Walla Walla
The Walla Walla (Wallulapum) were a Sahaptian-speaking people who inhabited the confluence region of the Snake, Columbia, and Walla Walla Rivers in present-day southeastern Washington. Their chief, Yelleppit, was one of the most favorably described Native leaders in the expedition's journals; he welcomed the Corps warmly on both the outbound and return journeys and provided canoes, food, horses, and crucial route information. On the return journey in April 1806, Yelleppit hosted the expedition for several days, facilitating trade and entertainment including a dance attended by several hundred people from multiple nations. The Walla Walla were central figures in the Plateau trade network and their strategic location at the junction of major river systems made them important diplomatic intermediaries.
Portrait: Wikimedia Commons / Wikipedia: Walla Walla people (Sahaptin tribal chiefs)
Most Mentioned in Walla Walla-tagged Entries
People
- Capt Lewis (3)
- Yelleppit (2)
- Clark (2)
- Charbonneau (1)
- Yel-lept (1)
- Drouillard (1)
- Reubin Field (1)
- Bratton (1)
- the Child (1)
- the Indian Cheif (1)
Places
- Columbia River (4)
- Missouri River (3)
- Snake River (3)
- Walla Walla River (2)
- Clearwater River (1)
- Wallah wallah river (1)
- Mt. Hood (1)
- Mt. Jefferson (1)
- Ta wan nahiooks river (1)
- river Lapage (1)
Wildlife
- deer (3)
- beaver (3)
- otter (2)
- mullet (2)
- salmon trout (1)
- Antelopes (1)
- prarie buffaloe (1)
- horned Lizzard (1)
- common black lizard (1)
- toad (1)
Biography
The Walla Walla people of the Columbia Plateau, led by Chief Yelleppit, provided one of the warmest receptions the expedition received. Their territory along the Walla Walla River in present-day Washington was a crossroads of plateau trade routes.
On the return journey in April 1806, the expedition stayed three days with the Walla Walla. Yelleppit organized a gathering of over 500 people, with dancing, trading, and cultural exchange. The chief gifted Clark a white horse, and the expedition provided in return a peace medal, a handkerchief, and other trade goods.
The Walla Walla later became part of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, established by the Treaty of 1855. Their positive relationship with the expedition stands as an example of what cross-cultural encounters could look like when both sides approached with goodwill.
Territory & Encounter Locations
Journal Entries (8)
Cross-Narrator Analyses
AI-assisted scholarly analyses that cite or discuss Walla Walla — showing 16 of the most recent matches.
Securing Guides at Weippe: Four Voices on a Pivotal Decision
On the eve of recrossing the Bitterroots, the captains scramble to secure Nez Perce guides while a small detachment hurries ahead to…
The Shawnee Nation in the Lewis & Clark Record
Though the Corps of Discovery did not encounter the Shawnee homeland during their westward journey, the Shawnee people occupied a notable place…
A Returned Trap, a Recovered Horse: Four Accounts of Walla Walla Honesty
On the Walla Walla road eastward, four expedition narrators record the same two events—a steel trap returned by pursuing Indians and a…
Choosing the Guide’s Road: Four Voices on the Touchet
On the first of May 1806, the expedition faced a fork in the trail and a disagreement between Nez Perce informants. The…
Twenty-Three Horses and a Departure: Four Voices Leave the Walla Walla
On April 30, 1806, the expedition departed Yelleppit's Walla Walla village with twenty-three horses. Four narrators recorded the day's fourteen-mile march, but…
Crossing to the Walla Walla: Four Pens, One Fish-Weir
On the south bank of the Columbia near Yelleppit's village, four expedition journalists record the same crossing — but their attention scatters…
A Kettle Refused, a Sword Accepted: Four Voices at Yelleppit’s Camp
On the Walla Walla, Chief Yelleppit's gift of a white horse and his insistence the Corps stay to dance produced four distinct…
Yelleppit’s Welcome: Four Voices on a Walla Walla Reunion
On the north bank of the Columbia, four expedition narrators record the same reunion with Chief Yelleppit. Their parallel accounts reveal who…
Seven Hundred Souls at the Pishquitpah Village: Four Witnesses to a Single Day
On April 25, 1806, the returning expedition met one of the largest Native gatherings recorded on the Columbia. Comparing the journals of…
The Stolen Robe and the Distant Peaks: Four Accounts of a Walla Walla Day
On April 22, 1806, a runaway packhorse, a hidden robe, and a panoramic view of Mount Hood and Mount Jefferson generate four…
The Yakama Nation in the Lewis & Clark Journals: A Brief Encounter at the Great Confluence
The Yakama people appear in the expedition record at a single pivotal moment — the Corps of Discovery's October 1805 arrival at…
The Walla Walla Nation and Chief Yelleppit: Hosts of the Homeward Crossing
In late April 1806, the Walla Walla people and their principal chief Yelleppit provided the Corps of Discovery with horses, canoes, food,…
Diet Across the Expedition: A Seasonal Analysis
From the bison-rich winter at Fort Mandan to the salmon and wapato of the Pacific coast, the Corps of Discovery's diet shifted…
Yelleppit’s Council and a Violin on the Columbia
Three narrators record the same October Saturday on the Columbia, but each frames the encounter with Chief Yelleppit differently — Clark with…
Pierre Cruzatte: Fiddler, Waterman, and the Man Who Shot Meriwether Lewis
Half-French, half-Omaha, blind in one eye and nearsighted in the other, Pierre Cruzatte was the Corps of Discovery's most indispensable boatman, its…
Patrick Gass: The Carpenter’s Ledger
Sergeant Patrick Gass kept the expedition's most relentlessly practical journal — a daily ledger of miles, weather, game killed, and structures built,…
From Heacock's Writings
3 mirrored articles by Robert Heacock that mention Walla Walla.
