Umatilla County, Oregon

“ He also owns, however, five hundred and thirty-three acres of excellent wheat land on Birch creek, in Umatilla county, Oregon, ten miles southeast of Walla Walla, three hundred and twenty acres of timber land in Umatilla county and one thousand acres of wheat land near Prescott, in Walla Walla county. The fact that he gives close personal supervision to his extensive farming operations indicates that he manages his affairs in a systematic manner and that he possesses marked business ability. ”

“ Pioneer History of Coos and Curry Counties, Oregon. Salem, Capital Printing Co., 1898.
Dufur, A. J. Statistics of the State of Oregon. Salem, Willamette Farmer Office, 1869.
Gale, H. H. Resources of Coos County. Marshfield, Coos County Record Co., 1875.
Gilbert, F. T. Historic Sketches of Walla Walla, Whitman, Columbia and Garfield Counties, Washington Territory and Umatilla County, Oregon. Portland, Walling, 1882.
Geer, H. H. Fifty Years in Oregon. N. Y. Neale, 1912.
Himes, G. H. History of the Press of Oregon, 1839-1850. Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, 3:327-70. ”

“ SERVICE BUTTES, Umatilla County. Service Buttes, which lie about eight miles southwest of Echo, have an extreme elevation of 1685 feet. Service Canyon is southwest of the buttes, and Service Spring to the north. These features are named for the serviceberry, otherwise called shadbush or Juneberry. The bush is of the Amelanchier family. The name is probably the most mispronounced botanical word in the West, the uneducated invariably making it sarvis berry. Service CREEK, Wheeler County. This is the name of a post office near the mouth of Service Creek, a tributary of John Day River. ”

“ During the religious controversy in Oregon we have had an improvised rule to the effect that parties on either side of the controversy may submit advertising, or when news interest justifies, a reasonable communication setting forth in an affirmative way the principles espoused but making no at tack upon the other side- We have endeavored to look with disinteredness upon religious quarrels and to treat each side fairly and courteously, which seems to be all that either side wants as far as Umatilla county is concerned. ”

“ EMIGRANT HILL, Umatilla County. Emigrant Hill is a very prominent ridge of the Blue Mountains, southeast of Pendleton. The Oregon Trail traverses this hill as it proceeds westward, then descends to the northwest to Umatilla River. Emigrant Hill is sometimes referred to as Cabbage Hill, but Cabbage Hill is a spur south from the main hill, and the Oregon Trail does not touch Cabbage Hill. Geography of this locality may be found on the USGS map of the Pendleton quadrangle. Emigrant Hill was of couse named in pioneer days because the emigrant trains traveled over it. ”

“ Butter Creek is a tributary of the Umatilla River, and the old pioneer road crossed it west of Echo. See Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume III, page 316.
Butteville, Marion County. Butteville is on the east bank of the Willamette River in the extreme north part of the county and has an elevation of 102 feet. It was named for a well-known hill about a mile to the southwest, called by the early settlers on French Prairie La Butte, a form of name still used by the U. S. Geological Survey on its map of the Tualatin quadrangle, which shows the geography of this region. ”

“ From this time on the development of the main wheat belt of Umatilla County steadily, but slowly, advanced. For many years the squirrels were bad and it was nothing uncommon for the settler to go to the mountains after wood or posts and on returning the next day to find his small patch of grain all cut down by the squirrels.
EARLY FARMING IN UMATILLA COUNTY 349
One of the first men to engage extensively in grain growing west of Athena was Moses Woodward. Others were the Stones, Gerkings, Walker, Scotts, Keen, Grass, Johnson, Russell, Will- oby, Howell and Wilson. ”

“ Asked to prepare a paper on the early growing of grain in Umatilla County, the writer is aware of the difficulties con- nected therewith, as it seems the fact is evident that grain and corn, in a small way, were grown by the early settlers some years before anyone even thought of this section as a grain- growing community, therefore the question of who raised the first grain in Umatilla County will always be an open question. ”

“ The kinds of farming en- gaged in are principally stock-raising and the production of wheat. Umatilla county is especially adapted for wheat farm- ing. The greater part of Eastern Oregon is very sparsely populated, Baker, Union and Umatilla comprising the more thickly settled portion. In these three counties, as well as in Wallowa, farming is somewhat diversified. In the counties along the Columbia River, Morrow, Gilliam, Sherman and Wasco, the principal industry is wheat raising ”

