1-800-TYPHOID: The Oregon Trail Part Two

0:16 Oh, hey there. That was my apologies. He wasn't wearing his headphones. I forgot my headphones. You can't hear me without his headphones. What? What? We are the History Buffoons. I am Bradley. And I'm Kate. How are you today, Kate? I'm doing well. Thank you for joining us today. Yeah, on uh part two of Senor Oregon Trail. Senor? I don't know why I said that. Mr. Oregon Trail. Made you laugh. That's why I'm here. Refer to the jokes. How about El Oregon Trail? Do you know what they call cancer in Spanish? El cancer. El cancer. I love that line in Deadpool. It's so good.

0:56 So my cats are incessant for food. They is not time for them to eat. Um, but if you hear them in the background, that is because um Amos is hungry and he's speaking for all cats everywhere. And Nathan is currently napping. Yes, as you should. And and we are trying to not be too loud, but you know what? Things happen. Yeah. I get pretty heated about the Oregon Trail. So Okay, so uh oh, we drinking to die. So we had wine the other the other episode. Yeah. Part one. Part one. Did we have that on part one? I think so, yeah. No, we had Sarah Nevada. That's right. We did, did we?

1:38 We didn't. We had wine uh anyways. We had wine some time ago. Not that long ago. But uh so we we had uh Sauve Blanc that is my flavor of wine, if if I ever have wine that I usually go to, and it's a white. Um you like Pinot Grigio, so Pinot Grigio, yeah. We are doing 14 hands Pinot Grigio. You've had this before, correct? I've I don't know if I've had that particular Pinot. But you've had 14 Hands before. I've had 14 hands before. I think they've always been red blends, but I really liked 14 hands. Okay. Um so yeah, this is a Pinot Grigio, which is my favorite flavor of wine. So cheers. Cheers.

2:21 Yep. Yep, that's Pinot Grigio. That's delicious. I also have a backup beer. Um not not because I didn't think I would like it, it's just because it's a backup, yeah. Well, yeah, it's an additional one. Yeah, because you know I I'm I'm thirsty. So if you have not listened to part one yet, um you do not have to listen to that one to to follow this one. Right. Um, however, the first part um is all about the general idea, the general background of what the Oregon Trail was. Yeah, the promise of of greater pastures in Oregon. Yeah, so it would go over um where people would start from, where they would end, independence, what um types of um situations they might encounter along the trail, that kind of thing.

3:11 Yeah, so just a very generalized background of locations and trials and tribulations along the path to Oregon. And this part Sorry, I was just overpronouncing Oregon. This part is about a particular family, and some of the things that we talked about in part one definitely happened to this family. And we might bring up the game again. Oh, we did play the game. Let's just start that right now. Okay. Um, so I tried to find the Oregon Trail card game and I could not. Um but not without getting it here in a timely manner. But you can literally get the 90s version of the Oregon Trail at Oregon Trail.

3:59 And you can play it for free online. I will put in a couple screenshots for those of you listening to or watching the YouTube version. Yep. Um, Bradley was one of the characters. Not because you put me in, right? It was Oh no, I put your name in. Oh, it was. Oh, I put yeah, I put my name in and your name in, and then the other three were randomized. I thought that I thought that was pure coincidence when you told me about it. So I have a screenshot of Bradley getting a snake bite, and then Bradley died. I did not make it to Oregon. My apologies. Um, and then you found a Oregon trail. So I have um Apple stuff, so I have Apple Arcade, and it's the it's a pretty much an updated version of it with obviously much better graphics and such and so on.

4:46 So I was playing it just a little bit. I didn't I didn't get too far into it, but it was kind of funny because you know you gotta still make uh it's question-based, you know, like who do you want to do this and so on and whatever. But it was it was kind of fun. Yeah, it looked nice, obviously, because it's again, it's newer, but um, but yeah, it was funny. But I'm going to put this um website in our show notes as well because it's it's fun. I mean it's classic. It's nostalgic. If anyone in our general time time age group, age group, yeah. There's the word I was looking for. Um they've there's you most likely have played it in your youth.

5:29 Yeah there's a very good chance. So you know, nostalgic, like you said. So I like shit like that. So all right. Well, let's get into part two here. Let's do it. We are gonna talk about the Sager family. Sager? C-A-G-E-R, Sager. Sager. Mm-hmm. Sager? Sager. Spell it again? S-A-G-E-R. Oh, Sager. Okay. Sorry, sorry, sorry. That's right. I'm not a smart man. So um we have Henry and Naomi Sager. Uh-huh. Those are the um man and wife. Yep. And they had already moved their family multiple times at this point. We're uh from Virginia to Ohio to Indiana, they were always in search of better prospects.

6:14 Sure. And by 1839, they settled on a farm in Platte County, Missouri. Okay, where Henry worked as a farmer and a blacksmith. But come late 1843, um, tales of the fertile Oregon County and hopes for a more healthy climate led them to sell their farm and prepare to head west. Okay. Okay. They wintered in St. Joseph, Missouri. This was one of the jumping off points. Oh, it was, okay. And by spring, the Sagers were determined to join the Great Migration. Wow. So in April of 1844, Henry Sager, 34, and Naomi, 36, set out on the Oregon Trail with not one kid, not even four kids.

7:03 Seven, six children, and Naomi was pregnant with her seventh. I kind of got it right. You did. They joined a wagon train known as the Independent Colony, a group of about 300 pioneers with 72 covered wagons. Holy shit. And they were led by Captain William T. Shaw. William T. Shaw, okay. He was a veteran of the War of 1812. He was an experienced frontiersman. He was from Iowa. He served as state legislator. Like he was kind of the natural leader. Yeah. Yeah. Makes sense. Okay. So on April 30th, 1844, the caravan ferried across the Missouri River and officially began the 2,000-mile trek to Oregon.

7:53 Good lord. The Sagres wagon was heavy with provisions and children. Well, yeah, six of them. Ages range ranging from toddler to early teens. And of course, the journey start was really chaotic. Yeah. Catherine Sager, who was nine years old at the time, later wrote that simply getting used to the wagon's jostling motion was hard. Well, I mean, they didn't really have great suspension back then. No, not so much. They had probably some, but they did in the in the driver's seat. Yeah, more or less, you know, those metal to help with the bounce. But yeah, I can't imagine that was very great. You're just bouncing up and down in the back there.

8:34 But she qu said, quote, the motion of the wagon made us all sick, and it was weeks before we got used to the C sick motion. I would be dead just. You would be screwed. You get you get car sick, motion sick, whatever you want to call it. Yeah. Very easily. Yeah. So could you imagine you going through this? No. You would have looked at it and thrown up. I would have to drive. No, you that would have been scary. You driving oxen. We're all walking beside who are we getting. Yeah, I know. So despite early mishaps, because at one point their oxen had strayed back to their winter pasture, causing a delay. It's like, hold on, I just I gotta go back and get my ox. The wagon train made steady progress westward in the early weeks.

