This study examines the portrayal of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, Protestant missionaries who worked among the Cayuse tribe in Washington. By utilizing sources such as academic text, personal reminiscence, and film, I argue that popular American memory of missionaries like the Whitmans has been twisted in two opposite directions: as civilizing saviors of savages, and as annihilators of culture. Such transformations are dependent both on the sources consulted, and the reality that society interprets those materials through their current cultural lens. Where memory is concerned, it is not the facts, but rather the perspective of the memory holder that matters most.