Fur Traders & Missionaries
 7 of 10

The Missionary Spirit

In the 1820s and 30s, religious groups in the East began to look to the lawless and Godless West with evangelistic zeal — they decided it was their mission to convert non-believers to their faith. Churches set up "Missionary Societies" or boards to raise money for mission trips. They sent missionaries to the distant corners of the world. The churches saw missionary operations as a way to bring both civilization and Christianity to the "savages" and, in part, a way to counteract the evil influence of the trappers. The Presbyterians and other Protestant denominations were increasingly active in support of missionaries after the War of 1812.

What motivated these missionaries? You can get some sense of their motives by reading the letters of Narcissa Whitman. In 1836 she, her husband Marcus and Rev. and Mrs. Henry Spaulding traveled through Nebraska on their famous trip to Oregon. They visited with Rev. John Dunbar and the other missionaries around Bellevue. She wrote, "Our visit with him and Brother Merrill's family was indeed refreshing to our thirsty spirits — kindred spirits rejoicing in the self denials and labors of missionary life." These were intrepid individuals inspired by their faith.

They were also inspired by a hatred of the unscrupulous practices of some traders and the whiskey that they saw destroying the tribes. Selling whiskey to Indians was illegal, but the didn't stop many of the traders. Rev. Moses Merrill wrote about one trading post in Nebraska that took a large number of beaver pelts in trade for small quantities of whiskey.

"This is not a house of God, nor the gate of heaven. It is rather the house of Satan and the gate of hell. Two kegs of whiskey were carried from the house this morning by Indians. They will trade their horses, their guns and even their blankets for this poisonous drink."

A Baptist, Rev. Merrill and his wife were the first missionaries to settle in Nebraska in 1833. They were followed by the Presbyterians Dunbar and Allis in 1834, by Catholic Father Pierre Jean DeSmet in 1838, and the Methodist pastor Peter Cooper and Congregational minister Reuben Gaylord both in 1855. Other missionaries from other denominations followed.