Come meet one of Walla Walla's early architects and firefighters, FP Allen. Listen to him tell of the challenges of building with a vision, of making a city out of a settlement, and the importance of a community commitment. This allowed him to build a proper fire house, a prestigious manor home (Kirkman House), and a combination livery stable and opera house.

He will also talk about the tragedy associated with that opera house and the controversy surrounding it. This self proclaimed great-grandson of a true American patriot will talk of the transitioning of Walla Walla from a settlement that supported an Army fort to a thriving city that was meant to be a capitol.

F. P. Allen is portrayed by Delbert Draper.

Yen tom lived in the Walla Walla Valley in the late 1800’s as a farmer.

Yen Tom will be portrayed by Galen Tom.

Fort Walla Walla Museum brings back a favorite Living History character, turn-of-the-century madam Josephine Wolfe, the famed Walla Walla brothel owner and philanthropist.

In 1859, Wolfe, a 23-year-old German woman established one of Walla Walla’s first and longest-running brothels at 11 W. Alder Ave. With miners and speculators pouring through town, there was no shortage of clientele.

“Dutch Jo” lived in her business parlor, where she remained until her death in 1909. Described as charming and capable, she also had a reputation as a ruthless businesswoman.

She insisted that her women sex workers have proper health care. The women kept half their earnings, and the other half went to the house. Wolfe contributed generously to local charitable causes, and she provided a place for sick and injured firefighters to recuperate. She was known to have purchased cemetery plots at Mountain View Cemetery in Walla Walla for both firefighters and prostitutes, that they might have decent burials when they died.

Her business did well. City records show she paid county taxes in 1908 of $11,464. There are no photographs or portraits of Wolfe available, for her will stipulated destruction of all such images.

Fort Walla Walla Museum has invited Isaac Stevens, Washington Territory’s first governor.

Stevens was a controversial figure during his lifetime as well as after. According to historian Kent Richards, “[He] was most often the center of activity, providing leadership, speaking out orders or ideas, or creating controversy. He was a man either loved or hated.”

During his tenure as territorial governor, he believed that he could successfully quell problems between white settlers and the Indian people by negotiating treaties. The treaties of 1855 and 1856 with the Yakima, Umatilla, Nez Perce, Walla Walla, and Cayuse Indians were negotiated in Walla Walla. While meant to establish important rights for Indian people and help maintain their traditions and culture, these treaties led to territory outside of reservations being populated by white settlers from the eastern part of the United States.

Governor Isaac Stevens will be portrayed by Ron Klicker. Visitors are encouraged to ask questions to our Living History reenactors.

William McBean was born in Canada about 1806 and came to the Walla Walla region in 1846. He became the chief trader in charge of the Hudson’s Bay Company fort at the time of the Whitman Massacre in 1847. He left Fort Walla Walla in 1855 during the Indian Wars and later returned to the region with his Indian wife and children. McBean continued to reside in Walla Walla and was active in assisting various Catholic institutions until his death in 1892.

McBean will be bringing his display of trade goods to share with visitors. Questions are always appreciated.

A Vindication for the Unwritten – or How to Write Yourself Back Into History
written by Ana Maria Campoy

Meet Carmelita Colon. Born in Mexico, she arrived in Walla Walla, Washington Territory, with her husband Sebastian in the 1860s. For several years, they ran a mule train to the gold mines in Idaho. Later they sold tamales and ran a Mexican restaurant in Walla Walla.

What was life like in Walla Walla in the late 1800s? What was Carmelita’s life like? Might she have seen women’s rights pioneers Susan B. Anthony and Abigail Scott Duniway speak about suffrage when they toured the Pacific Northwest (including Walla Walla) in 1871?

Based on extensive research, Ana Maria Campoy has created a vibrant portrait of Carmelita Colon, from her childhood in Mexico to life in California and then migration to Washington. She has brought this early Walla Walla resident to life and written her back into history.

CARMELITA is being developed by Key City Public Theatre (KCPT) in Port Townsend, under a Washington Stories Fund grant from Humanities Washington. A one-woman show, another character will be the Voice of History.

This program will be followed by a Q&A/discussion period with the audience, involving Carmelita, the playwright, and another researcher. Audience interaction is an important part of this and all public humanities programs.

The program is part of KCPT’s Washington Women’s History Tour: Suffrage Lecture Series – a dramatic chronology of the suffrage/women’s rights movement across Washington State with a special focus on under-represented voices and little-known stories of BIPOC women.

An expanded, fully-staged version of CARMELITA will run as part of Key City Public Theatre’s mainstage season beginning in late April. A touring version will also be available.

French-Canadian priest John Baptiste Abraham Brouillet, a Québéçoise, came to the Walla Walla Valley in September, 1847, just a few weeks before the incident at Whitman Mission. He established his own mission about 25 miles south of the Whitmans shortly after he arrived. Although Father Brouillet and Marcus Whitman had some disagreements when Catholic priests first came to the valley, they nevertheless developed a friendship.

Brouillet was on his way to Whitman Mission to verify a rumor of a terrible occurrence and found the Whitman’s bodies, along with eleven others killed on the scene. A handful of Indian warriors responsible for the slayings were still present. When he arrived, Joseph Stanfield, a Métis, was preparing the bodies for burial and Brouillet helped inter them. Brouillet also helped arrange the release of 60 captives taken at the Mission.

