In 1836 , Reverend Samuel Parker visited the area and reported that around 800 Native Americans were living in Spokane Falls . A medical mission was established by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman to cater for Cayuse Indians and hikers of the Oregon Trail at Walla Walla in the south . After the Whitmans were killed by Indians in 1847 , Reverend Cushing Eells established Whitman College in the city of city of Walla Walla , Washington in their memory . Rev. Eells built the first church in Spokane in 1881 . Between 1881 and 1882 the first Baptist and Episcopal churches were started , and the first Presbyterian church in 1883
the Whitmans were killed
Whitman massacre
History of Spokane, Washington