Whitman Mission National Historic Site

Photo: luke adamek via Google Maps

Whitman Mission National Historic Site preserves the ground where Marcus and Narcissa Whitman built their mission at Waiilatpu in 1836, on the flat land beside the Walla Walla River a short drive west of Walla Walla. Managed by the National Park Service, it is a quiet, open landscape of grass, trees and paved paths, with a visitor center museum and a hilltop monument looking out over the valley.

This is not a simple pioneer story, and the park does not tell it as one. The mission sat in Cayuse homeland, and its history includes the Oregon Trail, a devastating measles epidemic, the killings of November 1847 and the Cayuse War that followed. The National Park Service works with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation to present the continuing story of the Cayuse Nation alongside that of the missionaries, which makes a visit here more thoughtful than most.

What You’ll See

• Visitor center museum: Exhibits of artifacts from the Cayuse, the Whitmans and others who spent time at the mission during the 1800s.
• The park film: A Prophecy Fulfilled, a 25 minute introduction to the site’s complex, multicultural history. It is shown with open captions in English and Spanish.
• The mission grounds: Archaeology revealed where the original mission buildings stood, and today their foundations are marked with concrete blocks a short walk behind the visitor center.
• The Great Grave and Monument Hill: The Whitmans are buried in a mass grave at the base of the hill. Paved paths climb to the top, where a memorial obelisk erected fifty years after the 1847 killings overlooks the grounds.
• A stretch of the Oregon Trail: The mission was an important stop on the trail from 1843 to 1847, and a short segment of the route crosses the park.

The Story Behind It

The Cayuse welcomed the Whitmans to their land in 1836, and the mission grew into a stop for emigrants heading west. In 1847 a measles outbreak devastated the Cayuse. On November 29 of that year, Marcus Whitman, Narcissa Whitman and 11 others were killed, and most of the people at the mission were held captive for about a month. A few months later the buildings were burned. The park notes that the word “massacre” gives an inaccurate impression of the event, since most residents were taken hostage rather than killed.

The site became Whitman National Monument in 1936 and was redesignated a National Historic Site in 1963. Today it covers about 138 acres.

Tips for Your Visit

• Set your GPS for the park entrance off Swegle Road on the west side of the park. There is no access along the east boundary.
• The park has a little over a mile of paved trails. The path to the building foundations is flat, but the trail up the hill is steep. A loaner wheelchair is available at the visitor center desk.
• Download the NPS App for a 10 stop self guided audio tour of the grounds, and ask about the Junior Ranger program if you have kids along.
• Food is not sold at the park, but there is a picnic shelter at the far end of the parking lot. Leashed pets are welcome on the grounds, but only service animals are allowed inside the visitor center.
• The grounds stay open year round, while the visitor center keeps a seasonal schedule, and most ranger programs happen in summer. Check the park website before you go.

Plan Your Visit

Address: 328 Whitman Mission Road, Walla Walla, WA 99362
Phone: 509.522.6360
Website: nps.gov/whmi
Hours and admission: Check the museum website for current days, hours, and admission before you visit.
Directions: View on Google Maps