9:14 So five weeks into the journey in late May of 1844, Naomi Sager gave birth in the wagon to a baby girl, Rosanna Sager. Rosanna? Okay. And the birth took place right along the trail in what is now Kansas. Oh, all right. It was a perilous delivery on the open prairie, but both mother and infant survived. Yay. However, Naomi's recovery was quite slow. Child birth left her weakened for a really long time. Sure. Um, the wagon train paused to celebrate July 4th of 1844 with a patriotic gathering on the Platte River banks. Wow, all right. Um, it was a brief moment of festivity before fate would actually strike again.

9:57 Oh, what happened? A few days after the Independence Day respite, while fording the South Fork of the Platte, the Sager's wagon overturned in the shallow river. Oh no. Naomi, the mother, was severely injured. Oh boy. She was caught in the wreckage and soaked, um, and she likely suffered internal injuries or bruising. Oh dear. Um, she was either standing or kneeling inside the wagon, um, likely tending to children. When it toppled. Yeah, a sudden jolt like threw her against the side of the wagon. She struck her head and her side really hard and knocked and was knocked unconscious. Oh boy.

10:38 So she was hurt and she was weak um for quite some time, but Naomi knew that she had to continue on. Right. So the train pressed forward into the vast Nebraskan plains, passing famous landmarks like Chimney Rock. Chimney cricket. And that was at the end of July. Yeah. So I asked my my parents after the part one, have I been to Chimney Rock? And they said, Yes, but you were motion sick the entire time. And did you go, did you take me there in a covered wagon? Imagine that. They they they said that they thought I was coming down with something, but nope, I was just car sick.

11:21 Yeah, yeah. It's a lifelong uh, I don't know, affliction problem, we'll call it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So each milestone um underscored that the Great Plains were nearly behind them and the Rocky Mountains lay be uh ahead. Excuse me. Yeah. So the fate the Sagers, of course, faced one crisis after another. Near Fort Laramie in present-day Wyoming. Yep, young Catherine Sager suffered a horrible accident. The this was the nine-year-old. The nine-year-old. Yeah. As she later recounted, she jumped out of the moving wagon, which they often did so they wouldn't have to stop and start. Yeah, yeah. Her dress got caught on an axle. Oh boy.

12:01 And before the team could halt, one of the heavy wagon wheels ran over her leg, shattering it in multiple places. Oh dear. That sounds terrible. Now, this type of injury could have easily been fatal via like infection or gangrene. Yeah. But Catherine's parents and uh fellow travelers sprang into action right away. Henry Sager, with no doctor available, set his daughter's broken leg himself. Sure. So miraculously at Fort Laramie, they did encounter a German-born physician, Dr. Dagon, who praised Henry's splinting job and decided to accompany the family to tend to Catherine's injury.

12:45 Like that he came along. He's like, hey, uh, it's kind of like in the game I played, they met uh a guy out there and he joined the party, whatever. So yeah, that's kind of funny. Okay. So Catherine um was confined lying in the wagon for the rest of the trip. Could you imagine jostling around with a broken leg like that in a covered wagon? That could not have been covered. How many miles? A lot. But, and she had a makeshift cast on, but thanks to Dr. Dagan's care, Catherine avoided infection and slowly did heal. That's awesome. So by August 1844, the wagon company had crossed the Continental Divide at South Pass in Wyoming. Okay. So it's the line of highest ground that separates river systems flowing into different oceans.

13:31 Correct. So the east side of the divide, rivers like the Missouri, the Mississippi, the Platte would eventually flow into the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico. Yep. Um west of the divide. The Pacific, yep. Um, yes, rivers like the Snake River, Columbia River would go towards the Pacific. Exactly. So um with the height of the Rockies, obviously come increase of disease. An outbreak of camp fever. Oh dear. Spread throughout throughout the train. What is exactly a camp fever, anyways? So it is referring to either typhoid or typhus.

14:16 So they are two different things. Sure, but it's something else. They just refer as a blanket camp fever because yes. Gotcha. So typhoid is caused by a type of salmonilla bacteria. Oh dear. And it is spread by contaminated food or water. Okay. Um often due to poor sanitation, that kind of thing. Which I can't imagine. Drinking river water is also kind of the bathroom. So in a lot of TV, yeah. So it's not like they stopped and dug a latrine every time they stopped or had to go or whatever. So yeah, I get it. Um, typhus is another type of bacteria that is spread by body lice. Body lice. I didn't know that.

14:56 I didn't know that. Yeah. Okay. So specifically from scratching lice feces into small skin abrasions. Oh, boy. It's typhus. I never I never knew that. I didn't either. Oh. Yeah. So camp fever is an all encompassing bacterial infection. It's not good. Yeah. Yeah. We'll just say it's not good. Henry Sager, the fogger, the fog the fogger, the father, Faja. Was among those who fell sick as they descended towards the Green River, and his condition deteriorated rapidly. Oh dear. Captain Shaw, the wagon master, and others did what they could, but medicine was also very scarce. Of course. Catherine, the nine-year-old, was immobilized with a broken leg.

15:39 Yep. Shit. Excuse me. She lay beside her ailing father in the wagon and later recall recalled his last night. Oh dear. Henry Sager died on August 23rd, 1844, near the Green River in present-day Wyoming, likely from typhoid. So the salmonella. Yeah. Before he passed, he wept over the fate of his family. He said, quote, his wife was ill, the children small, and one likely to be a cripple. They had no relatives near, and a long journey lay before him. Because he's his journey's. He's about to die. Like he's about to dead. I did say that.

16:20 I know. He's about to dead. He's about to dead. Oh, some of the shit you say is just so great. I can't get over it. Some of the things that you've spouted out on this podcast. He's about to dead. What the fuck? That is so great. That might be a contender for title. I'm just saying. He's about to dead. Thank you for putting that in the notes. Otherwise, we forget about it. And then I have to do searching and it's horde. So he begged the captain to take charge of them and see them through.

17:01 The rest of his family. Yeah. So Captain uh William Shaw promised to care for the children and honored that vow completely. He married his wife. No. Okay. The company halted to bury Henry in a coffin fashioned from a hollowed-out log. Oh, wow. And his grave is somewhere by the Green River. Did they mark it at all? Do you know? So they do sometimes and they don't sometimes. So later immigrants or people who've traveled after the Sager family found that wolves or coyotes had disturbed his resting place at one point. Oh, so they dug him up, kind of thing. So it's probably not even there.

17:41 But okay. So now a widow with seven children, one of them an infant, one of them injured. Yeah. Naomi Sager pressed on with just devastation. Oh, right. She just lost her husband. And yeah. This travel is tough. So and they still had hundreds of miles to cover. Sure. Do you have so they're in Wyoming right now by the Snake River? Do you know how much further they have? Not okay. I can look it up. It's fine. Okay. I I was just curious if you happen to have something on that, but that's okay. So Naomi's own health was fragile. She had never fully regained regained strength after giving birth and then being knocked unconscious.

