How a national mythology was made from massacre

About this episode

The episode discusses how a fabricated story by missionary Spalding about the massacre at Waiilatpu contributed to a national mythology.

After the missionaries at Waiilatpu were wiped out by a military expedition of the Cayuse tribe, a crafty missionary named Spalding fabricated a wild, patriotic whopper of a phony story about them, and sold it to the nation. It was believed for more than a century afterward. (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/2403b-1010a.marcus-whitman-2of2-091.639.html)

Topics covered

• national mythology
• massacre
• missionaries
• Cayuse tribe
• historical narrative

Keywords

• national mythology
• massacre
• Cayuse tribe
• Spalding
• Waiilatpu
• missionaries
• historical narrative

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Cayuse tribe

Places: Waiilatpu

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