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The Sagers Go West, part 8

© Mary Trotter Kion

Captain Shaw, leaving his wife and the Sagers camped, rode on ahead to the mission: there was no reason to subject the children if Mr. and Mrs. Whitman refused to take them. In fact, at first the missionaries did refuse to take the children in. Then Narcissa Whitman agreed to keep just the girls for the winter. The next day Captain Shaw led them towards the mission, hoping the Whitman's would change their minds and agree to take in the boys as well.

For two worried days the party traveled. The children speculated on what the mission would look like. Then someone voiced a very serious concern: would there be Indians there. The children were assured that, since Doctor and Mrs. Whitman were missionaries to the Indians, yes--there were Indians there.

And then, at last, the mission came into view. Soon, Dr. Dagon had stopped the exhausted oxen and the girls were helped out of the two-wheeled cart. It was a tearful sight that greeted the two missionaries. The children knew that now they would be separated. It was nearly more than any of them could stand.

John and Frank Sager wiped away their own tears and began helping Mrs. Whitman unload the children's belongings from the cart. Soon a small dark-haired girl stepped up beside Mrs. Whitman. The child's hair hung in two braids and she stared at the Sager children with her black eyes. Then Mrs. Whitman introduced her to the newcomers. The girl was Helen Mar Meek, the half-breed daughter of the famous mountain man Joe Meek. The children were also soon to meet the daughter of another famous mountain man. Also staying at the mission was Mary Ann Bridger, the young daughter of Jim Bridger.

The children wanted to know if Mrs. Whitman had any children. Narcissa's eyes misted over as she explained that her only child, a girl and not much more than a baby, some distance beyond the mission house in her tiny grave. Just a little over two-years-old, Alice Clarissa Whitman had drowned in the river.

Soon Doctor Whitman joined the group. In no time the Sager girls had been scrubbed and their clothes had been put to soak. That evening after supper had been eaten and the dishes cleared away there was considerable discussion as to what should be done with the two Sager boys. No decision was made that night but the following morning Marcus Whitman made his wishes know. He declared to his wife that if she got the girls he wanted the boys. And so, the children of Henry and Naomi Sager had come home--all except the youngest, baby Rosanna. The infant was somewhere back with the wagon train, if, indeed, she was still alive.