7
CULTURE & HERITAGE
CELEBRATING THE HISTORY
OF NORTHEAST OREGON
THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021
Susan Matley
performs as survivor
of Whitman Massacre
Author brings historical
performance to Baker County
By Lisa Britton
Go! Magazine
B
AKER CITY — Susan Matley
is bringing to life the story
of Matilda Sager Delaney, a sur-
vivor of the Whitman Massacre
of 1847.
This weekend provides sever-
al opportunities to see Matley’s
living history performance.
She will be at the National
Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive
Center July 9-11 with shows at
10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 2:30
p.m. all three days.
On Saturday, July 10, she will
perform at Geiser-Pollman Park
in Baker City starting at 5 p.m.
All performances are free.
Matley lives in Walla Walla,
Washington, which is near the
site of the massacre.
Her grandparents home-
steaded in Columbia County in
southeastern Washington.
“I’m very drawn to the history
here,” she said. “I was aware of
the Whitman Massacre, and I
think I visited the mission with
my grandparents.”
The Whitman Mission Na-
tional Historic Site is located
near Walla Walla, just north of
the Oregon border.
According to the site’s
website, Marcus and Narcissa
Whitman came west in 1836.
They were sent by the American
Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions, a Protestant
Christian organization that sent
missionaries to foreign coun-
tries far and wide.
The Whitmans’ worked with
the Cayuse.
Matilda Sager Delaney — the
woman portrayed by Matley —
came west in 1844. There were
seven Sager children, and both
parents died on the trip. The
children were taken to the Whit-
man Mission in October of 1844
and adopted by Marcus and
Narcissa.
Matilda was eight years old
at the time of the massacre
in 1847.
According to the National
Park Service, cultural diff erenc-
es had led to misunderstand-
ings, and a measles epidemic
killed a greater number of Cay-
use than the white settlers.
In the massacre, 14 died
and 47 were taken hostage by
the Cayuse.
“It was mostly women and
children who were held hos-
tage,” Matley said.
Matilda was one of the
hostages. A month later, Peter
Skene Ogden of the Hudson’s
Bay Company off ered a ransom
for the hostages.
“He bartered for their lives,”
Matley said.
Matilda and her surviving sis-
ters were fostered by diff erent
families in the Willamette Valley.
Matley takes her audience
through Matilda’s life after the
massacre, through two mar-
riages and various business
ventures.
To learn more about Matley —
she’s published books, too — go
to https://www.susandmatley.
com/.
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