The Saga Of Washington’s Marcus Whitman Statues

The three year saga surrounding a pair of Marcus Whitman statues may be nearing it's conclusion...may be.  The martyred missionary, whose name is on much of Walla Walla, was commemorated in 1953 with the commission of three statues to be sculpted by Avard Fairbanks.

The first statue was sent to Washington D.C. as one of two representing the Evergreen State in the National Statuary Hall in the Capitol Building.  The second stayed on the west side of the State in our Capitol Building in Olympia.  The third (which was vandalized twice in a two week period in October of last year) is owned by the City of Walla Walla and resides on the campus of the college that bears his name.

Whitman legacy has become more complicated as years have passed.  Originally celebrated as a westward pioneer, guide and doctor for 1000 immigrants on the Oregon Trail, and missionary in the Oregon Country (present day Washington State).

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Whitman established his Mission on land occupied by the Cayuse tribe and began attempts to convert them to Christianity.  Whitman began to sense growing tension among the groups and planned to move the settlement.  Before he could do so, a measles outbreak hit the settlement and the Cayuse tribe.

Because the tribe had not been exposed to the disease, in particular the children, many of the Cayuse died.  The tribe began to suspect Whitman of 'sorcery' because of the survival rate of white children compared to their own.  In November of 1847 they took matters into their own hands.  Whitman, his family, and 11 other settlers were killed by the Cayuse Indians they shared land with in 1847 in what became known as the Whitman Massacre.

Debate regarding Whitman's legacy grew over the last number of years.  While it is true that the Massacre led to the Oregon Country becoming an official part of the U.S., other aspects of the circulated Whitman story (after his death) became debunked.

In 2021 the State legislature passed a bill to remove the Whitman statue from Washington D.C. and replace it with one of Native American activist Billy Frank Jr.  Frank was a Nisqually Tribe member and staunch advocate for Indian Treaty rights and was a major force in the U.S District Court of Western Washington's Boldt Decision in 1974.  It reaffirmed tribal fishing rights as well as tribal sovereignty.

Frank's statue was commissioned soon after Gov. Jay Inslee signed the bill and it is expected to replace the Whitman statue in September 2025 in D.C.  There is just one problem...

What To Do With The Marcus Whitman Statues?

The pair of Whitman Statues each weigh nearly 5 tons (over 9,000 pounds) and are 11 feet tall.  It's not exactly something that will fit in the closet.  The statues are bronze with stone bases.  The one in Olympia could very well stay where it is, but the one in the nation's capitol will need to be addressed.

Ownership of that statue will be transferred from the Federal Government to the State.  State Representative Skylar Rude (R-16th District Walla Walla) placed an amendment in the 2021 bill to swap out the statues that would transfer ownership of the Whitman statue to Walla Walla County.  The County Board of Commissioners voted not long after to place the statue on County land, where is yet to be determined.