From December 7-10, 1855, the longest battle in the history of Washington Territory was fought in this area. The primary fighting extended from the Larocque cabin a mile west of here, held by approximately 350 Oregon Mounted Volunteers, to the Tellier cabin in this vicinity, held by an estimated thousand Walla Walla, Cayuse, Palouse, and Yakama warriors. The fighting began near the mouth of the Touchet River eight miles west of here when the Oregon Volunteers began a march to establish a camp at the ruins of the Whitman Mission, with Walla Walla Chief Peopeomoxmox as a hostage. The tribal forces first made a stand at the Larocque cabin, but were driven back to this point. Each night during the battle, the Volunteers returned to the Larocque cabin, where they built a stockade they called Fort Bennett, and every morning found that the Indians had retaken the surrounding area, including the woods along the river, the flat, and the tops of the hills. Each side tried to outflank the other at various points in this terrain, and many skirmishes occurred. On the evening of December 10, 1855, Volunteer reinforcements arrived from Fort Henrietta, after which the Indians withdrew, ending the battle. In the vicinity of the Larocque cabin, the battleground later became the site of an early Frenchtown chapel, cemetery, and school. In 1876, the Saint Rose of Lima Mission Church and the present Frenchtown cemetery were established there.