A Shahaptian tribe dwelling on the Walla-Walla (i.e. rushing water) River and the Columbia in Washington and Oregon, from Snake River to the Umatilla. Their language is akin to that of the Nez Percés but forms a distinct dialect. By the treaty of 1855 they were placed on the Umatilla reservation in Oregon, where they still remain. They number only 461, and are mixed with Nez Percés and Cayuse. Their family organization was loose, and the clan system not observed. The scantiness of their food supply, necessitating frequent migrations, prevented any continued development of the village system. Their food consisted mainly of roots, berries, and salmon. At present most of the tribe are farmers and stock breeders. The Walla-Walla were visited by Lewis and Clarke in 1804, and were evangelized by the Jesuit pioneers of the Northwest about forty years later.

The Catholic Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history. This easy-to-search online version was originally printed in fifteen hardcopy volumes.

Designed to present its readers with the full body of Catholic teaching, the Encyclopedia contains not only precise statements of what the Church has defined, but also an impartial record of different views of acknowledged authority on all disputed questions, national, political or factional. In the determination of the truth the most recent and acknowledged scientific methods are employed, and the results of the latest research in theology, philosophy, history, apologetics, archaeology, and other sciences are given careful consideration.

No one who is interested in human history, past and present, can ignore the Catholic Church, either as an institution which has been the central figure in the civilized world for nearly two thousand years, decisively affecting its destinies, religious, literary, scientific, social and political, or as an existing power whose influence and activity extend to every part of the globe. In the past century the Church has grown both extensively and intensively among English-speaking peoples. Their living interests demand that they should have the means of informing themselves about this vast institution, which, whether they are Catholics or not, affects their fortunes and their destiny.

Copyright © Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company New York, NY. Volume 1: 1907; Volume 2: 1907; Volume 3: 1908; Volume 4: 1908; Volume 5: 1909; Volume 6: 1909; Volume 7: 1910; Volume 8: 1910; Volume 9: 1910; Volume 10: 1911; Volume 11: - 1911; Volume 12: - 1911; Volume 13: - 1912; Volume 14: 1912; Volume 15: 1912

Catholic Online Catholic Encyclopedia Digital version Compiled and Copyright © Catholic Online