18:22 Yeah. With potential internal injuries and the strain of driving the wagon and caring for the family alone. It was it was a lot. Sure. Um, so within weeks of Henry's death, Naomi succumbed to illness as well. Oh dear. She likely contacted contracted typhoid as well. As well. Okay. Yep. The same fever outbreak. Hey typhoid, can you come get me? I I'm missing my husband and I want to die the same way. Jesus. So 1-800 typhoid. Or as they would have said, 1-800 camp fever.

19:05 1-800 cam fever. Wow. So with fever, week with fever, Naomi actually became delirious on the trail. Oh no. Yeah, in um the Idaho territory. She knew she was dying. So in a lucid moment, she called Dr. Dagon to her side and said, take these children to Dr. Whitman's mission in Walla Walla. Bing bang. Walla walla bing bang. So Marcus Whitman's missionary um settlement was in Oregon Country.

19:48 Oh, so she already knew that? Like, did she know this person? So remember I had mentioned that they kind of had guidebooks. Yes. Yeah. So I think this everybody was like headed towards this one particular. Thing. So they knew Chimney Rock. They knew Fort Laramie. And Whitman Mission was just another landmark. Yeah. Gotcha. Yeah. So because she's going, husband died already, obviously, dad died. I need my kids looked after. Yes. Take them to this. Because now they're going to be fucking orphans. Yes. That's sad. And I will tell you a little bit more about um the Whitmans. Of course. Because they actually took in a lot of children and they knew that as well. Well, I mean, this journey was perilous.

20:29 It was. Obviously, the younger you are, the faster you can recover. Right. I mean, even with a broken leg, it sucks. But you know, your body recovers when you're younger quicker. So you had to expect a lot of adults to die on this journey. I mean, it was it wasn't easy. No. Even though it sounds like, oh, you're in a wagon going across land. How hard can it be? Yeah. Going up mountains, rivers, crossing rivers, blah, blah, blah. There was it was pretty treacherous. So yeah. On September 27th, 1844, 26 days after Henry died. Jesus. Naomi Sager died. That is sad. Could you imagine those kids? Seven kids and a fucking infant, no less.

21:11 I mean, what, two months old, right? Yeah. Three months old, whatever. Give or take. So she said. She died near the Snake River, which is close to present-day Twin Falls, Idaho. Okay. According to her children, her final words were a cry to her already deceased husband. Sure. She so maybe a little delirious here at the end, but she said, quote, Oh Henry, if you only knew how we have suffered. But he does, he's already dead. I know. That's what I was thinking. I was like, well, he did suffer too. But that's what she said. So that's what she said. Lacking lumber, the wagon party wrapped Naomi in a bed sheet and laid her in a shallow grave on the frontier.

21:55 Oh, so the coyotes got her. Their eldest son, 13-year-old John Sager, made a wooden grave marker with her name and age. It was likely a headboard of some kind, but I don't know for sure. Yeah. So this is one where they did try to write a headboard. Headstone? Grape marker. Whatever. Headstone. Headstone? Is that it? Yeah. Okay. Headboard. The sacred what? What'd you say? I just find it funny you called it a headboard. Because that's what he made it out of. I get that. Like a bedheadboard. Bed headboard? Bed headboard. I hate bedhead.

22:35 I hate bedheadboards even more. A bedboard. Jesus Christ. What is wrong with you? I don't know. Your words are making me laugh uncontrollably. Okay, this is serious. Death is serious. So the Sager children are now orphans on the Oregon Trail. So we got a 13-year-old, we know a nine-year-old, we got a three-month-old and a whole bunch of others in between. God damn, that is sad. So for the remaining journey, the entire wagon train became a surrogate family for that. Of course, yeah. I mean I would imagine they probably grew pretty close with some of the travelers they were with.

23:15 Yeah. So true to his promise, Captain Shaw took charge of the group, and the um other uh adults also divided responsibilities. That's see, at least they were with at least they weren't on their own. Yeah. You know, because obviously they would have been fucked. Yeah. At least they were a part of this big community wagon train to go to Oregon. Did that for you. Um, but man, could you imagine if they were on their own? They would have been fucked. Yeah. Because the 13-year-old, I mean, I know times are different. Yeah. This is what almost almost. 13-year-old, he's he's he's basically a man. Well, at that point, yeah. Why doesn't he have children already? Yeah. But you know, fuck, that that had to be crazy to lose your parents like that.

23:56 Yeah. Wow. So William Shaw and his wife Sally particularly stepped up as they uh as they promised. Yep. And they took the older Sayer children into their wagon, seeing to their meals and their care. And another woman fed and tended to baby Rosanna. Rosanna, that's right. I forgot that was a name. Um, and and I believe the Shaws also had two children of their own. So they they had a big little company there. Okay. So food a big little company. Jesus Christ. So food supplies are running low for everyone. Yeah. Um, the emigrants had run out of flour and other staples, surveyingly mainly on hunted game.

24:41 Okay. So the Shaws still shared whatever they had. Sure. Um, as the wagon train led on, many assumed the baby might not survive to Oregon as and the infant was very sick and frail. What do you feed an infant at that time with no breast milk and all that stuff? I mean, I know we had formula for our kids, that's what we mainly did. Um but like we're talking, what are we 1844 still, right? Yeah. I don't think they have formula back then. So it's like, what do you what do you feed a baby at that time? That's no idea. That's crazy. Okay, anyways.

25:22 So in Oct October 1844, the wagon train finally re reached the Whitman mission. Oh, so they're and that's within the Oregon territory. Yes. Okay. And this is in uh the Walla Walla Valley. Bingo. Okay. So the mission station was run by Dr. Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa Whitman. Narcissa. She and Harry Potter? Jesus Christ. And they were this welcome community on this trail. Sure. Um, it was founded in 1836 by Dr. Marcus Whitman, who was a physician missionary, and his wife Narcissa, both sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

26:08 Oh, wow. A Protestant missionary group of New England. So they were probably with some of the earlier ones there, though, right? Okay. Their goal was to get convert and civilize the Cayus and the Nez Perse tribes through Christianity, medicine, and education. Fair enough. Okay. So it this is like a little tiny frontier village. Yeah. Um, there was a main house, which was the home, a school, an infirmary. Sure. They had a blacksmith uh for settlers and tribes. They had fields and gardens of wheat, corn, potatoes, livestock. They had um that mission school. They taught English, religion, and domestic skills.

26:50 Good. Um Narcissa ran classes, sang hymns, and taught sewing while Marcus doctored everyone within a hundred mile radius, white emigrants and the Cayus. Gotcha. Okay. All right. So very, very welcome sight for a lot of people. Oh, I have no, I have no doubt. I mean, I'm I can imagine be like, thank fucking god, we got some civilization here, you know, to help out with certain things, whatever. Yeah, that had to be a relief for some of these people. So how did you like your wine? I see you're it's empty. It was good. Yeah, you liked it? Yeah, I did. Good. It was I'm I've had Pinot Grigio before. Um, I again, as we've talked about the last time we had wine, I'm not a big wine person. Yeah. Um, but no, it was good.

