In the 18th century, the arrival of the horse and diseases such as smallpox had been a small foreshadowing of the greater changes yet to come to the people and land of Waiilatpu in the beginning to middle 19th century. Waiilatpu would be converted from its wild, natural state to orderly rows of crops and trees and permanent buildings. Likewise, a cultural and religious conversion was attempted on the Cayuse who struggled to maintain their culture and way of life later in the century.

Hudson's Bay Fort Walla Walla on the Columbia River was about 25 miles from Waiilatpu and provided a source for supplies for the mission

The century may have begun quietly enough - there were reports of trading ships along the coast, of new items of superior quality to be acquired and traded, reports of a group of white men (Lewis and Clark) helped by their friends the Nez Perces who were making their way overland and bringing trade items as well. The British Hudson's Bay Company established a fort and trading post on the Columbia River, called Fort Nez Perce later to be renamed Fort Walla Walla. The Cayuse were known for their skills in trading, perhaps some of the individuals from Waiilatpu had a direct hand in this trade, or perhaps they benefitted indirectly as many tribes did. Beads would replace porcupine quills in clothing decoration, rifles for bows and arrows, and manufactured cloth would begin to replace buckskin for clothing -- small conveniences to make everyday life easier.

It wasn't until the 1830's that Waiilatpu began to see the changes that are now the norm rather than the exception in the Walla Walla Valley. Waiilatpu was in the hands of three chiefs -- Umtippe, Waptashtakmahl, and Tiloukaikt. The chiefs offered this land for the site of a mission and school where they would learn about Christianity and Euro-American ways of life, a prospect that perhaps appeared that it would benefit the Cayuse with more power among neighboring tribes.

Dr. and Mrs. Whitman, Presbyterian missionaries from New York, felt a call from God that led them to the Pacific Northwest to mission to Native Americans. At the urging of the Cayuse they chose to establish their mission between the Walla Walla River and Mill Creek and named it Waiilatpu. Though the name Waiilatpu still meant "place of the people of the rye grass", it eventually took on a new identity as a place of shelter and help for an entirely different population than the one it had sheltered for centuries. The Euro-American emigrants who were quickly expanding from ocean to ocean in the 1840's, found food, respite, and medicine at Waiilatpu. Although the large landforms remain constant to this day, the landscape at Waiilatpu began to change with the beginnings of the mission. In a December, 1836 letter Mrs. Whitman recorded for history the appearance of Waiilatpu upon her arrival in 1836. One can assume this is the scene that the Cayuse had seen for centuries and why they returned to this home year after year.

The Presbyterian mission of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman changed the landscape of Waiilatpu and impacted for better and worse the Cayuse tribe who called it home

This letter also mentions that the land appears good for cultivation. Six hundred and forty acres were eventually cleared and among other vegetables the Whitmans cultivated potatoes, wheat, corn, watermelon, peas, radishes, turnips. In addition, the Whitmans began orchards and vineyards with peaches, apples, and grapes. The mission itself was built on the banks of the Walla Walla River, the buildings being made of adobe since timber was scarce. These were just the beginnings of the changes to the physical landscape of Waiilatpu; an irrigation ditch, millpond, and gristmill further altered the landscape within the next few years. The changes benefited both the Euro-Americans and the Cayuse people. Those Indians who took up farming used irrigation to water their crops and the gristmill to grind wheat into flour. Previously any food that needed to be ground up was done by hand using a mortar and pestle (mano/metate), just this small change in technology would save much time and energy.

Thousands of emigrants from the East followed the path of the Oregon Trail in search of a better life for their families. This path brought some emigrants to Waiilatpu.

The mission at Waiilatpu prospered, and increased numbers of Euro-Americans came through and stopped there. What the Cayuse once saw as their homeland, they now saw as an area taken over by strangers. Although most of these strangers, or emigrants, were moving on to the Willamette Valley, perhaps some were eyeing the area surrounding Waiilatpu for its potential as a home after having seen the crops the Whitmans raised. Tension among the Cayuse and the missionaries was increasing as the years progressed. Eleven years after the mission at Waiilatpu began, the site took on its third identity. After being known first as a home to the Cayuse since time immemorial and second as a Presbyterian mission, in 1847 Waiilatpu became known as a place of death.

A measles epidemic that came from California and the Oregon Trail ravaged the Cayuse tribe. Although some Euro-Americans died from the disease, Dr. Whitman's medicine helped many of the emigrants, but lacking natural immunity that the Euro-Americans had, the medicine did not help the Cayuse nearly as much. Within months half the Cayuse tribe was dead or dying. More and more mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters were buried with their ancestors. A small group of Cayuse decided that Dr. Whitman must be responsible for all the deaths of their loved ones. On November 29, 1847 and the days following, thirteen people at the mission were killed by the Cayuse, including Dr. and Mrs. Whitman and their two adopted sons.

Waiilatpu, once a place of home and plenty for the Cayuse people, became a place of evil. After the mission captives were released in 1848, the Cayuse destroyed the mission and fled to the nearby Blue Mountains, no longer to live in the place of the rye grass. The Oregon Volunteers came from the Willamette Valley to revenge the deaths of the Whitmans and emigrants. They rebuilt the mission house as Fort Waters, and used it as a base of operations as they pursued the Cayuse responsible for the killings. The Volunteers left in September, 1848 and Waiilatpu was left to return to the wild. The grasses at Waiilatpu, that had waved in the wind for centuries, returned to watch over the fallen fences, melting adobe, and newly dug graves.

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