.
Elliot was determined to live a life dedicated to God's service. "Fix my
heart wholly, Lord, to follow Thee," he prayed. He tried to direct every activity to
God's glory. At Wheaton College, Elliot was a champion wrestler. "I wrestle," he
wrote, "solely for the strength and coordination of muscle that the body receives
while working out, with the ultimate end of presenting a more useful body as a living
sacrifice."
In college, he felt God's call to preach the good news of Jesus in South
America. He prepared for it by studying Spanish and majoring in Greek so that he could one
day translate the Bible into some unwritten language. When he sailed for South America in
1952, exhilaration in serving God overwhelmed him. "Joy, sheer joy, and thanksgiving
fill and encompass me," he wrote in his journal. "God has done and is doing all
I ever desired, much ...
The post-war baby-boom led to a building boom of public
elementary, middle and high schools. But the most striking growth in the last 25 years
came in Christian schools and home schooling...
Seattle's Michelle Akers leads the USA women's soccer team to victory in the finals of
the 1999 World Cup.
SPACE SHUTTLE TRAGEDIES
Since the United States Space Shuttle program began in 1981, two shuttle
missions have ended in disaster with the loss of all the crew. In both incidents, an
astronaut from Washington was killed.
Astronaut Francis "Dick" Scobee was born in Cle Elum, Washington in
1939. He graduated from Auburn High School and began a stellar career in the Air Force.
Scobee was selected into the elite astronaut program of NASA and became one of the first
Space Shuttle Commanders. Scobee was commanding the Challenger Space Shuttle mission on
January 24, 1986 when it exploded shortly after liftoff. Scobee and the entire crew were
killed. Francis Scobee elementary school in Auburn, Washington, is named in his honor.
Francis Scobee (left) from Auburn, Washington, and
Michael Anderson (right) from Spokane died in Space Shuttle accidents. Space Shuttle
Atlantis launches (center).
Astronaut Michael Anderson from Spokane was born in 1959. He graduated from Cheney High
School in Cheney, Washington, and earned a B.S. from the University of Washington in 1981.
He advanced rapidly as an Air Force officer and was selected for NASA and the Space
Shuttle program in 1994. Anderson served a 9-day mission on the Space Shuttle Endeavor in
1998. On February 1, 2003, Anderson perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia exploded
during entry, just minutes before the 16-day flight was scheduled to land.
The following samples from Chapter 9, Civil Government in the
Northwest, include the chapter introduction, unjust initiatives passed in the Northwest
and the pro-life organization, Human Life.
CHAPTER 9
CIVIL GOVERNMENT
"Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God,
honor the king." (1 Peter 2:17)
A BIBLICAL VIEW OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT
Government is the system of rule by which community members are directed and
restrained. There are many types of governments such as: family, church, school and
business. However, the topic of this chapter is civil government. Civil government is the
rule exercised by public officials, directing the affairs of all the citizens of a
community. Civil governments exist primarily to protect lives and property and preserve an
orderly society. The civil government accomplishes tasks that individuals are unable to do
alone.
The Bible lays the foundation for how Christians are to understand civil
government. The Scriptures proclaim: "The earth is the Lord's and everything in
it." (Psalm 24:1) He is the supreme ruler over all his creation. God, in his wisdom,
delegated some of his authority in the world to man. The Apostle Paul wrote,
"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority
except that which God has established." (Romans 13:1). In I Timothy 2:1, believers
are commanded to pray for all those in authority over them. When Christ commanded his
followers, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's," (Luke
20:25) he called Christians to submit to the civil government.
Giving to Caesar the things that are Caesar's requires Christians to pray for
and respect their leaders, pay taxes and obey the laws. Since the United States is a
representative democracy, each citizen has an important role to play. We not only submit
to our government officials, but we actively participate in electing our leaders and
influencing legislation. To effectively participate in American democracy, citizens should
understand the different types of civil governments and how they work.
LEVELS OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT
There are three levels of civil government in the United States: federal,
state and local. Northwest residents have rights and responsibilities as citi
Unjust Initiatives
Initiatives can be powerful tools for good as citizens bypass the legislature
and the governor and make laws that they support directly. However, it can be abused. One
of the worst cases of abuse occurred in Oregon. In the early 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan, a
hate group prejudicial to blacks, Catholics and Jews, won a wide following in Oregon. The
Klan detested church-sponsored schools. They thought that they were un-American and kept
students from being indoctrinated into "American values." These schools were run
by different groups, but most were Roman Catholic. The Klan led a drive to outlaw all
private and church-sponsored schools. Their motto was: "One Flag! One School! One
Language!"
In 1922, voters passed an initiative that required all children ages eight to
sixteen to attend public schools. Oregon became the first state in America to force all
children into public schools! However, in 1925, the United States Supreme Court struck
down the Oregon law before it was put into effect. The justices unanimously declared the
Oregon law unconstitutional as a violation of the parents' right to send their children to
schools of their own choice. Private and religious schools were free to operate in Oregon.
In 1970, Washington citizens passed an initiative legalizing abortion,
becoming the first state in the nation where a majority of voters approved ending
protection for the unborn.
Ku Klux Klan members march in Washington, D.C. in 1926. The KKK's
influence in Oregon led to an initiative in 1922 outlawing all private schools for
children under 17.
LOBBYING
Human Life of Washington
One of the many interest groups trying to influence lawmakers in the
Northwest is Human Life of Washington. It is the largest pro-life education organization
in Washington State. In November of 1970, the citizens of Washington passed a referendum
that allowed abortion up to the 16th week of pregnancy. This gave Washington one of the
most liberal abortion laws in the country and stripped the unborn of legal protection. A
number of pro-life citizens who had fought to defeat the referendum decided to form a new
organization to protect the unborn. Since 1970, Human Life of Washington has borne witness
to the value of human life from conception to natural death, regardless of a person's
mental or physical capabilities. The organization supports pro-life candidates and
promotes legislation to protect innocent life from the unborn to the elderly. Human Life
representatives speak to schools, churches, civic and professional group meetings. Members
lobby legislators in the hopes of expanding protection of human life. Oregon and Idaho
have strong pro-life organizations also.
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