The Whitman massacre in 1847 and the ensuing Cayuse War increased tensions between Christians and the native population of the Oregon Territory , and as a result by 1850 the Diocese of Walla Walla was abandoned and its territory administered from Oregon City . On May 31 , 1850 , Pope Pius IX created the Diocese of Nesqually out of the defunct Walla Walla diocese . The episcopal see was subsequently moved to Seattle , and the diocese was renamed the Diocese of Seattle in 1907
Whitman massacre
Whitman massacre
Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane