Walla Walla

The name Walla Walla is of Native American origin and means "many waters." Both the Cayuse and Walla Walla tribes called the Walla Walla Valley home.

In the 1800s, fur traders established a settlement trading post and fort in the area. The historic Nez Perce Trail was located where Main Street is today. The historic Lewis & Clark expedition skirted the northern and western boundaries of the Walla Walla Valley in 1805. Their return trip from the Pacific Ocean in 1806 took them through present day Walla Walla County.

In 1836, Marcus and Narcissa Whitman traveled what became the Oregon Trail, and founded a mission amongst the Cayuse Indians. After 11 years, the mission effort ended in a tragic uprising that resulted in the deaths of the Whitmans and 12 others.

By the 1860's Walla Walla experienced the effects of the gold rush with commercial, banking, and manufacturing activities, making it the largest city in Washington Territory. Walla Walla became home to the first commercial bank in the northwest, the first college in the region, and has the oldest, continuous symphony west of the Mississippi River. Following the gold rush, farming became the economic force behind the community and continues as one today, especially with the recent explosion of the wine industry.