BAKER CITY — Susan Matley is bringing to life the story of Matilda Sager Delaney, a survivor of the Whitman Massacre of 1847.

This weekend provides several opportunities to see Matley’s living history performance.

She will be at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center July 9-11 with shows at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 2:30 p.m. all three days.

On Saturday, July 10, she will perform at Geiser-Pollman Park in Baker City starting at 5 p.m.

All performances are free.

Matley lives in Walla Walla, Washington, which is near the site of the massacre.

Her grandparents homesteaded in Columbia County in southeastern Washington.

“I’m very drawn to the history here,” she said. “I was aware of the Whitman massacre, and I think I visited the mission with my grandparents.”

The Whitman Mission National Historic Site is located near Walla Walla, just north of the Oregon border.

According to the site website, Marcus and Narcissa Whitman came west in 1836. They were sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, a Protestant Christian organization that sent missionaries to foreign countries far and wide.

The Whitmans’ worked with the Cayuse.

Matilda Sager Delaney — the woman portrayed by Matley — came west in 1844. There were seven Sager children, and both parents died on the trip. The children were taken to the Whitman Mission in October of 1844 and adopted by Marcus and Narcissa.

Matilda was eight years old at the time of the massacre in 1847.

According to the NPS, cultural differences had led to misunderstandings, and a measles epidemic killed a greater number of Cayuse than the white settlers.

In the massacre, fourteen died and 47 were taken hostage.

“It was mostly women and children who were held hostage,” Matley said.

Matilda was one of the hostages. A month later, Peter Skene Ogden of the Hudson’s Bay Company offered a ransom for the hostages.

“He bartered for their lives,” Matley said.

Matilda and her surviving sisters were fostered by different families in the Willamette Valley.

Matley takes her audience through Matilda’s life after the massacre, through two marriages and various business ventures.

To learn more about Matley — she’s published books, too — go to https://www.susandmatley.com/.