ABSTRACT
Narcissa Prentiss was a Methodist who wanted to evangelize, to spread the good news about Christ. In 1821, Britain's Hudson's Bay Company had established a presence in the Pacific Northwest in order to make money. However, Narcissa and Marcus Whitman did not come to make an earthly fortune. They came to convert Indians to Christianity and to "civilize" them with American-style agriculture, the English language, and new clothes, both age-old goals of American Protestants. Catholics had already claimed souls in the Pacific Northwest. Just as Narcissa Whitman came west as a missionary, so too others made the long trip for reasons other than gold-laced dreams. A fifteen-year-old New Yorker named Joseph Smith underwent divine visions and visitations beginning in 1820. Smith's claims about golden plates inscribed with the hidden history of Abraham's lost children inspired a splinter denomination, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the Mormons.