27:31 It's something different. It's certainly uh a nice little change that we did the last couple times we did it. But um, no, it was good. Um I'm excited to have the 14 hands soft block we got too. Yeah. Um, whether we do it on this episode or afterwards, maybe. Um we'll we'll force some to Nathan because he's a big wine guy, and I'm just kidding. He's really not. Not at all. Okay, so the Shaws honoring Naomi's dying wish appealed to the Whitmans to take care of the Sager orphans, at least for the winter. Because we're in October now. Yeah, I mean, obviously, winter's upon you. Yeah, and I don't know what Oregon is like in the winter, but I have no idea. Yeah, um, especially back in the 1840s, because you know, global warming.

28:14 I'm just kidding. Anyways, at first there was some hesitation. Marcus and Narcissa Whitman had already opened their home to other orphans and displaced children. They're probably like pretty full on. Yeah, exactly. So Narcissa actually had lost her own biological child in 1839. There's seven more. Yeah, so she she had a compassionate heart for children in need. Of course. I mean, that's that's tough, obviously, to lose a child. I couldn't I couldn't fucking imagine it. And she was immediately drawn to baby Rosanna. Well, that's good because she probably needs the most care. And she asked to adopt her as well. Like that's how who should who did she ask?

28:56 I don't know. Like, who would you ask? Just fucking adopt her. The other kids are probably not gonna say anything. No, you shall not adopt my sister. So Marcus Whitman was inclined to take in the two uh Sager boys as he saw value in Well, work and yeah, exactly. Work around the mission. Yep. However, Captain Shaw, the wagon master, firmly insisted that the siblings not be separated. Good for him. After all that they had endured. Oh, fuck yeah. Yeah, lost good man. Both parents on this trip. Yeah, they're the last of their family. I mean, I they might have relatives somewhere, whatever. But yeah, don't fucking split them up. Like, no, um, let's go.

29:36 I'm just gonna take the baby. I'm gonna uh the wife's taking that, and I'm taking those two guys right there. Right, right, right. Rest of you go fuck off. Yeah, it's like no, keep them all together, they're fucking family. Yeah, I hate when that shit happens. So he reportedly made Dr. Whitman sign a contract to keep all seven children. That's fantastic. Good for at least through the winter. Shaw is like good on Shaw for that. Fuck you. Yeah, that's great. So the Whitmans agreed, thus the Sager children. I'm gonna name them off John, Frank. Is this in order? Mm-hmm. Okay John is the oldest. Yeah. John, Frank, Catherine, Elizabeth, Matilda, Louise, and baby Rosanna. Louisi? Louisa. Louisa, okay. And baby Rosanna found a new home under the Whitman's roof in 1844.

30:21 October still, right? Yes. Okay. Yes, that's right. That's a lot of that's a lot of kids. Well, so they Narcissa, right? Mm-hmm. Lost a child. Her own child, yes. Only one? I believe so. Okay. So, but yet obviously they took in other orphans. Yes. Were they all living under the same roof at this point, as far as you know, or no? You're not sure. Okay. This is a fairly large community. Yeah. So I'm not sure if it's a big house or if there's little tiny things here and there to create a little community. I'm not 100% sure. Which would make more sense, in my opinion, being the little things, you know, spread around.

31:02 But like, could you imagine going to from what's his name? Martin? Martin and Narcissa? Henry. Henry, I'm sorry. Oh, Narcissa and uh Marcus. Marcus. Marcus. The Whitmans, yeah. Marcus. I don't know why I said I thought Martin. But like going from, hey, what do you want to do tonight? Hey, we got seven kids. Yeah, that's uh holy balls. That's I was good with one. Love you, Vesper. So at the Whitman Mission, yeah, the seven Sager children began a new chapter under the care of Dr. Marcus Whitman and Narcissa Whitman. Yeah. The Whitman's outpost was established in 1836. So not that long, not that earlier, yeah.

31:43 Um, and it served both as a Christian mission to the local Cayuse Indians and as an unofficial way station for the emigrants. Correct. So sorry to interrupt. Um, how much further past this mission did people go? I think at this point it was wherever you want. Because again, if correct me if I'm wrong on this number, but like they were promised 640 acres. Yeah, it was a lot. So, like, go that way. Whether or not they took all 640 per per per person or whatever perfectly. Per family or whatever, I'm not sure. Doesn't matter, yeah. But like, so basically they're in Oregon now. Yes, this is the territory, yes, because obviously it wasn't a state or anything at this point.

32:27 Yes. Go that way, you'll find your acres. Go that way, you'll find your acres, kind of thing, right? I mean so okay. Anyway, sorry, continue. Um, so by the time the Sagers arrived in October 5th of 1844, Narcissa was in her early 30s. Oh, oh, so they were pretty young. Yeah, and so she was actually kind of considered like the frontier foster mother. Sure. Um, as I told you this the before, they often had orphan children and other stranded children. Sure. Yes. So Narcissa was very kind, but she was strict. Well, you kind of needed to be back then, especially with a lot of youngins.

33:10 So she and Marcus took the Sager orphans into their large mission house and adding to their already full household. Yep. Narcissa once wrote, quote, our little place is a resting spot for many a wary, way-worn traveler, and we'll be as long as we live here. In the months after the Sager's arrival, the Whitmans grew attached to them. Oh, good. And by July of 1845, Marcus had obtained legal custody to adopt all seven Sager children. Oh, cool. Ensuring that they would not be split up. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, it is. I'm so glad Shaw put that notion into his brain, too. There is a little caveat with this.

33:50 I'm sure there is. There always fucking is. Fucking caveat. God damn, I hit my microphone. Fucking caveats, am I right? They actually changed Rosanna, the baby Rosanna's name. Why? I will tell you. They changed her name from Rosanna to Henrietta Naomi. Her parents Henry and Naomi. I thought that was kind of sweet. Even though I probably would have just kept the child's name as that's what they wanted to name her. Yeah, but but I see it both sides. Yes, I see both sides as well. It's a nice honoring of the parents. Yes. Because obviously they're gone. Yes. They lost their the children lost their parents. Even though they're not the children aren't the one that renamed her.

34:33 Yeah. But the kid's not going to remember Rosanna. Yeah. That's fair. So uh so you said Henrietta what? Naomi. Henrietta Naomi. Okay. Henrietta for Henry. Yeah. Obviously, yeah. Yeah, yeah. That that's kind of cute that they did that just to honor the parents. But I feel like at that point she was already uh so at this point she was, yeah, at least yeah. Oh but I don't know, I don't know when they changed her name. Sure. Which maybe at adoption, I don't know. It could have been three months prior, it could have been six months prior, whatever. It doesn't matter. I think that's inconsequential. I understand both sides of it, keeping the name, yeah, honoring the parents, whatever. I'm good, I'm good with it.

