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Elkanah Walker and Mary Richardson Walker papers, 1828-1931

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Walker, Elkanah, 1805-1877; Walker, Mary Richardson, 1811-1897
Title
Elkanah Walker and Mary Richardson Walker papers
Dates
1828-1931 (inclusive)
1838-1868 (bulk)
Quantity
0.5 cubic feet, (1 legal document case; 1 shared reel of microfilm)
Collection Number
Mss 1204
Summary
Diaries, correspondence, and other papers of Elkanah Walker and his wife, Mary Richardson Walker, missionaries in the Oregon Territory in the mid-19th century. The diaries describe their overland journey and efforts to establish a mission among the Spokane Indigenous people. Correspondents in the collection include other missionaries such as Henry H. Spalding, Narcissa Prentiss Whitman, Marcus Whitman, and John Lee Lewes. Most of the materials are typescript or photostatic copies, except the Elkanah Walker diary of 1842 and a small number of letters. Also includes some correspondence by the Walkers' children.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Additional Reference Guides

The 1838 diaries of Elkanah Walker and Mary Richardson Walker are described in "Overland passages: a guide to overland documents in the Oregon Historical Society," entries 214 and 215. Mary Richardson Walker's 1838 diary is also listed in "Platte River road narratives," entry 43.

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

Reverend Elkanah Walker (1805-1877) was a Congregational missionary in Oregon and Washington. He was born in North Yarmouth, Maine, and graduated from Bangor Theological Seminary in 1837. Following his ordination in 1838, he came overland to the Oregon Country to convert the Spokane people, bringing along his bride, Mary Richardson Walker (1811-1897), with whom he would have seven children. The Walkers established their mission at Tshimakain (the place of the springs) in a part of the Oregon Territory that would later become northeastern Washington State, where they studied the Npoqínišcn (Spokane) language and prepared a primer which was published by the Mission Press at Henry H. Spalding's mission at Lapwai.

After the Whitman killings in 1847, the Walkers moved to Oregon City, Oregon, where they assisted in the organization of the Congregational Association. In 1848 they helped establish the Tualatin Academy (later Pacific University) at Forest Grove, and they moved to the Forest Grove area in 1850 to begin farming. They lived there the rest of their lives, taking an active role in religious and educational matters. Elkanah Walker died on November 21, 1877, and Mary Richardson Walker lived until 1897.

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Content Description

The collection consists largely of typescript and photostatic copies of the Walkers' diaries and papers, although the original of Elkanah Walker's 1842 diary is included, along with a few original letters.

The collection includes Elkanah Walker's diaries for 1838, 1841, and 1842, and Mary Richardson Walker's diaries for 1838, 1847, and 1852. Diary entries from 1838 to 1847 describe the Walkers' overland journey with fellow missionaries William H. Gray, Cushing Eells, and Myra F. Eells, including hardships along the trail, child bearing and nursing, and arguments among the missionaries; and missionary work both at the Whitman mission at Waiilatpu and the Walkers' own mission at Tshimakain. Mary Richardson Walker's 1852 diary describes life in Forest Grove, Oregon.

The collection also includes correspondence of Elkanah Walker (1837-1868) and Mary Richardson Walker (1828-1885) concerning religious and personal matters, mission operations, the Whitman killings, and the Cayuse War. Correspondents include Henry Harmon Spalding, Marcus Whitman, Narcissa Prentiss Whitman, William Henry Gray, David Greene, Cushing Eells, Peter Skene Ogden, John Lee Lewes, and Mary Richardson Walker's parents, Joseph Richardson and Charlotte Richardson. Some letters contain anti-Catholic and anti-Indigenous sentiments.

Additional materials in the collection include: an 1865 letter from one of Elkanah Walker and Mary Richardson Walker's sons, Cyrus H. Walker, to another of the Walkers' sons, brother Samuel T. Walker, about military service at Fort Hoskins; and Samuel T. Walker's handwritten transcript of an 1853 letter sent to Elkanah Walker, with Samuel T. Walker's own commentary.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Elkanah Walker and Mary Richardson Walker papers, Mss 1204, Oregon Historical Society Research Library

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in three series: Series 1. Elkanah Walker papers; Series 2. Mary Richardson Walker papers; Series 3. Other family papers.

Acquisition Information

Acquired prior to 1971, mostly in the late 19th century, early 20th century, and mid-20th century, including acquisitions in 1896, 1900, 1906, 1945, and 1947 (RL2021-028-RETRO, RL2021-029-RETRO, RL2021-030-RETRO, RL2021-031-RETRO, RL2021-032-RETRO, RL2021-033-RETRO. RL2021-034-RETRO, RL2021-035-RETRO, RL2021-036-RETRO, Lib. Acc. 29208).

Location of Originals

Originals located at Washington State University, Pullman, Washington; Yale University Library, New Haven, Connecticut; the Houghton Library at Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts; and the Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Related Materials

Additional papers of Protestant missionaries to the Pacific Northwest can be found in Mss 1200 through Mss 1225, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

Bibliography

Annotated versions of Elkanah Walker and Mary Richardson Walker's diaries are in Drury, Clifford Merrill, "Nine years with the Spokane Indians: the diary, 1838-1848, of Elkanah Walker" (Glendale, Calif.: A. H. Clark Co., 1976). Annotated versions of Elkanah Walker's letters are in "The Oregon missions as shown in the Walker letters, 1839-1851," Sources of Northwest History, Historical Reprints No. 13 (Missoula, Mont.: s. n., 1930). An annotated version of Mary Richardson Walker's 1838 diary is in "The diary of Mary Richardson Walker, June 10-December 31, 1838, Sources of Northwest History, Historical Reprints No. 15 (Missoula, Mont.: State University of Montana, 1931).

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Cayuse Indians--Wars
  • Indians of North America--Missions--Northwest, Pacific
  • Missionaries--Northwest, Pacific
  • Overland journeys to the Pacific
  • Spokane Indians--Missions
  • Whitman Massacre, 1847
  • Women missionaries--Northwest, Pacific

Personal Names

  • Walker, Elkanah, 1805-1877
  • Walker, Mary Richardson, 1811-1897

Corporate Names

  • American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions

Todd Welch; revised by Jeffrey A. Hayes
2006; revised 2021

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