Walking Through Historic Whitman Mission In Washington State
Information courtesy of National Park Service - U.S. Department of the Interior
This site commemorates the courage of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, the role the Whitmans played in establishing the Oregon Trail, and the challenges encountered when two different cultures meet.
In 1836, before the wagon trains, a small intrepid group of Presbyterian missionaries traveled with the annual fur trapper’s caravan into “Oregon Country.” Missionaries Narcissa Whitman and Eliza Spalding became the first white women to travel across the continent. Differences in culture led to growing tensions between the Cayuse people and the Whitmans. Their mission became an important stop along the Oregon Trail, but passing immigrants added to the tension. A measles outbreak in 1847 killed half the local Cayuse. Some of the Cayuse blamed these deaths on Dr. Whitman. Dr. and Mrs. Whitman were killed; sixty people were taken hostage. The deaths of the Whitmans sent a shock wave across the country and prompted Congress to make Oregon a U.S. territory. __(’Read the rest of this entry »’)
“It is the grandest thing I ever saw,” proclaimed Adolph F. Bandelier as he stood at the rim of Frijoles (free-HOH-lace) Canyon in 1880. The grand thing to which he referred was the remains of dwellings of the area’s earlier inhabitants, the Ancestral Pueblo people. Today, hundreds of thousands of people a year visit these dwellings; and, descendents of the Ancestral Pueblo people live in nearby pueblo communities along the Rio Grande. 
Four Spanish frontier missions, part of a colonization system that stretched across the Spanish Southwest in the 17th, 18th, 19th centuries, are preserved here. They include Missions San Jose, San Juan, Espada, and Concepcion. The park, containing many cultural sites along with some natural areas, was established in 1978. The park covers about 819 acres. 
Arlington House was the home of Robert E. Lee and his family for thirty years and is uniquely associated with the Washington and Custis families. George Washington Parke Custis, Lee’s father-in-law, built the house between 1802 and 1818 to be his home as well as a memorial to George Washington, his step-grandfather. Lee made his historic decision to resign from the US Army at Arlington House and wrote his resignation letter in his second floor bedchamber. Arlington House, with its associated slave quarters and gardens, are now preserved as a memorial to Robert E. Lee, who gained the respect of Americans in both the North and the South and used his influence after the Civil War to help heal the nation. 
The shores of Georgia and Florida offer much more than rolling waves and warm sand. You can now explore their rich and varied history in Along the Georgia-Florida Coast, a travel itinerary produced by the National Register of Historic Places and the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers with the financial assistance of the American Express Company. Along the Georgia-Florida Coast uses the area’s historic sites, buildings, structures, objects, and districts to reveal many of the most important developments in America’s past: encounters between Europeans and indigenous peoples, European occupation and settlement, plantation agriculture based on African slavery, African American culture, and tourism. All 51 properties featured in the itinerary are listed in the National Park Service’s 
Appointed by President Thomas Jefferson 200 years ago, Captain Meriwether Lewis was assigned to explore the unknown Northwest Territory and find a navigable passage to the Pacific Ocean. Lewis selected William Clark as his co-commander. Near the end of their westward journey (during the autumn of 1805), they traveled through one of the most scenic and spectacular parts of their expedition - present-day Washington state from the Snake River to the Columbia River Gorge region and the Pacific.
The indigenous peoples of the Tampuen tribe in North Eastern Cambodia say that the Yaklom Crater Lake is a gift from the spirits, and sitting in the fading light of day looking over its tranquil, crystal-clear water it is easy to see why. No one knows when or how this circular lake, surrounded by jungle, came into being, so perhaps the locals are right - either way, it is an exquisite and deeply spiritual place.