1836

William Apess delivers his “Eulogy on King Philip.”

In his last known public appearance, William Apess, an influential Pequot minister and writer (see entries for 1829 and 1834), delivers a passionate sermon about the death of Metacom (see entry for AUGUST 12, 1679), the Wampanoag rebellion leader of the 17th century who was known to non-Indians as King Philip. Claiming to be a direct descendant of Metacom, Apess questions the Christianity of the Puritans because of their brutal treatment of the Indians they encountered. The controversial sermon will become Apess’s last published work.

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“During the bloody contest, the pious fathers wrestled hard and long with their God, in prayer, that he would prosper their arms, and deliver their enemies into their hands. . . . Nor could they, the Pilgrims, cease crying to the Lord against Philip, until they had prayed the bullet through his heart. . . . If this is the way they pray, that is bullets through people's hearts, I hope they will not pray for me; I should rather be excused.”

—from William Apess's “Eulogy on King Philip”

The Lenni Lenape (Delaware)’s Walam Olum is published.

French biologist Constantine Samuel Rafinesque publishes a translation of a portion of the Walam Olum, a sacred pictographic record of Lenni Lenape (Delaware) creation and history. Rafinesque’s book also includes information about the Lenni Lenape he has collected from Indian informants. A complete translation of the Walam Olum will be published by anthropologist Daniel Brinton in 1885.

Marcus Whitman establishes a mission among the Cayuse.

Presbyterian missionary Marcus Whitman of New York arrives at Fort Walla Walla on the Columbia River, in present-day Oregon. There he establishes an Indian mission and school at the Cayuse village of Waiilatpu. With Whitman are his associate Henry Spaulding and their wives, Narcissa Whitman and Eliza Spaulding, who are the first white women ever to cross the Great Plains. (See also entry for NOVEMBER 29, 1847.)

May 19

Cynthia Ann Parker is taken captive by the Comanche.

Angered by white settlers encroaching on their lands, a party of several hundred warriors from the Comanche, Caddo, and Kiowa tribes attack Fort Parker, a white settlement in what is now Texas. During the assault, five members of the Parker family are killed, and five others are captured. Among the captives is nine-year-old Cynthia Parker.

During the next six years, all of the captives except for Cynthia are ransomed and returned to their families. Although the Parkers negotiate for Cynthia, the Comanche refuse their offers. They claim that she wants to stay with the tribe, which has adopted her as one of their own. Taking the Comanche name Preloch, Cynthia Parker will marry Peco Nocoma, a respected Comanche warrior who participated in the raid on Fort Parker. One of their three children, Quanah Parker, will become the most important Comanche leader of the reservation era. (See also entry for DECEMBER 1860.)