The Blacksmith Shop at Weyíiletpe

Pieces of iron strap and one identified piece of iron, WHMI 388

NPS Photo

Quick Facts

Amenities

3 listed

Benches/Seating, Cellular Signal, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

In 1842, the “first house” was taken down and the adobe bricks were used to build a blacksmith shop. The missionaries were expected to be self-sufficient and hoped a blacksmith shop would provide a way to work mill stones and make farming tools. When the missionaries first made plans to build a blacksmith shop, they had intended to do so at the Lapwai mission run by the Spaldings. Marcus Whitman proposed that it instead be built at the Weyíiletpuu mission for two reasons: first, Marcus was a doctor and not a reverend, and he argued that placing the blacksmith shop at his mission would free up the reverends at the other mission stations to focus on their specialty as men of the ministry; second, Dr. Whitman could better serve the ever growing numbers of immigrants flooding into the Columbia Plateau from the United States if he had a blacksmith shop.

When the measles epidemic hit weyíiletpe, crowding at the mission surely did not help any attempts to contain the spread. As winter approached, the Whitmans allowed many immigrants to take shelter at the mission for the season before moving on in the spring. That winter, about 75 people were living at the mission station including eight people staying in this small blacksmith’s shop.