Pendleton, OR

   Pendleton, OR.  A very nice little town to hang out in for a month.  A great climate for spring.  Beautiful scenery.  Grocery stores close by.  And some history. I haven’t gleaned much history from this area.  I have always wanted to come to Pendleton to the woolen mills since the 70’s.  It’s kind of a fond memory thing.  I had a good friend whose parent’s had a cabin in the “mountains” of PA.  There was a very small town there called Tionesta.  In that town was a Pendleton store.  I remember falling in love with the plaid.  I had no idea about Pendleton Roundup until we arrived.

   First let me start off with pictures.  As you know, we are staying at the KOA here.  It is at the top of a hill.  Up here there are 2 gas stations, 6 hotels, a restaurant, and some government buildings like DOT.  This picture was taken looking out from an empty parking lot on our hill.

  The picture is zoomed in.  Little do you know that when you just move a little down the road, this is the view.  There is actually a valley with a town between these hills, even though the view makes you think it’s just land across.  Did Lewis and Clark have these same thoughts?

This is a very, very steep road.  The mills you see at the bottom are for grain, not wool.

We started our walk around Pendleton at the Chamber of Commerce Visitor’s Center

Inside had some interesting items.

This is a horse on an electric bicycle.

Outside of the Visitor’s Center.  We got information on what was open, and what wasn’t.

From https://pendleton.or.us/history-pendleton.   The city began in the early 1860’s.  A lot of the buildings we saw were built in the early 1900’s.

Then this:

In 1910 local attorney Roy Raley, who had an excellent flare for theatrics, decided to have a rodeo after harvest and the famous Pendleton Round-Up was born. The show was such a success that property was purchased and permanent buildings and grounds were constructed to hold the annual event. The slogan "Let'er Buck" was adopted as the Round- Up byline. The traditional event is held annually in the second week in September and now draws over 50,000 people. Additionally, the Happy Canyon pageant under Mr. Raley's direction started as the "night show".

There were two things to follow on our walk.  First of all, we had a map that told which were the historic buildings with plaques to read, and then there is the bronze walk.  The bronze walk is to see statues of important people from Pendleton.

This one is the post office, still in use today.

This wall is along the river walk that we took a few weeks back.  

“Football is another classroom where real life lessons are learned.”  

This quote reminds me so much of my good colleague, Norm Davis, the PE teacher at UPark.  He not only teaches all the physical requirements of his job, but he also teaches life lessons, brain development, and social skills.  I miss you, Norm.  I just got to tell this one awesome thing.......Every year he does “Indiana Jones”. It is an obstacle course set up in the gym based on Indian Jones.  He has a ball pit with a giant ball that will roll if you do it wrong.  He has a snake pit you have to swing over to get your treasure.  There is the balance beam with crocodiles under it.  There are spiders.  And things to go over, though, around, up and down.  

I be the first to put money down for a bronze statue of Norm Davis.

After the statue, we cross the river,

to the Carnegie Building, which is now an arts center.  Growing up in western PA, I had heard a lot of the Carnegies and their libraries.  I had no idea they built them this far west.

Across the street is a church

And beautiful houses.

Walking up toward the houses and taking a right I find this house.

The house, itself, I think needs some work, but the flowers were beautiful.  Across from the house is this.  The road was built on a cliff overlooking the river.  I wonder how old this stone fence is.  The tree and bush growth made it impossible to see to the river.

Not old, kind of plastic, but neat detail on the lamp post.

We start our walk up Main Street.

As I mentioned earlier, there are bronze statues scattered around Pendleton.  Many are here along Main Street.  The first I took a pic of is Jackson Brown.

From pendletonbronzetrail.com

Waaya-Tonah-Toesits-Kanh (Jackson Sundown), a famous Native American cowboy and nephew of Chief Joseph, was an excellent rider and breeder of horses and competed in rodeos across the Pacific Northwest. This statue of the fan favorite, cast by Greg Polutanovich, captures Sundown known for his tall, lean build, handsome features, colorful shirts, and braided hair tied under his chin. After a close loss in 1915 at the age of 52, Sundown decided to retire from the rodeo. He was persuaded to enter one last time the following year and became the 1916 Saddle Bronc Champion.

George Fletcher, probably my favorite story

George Fletcher, a competitor in the World Bronc Riding Championship in 1911, was the first African-American to compete in the Pendleton Round-Up. The judges determined competitor John Spain had drawn a tougher mount, but the crowd roared loudest for Fletcher. Though the prize of a $350 saddle went to John Spain, the Round-Up Director Sheriff Til Taylor took Fletcher’s black cowboy hat and cut it into small pieces. After selling them to the crowd, Taylor raised enough money for Fletcher to buy his own $350 saddle. He was by all accounts the “People’s Champion.”

We came upon this open business.  Funny, I didn’t get the business name.  I bet you could guess what it sells, though.  We walked in, walked around, but no one came out to greet us or to sell to us.  

After the hat store I got pictures of some of the women statues.

Kathleen McClintock was a ranch hand, teacher, lady, and queen of the Round-up

Stella Darby was part of the “other entertainment” parts of Pendleton.

Aura

Aura Goodwin Raley and her husband Moses built the first house in Pendleton (located in the 100 block of South Main Street) in 1864. The Goodwins opened a stage station and hotel at their house on Main Street and built a toll bridge across the Umatilla River. It was often referred to as Goodwin’s Cat Station – due to the large number of cats they kept around. Aura and her family also donated the land for the city’s first courthouse and cemetery – which now hosts Pioneer Park. Aura Raley owned a large portion of early Pendleton and with her daughter Cosbie, developed and sold off lots for residential and commercial purposes. She lived in Pendleton the rest of her life and was an integral part of its growth and development for its first 50 years. NW Aura Avenue is named for her legacy.

Now let’s go down about 5 blocks to.....

EST. 1909

Sadly, we they don’t have the mill tour open, but there was this small display.

Here are some of their famous Indian blankets.

The blue and green plaid on the right is the plaid I fell in love with in the 70’s.  At that time they had skirts and blazers made from that design.  But, no way could I afforded that back then.

The back room is where the blankets are all displayed.  

I’m impressed with their National Park patterns.  I just might go back and purchase this mug.  Zion is one of my favorite parks.  

Examples of other parks.  They have jackets and blankets and scarves and socks.  

Here’s the display

Another trip down memory lane.  This song, “I Love the Mountains,” was a favorite of mine while teaching.  It has a catchy tune, easy chording, can sing it in a round, and I had a cool background CD sung in 50’s style a cappella.  This book has wonderful pictures and four verses!!!!!  Should I go back and buy it?  Will I ever be around kids again??????  

Here’s a couple of items I looked at and almost bought.  

I own enough to jackets........

Thankfully, Richard bought a couple of nice shirts, and I, a pair of gloves.

I’m going to end this blog post with a picture of our neighbor down the street.  He’s quiet and good to have around.  Speaking of quiet, our neighbors on the other side suddenly left today.  His sister has a house down the street a few miles that he bought for $20,000.  They were very nice very friendly neighbors.  With 3 dogs, one that yapped a little too much.  Now I can see the bird feeders from the next neighbor over.  He told me the Bobwhites are here because there is a farm somewhere that raises them and pheasants and he thinks they got loose.  

Thanks for reading!  Hugs and Blessings!