35:14 So each child actually began to call the Whitman's Ma and Pa. Oh, yeah. You know it's official when they call them Ma and Pa. Yeah, so they were they were all happy. Good. So life at the mission between 1844 and 1847 offered the orphans regular meals, schooling, and church. Um, the older children helped with farm chores, tending crops and animals, while the younger ones learned to read and write in Narcissus school. Oh, cool. So Dr. Whitman was both a physician and a farmer. Yep. He expected everyone to work diligently and he provided medical care to natives and settlers alike. Sure. Narcissa, for her part, enforced strict household discipline and religious instruction.

35:58 Okay. I mean, that was the time, yeah. The the strictness did not set well with all the children. Sure, of course not. They're children. Yeah. At this time, 14-year-old uh Francis or Frank Sager, he was the second oldest. Yes. Um, he kind of balked at the rules and unused to the Whitman's stern Protestant regimen, he actually ran away from the mission for a time to join settlers in the valley. Oh boy. He did eventually return, but he was very clear that he was unhappy with the Whitman's authority. Not with living with him, just the authority. I didn't like I don't like your tone of the rules. I don't like the rules. Yeah. Yeah. Ease up.

36:38 So afterwards, um, at the mission, um, excuse me, not afterwards, other wards at the mission, a mixed don't make fun of me. I'm not this was really funny, and I don't afterwards, other wards. That is so fucking great. I I can read. I'm sorry. You're goofy. I need another beer. Oh dear. Um, I have a I have a breaking point if we need to get. Let's take a pick that up. So let me know. So other wards of the mission. There was a mixed native teen named Joe Lewis.

37:21 He also left on bad terms, and he would actually play a dark role in an upcoming story. Oh dear. So he left on bad terms from the Whitmans? Yes. Oh, fuck. Okay. So still by spring of 1847, Narcissa Whitman wrote fondly of having 11 children in her home. Holy shit. The Sagers plus adopts other adopted kids, and now their voices make our house lively, as she had noted in her letters. A lot of fucking voices, so the Sager girl Sager girls in particular grew close to Narcissa and assisted her daily. Yes. They kept the name Sager? Yes, I believe so.

38:02 Okay. I was just curious because they did. Obviously, they more or less adopted them. Yes. A lot of times they'll take on those names of the adopters. You're right. Yeah. I believe they kept Sager. Okay. I I kind of I'm glad that they did. Yeah. Because also honoring the family. Right? Yeah, exactly. So what what they did with baby Rosanna. Yeah. Yeah. Which, you know, let's change your name. As I said, so the Sager girls were actually pretty fond of Narcissa. Okay. Um they later defended her memory as a loving but firm guardian. So she dies. Eventually. I know.

38:43 Calm down. Meanwhile, the Whitman the Whitman's mission. Took a dark turn. Their relations with the Cayus tribe were deteriorating. How so? On that note, we are gonna take a brief break so you can get another beverage. We'll be right back. And we're back. I kind of want to leave that in. That was pretty funny. Okay, so like I said, um the Whitman's mission, their relationship with the local Cayuse tribe were starting to deteriorate. I've never heard of the Cayuse tribe before.

39:23 I hadn't either until this story. Okay, so I mean, I'm not from the Pacific Northwest, obviously, so and I am very, very little part Native American. Chippoah. Um I've told you this before. Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot your memory sucks. But I've I've never heard of the Cayuse, right? Cayuse term. Yeah. I'm I'm not familiar not not like I'm fucking all about all the different tribes. Again, I am very, very little Chippewa. But um like one sixty fourth. If if that even, who knows? I I gotta ask my mom again.

40:04 She'll she'll remember. I'll see her on Thanksgiving. I should ask her again, just be like, who the fuck was the a Native American in our in our family? Because I always forget, was it on my mom's side, my dad's? I'm pretty sure it was on my mom's side, because my dad, his parents again, mystery mom died early. I'm pretty sure it was on my mom's side. So I have I have to ask that again. Um, but I know a decent amount of tribes throughout the states, just from school and whatever. I've never heard of the Cayuse tribe before. So Pacific Northwest. All right. Yeah. So initially the Cayus had welcomed the missionaries. They had helped the Whitmans build the mission and even celebrated the birth of the Whitman's baby in 37 before the baby died.

40:50 Correct. Um, but over the the years, cultural tensions and misunderstandings started to fray this relationship. I can see that. Absolutely. Yep, yep. Do you know what the Whitman's child was named before? I do not. Okay. So the Whitmans expected the Cayus to convert to Christianity and adopt farming, which a few did. Oh, I'm sure a few did because they saw the benefits of farming. Yeah. But like it's this is funny because, like, hey, um, religion, get it. Yeah, just start believing. So, like, we got our own gods and beliefs and whatever the fuck it might be.

41:33 No. Yeah. So the Cayus, for their part, expected payment for their use of their land and viewed the steady arrival of white settlers as their concern. Sure. So Marcus Whitman himself became more focused on aiding American settlers rather than this the Cayuse Ministry by the 1840s. Sure. He was an outspoken advocate for U.S. expansion into Oregon. Promises were broken. For example, the Cayuse leaders believed that Whitman had promised to compensate them for the mission site, but Whitman refused to pay rent or honor Cayuse ownership of the land. See, that seems like a dick move.

42:14 And that's obviously a lot of resentment there. Yeah, for sure. Because to them, this is our land. You white folk just came in. We helped you build it. The white coming in. We we aided you in building this mission. Uh, we we want something for that. So yeah, I can see why they would be a little what the fuck resentful, yeah. Yeah, okay. So the Cayus also observed that Dr. Whitman's medical care seemed to favor the white immigrants. Well, I mean, sure, I get that. So Whitman sometimes turned Cayuse families away from the mistress house to avoid disruption, providing the medicine outside, which the Cayuse pre-served as disrespectful, perceived, perceived, perceived, as disrespectful and unequal treatment.

43:09 Basically, they wouldn't invite them into their house to give them the care. Yes. Like, you know, see that wall? We'll we'll do it outside though. Yeah, exactly. See, that's kind of shitty. Yeah. Because again, you're all supposed to be humans. Christian humans. Doesn't even matter what religion at this point. They're all human. Yeah. Give them the same respect as you give the other human that just happened to be a different skin color. Right. I mean, seriously, fuck off. So there was a little bit of religious rivalry. Yep. Um, Catholic missionaries, the Jesuits, um, had gained favor with some Cayus. We talked about the Jesuits before. And that made the Whitmans, which were staunch Protestants, feel undermined.

43:52 Right. So Marcus Whitman reacted by preaching Hellfire to the Cairus. Hellfire? Hellfire. What did I say? I I was just confirming you said Hellfire. Further straining trust. Okay. So the flashpoint came with the measles epidemic in 1847. Oh shit. In the fall of that year, a wagon train from the east inadvertently brought measles into the region. Oh dear. I know, I know, I know. And especially with the natives who had the the they're all new, they're all new to that. They had zero immunity to a lot of um diseases.

