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Home > The Drives > Oregon National Historic Trail > Key Landmarks & Attractions > Whitman Mission
Whitman Mission
In 1836 Marcus and Narcissa Whitman established a Protestant mission on the Walla Walla River, in what was then known as Oregon Country, to serve the Cayuse Indians.The mission was on the route of the Oregon Trail, which went down the Walla Walla River to the Columbia River. In the 1840s many Oregon Trail emigrants stopped at the mission for supplies or wagon repairs. Some even spent the winter there before continuing on to the Willamette Valley. In the summer of 1847, a new route across the Columbia Plateau bypassing the mission was opened, which Whitman promoted because of his concern about increasing Indian tensions in the area. In November 1847 Cayuse Indians killed Marcus, Narcissa, and a dozen others in retaliation for the many Indians who died from measles brought by emigrants, and the mission was abandoned. The Whitman Mission National Historic Site has an interpretive center with exhibits and multi-media presentations; interpretive paths around the grounds; and interactive activities, demonstrations, and crafts.
Walla Walla WA , 99362
Phone: 509-529-2761
