Day 1 - Fort Walla Walla

The first day’s journey took me over White Pass and down the Tieton River valley to the site of Fort Walla Walla, also called Fort Nez Perce.  The fort was originally established as a trading post in 1818 just west of the junction of the Walla Walla and Columbia Rivers. 

A roadside marker at the site shown below reads:

“Fort Walla Walla was vital link in the in the region’s fur trade, and helped open the Northwest to the white man.  From this post traders and trappers pushed into the rich Snake River basin.

“Pioneers on the overland trek to the Oregon country in the 1840s found its arms a source of supply, and employees of the fort were among the area’s first permanent settlers.

“The fort was abandoned by the Hudson’s Bay Company at the start of the Indian War in 1855”

Later, the fort also served as the western head of navigation for steamboat traffic, as Fort Benton, Montana, was the eastern head of navigation, leaving the 600 interim miles the only overland portion of the journey from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean.

From 1855 to 1862, Captain John Mullan constructed the 624 mile Mullan Wagon Road, connecting Fort Benton with Fort Walla Walla, further opening the west before the transcontinental railroad was completed.  Travelers on the

Mullan Road

typically took 47 days to traverse the overland route between the two forts.