44:36 Yeah, I was thinking of an additional word to that. Communicable. You say that again. Communicable. We'll just say to the white man disease, obviously. Because over the course of a lot of things, people think we slaughtered all these Native Americans. A lot of it was disease, unfortunately. I'm not saying we didn't do terrible things to Native Americans. I'm just kidding. Um a lot of it was disease because they just this is all new shit to them. Yeah. And they had no immunity to any of this. So what what do measles what are obviously we have different medication now?

45:20 I see you're clicking already to answer my question. What back then, especially, if you can determine that, what did measles do to these people? So in 1847, there's no vaccines, there's no antibiotics. Correct. We're talking high fever, often 104 degrees or higher. And this is from measles. Yes. Okay. Coughing fit, um, red, watery, painful eyes, running nose, full body rash, oh shit, severe diarrhea, pneumonia. Why did I think this was like chicken pox? I don't know. Because measles sound like chicken pox, I guess. We they can measles can also destroy the cornea, resulting in blindness.

46:01 And encephalitis, which is brain swelling. Oh shit. What? So the reason why measles are not much of a thing is because we have a vaccination. Vaccine, but there there are still cases. Oh, I'm I'm sure there are, obviously. But um, holy shit, control your destroy your corneas. I know, I didn't know that. I had no idea. That sounds like an exponentially worse version of chicken pox. As of November 18th, 2025. Yeah. The CDC a couple days ago.

46:42 Yeah. The CDC reports 1700 confirmed measle cases in the US. For this calendar year? Yes. Holy shit. Wow. But we obviously have a lot different medicine than we did 180 years ago. We for sure did. For sure do. Okay. Okay. So I was just curious. Sorry. Oh, for sure. I I I I know of measles, obviously. Obviously. I never knew exactly what it did because honestly, in our lifetime, I'm not saying it's not a big thing. I feel like measles is like a multiple of measles, and I think that's what I thought chicken pox.

47:24 Sure. I thought it was meat like bumps all over the bottom. I I get it. I had no idea, because again, medicine today, a lot different. Yeah. Clearly, there's case 1700s, you said. Um, but most of us, you know, obviously, we get the vaccinations and so on, whatever, and and we have modern modern medicine today. I had no idea it would do all that shit. That's fucking crazy. Okay, could could you imagine getting that though? In the 18 1847 is where we're right. Okay, so measle epidemic of 1847. Okay. Um, a wagon train brought in this disease. So, how do you think they got the?

48:06 I'm you're fine, you're fine, you're fine. Ask your question. How do you think they got that? Like, because they're on the road. How was it like how is it spread? Yeah, because they're on the road. They obviously started in independence or whatever the other one that the Sagers did and came on their way. How how would they contract? Like, how do you contract the measles? Yeah, is it purely uh spreading to another person? Can it manifest into a person's body, I guess? It sir, it evolved from a cattle virus, really?

48:50 Oh shit. This it jumped from animals to humans around the sixth century BCE. Oh shit, it's been around for fucking 2600 years. Holy shit. Okay. Wow. So could they have contracted that from their cattle oxen on the way to Oregon? That's what I would assume. But get this, it can only persist in populations of 250,000 plus people because it needs a constant supply of new unimmune hosts. That's wild. So, how many Cayuse natives are there if it has to have that many populations?

49:33 Okay, I understand that question. Science people, please email us. I understand that question. However, if they're bringing it into these Caiuse people, though, they could have spread to the Cayuse people, they didn't need that much. How did the people who brought it in get it? That's wild. It must have been from their cattle then, had to been, right? But either way, that's that's crazy to think about. That okay. Listen to this. Yeah, the first detailed account of measles comes from the 10th century Persian physician Razez. I'm so sorry. That's all right. He distinguished measles from smallpox.

50:14 I'm thinking chicken pox, not smallpox. Smallpox, yeah. Okay. Wow. So it was obviously a variation, not a variation, but uh uh difference, obviously. Yeah, okay. That's so fucking wild. Sorry, sorry. No, that's okay. Didn't mean it as a real measles along with its infection of cholera, because that's also a thing, remember the last episode. Every time, and I I might have mentioned this last one. Every time I hear cholera, I just think of the it's either a book or a movie, Love in the Time of Cholera. Yeah, I think so. So why can't get get that out of my brain? I mean, this these two deadly infections or illnesses, whatever, yeah, are so deadly without immunity.

50:59 So yeah. So in this area, measles spread among the Cause Indians who had no prior exposure to it. Of course not. The result was catastrophic. Yep. The Cayus family fell ill, um, and half or more of the Caillus children died in a matter of weeks. Oh shit. So Dr. Whitman cared for both the Cayus and the white patients, but while many of the mission's white children, including the Sagers, recovered from the measles, the Cayus. So they're like, what the fuck, dude? You're giving them good medication and must not? Exactly. So the tragic outfit outcome fed a suspicion among the Cayus that Whitman, the medicine man, might be deliberately poisoning them or using supernatural means against them.

51:44 So do they have any explanation as to why the white man? I think it was just a little bit of racism, probably, even that early. I I I want to say there's nothing that I have read that said said he is purposefully working on the white man versus the Cayus. Okay. It just happened to be he's working more on with the white man than the Cayus. So I think there's some prejudice there. I don't know. I'd rather just call it prejudice than racism because I I don't either way. Anyways. Okay, prejudice. There probably was some prejudice.

52:25 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, but I don't know for sure. That's okay. Yeah. So in their worldview, it was inconceivable that Whitman's medicine would heal white children but fail Cayus children unless there was malice or witchcraft at play. Witchcraft. The environment at the mission grew really tense and fearful. Yeah. Narcissa Whiteman, while nursing sick children, wrote of hearing wailing from the Cayus camps as one child after another was buried. Oh boy. Some Cayus men confronted Marcus Whitman about the deaths, and rumors circulated that Whitman had was giving tainted medicine to the natives.

53:10 By late November 1847, a faction of the Cayus, grieving and convinced that expelling or killing Whitman was the only way to stop the sickness, oh boy, resolved to act. Now, do you remember that mixed native kid I had mentioned earlier, Joe Lewis, who um fled the Whitmans? Yes, he allegedly added a little bit more fuel to the fire by telling the Cayus that Whitman had intentionally was intentionally killing them to free the land for settlers. So now we're talking about Hirosang. Or straight-up lies.

53:51 We don't know. That's kind of a dick move, Joe Lewis. Um that's a dick move, Joe Lewis. That could be a title. Um that's a dick move, Joe Lewis. Okay, let me explain what I mean. I'm not saying he's wrong. I'm not saying he's right, but he has no fucking idea. Am I wrong? No. He probably made that shit up. He's the one who wanted to run away. Also, this wine is so good. So good. And it's so gone. I brought him Modello as a backup.

