01Summary
Hudson's Bay Company post at the junction of the Walla Walla and Columbia rivers.
02History
Fort Walla Walla, sometimes called Fort Nez Percés in its early years, was built in 1818 by the North West Company and absorbed into the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821. It sat at the confluence of the Walla Walla and Columbia rivers in present-day Wallula, Washington.
Robert Newell and Joseph Meek drove the first wagons here in September 1840, completing the wagon route from Fort Hall and opening the final leg of the Oregon Trail to wagon traffic. From 1843 the wagons that finished the trail went by way of this fort.
About 25 miles east stood the Whitman Mission at Waiilatpu, founded in 1836 by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman. The 1847 attack at the mission, and the Cayuse War that followed, happened in the orbit of Fort Walla Walla's trade.
The HBC abandoned the post in 1855 during the Yakima War. The U.S. Army built a new Fort Walla Walla in 1856 in the modern town of Walla Walla, about 30 miles inland.
03Today
The original site is now the Walla Walla River delta, partially flooded by the McNary Dam. The Fort Walla Walla Museum in the modern town preserves a reconstructed pioneer village.
04People connected here
05Stops nearby
The Oregon Trail ran roughly 2,170 miles from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City. The stops immediately before and after this one are linked below; show Fort Walla Walla on the interactive map for the full route.