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Whitman Mission National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located just west of
In 1836, a small group of 
Marcus Whitman and Narcissa Whitman established the Whitman Mission at Waiilatpu, near the Walla Walla River. The mission was in Cayuse territory. The Cayuse welcomed the Whitmans to their land in 1836 after learning of them the previous year from Samuel Parker.
The Mission became an important stop along the Oregon Trail from 1843 to 1847, and passing immigrants added to the tension. With the influx of white settlers the Cayuse became suspicious of the Whitmans again, fearing that the white man was coming to take the land.
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National Park Service: Whitman Mission National Historic Site
{{Authority control 19th-century colonization of the Americas 1936 establishments in Washington (state) Archaeological sites in Washington (state) Cayuse War Christian missions History museums in Washington (state) History of Walla Walla County, Washington History of Washington (state) Museums in Walla Walla County, Washington National Historic Sites in Washington (state) Native American history of Washington (state) Oregon Country Oregon Trail Parks in Walla Walla County, Washington Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Protected areas established in 1936 National Register of Historic Places in Walla Walla County, Washington
Walla Walla, Washington
Walla Walla ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,339 as of 2023. The combined populat ...
, at the site of the former Whitman Mission at Waiilatpu. On November 29, 1847, Dr. Marcus Whitman
Marcus Whitman (September 4, 1802 – November 29, 1847) was an American physician and missionary. He is most well known for leading American settlers across the Oregon Trail, unsuccessfully attempting to Christianize the Cayuse Indians, and wa ...
, his wife Narcissa Whitman, and 11 others were slain by Native Americans of the Cayuse. The site commemorates the Whitmans, their role in establishing the Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...
, and the challenges encountered when two cultures meet.
History
In 1836, a small group of Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
missionaries traveled with the annual fur trapper's caravan into Oregon Country
Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long Oregon boundary dispute, dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been demarcat ...
. Among the group, Narcissa Whitman and Eliza Hart Spalding became the first white women to travel across the continent.
Marcus Whitman and Narcissa Whitman established the Whitman Mission at Waiilatpu, near the Walla Walla River. The mission was in Cayuse territory. The Cayuse welcomed the Whitmans to their land in 1836 after learning of them the previous year from Samuel Parker.
The Mission became an important stop along the Oregon Trail from 1843 to 1847, and passing immigrants added to the tension. With the influx of white settlers the Cayuse became suspicious of the Whitmans again, fearing that the white man was coming to take the land.
A measles
Measles (probably from Middle Dutch or Middle High German ''masel(e)'', meaning "blemish, blood blister") is a highly contagious, Vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine-preventable infectious disease caused by Measles morbillivirus, measles v ...
outbreak in November 1847 killed half the local Cayuse. The measles also broke out in the Mission but more white settlers survived. Some of the Cayuse blamed the devastation of their tribe on Dr. Whitman and Mrs. Whitman. They were killed along with eleven others; forty-seven other mission residents were taken hostage. The deaths of the Whitmans shocked the country, prompting Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
to make Oregon a US territory, and precipitated the Cayuse War
The Cayuse War (1847–1855) was an armed conflict between the Cayuse people of the Northwestern United States and settlers, backed by the U.S. government. The conflict was triggered by the Whitman massacre of 1847, where the Cayuse attacked a ...
. Five Cayuse were hanged for murder; see Cayuse Five.
In more recent times, the site has been excavated for important artifacts, and then reburied. A memorial obelisk, erected fifty years after the event, stands on a nearby hill.
The historic site was established in 1936 as Whitman National Monument and was redesignated a National Historic Site on January 1, 1963.
References
External links
National Park Service: Whitman Mission National Historic Site
{{Authority control 19th-century colonization of the Americas 1936 establishments in Washington (state) Archaeological sites in Washington (state) Cayuse War Christian missions History museums in Washington (state) History of Walla Walla County, Washington History of Washington (state) Museums in Walla Walla County, Washington National Historic Sites in Washington (state) Native American history of Washington (state) Oregon Country Oregon Trail Parks in Walla Walla County, Washington Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Protected areas established in 1936 National Register of Historic Places in Walla Walla County, Washington