The New Era - All about Sweet Home since 1929

Recently, we explored Clifford Merrill Drury’s “Henry Harmon Spalding: Pioneer of Old Oregon” (1936), a new arrival at the East Linn Museum. The book recounts the title figure’s life and experiences as a missionary among the Nez Perce Indians from 1836 to 1846.

As we learned in our early lessons on state history, Spalding and his wife, Eliza, came to Oregon with Dr. Marcus Whitman and his wife, Narcissa. While the Spaldings founded a mission at Lapwai, near present-day Lewiston, Idaho, their traveling companions continued on, establishing a mission at Waiilatpu, west of Walla Walla...