54:32 I I know. Yeah, as far as I know, Joe Lewis knew nothing. He just is like, I don't want to be with the Whitmans. I'm gonna fuck them up here by saying this to these uh Cayus that I know. Okay, continue. So on the afternoon of November 29th, yeah, 1847, the tension that had been simmering for months at the Whitman mission finally exploded into a fight. Violence. Yeah. Yeah. A group of Cayus warriors arrived under what appeared to be peaceful intentions. Well, the you can't infiltrate if you don't.

55:15 If you're not in a Trojan horse first. Yeah. It's their Trojan horse. So several asked Dr. Marcus Witness Whitman for medicine, um, something that they had done many times during the measles epidemic, seeping through their tribe. Seeping. Once inside the home, yeah, everything changed. Oh boy. As Marcus bent over one of the quote unquote ill men, the warrior suddenly attacked with tomahawks and guns. Oh boy. Dr. Whitman was struck in the head. Oh shit. It was a fatal blow. Yeah. Before he even had time to react. Sure. Narcissa Whitman, hearing the commotion, tried to reach him, but she was shot, wounded, and then beaten until she also died.

56:02 Good lord. Their deaths marked the beginning of a coordinated assault on the entire mission community. Well, and it they're fucked because they were the people running the shit. So it's like, who do you go to next? And now they're gonna attack other people within the mission because they think they're all in cahoots against the Cayuza? Cayus. Cayuse. So, yes, over the next day and a half, the attackers moved from building to building, killing nearly every adult male on the grounds. Oh fuck. Panic swept through the mission as settlers barricaded doors, hidden cellars, or attempted desperate escapes into the open fields.

56:45 In total, 14 people were killed during the massacre. Oh boy. Including the Whitmans and several of the immigrants who had been living or working at the mission. Now among the victims. Emigrants? Yes. Among the victims. Yeah. The two eldest Sager boys. Oh no. Really? I mean, there were men, so yeah. Okay. They survived the Oregon Trail only to die here. John Sager was 16. Oh fuck. He was reportedly shot as he fled, then hacked to death as he tried to crawl away. How awful. How brutal.

57:26 Frank Sager was 14. He survived the first day, but was discovered on the second and killed. He was potentially hiding or trying to reach his injured mother, Whitman. Not sure. Wow. That's sad. Another youth, a teenage boy the Whitmans had adopted, was murdered as well. Most of the mission laborers, many of them seasoned frontiersmen or hire hired settlers, were also killed during the assault. Yeah. One man did manage to break away on horseback and ride to ride for help toward Fort Walla Walla. Bing bang. But while trying to escape his pursuers, he drowned in a river.

58:07 Oh fuck. So he became the 14th victim, counted after the fact. I mean, he Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Semantics. So in the aftermath of the massacre, and this is historically called the Whitman Mission Massacre. Oh, is that what it's referred to? Okay. Wow. The Cayus held about 50 survivors captive, mostly women and children who had been spared. The Cayuse did not initially harm the women and smaller children. Not initially. The four Sager girls, Catherine, who was 12, Elizabeth 10, Matilda 8, and Henrietta, the baby, who is now three, survived the assault, though they witnessed a whole lot of unspeakable acts.

58:54 I'm sure. Narcissa died in front of them. Oh fuck. The girls, along with other children, were kept as prisoners for the next month. Oh boy. They huddled in the records of the mission through late November and into December 1847, unsure if they would be killed or spared. Sure. The conditions were dire, food was scarce, winter weather was setting in, and many of the children were sick with measles. Oh boy. Um, Louisa Sager, who is six, she had already been weakened by the epidemic, did die of measles during the captivity five days after the massacre started.

59:36 Goddamn that's sad. Wow. Okay. In the chaos of the attack, Louisa had been overlooked and left in an exposed area. One later account suggests that she died from neglect and illness before ever anyone realized that she was actually that ill. Right. Yeah. So their surviving sisters now lost another sibling. Oh but During this hostage period, the Sager girls clung to each other. Sure, yeah. That's all they had. Elizabeth Sager at 10 later gave an eyewitness account of those weeks. She described how she and others hid in a straw sack at night to keep out of the cold wind, digging a little hollow and covering it with a blanket to form a makeshift shelter.

1:00:22 Good lord. She also recalled witnessing acts of brutality during captivity. At one point, she saw a Cayus leader execute two of the captive men in front of the survivors. Wow, what a dick. For the children, every day and night were filled with fear. Yep. Some Cayus advocating killing all the Americans to eliminate witnesses. Others hesitated, realizing that harming women and children would only bring harsher retribution from nearby settlers. Yep, yep, yep. Ultimately, as negotiations began, the captives became bargaining chips. Wow. So news of the massacre took weeks to reach the nearest authorities because Pony Express hadn't happened yet.

1:01:05 Nope. When word reached the Hudson Bay Company outpost at Fort Vancouver, which is right on the Washington border. Okay. Um, they are called HBC for short. These officials, through British subjects and not targets of the Cayus, took action to re-rescue the survivors. Okay. So Peter Ogden, a seasoned HBC fur trapper and trader, uh traveled to the Cayus and opened ransom negotiations. Oh, okay. Despite this the violence, the Cayus chiefs were persuaded by Ogden's diplomacy and the offer of substantial goods.

1:01:48 Oh, we'll give you a bunch of this shit. Give us those people. Yeah. So in late December 1847, after a month of captivity, terms were reached. The Hudson Bay Company paid a ransom of blankets, muskets, ammunition, tobacco, and other goods in exchange for the release of approximately 49 surviving pioneers. Wow. In early January of 1848, the Sager girls and the other um survivors were turned over to Ogden, who ferried them away to the safety of Fort Vancouver. Fort Vancouver. And so is this in Canada? This is no, no, no.

1:02:29 This is um right on the border of Oregon in Washington State. Oh. Okay. Yes. So the Sagers had escaped death for a third time. Fucked up. Well, some of them did, yeah. In the massacre's wake, the four remaining remaining Sager orphans were effectively alone in the world once more. Uh-huh. By early 1848, they were transported to the Willamette Cap uh Valley in Oregon Territory, uh, which was a um up and becoming American settlement. Right. There the sisters were cared for by the community and eventually placed with foster families. Now the girls were not able to stay all together this time.

1:03:11 Oh, boo. They were taken in by different households, though some of the younger ones later rejoined the old elder sisters. So they were split up for a little while and then they were able to recon Yeah, they got back together. Yeah. Despite their traumatic childhood, each Sager girl went on to build a life in the Pacific Northwest. Okay. So Catherine Sager, the eldest sister, who was 13 at rescue, spent her teen years with Reverend William Roberts' family in Oregon City. Okay. At age 16, she lost part of her leg. She had a partial amputation, which was a lingering compet uh complication from when she had that wagon.

