Born in Prattsburg, New York, Narcissa Prentiss attended Prattsburg’s Franklin Academy. She was a member of the first class of female students ever admitted. Prentiss taught school in Prattsburg until she moved with her family to Amity, New York. In 1834, after meeting Reverend Samuel Parker, she decided to become a missionary. However, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Parker’s sponsors, did not allow unmarried female missionaries. Narcissa married Dr. Marcus Whitman, a friend of Parker, in 1836. The Whitmans’ mission was to head west to Oregon with Henry Spalding and his wife. The Whitmans settled among the Cayuse Indians in the Walla Walla Valley at a place called Waiilatpu, or “the Place of the Rye Grass.” While Marcus preached and practiced medicine, Narcissa taught at a missionary school. In 1842, the Board, upset by slow progress with the Cayuse, threatened to close down the Whitmans’ mission. Then a measles epidemic killed many Cayuse Indian children. Blaming the white missionaries for the deaths, the Cayuse captured 47 missionaries and killed 12, including Marcus and Narcissa Whitman.
