The Great Grave.

Whitman Massacre Site Interpretive Center

Walla Walla, Washington

On November 29, 1847, Dr. Marcus Whitman, his wife Narcissa and 11 others were killed by the Cayuse Indians. The result of distrust and misunderstanding brought an end to the eleven years of the Whitman's missions. It is now the Whitman Mission National Historic Site.

The Interpretive Center's dioramas depicted on old postcards were converted years ago to ones with a sunnier perspective. The wax dummies that formerly portrayed missionary Whitman and his wife futilely running from tomahawk-wielding Indian murderers now show food being peacefully exchanged between the couple and their culturally distinct neighbors. Both are true, but which one really merits a wax dummy diorama? The recorded messages outside still hint at the horror of the massacre that left 13 dead, buried together in the "Great Grave" at the bottom of the Whitman Monument hill.