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ryanandrew23's review
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Colonisation, Murder, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, and Genocide
hannah_klaassen's review
4.0
This should be required reading for the many of us white settlers us who reside in (occupy) the Inland Northwest and/or have been influenced by the concept of manifest destiny at any point in time. I recall learning about “heroic” missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whitman when I was young, and I’m grateful for Harden’s work to share an accessible, engaging revision of that story. The book also reminds readers that today’s political and social dynamics aren’t new…the spread of false information, the quest for wealth, and a disturbing disdain for difference were insidious and pervasive, then as now.
themadmadmadeline's review
5.0
This was one of the best pieces of nonfiction I’ve ever read. This should be required reading for all young adults in the Pacific Northwest.
This piece was written with humor, excellent and thoughtful attention to detail, and perfectly highlighted the fallacies specific to manifest destiny.
Truly a fresh and excellent piece that is a shining example of how modern nonfiction should be.
This piece was written with humor, excellent and thoughtful attention to detail, and perfectly highlighted the fallacies specific to manifest destiny.
Truly a fresh and excellent piece that is a shining example of how modern nonfiction should be.
rachelwalexander's review
5.0
Oh man, this should be required reading for every Whitman College grad. As a Whittie and Oregon resident I was keenly interested in the subject, and Blaine Harden's previous books have all been fantastic. "Murder at the Mission" did not disappoint. I appreciated the long look at Whitman and his legacy - not just his life and the context, but the historical lie that developed following his death and how it was promulgated. I had no idea it played such foundational role in my alma mater's survival. As with Harden's other books, this is thoroughly researched and about as much of a page-turner as any account of historians and missionaries engaged in bitter rivalries can be.
bobbo49's review
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.0
I live roughly 35 miles from the Spalding Mission. I taught middle school social studies students about western American history, including the tragic story of the Nez Perce, and we visited both the early portions of the Nez Perce trail and the Mission itself. But I had never learned the full and devastating story of the Whitmans and the Spaldings (and of Henry Spalding's fictitious recreation of Marcus Whitman's actions), and the terrible treatment of the Cayuses, until now.
Although portions of the book are a bit overly lengthy, it is a deep and informative lesson in the white settlers' displacement and massacre of Native Americans, and the role of the Protestant and Catholic churches alongside the federal government in that criminal operation and cultural tragedy. Alongside many other excellent books from the last few decades, Murder at the Mission tells American history as it really happened, but is rarely taught.
Although portions of the book are a bit overly lengthy, it is a deep and informative lesson in the white settlers' displacement and massacre of Native Americans, and the role of the Protestant and Catholic churches alongside the federal government in that criminal operation and cultural tragedy. Alongside many other excellent books from the last few decades, Murder at the Mission tells American history as it really happened, but is rarely taught.