Tampico, WA

Ahtanum Mission (St. Joseph's Mission) was established in Oregon Territory by Jesuit priests in 1852. Fathers Louis D'herbomez and Charles Pandosy founded the mission near Tampico along Ahtanum Creek.

Archbishop F. N. Blanchet instructed D'herbomez and Pandosy to construct the mission at the summer camp of Yakama Chief Kamiakin, at Kamiakin's request. The mission was constructed on a 677-acre site along Ahtanum Creek, near present-day Tampico. Kamiakin's men helped excavate primitive irrigation canals in the arid soil, allowing them to raise various crops including wheat, corn, pumpkin, potatoes and melons.

The mission was burned down in 1855 during the Yakima Indian War by US army soldiers suspicious that the priests had been collaborating with the Yakama's. The mission was re-established in September 1867 and, a few months later, was rebuilt with the help of the Yakama people. The rebuilt mission was finished in 1870.