Charlottesville Politics in Olympia

Pretty much a local topic here, but apparently one of our Seattle legislators has decided that the first white settler west of the Rocky Mountains does not measure up to his standards:
https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/state/ ... lJ-gyJSry0
I was born and raised in Walla Walla, so I know quite a bit about the local history. Had he lived in a different place/time, Dr. Marcus Whitman would have been a Saint. He treated sick and ailing Native Americans, traded with them, and nurtured a mutual friendship with them. However, those same NA's murdered both him and his family, touching off a war and giving white settlers/Army an excuse to consider them 'savages'. Now we have a Seattle politician that wants to jump on the Charlottesville bandwagon and remove the statutes at the state capitol and in Washington, DC that were erected to tell his story.
I fully realize that it was the white settlers and US Army that committed the majority of atrocities in the early and mid 19th century as the country expanded. But not all white settlers were devilish personalities hell bent to conquer and force into submission all NA's, and neither were all NA's as pure as the wind driven snow. Dr. Whitman was a rare exception of tolerance and human goodness during a very dark and ugly period of American history and should be used as an example of what we should all strive to be.
This is one of the worst examples of a politician looking to re-write history simply to to conform with his personal, preconceived ideas. This is in no way analogues to the removal of the Gen. Lee statute, which is IMO the motivation behind this proposal.
https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/state/ ... lJ-gyJSry0
I was born and raised in Walla Walla, so I know quite a bit about the local history. Had he lived in a different place/time, Dr. Marcus Whitman would have been a Saint. He treated sick and ailing Native Americans, traded with them, and nurtured a mutual friendship with them. However, those same NA's murdered both him and his family, touching off a war and giving white settlers/Army an excuse to consider them 'savages'. Now we have a Seattle politician that wants to jump on the Charlottesville bandwagon and remove the statutes at the state capitol and in Washington, DC that were erected to tell his story.
I fully realize that it was the white settlers and US Army that committed the majority of atrocities in the early and mid 19th century as the country expanded. But not all white settlers were devilish personalities hell bent to conquer and force into submission all NA's, and neither were all NA's as pure as the wind driven snow. Dr. Whitman was a rare exception of tolerance and human goodness during a very dark and ugly period of American history and should be used as an example of what we should all strive to be.
This is one of the worst examples of a politician looking to re-write history simply to to conform with his personal, preconceived ideas. This is in no way analogues to the removal of the Gen. Lee statute, which is IMO the motivation behind this proposal.