1:03:53 Um in October 1851 at 16, uh, she married a Methodist minister, Clark Pringle. Okay. Pring Pringle? After marriage, Catherine took in her two youngest sisters, Elizabeth and Henrietta. Oh, good, to live with her for a while, approximately three years, give or take, not quite sure. Sure. She and her husband established a farm near Salem, Oregon, and had eight children. Eight. That's a lot of children. Seven plus one. Eight. Eight children. Six plus two? Jesus. Five plus three? What why why why was that a thing?

1:04:34 About ten years after arriving in Oregon, Catherine penned a detailed memoir of the family's journey and mission life called Across the Plains in 1844. That's the whole title. Across the Plains in 1844. Now I did read this book. Did you? No. I listened to this book on on um shoot, what did I listen to it on? I think it was just podcast. I think I downloaded a podcast that literally read the book, and it was an hour and a half. It was an hour and a half of my life. That's how long this book was. Did you play it at 1.5? I don't remember what speed I listened to it at. But it is a short account.

1:05:14 Um easily readable. Yeah novels. Like it's not like a Stephen King novel. Yeah, and it was very novice writing. Well, yeah. I'm just saying, like it's very simple, it's simple. It's very simple. It's fine. Okay, so she initially hoped to publish it to raise funds for an orphanage in honor of Narcissa Whitman. Oh, nice. Though she did not find a publisher then, Catherine's manuscript survived in her family. Okay. She did live to see 75 years passing away in 1910. Oh, wow. And her first hand account was later recognized as one of the most authentic pioneer narratives about the Oregon trail.

1:05:55 Yeah, for sure. I mean, that's 1910, she lived to Elizabeth. And of course, much of what we know about the Sagers came from her. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Makes sense. Then we have Elizabeth Sager, um, 10 years old at rescue. Yeah, she was fostered by a family in Oregon and grew up to marry William Fletcher Helm, a farmer, in 1855. All right. She settled in the Willamette Valley and became a mother of nine children. These numbers are giving you fits. Elizabeth was known for her sharp memory of the Whitman mission events. She gave interviews later in life recounting details of the massacre and her captivity. Yep. She lived a long life, passing away in Portland in 1925 at the age of 88.

1:06:40 Holy shit. All right. Good for her. Matilda Sager was aid at rescue, was taken in by a family and came of age in Oregon and later, California. Okay. In her late teens, she married a minor and she had five. A young person? No. I was joking. Um, she had five children. Damn. After being widowed, she remarried Matthew Fultz, a farmer, and had three more children. Oh my God. She is fertile. Matilda eventually moved to California and even married a third time. I think they were all natural-causing deaths. Sure. Um, well, I don't know. Sounds like a series.

1:07:21 Hopefully, she didn't have any more kids. She did outlive all of her husbands and spent her final years with one of her daughter's families. Oh, good for her. Matilda died in 1928, the age of 89, the last of the Sager survivors. Damn. In interviews decades after 1847, Matilda vividly recalled her mother's death and details of the of the trail, providing valuable historical testimony. When did Henrietta die? That's my next one. Henry, no, that's okay. Henrietta, Naomi Sager, the baby, about three years old at rescue, had probably the most tragic post-rescue life. Oh boy. Little Henrietta was placed with a family, the Keys, K-E-E-S, Keys, and spent three years with them.

1:08:07 As a young teenager, she reunited with um Catherine's family on their farm. Oh, good. Remember, I said that Catherine kind of pulled in. Yep. Yep, yep, yep. In her late teens, Henrietta left to join their uncle, Solomon Sager, who ran a traveling entertainment troupe seeking a change of pace. Okay. Henrietta married twice, but both marriages were unhappy and brief. Okay. By her mid-twenties, her life unraveled. Oh no. In an accident, Henrietta was killed by a stray bullet during a shootout in which her violet second husband was the target. Oh boy. She died around 1870 at only 26 years old.

1:08:51 That's sad. Yeah. Wow. Okay. Almost immediately, vigilante resolutions and a militia call swept through the Willameck Valley. The newly formed Oregon Provision Provisional Government declared war on the Cayus, launching the Cayus War, which was between 1848 and 1850. Okay. And it was a messy, sporadic conflict fueled by grief, rage, and cultural misunderstandings. Sure. For the Cayus, the epidemic deaths of their children, which they believed Whitman caused, was a matter of tribal justice. Oh boy. For settlers, the massacre seemed proof that the frontier was unsafe without federal intervention.

1:09:35 Okay. So the U.S. government took notice. In 1848, partly triggered by the upheaval following the massacre, Congress created the Oregon Territory, formally bringing the region under American jurisdiction. Okay. Troops, judges, and administrators soon followed, weaving Oregon more tightly in weaving Oregon more tightly into the expansion of the United States. Sure. For decades, the massacre served as a rallying cry for American expansion, reinforcing the idea that settlers needed protection and native people needed managing. Oh, Jesus.

1:10:15 The Sager children, survivors of both the Oregon Trail and the Whitman Massacre, became almost legendary in pioneer circles. Right, no doubt. In 1897, a grand 50th anniversary commemoration of the Whitman Massacre was held at the old mission site. Oh, wow. By then, Catherine Sager Pringle, Elizabeth Sager Helm, and Matilda Sager Delaney were elderly women. Sure. The last surviving Sager children they attended as guest of honor. Wow. A photograph of the day, which I will post. Okay. Shows the three sisters together, their lives having diverged greatly since 1847.

1:10:56 Well, a little bit, yeah. But were were forever bonded by shared history. Sure. They helped dedicate a monument to the Whitmans and reflected on how, against all odds, they had carried on. That's crazy. And that is the Sager family, part two of the Oregon Trail. That is wild. I've never heard of any of that. The Cayus, Sager, doesn't matter. I am new to this, so that was that. I know. And that wasn't that a lot for one family to endure. Oh my god. But also, like parents losing oh my god. But also what happened with the Cayus? Like they just wanted to save their children and and they blame the white man, like most people do these days, to problems.

1:11:40 So it's fucking full full circle. Full circle. No, it's sad because like they didn't know, and whether that was neglect on Whitman's part or whatever, we don't know. We don't know. If racism prejudice, prejudice, what it does, whatever. Full lying. Yeah, we we don't know. So it if if it was that, fucking sad because he could have helped them, obviously. If it wasn't that, false blame, who knows? But no, I mean, we're all fucking humans. Let's help each other. Yeah. Doesn't need to be that way. Doesn't need to be that way. But well.

1:12:21 I suppose. Alright, buffoons, that's it for today's episode. Buckle up because we've got another historical adventure waiting for you next time. Feeling hungry for more buffoonery? Or maybe you have a burning question or a wild historical theory for us to explore? Hit us up on social media. We're History Buffoons Podcast on YouTube, X, Instagram, and Facebook. You can also email us at History Buffoons Podcast at gmail.com. We are Bradley and Kate, music by Corey Akers. Follow us wherever you get your podcasts and turn those notifications on to stay in the loop. Until next time, stay curious and don't forget to rate and review us. Remember, the buffoonery never stops.