Dwight Mission, Indian Nation, August 15, 1828

Dwight Mission, Indian Nation, August 15, 1828

Theme: Arkansas Before Statehood
Grade Levels: 7-8 9-12
Time Period: 1828

Introduction

Hiram Abiff Whittington’s letters, which he wrote to his brother Granville Whittington in the late 1820s and early 1830s, remain one of the most valuable personal accounts of daily life in Arkansas shortly before Arkansas Territory became a state. Whittington was one of many entrepreneurial men who moved to Arkansas seeking exciting opportunities and new life in what was at the time the frontier of the United States. He was born in 1805 in Boston, Massachusetts, and moved to Little Rock in 1826. He was a skilled printer and book binder and had experience in book trade and publishing. In Little Rock, he worked as a printer with the Arkansas Gazette but in 1832 he moved to Hot Springs. He settled there hoping that the spring waters would have a healing effect on his deteriorating health. He opened several businesses, created first lending library in Arkansas, and established a successful political career, eventually serving as a state representative. In 1836, Whittington returned to Boston to marry Mary Burnham. The two moved back to Hot Springs and had six children. Whittington died in 1890 in Hot Springs. 

Whittington’s letters provide an account into the daily life in Arkansas Territory from a perspective of a white middle class educated man. Access to Whittington’s original letters, which are housed at the Special Collections Department of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, is limited due to the documents’ fragility. To make these rare and extremely valuable records more accessible to researchers, educators, and students, Whittington’s letters were typed. Activities in “Arkansas Before Statehood” are based on six typescript letters (typed copies of the original letters) selected from a collection of sixteen letters housed at the Center for Arkansas History and Culture in Little Rock (Hiram A. Whittington Papers, 1824-1834, UALR.MS.0157). 

Note for educators: Each letter and thus each exercise in “Arkansas Before Statehood” can be used as a separate complete activity to enrich a discussion on Arkansas history shortly before statehood. However, each letter highlights different aspects of life in Arkansas Territory so any number and combination of letters and corresponding exercises can form a set. All the six letters showcased in “Arkansas Before Statehood” and thus all the corresponding exercises can be also used as a set to create a more comprehensive and complex historical picture. The latter may work particularly efficiently if you divide your students into groups and assign one letter to each group.

Activity Questions

Hiram Abiff Whittington letter to Granville Whittington, page 32

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Hiram Abiff Whittington letters to Granville Whittington includes discussions of a shooting and death in Woodruff's office, social and family matters, a visit to Dwight Mission in Cherokee Nation, his description of a Cherokee village, the Cherokees' purchase of a printing press, appointment to Indian printing office, an Indian friend, and the weather. Hiram A. Whittington Papers, 1824-1834 (UALR.MS.0157)

  1. The word “mission” means several different things. What is “mission” in Whittington’s letter? If you are not sure, look it up in a dictionary. 
  2. Who established the mission that Whittington visits and where was it established? 
  3. Who are the Cherokees? What does it mean when Whittington writes that the mission’s purpose was to “civilize the Cherokees”?
  4. What do we learn about the school that the mission runs? Who attends the school and who teaches in it? Look up the word “squaw” if you do not know its meaning.  
  5. What do we learn about interactions between white settlers and the Cherokees from Whittington’s letter?
  6. Whittington plans to attend a meeting with the Cherokees. Why does he want to attend it? What is his goal?
  7. What do we learn about the newspaper that is planned to be created by the Cherokees? Who was George Guess? Look him up. What was his contribution to Native American history and US history? 
  8. Whittington writes that the Cherokees will soon move “into their new land … two hundred miles further up the Arkansas.” To what historical events does he refer? If you are not sure, investigate how and when the Cherokees first arrived in Arkansas and what happened to them in the 1820s and 1830s. 
  9. What do we learn about the lives of Native Americans in Arkansas from this letter? Consider Whittington’s point of view. How could Whittington’s background influence what he wrote about the Cherokees? Keep in mind that Whittington was not a Native American. He was a white middle class educated man who moved to Arkansas from Boston, which at the time was one of the largest cities in the United States.
  10. Whittington writes that the Dwight Mission provided education to the Cherokees. Research the role of Christian missions and their schools in Native American history. In what other ways, besides education, did the missions impact the lives of Native Americans? Was the impact of Christian missions on Native Americans beneficial or disadvantageous? You can find more information about the Dwight Mission here: https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/dwight-mission-2473/.

Additional Questions

These can be applied to any letter or any set of letters used in the Arkansas Before Statehood theme.

  1. What can we learn about life in Arkansas Territory from Whittington’s letter/letters? 
  2. How did Whittington’s social status and his own experience shape his perception of Arkansas? Whittington was a white middle class educated man from Boston, which was at the time one of the largest cities in the United States. 
  3. How did Whittington’s social status and his own experience shape his life in Arkansas? Did the people who were not white, educated, middle class, or men have the same life in Arkansas in the 1820s and 1830s as Whittington? 
  4. How did Whittington’s social status and his own experience shape his perception of people in Arkansas who were not like him (e.g., women, Native Americans, enslaved African Americans, uneducated poor workers)?

Primary Sources

To learn more about the primary sources featured in the activities above, click the following links:

Arkansas Social Studies Standards

US History, Grade 8

  • Strand: Era 4: Expansion and Reform 1801-1861 
  • Content Standard 1: Students will analyze the period of expansion and reform in the United States.
    • Era4.1.8.1 Analyze multiple factors that affected territorial expansion and influenced the perspectives of people
    • Era4.1.8.3 Examine economic, political, and geographic causes and effects of territorial expansion
    • Era4.1.8.6 Evaluate the historical significance of individuals, groups, and events

Arkansas History, Grades 7 – 8 

  • Strand: History 
  • Content Standard 7: Students will examine the impact of historical events and people on the development of Arkansas.
    • H.7.AH.7-8.1 Evaluate ways that historical events in Arkansas were shaped by circumstances in time and place

Arkansas History, Grades 9 – 12

  • Strand: Era 2: Louisiana Purchase Through Early Statehood 1803-1860 
  • Content Standard 2: Students will analyze causes and consequences of events from the Louisiana Purchase through early statehood.  
    • Era2.2.AH.9-12.1 Evaluate intended and unintended consequences of public policies (e.g., Louisiana Purchase, Missouri Compromise, Indian Removal)
    • Era2.2.AH.9-12.4 Evaluate effects of human-made and natural disasters on Arkansas (e.g., earthquakes, flooding, disease)
    • Era2.2.AH.9-12.5 Evaluate reasons for and impact of human settlement on various regions (e.g., land grants, labor force, railroad, political unrest)

Key Terms

More Information


Downloadable Guides and Handouts

We encourage K-12 educators to use History Alive: Virtually! in a way that will best match their classroom needs. The “Exercise” handout includes a complete exercise as featured on this website, the “Primary Sources” handout includes only primary sources used in the exercise, and the “Questions” handout includes analytical questions from the exercise but is editable and can be easily changed to best match students’ needs.

Dwight Mission, Indian Nation, August 15, 1828 – Exercises

Dwight Mission, Indian Nation, August 15, 1828 – Primary Sources

Dwight Mission, Indian Nation, August 15, 1828 – Questions