View source for Whitman Mission National Historic Site

{{Short description|National Historic Site of the United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name         = Whitman Mission National Historic Site
| nrhp_type    = nhs
| image        = Oregon Trail Whitman Mission WA NPS.jpg
| caption      = The Oregon Trail at Whitman Mission
| location     = [[Walla Walla County, Washington]], United States
| nearest_city = [[Walla Walla, Washington]]
| coordinates  = {{coord|46|2|24|N|118|27|41|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin     = Washington#USA
| area         =
| built        = 1837
| architect    =
| architecture =
| added        = October 15, 1966
| website      = [https://www.nps.gov/whmi Whitman Mission National Historic Site]
| refnum       = 66000749
<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2008a}}</ref>
}}
'''Whitman Mission National Historic Site''' is a United States [[National Historic Sites (United States)|National Historic Site]] located just west of [[Walla Walla, Washington]], at the site of the former Whitman Mission at '''Waiilatpu'''. On November 29, 1847, Dr. [[Marcus Whitman]], his wife [[Narcissa Whitman]], and 11 others [[Whitman massacre|were slain]] by Native Americans of the [[Cayuse people|Cayuse]]. The site commemorates the Whitmans, their role in establishing the [[Oregon Trail]], and the challenges encountered when two cultures meet.
==History==
{{See also|Whitman massacre}}
[[File:First printing press in the Pacific Northwest.png|thumb|left|The first printing press in the Pacific Northwest was first used at the Whitman mission, initially to print religious texts and legal documents.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/historystateida00brosgoog|title=History of the state of Idaho|first=Cornelius J. (Cornelius James)|last=Brosnan|date=May 9, 1918|publisher=New York, Chicago [etc.] C. Scribner's sons|access-date=May 9, 2019|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>|248x248px]]
In 1836, a small group of [[Presbyterianism in the United States|Presbyterian]] missionaries traveled with the annual fur trapper's caravan into [[Oregon Country]]. Among the group, Narcissa Whitman and [[Eliza Hart Spalding]] became the first white women to travel across the continent.
[[File:WhitmanMissionSunset1.jpg|thumb|left|300x300px|The park's western facing memorial hill is a popular place for visitors to watch the sunset]]
Marcus Whitman and Narcissa Whitman established the Whitman Mission at Waiilatpu, near the Walla Walla River. The mission was in [[Cayuse people|Cayuse]] territory. The Cayuse welcomed the Whitmans to their land in 1836 after learning of them the previous year from [[Samuel Parker (missionary)|Samuel Parker]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Drury|first=Clifford|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GeABAAAAMAAJ|date=1973|title=Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and the Opening of Old Oregon|publisher=A. H. Clark Company|isbn=9780870621048}}</ref>
The Mission became an important stop along the Oregon Trail from 1843–1847, and passing immigrants added to the tension. With the influx of white settlers the Cayuse became suspicious of the Whitmans again, fearing that the white man was coming to take the land.
A [[measles]] outbreak in November 1847 killed half the local Cayuse. The measles also broke out in the Mission but more white settlers survived. Some of the Cayuse blamed the devastation of their tribe on Dr. Whitman and Mrs. Whitman. They were killed along with eleven others; forty-seven other mission residents were taken hostage. The deaths of the Whitmans shocked the country, prompting [[United States Congress|Congress]] to make Oregon a US territory, and precipitated the [[Cayuse War]]. Five Cayuse were hanged for murder; see [[Cayuse Five]].
In more recent times, the site has been excavated for important artifacts, and then reburied. A memorial obelisk, erected fifty years after the event, stands on a nearby hill.
The historic site was established in 1936 as '''Whitman National Monument''' and was redesignated a [[National Historic Sites (United States)|National Historic Site]] on January 1, 1963.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.nps.gov/whmi/ National Park Service: Whitman Mission National Historic Site]
{{Protected areas of Washington (state)}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Washington}}
{{Oregon Country Missionaries}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:19th-century colonization of the Americas]]
[[Category:1936 establishments in Washington (state)]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Washington (state)]]
[[Category:Cayuse War]]
[[Category:Christian missions]]
[[Category:History museums in Washington (state)]]
[[Category:History of Walla Walla County, Washington]]
[[Category:History of Washington (state)]]
[[Category:Museums in Walla Walla County, Washington]]
[[Category:National Historic Sites in Washington (state)]]
[[Category:Native American history of Washington (state)]]
[[Category:Oregon Country]]
[[Category:Oregon Trail]]
[[Category:Parks in Walla Walla County, Washington]]
[[Category:Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state)]]
[[Category:Protected areas established in 1936]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Walla Walla County, Washington]]