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WALLA WALLA , about 120 miles east
of Yakima along I-82 and US-12, is an uneventful college and agricultural
town, known best for its sweet onions, eaten raw like apples.
There's little to see now, but this was the place where the missionary
Dr Marcus Whitman arrived from the East Coast in 1836.
Unsuccessful in his bid to convert the local Cayuse into crop-growing
Christians, he turned his attention to white settlers. In 1843,
Whitman helped guide the first wagon-train across the Oregon Trail,
and his mission became a refuge for sick and orphaned travelers.
The Cayuse eyed the ever-increasing emigrants warily, and when
measles spread among the tribe, suspicions grew that they were
being poisoned, particularly as Dr Whitman could help (some) whites
but few of the natives - who had no natural immunity to the disease,
which led to the death of half the tribe. Despite the native tradition
that medi-cine men were liable for the deaths of their patients,
Whitman continued to take on even hopeless cases. In November
1847, a band of Cayuse murdered Whitman, his wife and eleven others.
Fifty more, mostly children, were taken captive, and although
they were later released, angry settlers raised vigilante bands
against the Cayuse. When the story hit the newspapers back East,
it generated such a tide of fear about Native American uprisings
that the government finally declared the Oregon land (then including
Washington) a US territory, which meant the army could be sent
in to protect the settlers - with drastic implications for all
of the area's tribes.
The site where the Whitman Mission
was burned down (daily 8am-4.30pm, summer closes at 6pm; tel 509/522-6360,
; $2), in a lovely little dell seven miles west of town off US-12,
has simple marks on the ground to illustrate its layout; a visitor
center shows a film on Whitman and exhibits the weapon thought
to have polished him off. Of more quasi-historical interest, the
Fort Walla Walla Museum , 755 Myra Rd (Apr-Oct Tues-Sun
10am-5pm; ; $4), is a curious mock-up of a pioneer village, with
sixteen old shacks loaded with antiques and Old West dioramas.
Greyhound stops at 315 N Second St, a couple of
blocks from the visitors center , 29 E Sumach
(Mon-Fri 9am-5pm; tel 509/525-0850 or 1-800/743-9562, ). The Walla
Walla Suites , 7 E Oak (tel 509/525-4700; $75-100), provides good
basic accommodation , while the Green Gables
Inn , 922 Bonsella St (tel 1-888/525-5501, ; $100-130), is a comfortable
B&B in an old mansion on the east side of
town, with private baths in all rooms. There are a few good eateries,
mostly downtown: Merchants Ltd French Bakery , 21 E Main St (tel
509/525-0900), is a decent spot for espresso and pastries.