“ GURDANE, Umatilla County. The post office of Gurdane was named for John S. Gurdane, a pioneer settler of south Umatilla County. He was one time a member of the state legislature. The post office was established in 1890.
GWENDOLEN, Gilliam County. Walter H. Guild, superintendent of the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company at La Grande, informed the compiler in 1927 that Gwendolen was named for Miss Gwendolen Worthington, daughter of B. A. Worthington, formerly vicepresident and general manager of the railroad company. ”

“ He works more hours than any man in his shop, and it appears to agree with him. For recreation he nurses the interests of the Commercial club, of which he is secretary.
The Independent Monitor has recently installed an Intertype, and Editor Ecker now threatens to convert the Monitor into a semi-weekly, to be known as the Polk County Post.
Lee D. Drake, advertising manager and part owner of the East Oregonian, is the captain of the Umatilla county Home Guards, an organization now equipped with rifles and subject to duty under the orders of the governor or sheriff. ”

“ The Blue Mountains constitute one of the largest uplifts in the state and the main range together with its spurs and offshoots, extends into several counties. The backbone of the Blue Mountains begins in Grant County and runs northerly through Baker, Union, Umatilla and Wallowa Counties in Oregon and into Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin Counties in Washington. ”

“ Crook County had the largest average in the size of farms, reaching the enormous area of 1,360.2 acres to the farm. Morrow, Harney, Gilliam, Wheeler, Lake, and Sherman, all of which are in eastern Oregon, each had farms with an average size of over 500 acres. Three more eastern counties, Klamath, Grant, and Umatilla, each averaged be- tween 400 and 500 acres to the farm ; and Malheur, the large southeastern county, only slightly less than 400 acres. The average acreage in Curry, Douglas, and Wasco was over 300 acres. ”

“ UMATILLA COUNTY, EARLY FARMING IN, 343-9; early settlement at Weston, 343 ; first grains probably raised by Andrew Kilgore, 1863, 344; first threshing machines used, 1868, 344-5; early corn crops, 345; surplus wheat fed to stock, 347; irrigation begun, 1869, 347; completion of Baker rail- road, 1879, stimulates grain raising, 347-8; header brought into use, 1878, 348; loss through depredations by squirrels, 348-9.
Volunteers to fight Indians called for in Oregon and Washington, 7 ”

“ They are put upon reservations, where goods and rations are occasionally doled out to them, for the reason that it is cheaper to do that than to fight them. The agricul- ture and mechanics supposed to be taught on the agencies is all a pretense. Such things figure largely in the agency re- ports to the Indian Bureau at Washington, but they are in the main fanciful. The whites work and the Indians look on. The Umatilla Reservation is large enough for a county, and has in great part a fine rich soil, which should tempt any- body to agricultural pursuits. ”

“ While the main membership has been in Walla Walla County or her daughter counties, it is not confined to that county, and a number of members live in Umatilla County, Oregon, and in Whitman, Adams and Franklin counties on the north side of Snake River.
The officers of the association chosen at the first meeting were: Dr. N. G. Blalock, president; W. P. Winans, A. G. Lloyd and Ben Burgunder, vice presidents; Marvin Evans, secretary; Levi Ankeny, treasurer; W. D. Lyman, historian. These officers were almost constantly re-elected, until the lamented deaths of Doctor Blalock, Mr. Winans, and Mr. ”

“ Crosby and Smith ran advertisements in the Oregonian in 1851 offering to give two lots to each married man and one lot to each single man who would make his home there and build a house. A district school advertisement for the town is in the Oregonian September 13, 1851. About 1890 efforts were made to secure a post office, and it was necessary to change the name of the community because there was already a post office named Milton in Umatilla County. Milton in Columbia County was accordingly renamed Houlton. See under that heading. Houlton post office was near Saint Helens railway station. ”

“ PENDLETON, Umatilla County. George Hunt Pendleton, of Ohio (1825-89) , was Democratic candidate for vice-president in 1864. Pendleton was named in his honor, in 1868, by the commissioners of Umatilla County, J. S. Vinson, James Thompson and Samuel Johnson, on suggestion of G. W. Bailey, then county judge. ”

