ryantemplate


 * What is your //general// belief about who or what is most responsible for causing the conflict?**

The Indians, because all the Whitman's were doing were treating people. The Cayuse thought that the Whites were killing off the Indian's by giving them poison instead of medicine.That's why they attacked. (Lambert)

**What is the relevant background information (i.e. who, what, when, where)?**

The Whitmans were a family from New York who traveled out west to walla walla with a bunch of settlers to Christianize (make christain) the Indian's. The Indian's (Cayuse and several others) didn't want to change religions but let the Whitman's stay on their land because they provide medical attention for indian's. Then the measle's came and tension's increased when more Indian's were dying than Whites. The indian's thought they were doing it on purpose and so two cayuse warrior's went and killed thirteen people (one drowned trying to escape) and took 47 women and children hostage (two children ages 8, and 10 died of measles in captivity). (Wilma/ historylink.org)

**What were 3 factors that helped cause the conflict (politics, economics, geography, history)?**

(1) The fact that back then their medicine was not nearly as good as ours and the indian's had no immune reinforcement agenst the disease is one of the main causes of the massacre. (2) The fur trading industry was starting up making the west the place to be, if there weren't so many people there the indian's would not have been as threatened, the Cayuse thought that the whites were killing off their people to take their land. (3) The government was the ones who started with the Louis and Clark expidition, without it we might not be in the west today and this could have been avoided, however we wouln't be here right now in Washington.

**Explain why one factor is more important than the others.**

The historical factor that the indian's didn't have the immune capacity to fight off this disease is one of the main reasons for the Whitman Massacre.

**How could the conflict have been avoided?**

It probably couldn't have because the Idian's kept their anger bottled up and it exploded into the massacre. Since they didn't want to find out why more indian's were dying they just thought they were being poisoned instead of treated and took their anger out on Whitman.


 * What sources of information have you used? **

Labert, Dale and Clark. Washington; a state of contrastes. east wenachea, WA. DMI, 2008. pgs 200-201

Wilma, David. "Cayuse attack mission in what is known as whitman massacre."historylink.org"May 20 2009 

"Whitman Massacre." suite101.com June 25 2002 May 19 2009 