Waitsburg is on the delta of the Touchet River and Coppei Creek, northeast of Walla Walla. A pleasant old town with shaded streets, in 1859, a man named Robert Kennedy became the first settler.

Sylvester M. Wait, recognizing the power possibilities of the Touchet River, and noting that flour was selling for $44 a barrel, decided to build a flour mill. Farmers donated land for the mill and agreed to hold their grain until spring, at which time Wait was to pay $1.50 a bushel. They were pleased with this arrangement, which eliminated the cost of wheat shipments to Walla Walla. The enterprise was successful, and the town, platted in 1869 and named Waitsburg, prospered in spite of occasional setbacks. The place had also been called Delta or Wait’s Mill or Wait’s Crossing. In 1881 the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company extended its lines into Waitsburg, and in the same year the first municipal government was organized. Churches and a school were organized, streets were improved, new stores were started, and a bank was opened. The milling industry steadily expanded as population figures rose and wheat acreage increased. Among those who settled in the environs during these years were Southerners. Names such as Sorghum Hollow, Whiskey, Whetstone, Hogeye, Misery, and Whoopemup still cling to roads and creeks and mountain peaks.

South of Waitsburg, the tour continues through rolling wheat lands.