Whitman Mission

Whitman Mission (1836-1847) - A Protestant mission established in 1836 by Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa Prentiss Whitman near present day Walla Walla in Walla Walla County, Washington. Site of the Whitman Massacre in 1847. Destroyed during the massacre. Also known as Waiilatpu Mission. Whitman Mission National Historic Site Entrance. History Replica Oregon Trail Wagon at the Whitman Mission. In 1836 the Whitmans headed West with another missionary couple, Henry Harmon Spalding and his wife Eliza. They departed from St. Louis for Oregon, traveling with fur traders for most of the way. They took wagons farther West than any American expedition before them. Narcissa and Eliza became the first white women known to cross the Rocky Mountains. The Whitmans reached the Walla Walla river on 1 Sep 1836, and founded a mission to the Cayuse Indians at Waiilatpu in the Walla Walla Valley. The Spaldings travelled on to present-day Idaho where they founded a mission along the Clearwater river at Lapwai. The Spaulding Mission served the Nez Perce Indians. In 1842, the American Missionary Board decided to close the Whitman Mission because the Whitman's efforts were largely unsuccessful. Marcus went back east in a successful attempt to convince the board to continue support for the mission. He returned in 1843, helping to lead the first large wagon train over the Oregon Trail. For a time the Oregon Trail passed by the Whitman Mission and they were busy assisting American settlers with food and supplies. They took in eleven children of deceased immigrants and the mission became an early boarding school. By 1845, other trails had become more popular and the wagon trains that came by the mission were mostly those in need of supplies or those who had problems with disease or other troubles. The Whitman Massacre Whitman Mission Plan with Massacre Details. The troubles for the mission began in late 1847 as one of those wagon trains brought a measles epidemic to the mission that struck both the white and Cayuse populations. The Whitmans nursed both but most of the white children lived because they had some immunity and nearly all the Cayuse children died because they had no immunity. It is easy to see how the Cayuse might view the onslaught of settlers and now the death of most of their children as treachery on the part of the mission. On 29 Nov 1847, the Cayuse sought revenge on the mission by killing the Whitmans and twelve other whites. They burned down the mission buildings and left the bodies lay where they fell. The Cayuse War It was not until February or early March 1848 that Oregon Volunteers arrived at the site and buried the dead. The volunteers constructed a small fort (Fort Waters) from the mission ruins and set out to find the guilty parties. The pursuit of the killers expanded into the Cayuse War. The shock of the Whitman Massacre spread throughout the northwest and many feared that the violence would spread into other areas. Militias were formed and isolated settlers and communities prepared defenses. The Spaulding Mission in Idaho closed and the Spaulding missionary couple moved away. The Cayuse War ended with the surrender, trial and execution of five of the accused Cayuse murderers on 3 Jun 1850. The Aftermath The Cayuse War was the first of several conflicts that arose in the northwest in the late 1840s and 1850s that represented a general uprising of the Indian populations which required both State and Federal troops to quell. The overall result was that the Indian populations were severely reduced and the survivors were placed on reservations and guarded in many cases by Federal troops. Current Status Whitman Mission Monument on a Hill Overlooking the Mission Site. Whitman Mission Massacre "The Great Grave" with the remains of the killed. Part of Whitman Mission National Historic Site near Walla Walla, Walla Walla County, Washington. There is almost nothing left of the mission or the fort. The placement of the mission is outlined with a concrete edge. On a hill above the mission a monument was placed some 50 years after the massacre. The "Great Grave" containing the remains of the victims can also be seen. A replica Oregon Trail wagon is place along what was the trail by the mission. Many interpretive panels explain the mission and the events. {"selectable":false,"width":"500"} Location: Walla Walla, Walla Walla County, Washington. Maps & Images Lat: 46.04139 Long: -118.46392 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 623' See Also: Fort Waters Cayuse War Oregon Trail Indian Wars Sources: USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Database Entry: 1531185 Links: Wikipedia - Whitman Mission National Historic Site Oregon Trail - Whitman Mission NPS - Whitman Mission PBS - Marcus & Narcissa Whitman Visited: 15 May 2010