“ The agricultural counties of the Willamette Valley rank, Linn first, Yamhill second, Lane third, and Marion fourth, Clackamas ranking least. The coast and Columbia-River counties fall below the interior ones. In the southern part of western Oregon there is also much less wealth than in the W 7 illamette Valley, Douglas county, how ever, leading Jackson. In eastern Oregon, Umatilla leads the other counties in per capita wealth, Grant, Union, W r asco, Lake, and Baker following in the order named. ”

“ The funds are still intact and work will proceed as soon as conditions will permit. Following are statements showing amounts of State funds expended in Umatilla County and funds appropriated to be expended in 1919.
Wild Horse Paving
The State Highway Commission on June 29, 1917, let a contract to the Warren Construction Company for paving a ten mile section of the Wild Horse Road northeast of Pendleton and one mile of the Old Oregon Trail leading west from Pendleton. The pavement laid was bitulithic and the [136] subgrade was an old macadam road built by the County. ”

“ Or. 1859; d. Portland, June 14, 1918. Benson, Sandford G., b. Ind., 1845; to Cal. 1849; Or. 1864; d. San Jose, Cal., June 15, 1918. Blossom, Tames M., Ind ..... ; Or. 1852; d. Hood River, July 2, 1918. Brady, Mrs. Letitia Jane Alexander, b. Mo., 1853; Or. 1854; Roseburg, June 19, 1918. Campbell, James H., b. Va ..... ; Or. 1849; d. Umatilla county, Or., Aug. 4. I9i8> Clover, James, b. Ind. 1844; Or. ”

“ Counties Rye. Rank Counties. Rye. Rank 109,234 5,240 7 23,190 1 4,900 8 18,030 2 3,710 9 Morrow 11,070 3 3,300 10 • 10,830 4 2,998 11 6,300 5 2,960 12 5,840 6 A/r • 2,380 13 2,200 14 680 24 1,840 15 620 25 1,660 16 460 26 Washington 1,430 17 Douglas 420 27 Harney 1,200 18 400 28 1,100 19 Tillamook 180 29 970 20 110 30 810 21 50 31 Polk..... 780 22 40 32 Wasco 750 23 Curry 36 33 Umatilla in 1900 produced 3,212,120 bushels of wheat, or two and one-half times as much as any other county in the State. Linn, Marion, Yamhill, and Sherman each raised over 1,000,000 bushels ”

“ The valuation of farms and buildings for 1879 was over seven millions, of live-stock nearly a million, and of farm products almost a million and a half. The total valuation of assessable property reached to considerably over four million dollars. The population is between twelve and thirteen thou sand. This county has three natural divisions, the first lying between the north and south Santiam rivers; the second between Santiam River and Cala- pooya creek, and the third between Calapooya creek and the south boundary line, each of which has a business centre of its own. ”

“ Its area is greater than that of Coos, the two counties comprising 3,331 square miles, not much of which belonging to Curry has been surveyed. The value of farm property is estimated at between five and six hundred thousand dollars. The assessed valuation for 1879 was about $220,000. The territorial act establishing the county provided for the selection of a county seat by votes at the next general election, which was prevented by the Rogue River Indian war. ”

“ Lumbering and dairying are the chief industries, and little farming is carried on. The value of improvements of this kind is between four and five hundred thousand dol lars. The valuation of real and personal property in the county amounts to less than $100,000.. The county seat is Tillamook, at the head of the bay. The whole white population of the county is less than a thousand, including the towns of Nestockton, Kilchis, Garabaldi, and Nehalem. The Siletz Indian reservation is in the southern end of the county. ”

“ The water courses have a southwest direction, emptying into the Klamath River in California; and the lands in California lying immediately south of those above referred to have been subdivided by the government surveyors of that district. * * * "Dalles is the county seat of Wasco County, which polled nearly 300 votes at the last June election. The citizens are anxious to witness the commencement of surveying operations in their section of country. There are also considerable settle- ments and improvements on the TJmatilla and Walla Walla rivers, where surveys are required ”

“ To recognize the dis- tinguished Chief the settlers in the valley have named their principal town "Joseph" in honor of the Indian; the only town or county named in honor of an Indian on the Pacific Coast.
The census reports of the county show population as follows: For 1890 — 3,661 ; 1900—5,538 ; 1910—8,364 ; Enterprise is the county seat.
Malheur county was organized by the legislature February 17, 1887. It occupies the southeastern corner of the State. It gets the name from the prin- cipal river in the county ”