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Maria Greenwood Whitman

The Mayor's Wife

Mrs. Whitman came to Walla Walla in 1862 to join her husband who had been recently elected as the city’s first mayor. She was born in Portland, Maine, in 1828, the daughter of a lawyer, and was educated in the Boston area where she met her E.B. Whitman. The couple married and had two sons. In 1850 Mr. Whitman traveled west to seek his fortune in the California gold fields. Mrs. Whitman remained in Boston to raise her children until E. B. had chosen a new location for the family. After 12 years, the couple reunited in Walla Walla where they were active in civic affairs and resided for the rest of their lives.

Pioneer women were tough, amazing people. Largely self-sufficient, what they couldn’t grow or make might be purchased at the nearest store. Fort Walla Walla Museum’s Schwabacher Brothers Store display in Exhibit Hall 1 gives visitors an idea of what such an emporium was like in the latter 1800s. Be sure to take in this and many other historical exhibits in the Museum’s pioneer settlement and five large exhibit halls.

Maria Greenwood Whitman is portrayed by Walla Walla City Councilwoman Barbara Clark.

Museum hours are 10 am to 5 pm daily. Admission is free to members, children under 6, and through a reciprocal agreement Tamástslikt Cultural Institute's Inwai Circle cardholders and enrolled members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation; $3 for children ages 6-12; $6 for seniors (62+) and students; and $7 for adults. Your admission cost can be applied to a membership, which includes free admission to all Living History performances, priced beginning at $25. For more information, contact Fort Walla Walla Museum at 509-525-7703 or www.fortwallawallamuseum.org.