The Prairie Schooner on the Oregon Trail

Museum docent Sherilyn Jacobson continues the tour at the prairie schooner in the museum’s Grand Hall. Smaller than a Conestoga wagon, pioneers also used the schooner while heading west to claim territorial land.

Questions for students: What was the main reason pioneers wanted to move west? What kinds of things did the pioneers have to pack for the journey along the Oregon Trail? What would be your top three items to take on a long road trip? How do those differ from what the pioneers would have taken?

The Abbot-Downing & Company Passenger Wagon

The museum’s iconic red and yellow stagecoach was built around 1903 and used for races at the fairgrounds and in parades during Frontier Days in 1913. Stagecoaches were an important means of transportation that would eventually be replaced by steam-powered boats and trains.

Questions for students: What are some differences between a Concord coach and the museum’s passenger wagon? What are some advantages of traveling by steamship or train over stagecoach? Which rule of stage travel do you think would be most important for passengers to know and why?

Dorsey Baker’s Walla Walla & Columbia River Railroad

Museum docent Gary Lentz heads over to the Blue Mountain, the oldest surviving locomotive to run in Washington State. Learn about how Dr. Baker built his narrow-gauge railroad at this stop on your virtual school tour.

Questions for students: What was at Wallula that the railroad provided easier access to? How did the addition of a railroad change life in Walla Walla? The town of Walla Walla didn't want to help support the railroad at first. What could have happened if they decided not to?

For more information visit our Blue Mountain Locomotive Exhibit online!

The Horse-Drawn Fire Engine

Fort Walla Walla Museum meets up with retired Walla Walla Fire Department Captain Russell Kroum, who talks about the history of the city’s fire department and the story of the museum’s horse-drawn fire engine.

Questions for students: Why would the city of Walla Walla burned down so easily, and what is different about the city today? Why would it have been important to have a system in place to get the horses hitched to the wagon so quickly? What are some of the reasons fire helmets look the way they do? What are the benefits of the leather helmet’s design?