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Religion Whitman Mission National Historic Site The mission of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman at Waiilatpu was an important way station in the early days of the Oregon Trail. The Whitmans labored to bring Christianity to the Cayuse, but deep cultural differences and a measles epidemic led to violence in which the Cayuse killed the Whitmans and 11 others in November, 1847. The park, located in the southeastern part of Washington state, preserves the site of Whitman's buildings and Mill Pond, a short segment of the Oregon Trail, and the grave where the victims are buried. Native grasses give visitors a sense of how the area looked in the 1840s. Narcissa Whitman and Eliza Spalding were the first Anglo women to cross the Rocky Mountains in 1836 on what was to become the Oregon Trail. Marcus Whitman visited the East Coast in 1843 and helped guide the first, large wagon train along the Oregon Trail in 1843. Whitman Mission became an important waystation for immigrants until the Whitman's death in 1847 closed the mission. Authorized as Whitman National Monument June 29, 1936; changed to Whitman Mission National Historic Site January 1, 1963.
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Last Modified: Tues, May 22 2001 08:47:54 am EDT
