Square in the middle of these disputes was Rev. H. H. Spalding, a colleague of the Whitmans. While there was often tension between the two families, the Whitmans and Spaldings were also colleagues and a support system in a stressful situation. Years after the event Spalding demonstrates a very personal and theological agenda in his series of lectures which were printed in the Walla Walla newspaper in 1866. Links to all the lectures can be found on the Moments in History page of the digital newspaper collection.

Another, more studied, viewpoint comes from Fr. Brouillet, the Catholic priest who first discovered the massacre and helped to bury the dead. His brief book, published in 1869, also attempts to refute Spalding’s accusations against the Catholics by gathering statements and letters from people present in the territory at the time and involved in the events, and by trying to analyze the underlying causes. See an Authentic account of the murder of Dr. Whitman and other missionaries in Classics in Washington History.

See also: The Whitman Tragedy – Part 1 | Part 3