Crossing the Rockies

Dr. Marcus Whitman has a passion to go to the Oregon country as a missionary. With another couple he and his wife make the journey; the wives are reputedly the first white women to cross the Great Divide. Their route becomes the Oregon Trail, and Whitman helps other parties make the trek. Cayuse Indians kill the Whitmans and others, after which the federal government takes steps to police and organize the territory.