Posts Tagged With: Pendleton Oregon

Pendleton, Oregon Friday September 8

Finally we are on the Columbia Plateau, having left Idaho, driven through Washington state, and now resting in northern Oregon. Thankfully our waitress gave us a tip last night. Gas up in Idaho, she said. Gas is more expensive in Washington. Boy, what an understatement! Gas was a dollar more per gallon in Washington. When we gassed up tonight in Oregon, it was only twenty cents more expensive than Idaho and still eighty cents less expensive than Washington. I just can’t wait to see the gas prices in California.

It was only 100 miles from Lewiston to Walla Walla Washington. Initially we still had the Palouse type scenery and hills but it seemed like hay/alfalfa was the only crop being grown. Farms had huge stacks of hay everywhere you looked. As is standard now, we came across another long line of empty railroad cars stacked on an unused rail line. These were center beam flat cars.

Our first stop was the Whitman Mission National Historic Site just outside Walla Walla WA. Marcus and Narcisa Whitman left New York in 1836 for Oregon with a missionary zeal to convert the heathens. They had some success but not overwhelming. As more immigrants came to Oregon, they served more of that community.

However in 1847 came a turning point. Marcus Whitman was a medical doctor. Measles struck the community extremely hard. Marcus was able to save most immigrants who came down with it. However, the Cayuse people, particularly the children, had no immunities and the majority of them that Marcus treated, died.

The Cayuse, already skeptical of the immigrants and the mission, believed Marcus was poisoning their children while saving those of the immigrants. They killed Marcus, Narcissa, and 11 others. The Cayuse War followed as the remaining Cayuse were killed or scattered. The NPS site here explores how the mission changed the way of life in this region in ways initially unimagined.

We left the Whitman Mission and drove to Pendleton Oregon. The Tamastslikt Cultural Institute is run by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla. The Institute is organized around the themes: We Were, We Are, We Will Be and the 16,000 year culture of the combined tribes. Perspectives look back, telling the story of westward expansion of the U.S. from a tribal viewpoint, and forward, explaining how the Tribes are leaders in salmon, lamprey, and mussel restoration and fueling the regional economy.

The history of the Oregon tribal nations is rich and complex. I doubt we will leave this trip with a deep understanding, probably just an initial and shallow one. I don’t remember even thinking about it in the two week trip we took around Oregon about a dozen years ago.

Pendleton is, of course, the home of the Pendleton woolen mills, makers of beautiful blankets and clothing.The company is still family owned and has two major mills, one here and one along the Columbia River in Washington state not far from Portland Oregon. Both offer tours and we had requested two of the eight slots available for the 3 pm tour at Pendleton. We got them.

Our tour guide has been giving tours for seven years. She explained the milling process and how the two mills complement each other. For instance, this mill takes the raw wool and works it into finished yarn but the second mill does all of the dying.

Blankets are the specialty of this mill. The rich colors and expressive designs are all made here. Each blanket is visually inspected before it leaves the mill. The mill has been operating here since 1909. Some of the machinery is brand new, others decades old. The mill runs 24 hours a day, five days per week.

Ed and Chris Pendleton OR Sept 9 Happy 51st Anniversary to us