Mr. Whitman had his grist mill up and running. The Indians brought their corn and wheat to him to be ground. Whitman's rule was that who ever arrived first was served first. It worked well until one busy morning Tomahas, one of the chiefs, demanded that his grain be milled at once, without having to wait for those ahead of him. Whitman did not oblige him and Tomahas stormed off angry, threatening revenge.
The milling went on as planned that day until Marcus stopped the machinery to go to the house to eat. The meal was interrupted by a loud racket. The noise seemed to be coming from the direction of the mill. Doctor Whitman, with the miller, ran for the mill. When they reached it, Tomahas stepped out and hit the miller, knocking him to the ground. The Indian made a lunge for Whitman but he was saved when another Indian, Teloukaikt, grabbed Tomahas and seemingly calmed him. After the sullen Tomahas mounted his horse and rode away Whitman and the miller discovered that the mill's hopper had been filled with sticks.
Although Mrs. Whitman was fearful of the Indian Tomahas life at the mission continued on. In the fall more children were added to the already full mission home. Cyrus Walker and Eliza Spalding, children of other missionaries, came to stay the winter and go to school. Then Mary Johnson, from one of the immigrant families, moved in along with the missionary children, the Sager children, and Helen Mar Meek and Mary Ann Bridger. Doctor Whitman's nephew Perrin was also with them now. With the house now overflowing with busy, growing children Narcissa Whitman may well have put the thought of the mill incident out of mind.
Spring came and evolved into summer. The children were now busy with the events of the changing seasons. And the activities were not all work. After the Spaldings came and took their daughter home Mrs. Whitman decided that they all needed an outing. An overnight campout along the beautiful Walla Walla River sounded just about right. The following day while all of the children were involved in various amusing activities, Elizabeth Sager thought she might try to catch some fish. She had no fishing pole but when she spied a large fish wedged between two rocks she pounced on it. It was a struggle but finally she managed to land him, hugging the slippery salmon in her arms. She was just turning to lug it back to camp when an Indian boy appeared and snatched it from her. She was protesting the theft when a Delaware Indian named Tom Hill arrived and made the boy return the fish to him. Tom Hill was a half-breed who had been away north to another mission school. He had just recently returned to live among the Cayuse Indians.
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