edHelper.com
A New Nation
(1776-1830)
 Marcus and Narcissa Whitman

Marcus and Narcissa Whitman
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   high interest, readability grades 4 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   5.12

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    helping, reopened, fondly, militia, successful, pregnant, religion, killing, area, dreams, large, attack, journey, birth, traveled, goal
     content words:    Oregon Territory, Native Americans, Narcissa Whitman, New York, Elizabeth Spalding, Rocky Mountains, Cayuse Indian Tribe, When Alice, Native American, Both Marcus

Print Marcus and Narcissa Whitman
     Print Marcus and Narcissa Whitman  (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)

Quickly Print - PDF format
     Quickly Print: PDF (2 columns per page)
     Quickly Print: PDF (full page)

Quickly Print - HTML format
     Quickly Print: HTML

Proofreading Activity
     Print a proofreading activity

Feedback on Marcus and Narcissa Whitman
     Leave your feedback on Marcus and Narcissa Whitman  (use this link if you found an error in the story)

Marcus and Narcissa Whitman
By Cathy Pearl 		  
1     The Oregon Territory was a very large area of land. Native Americans had lived there for a long time. In the 1800s, white settlers began to move there. Some of the first settlers in the West were Marcus and Narcissa Whitman.
 
2     Both Whitmans were from New York. Narcissa was born into a very religious family. When she was sixteen, she decided she would be a missionary. She volunteered to be a missionary out West. She was not allowed to go at first because she was a single woman.
 
3     Marcus studied to be a doctor. He practiced medicine for four years in Canada. In 1835, he went to Oregon to look for a good place to build a mission.
 
4     In 1836, Marcus and Narcissa were married. It does not seem that they knew each other very well when they were married. But they both wanted to be missionaries.
 
5     The next day they left their homes and their families to travel West. This would be the last time that Narcissa would ever see her family. She would write many letters over the next years but would never speak to them again.
 
6     They went with another missionary couple, Henry and Elizabeth Spalding. Oregon was their goal. The group traveled with fur traders. Narcissa and Elizabeth became the first white women to cross the Rocky Mountains.
 
7     The Whitmans decided to start a mission near the Cayuse Indian Tribe. Their goal was to help members of the tribe become Christians. The Whitmans worked hard to make their goal come true. They preached to the Native Americans. They also held church services and built many buildings.
 
8     At first the Cayuse were interested in what the missionaries were doing. It didn't last long. The Native Americans saw them as a threat. They had practiced their religion for hundreds of years. They weren't interested in becoming Christians.

Paragraphs 9 to 18:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable
Weekly Reading Books

          Create Weekly Reading Books

Prepare for an entire week at once!

A New Nation
(1776-1830)
             A New Nation
(1776-1830)

More Lessons
             Special Education United States History Materials for Teachers

United States
             United States


    American Government  
 
    Black History and Blacks in U.S. History  
 
    Children in History  
 
    Government Careers  
 
    Hispanic Heritage  
 
    How Can I Help?  
 
 
    Immigration  
 
    National Parks and Monuments  
 
    Native Americans  
 
    Presidents of the United States  
 
    Women's History  
 

United States History
    A Nation Divided
(1840-1861) 		 
 
    A New Nation
(1776-1830) 		 
 
    After the Civil War
(1865-1870) 		 
 
    American Revolution  
 
    Cold War
(1947-1991) 		 
 
    Colonial America (1492-1776)  
 
    Lewis and Clark
(1804-1806) 		 
 
    Spanish American War (1898)  
 
    The 1890's  
 
    The 1900's  
 
    The 1910's  
 
    The 1920's  
 
    The 1930's  
 
    The 1940's  
 
 
    The 1950's  
 
    The 1960's  
 
    The 1970's  
 
    The 1980's  
 
    The 1990's  
 
    The 2000's  
 
    The Civil War
(1861-1865) 		 
 
    The Great Depression
(1929-1945) 		 
 
    The United States Grows
(1865-1900) 		 
 
    The War of 1812  
 
    Wild, Wild West  
 
    World War I
(1914-1918) 		 
 
    World War II  
 

50 States

             Fifty States Theme Unit

Document Based Activities
      Document Based Activities

More Activities, Lesson Plans, and Worksheets


Back to School
Graphic Organizers
Alphabet Worksheets
Sight Words
Math Worksheets
Mazes
50 States

Monthly Themes
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Fractions
Place Value
Time and Calendar
Money
Earth Day
Solar System
Analogies
Nouns
Following Directions
Listening
Capitalization
Cursive Writing
Patterns and Sequencing
Dinosaurs
All About Me

Kindergarten
First Grade
Second Grade
Third Grade
Fourth Grade
Fifth Grade
Sixth Grade
Multiplication
Division
Main Idea
Cause and Effect
Measurement
Decimals
Rounding
Order of Operations
Verbs
Community Helpers
Adjectives
Plants
Grammar
Addition and Subtraction
Contractions
Bulletin Board Ideas
Word Searches
Crossword Puzzles
Printable Puzzles

Reading Comprehension
Reading Skills
English Language Arts



Copyright © 2011 edHelper