Marsh, Walter

Died: 1847-11-29 Oregon Territory

Marsh moved to Sangamon County, Illinois, sometime in the 1830s, settling in Springfield. He operated a farm on the Sangamon River. In 1840, he was living on his farm with five other people in his household. In 1847, Marsh caught "Oregon Fever" and set out with his family in a wagon train for the Oregon Territory. Marsh's wife died on the trail, but Marsh and his daughter made it to Marcus Whitman's Mission at Waiilatpu, where Marsh decided to spent the winter. Whitman hired him as a grist mill operator. Marsh was murdered by Cayuse Indians during the Whitman Massacre.

U.S. Census Office, Sixth Census of the United States (1840), Sangamon County, IL, 21; Gregory and Susan Michno, A Fate Worse Than Death: Indian Captivities in the West, 1830-1885 (Caldwell, ID: Caxton, 2007), 90, 93, 99.