From Washington To You
The grave monument at Whitman Mission National Historic Site near Walla Walla.
Photograph by the National Park Service. Public domain.

From Washington to you

Whitman Mission

Whitman Mission National Historic Site · Walla Walla County · November 29, 1847

An 1836 mission among the Cayuse ended on November 29, 1847, when a group of Cayuse attacked. NPS says fourteen people died, including Marcus and Narcissa.

Whitman Mission National Historic Site marks the 1836 American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions station among the Cayuse. The site is at 328 Whitman Mission Road, Walla Walla. NPS says a measles outbreak preceded the attack. On November 29, 1847, a group of Cayuse attacked. Fourteen people died including Marcus and Narcissa. NPS says the event led to reservations.

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation are a partner at the park. A park brochure lists the site at 138 acres, seven miles west of Walla Walla, and established in 1936.

This is a hard place. NPS tells it as mission, disease, attack, and the reservation era that followed. The sources below are the National Park Service Learn page and the park brochure.

  • History
  • Indigenous History & Place

Sources (2)

Last reviewed: September 20, 2026

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