SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Marcus Whitman has been an iconic figure from early Pacific Northwest history for generations. The Protestant missionary was among 13 people in 1847 killed by the Cayuse tribe near modern-day Walla Walla, Washington. But there has been renewed criticism of Whitman and reappraisal for his actions viewed by many as imperialistic and destructive. The Washington Legislature voted to remove Whitman’s statue from Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C. Whitman College students in Walla Walla demonstrated recently to demand removal of another Whitman statue from the college campus named for him. And a new book says a well-known story about Whitman’s efforts to save the Northwest from British rule was fabricated.
Scrutiny mounts of legacy of pioneering Northwest missionary
