When she was a young girl, Narcissa loved nothing better than to read
heroic tales about brave men and women risking their lives to bring
Christian ideas to "barbarians" in far-off places. In 1831, her dream of
doing the same was about to come true. That's when some Indians arrived
in St. Louis, Missouri, looking for the "White Man's Book of Heaven."
Their quest was the answer to Narcissa's prayers: She would bring
salvation to "those wandering sons of our native forests. "
Narcissa married Marcus Whitman, another missionary want-to-be, and they
headed West. She spent her honeymoon riding side-saddle some 2,000 miles
across the vast, often perilous trail to Oregon Country--something no
other white woman had ever done. Then she and Marcus lived happily ever
after singing hymns and teaching the Indians about the Bible, right?
Wrong! Readers will find out what really happened when East met West at
the end of the real-life, legendary Oregon Trail.
National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core
Resources.
Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.