Whitman Mission National Historic Site - Trees and Shrubs

It is probable that at the time the mission was established, a mixture of three plant communities occupied the site. At the time the mission was established in 1836, the Walla Walla River flowed through the site during times of high water. On the floodplains along the Walla Walla River and nearby Mill Creek, a narrow plant community consisting of dense tangled thickets of willows, cottonwoods, wild dogwoods, blackberries, elderberries, and other species common to riparian areas probably occurred. An association of perennial grasses, shrubs, and native forbs occupied the hillside area where soil depths and drainage were greater. Perennial grasses common to the Palouse dominated the rest of Whitman Mission.