Overview

The first Euro-Americans to trek through the verdant Walla Walla Valley were uniformly impressed with its prospects for colonization. The Cayuse remained the valley's primary inhabitants until diverse populations with equally diverse objectives--manipulative traders, frictional missionaries, hostile colonists, an over-ambitious governor, a distracted Bureau of Indian Affairs, vigilante armies, and their rival, the US Army--arrived and rapidly transformed the region. Established at a fortunate location just prior to the Idaho gold rush, Walla Walla quickly grew into Washington Territory's largest and wealthiest city. At the same time, the sudden expansion increasingly forced the Cayuse and some Walla Walla and Umatilla bands to live south of the city within ambiguously defined reservation boundaries.Who were these Cayuse and early Walla Wallans? What was the relationship between the city and the reservation in the mid-1800s? What was Walla Walla's place within the political and commercial spectra of a swiftly evolving Pacific Northwest? How did both city and reservation fare during the Long Depression of the 1870s? Becoming Walla Walla covers Walla Walla Valley history from the time of the Sahaptian Peoples' first encounters with Euro-Americans to the initial expiration of the U.S. government's treaty with the Cayuse, Walla Walla, and Umatilla. It sheds light on the city's and reservation's simultaneous development, re-animates the Walla Walla of the 1860s and '70s, reconsiders the city's status in early Washington Territory and Oregon State histories, and documents transformations of the region's built and natural environments.

Full Product Details

Author:   Dennis Crockett
Publisher:   Washington State University Press
Imprint:   Washington State University Press
ISBN:  

9780874224337

ISBN 10:   0874224330
Pages:   320
Publication Date:   30 September 2024
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Introduction Part 1: ""The Most Hostile Spot on the Whole Line of Communication"" 1. The Cayuse & the Walla Walla Valley ca. 1800 2. The Fur Trade in the Walla Walla Area 3. American Colonization of Oregon 1832-40: Commerce & Christ 4. American Colonization of Oregon 1840s: Oregon Fever 5. 1847-48: All Eyes on Waiilatpu 6. Oregon Territory 7. Washington Territory 8. The Governor Stevens Wars 9. Refinement in the Hinterland: US Army Fort Architecture Part 2: ""Marching Back with Civilization to the Eastward"" 10. Steptoeville 1857-59 11. The Cayuse in Limbo, 1858-61 12. The Gold Rush Town 13. Commerce 14. Urban Development 15. Family Matters: Residences, Schools, & Churches 16. Community, Entertainment, & Politics 17. Disasters & Near Disasters 18. Law & Order 19. Forging Lives in a Hostile Landscape: The Reservation in the 1860s 20. Agriculture Horticulture, Infrastructure 21. Bird's-Eye Views 1865, 1875 22. The End of the Reservation? 23. Walla Walla 1869-75: A New Economic Reality 24. The End of the Reservation, Again?

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Author Information

Dennis Crockett is a New Yorker who spent three decades in Walla Walla as a professor of visual culture at Whitman College. His research and teaching ranged from medieval European art to the house down the block. He is the author of, most notably, German Post-Expressionism: The Art of the Great Disorder 1918-1924. He currently lives on the Oregon coast.

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