William Parkhurst Winans Papers, 1815-1917

The archive of William Parkhurst Winans consists of business and government records, diaries and correspondence, and manuscripts on church matters and Stevens County (Washington) history. Also included are clippings, photographs, maps, memorabilia, and miscellaneous material.

The business records show cartage rates (wagon freighting) for the Pacific Northwest, prices for goods, rates and patterns of commodities consumption, freight routes, stock inventories, and banking and investment information for the Walla Walla region.

The church material chiefly centers on the First Presbyterian Church of Walla Walla, and includes both printed and manuscript records.

The material relating to the history of Stevens County, Washington, consists of the letters- first-hand accounts, observations, and reminiscences- that Winans acquired in the course of gathering information and resources for an unpublished typescript titled Stevens County, Washington: Its Creation, Addition, Subtraction and Division (1904). A notable item here is a 6-leave holograph document from the Fall of 1897 that purports to be an eyewitness account of the Whitman Massacre, as told by a Mrs. Delaney (formerly Matilda Sager) to P.M. Winans. The prominent frontier historian Frederick Jackson Turner urged Winans to preserve his diaries because they would provide future historians with invaluable primary source material on the details of pioneer life in the Pacific Northwest.

The Indian material dating from Winans’s period as Sub-Indian Agent is significant. A noteworthy item is an 1870 census of the Indian tribes in northeastern Washington (Territory), including the Okanagans, Calispels (or Pend’ Oreilles), San Poils and Nespelems, Senijexsees or Lakes, Wenatchees and Isle d'Pierres, Mishouies, Spokanes, and the Swielpees (or Colvilles). This material includes detailed verbatim reports on speeches given by chiefs in tribal councils, descriptions of the social and economic situation of the region’s tribes, and notes on how the Indians viewed white people and white society.

The Native American material dating from Winans’s period as Sub-Indian Agent is significant. A noteworthy item is an 1870 census of the Indian tribes in northeastern Washington (Territory), including the Okanagans, Calispels (or Pend’ Oreilles), San Poils and Nespelems, Senijexsees or Lakes, Wenatchees and Isle d'Pierres, Mishouies, Spokanes, and the Swielpees (or Colvilles). This material includes detailed verbatim reports on speeches given by chiefs in tribal councils, descriptions of the social and economic situation of the region’s tribes, and notes on how Native Americans viewed white society. In 2022, Sue Richart of the Stevens County Historical Society, in her study of the diaries found in box 9, noted that W.P. Winans appears to have done banking in Stevens County in the 1870s. Native American individuals such as Quil Quil Loui, Salmon Chief, Narcis, Tonasket, Sorresto “Ind”, and Casimere “Ind” are mentioned in the records, as are the surnames Peone and Abrahamson. A spreadsheet with dates, names, and monetary amounts is available upon request.