Shaver, F. A., Arthur P. Rose, R. F. Steele, and A. E. Adams, compilers.  "An
Illustrated History of Central Oregon." ("Embracing Wasco, Sherman, Gilliam,
Wheeler, Crook, Lake, & Klamath Counties")  Spokane, WA: Western Historical
Publishing Co., 1905.  p. 780.
 
MRS. MARTHA J. SPALDING WIGLE

     who lives at Prineville, Oregon, was born at Lapwai agency, twelve miles
above Lewiston, Idaho, on March 20, 1845. She was educated at Forest
Grove, Oregon, then moved to Walla Walla, where she married William Wigle in
1859. Soon after their marriage, they journeyed to eastern Oregon where Mr.
Wigle engaged in the stock business. In 1886, he came to Prineville and here
they have resided since and are known as substantial and good people. 
     Mrs. Wigle's father was the well known missionary, Reverend H. H. Spalding.
This historical character is one of the best known men in the northwest and
certainly did a work the like of which there are few to compare in the United
States. It is quite in place that a brief review of his life should be embodied
in this article.  H. H. Spalding was born in Steuben county, New York, on
November 26, 1803. He received a college education and then graduated from Lane
Theological seminary, being ordained a minister in the same year, 1835. He was
also appointed that year as missionary of the Inez Perce Indians by the American
board. In 1833 he had married Eliza Hart of Oneida county, New York, and in 1836
together they started on their journey to the then trackless west. It required
no small amount of courage for a man to take his wife and leave civilization and
travel over unbroken wilds and mountains for two thousand miles to a land amid
savages, where there was no assurance of any welcome or freedom from
hostilities. The Reverend H. H. Spalding and his lovely wife were not Christians
in name only but Christians in reality and they could trust the God who had
brought them from darkness to light to guide their steps through the desert and
across the mountains and even protect them amid the savages to whom they were
longing to bring the precious gospel. It would give us great pleasure were more
details furnished both of this trip and of the life they spent afterwards but it
is necessary to content ourselves with what has been furnished. In due time, the
little party arrived at their destination and found the Nez Perce Indians. They
selected a proper place to settle and erected the rude buildings necessary for
their shelter and began the task of teaching the Indians and preaching to them
the gospel. As early as 1839, so vigorously did Mr. Spalding prosecute his work,
he succeeded in establishing a printing press, the first on the entire Pacific
coast. This press is now the property of the historical society at Portland,
Oregon. He translated portions of the heir Testament into the Nez Perce language
and printed it for distribution among the Indians who were taught to read. He
also taught the Indians to farm and before the Whitman massacre they had
progressed so well that they were producing twenty thousand bushels of grain
annually. He brought in sheep, cattle, and horses and taught the Indians how to
raise them. While he was engaged in these labors, his wife would gather the
Indians, sometimes her school would amount to five hundred in number, and teach
them to spin and weave. Thus they labored on until 1845. Their station was some
one hundred and twenty-five miles east of the ill fated Whitman station and at
that time one of Mrs. Wigle's sisters was at the Whitman mission. Mr. Spalding
was on the journey to the Whitman mission to take his daughter home from her
visit and just before he reached it he was met by a Catholic priest who was
fleeing and who informed him of the awful tragedy and urged him to flee for his
life. It seemed best for him to return to his family at Lapwai as he was not
sure but that his own Indians would be on the war path as well. What trial of
heart and terrible suffering this good man passed through as he hurried back
over the one hundred miles and more to his loved ones we are not told but the
God who had guided him safely thus far protected him and his and although the
excitement ran so high that he was even afraid to show himself to his own
Indians, still he was enabled to get his family and make his way in safety to
the Willamette valley. Colonel Olney, one of the Hudson Bay people, learned that
Miss Spalding, who was attending school at the Whitman mission, had not been
killed but was held captive with others by the Indians. He immediately entered
into negotiations for her release and advanced the money necessary to secure it.
So that three weeks after she was captured, her parents had the satisfaction of
having their beloved daughter with them and the family circle unbroken. This
young lady is now Mrs. Eliza Warren and lives at Chelan, Washington. The work of
H. H. Spalding and his faithful wife was not without fruit as is evidenced among
the Nez Perce Indians to this day. He is a character well known in history and
his life has been written mane times. Suffice it to say that to such men as he
and to such brave women as his wife the people who dwell in this favored country
now, as well as the savages to whom they brought the good things of civilization
and the precious gospel of the grace of God, owe a debt of gratitude which may
never be fully paid.
     Mr. and Mrs. Wigle are parents of five children, named as follows : John
H., born in Linn county, September 9, 1861 ; Ida, deceased, born in 1863; Minnie
L., born in Linn county, July 15, 1865; Albert Lee, born June 10, 1868; Eliza
L., born May 2, 1875, in Umatilla county.


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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in November 2011 by Diana Smith.
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.