Whitman Marcus

Whit·man

(wĭt′mən, hwĭt′-), Marcus 1802-1847. American frontier missionary and physician who with his wife Narcissa Prentiss (1808-1847) established a missionary post in the Oregon region (1836). The killing of the Whitmans and other members of their mission by Cayuse Indians in 1847 led to a period of military conflict between US forces and Native Americans in the Northwest.