Father Brouillet went on to become a pioneer figure in Walla Walla’s Catholic institutions, purchasing the land for St. Vincent’s Academy in 1863, and founding Saint Patrick’s School for boys in 1865. He also founded Des La Salles school for boys, that later became Desales High School.

Father Brouillet is portrayed by ski instructor, woodworker, and retired teacher, Jeannot Poirot.

Lettice Millican was born in 1830, the oldest of 12 children. In 1843 her family headed west with a wagon train carrying 1,000 settlers. After her family settled in the Willamette Valley, she married Ransom Clark, who in 1855 obtained a 640-acre donation claim along Yellowhawk Creek.

Lettice and her husband came to Walla Walla to prove up their claim in 1855 but were driven out by the Indian War of that year.  Ransom Clark died in Portland in 1859, and Lettice returned to Walla Walla the same year to complete their cabin, which is now located in the Museum’s Pioneer Village.  She was the first white woman to reside in the Walla Walla Valley after the Whitman tragedy, later marrying mill owner Almos Reynolds and becoming a public benefactor who made substantial gifts to Whitman College.

Lettice Millican Clark Reynolds is portrayed by Pam Myers.

John Boyer, Dorsey Baker’s brother-in-law, will be talking about his life, his career, and several of his entrepreneurial peers who took advantage of the tremendous opportunities available during Walla Walla’s boomtown years.

In 1849 Boyer opened a store in Sonora, California, the Queen City of the California goldfields, which he operated until the 1860s. He came to Walla Walla in 1862 and went into a mercantile business with Dorsey Baker, located on the corner of Second and Main. Since Baker and Boyer both had reputations for being honest businessmen, miners from the Idaho gold fields would leave their gold in the mercantile safe. This was the start of the Baker Boyer Bank enterprise, which officially opened in November 1869.

John Boyer is portrayed by Dick Phillips.

Come meet one of Walla Walla's early architects, FP Allen. Listen to him tell of the challenges of building with a vision, of making a city out of a settlement, and the importance of a community commitment. This allowed him to build a proper fire house, a prestigious manor home (Kirkman House), and a combination livery stable and opera house. He will also talk about the tragedy associated with that opera house and the controversy surrounding it. This self proclaimed great-grandson of a true American patriot will talk of the transitioning of Walla Walla from a settlement that supported an Army fort to a thriving city that was meant to be a capitol.

Portrayed by Delbert Draper

Meet Grace Isaacs, Walla Walla's early local leader, suffragist, and all-around go-getter. She organized the Women's Park Club, whose campaign financed our Pioneer Park. (If you have questions about who actually designed the park, Grace can set you straight. It might not be who you think.) Wondering about the history of women's suffrage in Walla Walla? Grace will tell you about that time Susan B. Anthony visited here and was refused a place to stay the night. Grace will look back and recount the early goings-on at the Women's Reading Club and the Art Club. She was a world traveler and will share some of her experiences with you. She'll have business advice for you too since she was also an entrepreneur. Get the lowdown from Grace Isaacs, one of Walla Walla's most interesting women.

Grace Isaacs is portrayed by Susan Monahan.

William McBean was born in Canada about 1806 and came to the Walla Walla region in 1846. He became the chief trader in charge of the Hudson’s Bay Company fort at the time of the Whitman Massacre in 1847. He left Fort Walla Walla in 1855 during the Indian Wars and later returned to the region with his Indian wife and children. McBean continued to reside in Walla Walla and was active in assisting various Catholic institutions until his death in 1892.

McBean will be bringing his display of trade goods to share with visitors.

William McBean was born in Canada about 1806 and came to the Walla Walla region in 1846. He became the chief trader in charge of the Hudson’s Bay Company fort at the time of the Whitman Massacre in 1847. He left Fort Walla Walla in 1855 during the Indian Wars and later returned to the region with his Indian wife and children. McBean continued to reside in Walla Walla and was active in assisting various Catholic institutions until his death in 1892.

McBean will be bringing his display of trade goods to share with visitors.

Lettice Millican was born in 1830, the oldest of 12 children. In 1843 her family headed west with a wagon train carrying 1,000 settlers. After her family settled in the Willamette Valley, she married Ransom Clark, who in 1855 obtained a 640-acre donation claim along Yellowhawk Creek.

Lettice and her husband came to Walla Walla to prove up their claim in 1855 but were driven out by the Indian War of that year.  Ransom Clark died in Portland in 1859, and Lettice returned to Walla Walla the same year to complete their cabin, which is now located in the Museum’s Pioneer Village.  She was the first white woman to reside in the Walla Walla Valley after the Whitman tragedy, later marrying mill owner Almos Reynolds and becoming a public benefactor who made substantial gifts to Whitman College.

Lettice Millican Clark Reynolds is portrayed by Pam Myers.

Living History presents experienced renactor Tom Williams as a well-versed company clerk. One cannot live in the Pacific Northwest without knowing about the outsize influence the Hudson’s Bay company had on the territory. Come get the story behind the stories

Living History gives a bit of a tease with reenactor Diane Somerville illustrating just how the Victorian ladies achieved their wasp waists and elegant profiles. Join her in the Pioneer Village or the Grand Hall for a revealing presentation!

Dan Clark, one of the originators of the Living History’s successful presentations, breathes life into Walla Walla’s first Mayor, E.B. Whitman. He’s played this favorite character for many a season. You won’t want to miss his polished delivery to get a sense of Walla Walla’s interesting history as the oldest city in Washington state.