Territorial Timeline

Whitman Mission established near Walla Walla

Along with fellow missionary Reverend H.H. Spaulding and his wife Eliza, Marcus and Narcissa Whitman reached Fort Walla Walla on September 1, 1836. Eliza Spaulding and Narcissa Whitman were the first white women to cross the Great Plains. The Whitmans established their mission at Waiilatpu, twenty-five miles east of Fort Walla Walla, and their Mission became a goal of travelers on the Oregon Trail.

An idea for a mission began in 1834 when Dr. Marcus Whitman accompanied a party of missionaries and traders to the annual Rocky Mountain rendezvous. At this rendezvous, trappers, traders, and Indians met each year to buy and sell furs and supplies. Dr. Whitman met many of the Indians and was impressed with their desire to learn more about the Christian religion. When Whitman returned east, he took two Nez Perce Indians back with him to gain public sympathy for sending a mission west to work with the Indians.

The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions agreed to support Whitman but only if he took a wife. He duly proposed marriage to Narcissa Prentiss who readily agreed to the marriage and to accompany Whitman to the west.

Along with fellow missionary Reverend H.H. Spaulding and his wife Eliza, the Whitmans reached Fort Walla Walla on September 1, 1836. They continued down the Columbia to Fort Vancouver, but the Whitmans soon returned to establish their mission at Waiilatpu, twenty-five miles east of Fort Walla Walla.