Fort Walla Walla Museum's Living Historians bring history to life, portraying real people from Walla Walla's past.

Mountain man Joe Meek first entered the Oregon Country in 1829. He met Marcus and Narcissa Whitman at the 1836 fur trapper’s rendezvous on their way to Walla Walla. As the fur trapping waned in the 1840s, Meek helped transport wagons left behind by the Whitmans. These were the first wagons ever to cross the Blue Mountains.

Meek settled in the Willamette Valley but left his daughter, Helen Mar, with the Whitmans. When he returned to the Whitman Mission after the incident of 1847, he found his daughter had died of illness while a captive among the Cayuse people. Meek then made his famous winter ride to Washington, D.C., to plead for U.S. troops and a government presence in Oregon.

Joseph Meek is portrayed by Delbert Draper.
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The troupe’s goal is to bring museum exhibits to life with live presentations every week from May through October, telling visitors dramatic stories about the lives of a variety of Walla Wallans and the issues of their day, and allowing guests to question the characters about their lives and times