Whitman Mission National Historic Site

Whitman Mission National Historic Site commemorates the 1836 mission established by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman near present-day Walla Walla, Washington, and the events that followed. The site preserves the mission location, cemetery and interpretive exhibits about the 19th-century mission and frontier interactions.

Exhibits and waysides present the mission compound layout, the role of the Whitmans as Protestant missionaries and early Euro-American settlers, and the relationships with the Cayuse people. The site includes the mission cemetery and interpretive trails where visitors can learn about daily life at the mission and the tensions that developed.

Marcus and Narcissa Whitman established a mission in 1836 as part of westward missionary efforts; on November 29, 1847 a violent attack on the mission resulted in the deaths of members of the Whitman party and led to the Cayuse War. The site has since been preserved and interpreted to present both missionary and Native perspectives on those events.

The historic site is located east of Walla Walla in southeastern Washington State, within the agricultural landscape of the Columbia Plateau and accessed from the city of Walla Walla and surrounding towns.

• Interpretation note: The site interprets both missionary activity begun in the 1830s and the 1847 attack that led to the Cayuse War; guided interpretation is recommended to understand the contested history.

What to See #

• Mission site: The mission site area including the footprint of the mission compound and interpretive markers describing mission life and the 1847 events.
• Cemetery: Cemetery containing graves of mission residents and Cayuse individuals, interpreted as part of the site's history.
• Visitor center and exhibits: Visitor center with exhibits on missionary activity, the Whitman family, relations with local Native peoples, and the 1847 attack.