01Summary
A Hudson's Bay Company post where the Walla Walla River meets the Columbia. In the early 1840s many wagon trains reached the Columbia here, by way of the Whitman Mission.
02History
The North West Company built this post, first called Fort Nez Percés, in 1818 on the east bank of the Columbia River near the mouth of the Walla Walla River, in the homeland of the Walla Walla people. The Hudson's Bay Company took it over in 1821, and after a fire in 1841 it was rebuilt of adobe.
In 1840 former fur trappers Robert Newell and Joseph Meek brought the first wagons from Fort Hall to the Columbia country, reaching the Whitman Mission about 25 miles east of the fort. In 1843 part of the Great Migration left its wagons at Walla Walla and went down the Columbia in boats, while most drove on to The Dalles.
From about 1845 most wagons took a more direct road west from the Umatilla River and no longer came this way. In November 1847 Cayuse men attacked the Whitman Mission, and the Cayuse War followed. The fort burned at the start of the Yakima War in 1855 and was abandoned in 1857. The Army's new Fort Walla Walla, founded in 1856, stood about 30 miles to the east, where the city of Walla Walla grew.
03Today
The site of the old fort now lies under Lake Wallula, the reservoir behind McNary Dam, completed in 1954. The Fort Walla Walla Museum in the city of Walla Walla has a pioneer village of 17 buildings.
04People connected here
05Stops nearby
The Oregon Trail ran about 2,170 miles from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City. The stops just before and after this one are below. You can also follow the whole route on the interactive map.