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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 2016)
2C THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2016 Enter Astoria Pendleton girl once pulled off royal trifecta By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian P ENDLETON — A look into Pendleton’s early history reveals a town with nerves- of-steel cowboys, wild women and whiskey and a community that could become an unstoppable force when working toward a common goal. Take for example the strange and wonderful case of Muriel Saling. In 1916, the Portland Rose Fes- tival opened up selection of its queen to the entire state of Oregon and southwest Washington. “The people in Pendleton found out about this and were very excited about their local favorite Muriel Saling possibly being the Port- land Rose Festival queen,” said Randy Thomas, a director on the Round-Up Association Board. Saling, the popular deputy clerk of Umatilla County and once a star Pendleton High School basketball player, had reigned as queen of the Pendleton Round-Up court in 1912. The city mobilized, not only with effi ciency, but with stealth, according to East Oregonian arti- cles. Votes could be purchased 10 for a penny and sometimes for less if bought in big blocks. The city revved up its fundrais- ing efforts and set out to get their darling elected. Just before the deadline, the 22-year-old Pendle- ton beauty trailed in votes, but Rose Fes- E.J. Harris/East Oregonian Muriel Giorgi, of Reno, holds a photograph of her grandmother, two-time Pendleton Round-Up Queen and Portland Rose Festival Queen, Muriel Saling in front of the Pendleton Round-Up Grounds. tival offi cials were oblivious to the sneak attack that was about to come their way. “Pendleton had a strategy to lull the competition into low voter turn- out,” Thomas said. “On the fi nal night of voting, Pendleton deliv- ered to the Portland Rose Festival offi ce fi ve million votes, obliterat- ing the competition, so much so that she won over the second place can- didate by over four million votes.” Knockout punch An East Oregonian article described this knockout punch and explained the strategic maneuver- ing in detail. About two million votes had trickled into Portland from Pendleton during the spring campaign, but most Saling votes were hoarded in secret. According to the newspaper, “more than fi ve million were purchased by Portland people to whom the local commit- tee had sent money. They purchased heavily, refusing to disclose to the festival management the name of the candidate for whom their votes were intended.” Dale Chessman, who managed the campaign, held on to the big reserve until the fi nal minute. When the results were tallied, Saling had 7.4 million votes and had beaten second-place fi nisher Lillian Hen- dricksen, of Portland, by more than four million. At the Rose Festival headquarters, there was “gasping amazement.” By pulling off this coup, Pend- leton also earned the right to select the Rose Festival King. The town chose Umatilla County Sheriff and Round-Up President Til Taylor. The pair was crowned at Multnomah Falls, shortly before presiding over the offi cial opening of the Colum- bia River Highway. What happened next fl abbergasted Saling and the entire town. The Astoria Regatta issued a surprise invitation to Saling to rule over the annual August regatta. At the time, it — along with the Rose Festival and the Pendleton Round-Up — were the three big- gest festivals in the state. Til Taylor was also named as honorary admi- ral of the Astoria Regatta Fleet. “Pendleton was so pleased with their successes that it named Muriel Saling again, for the second time, as queen of the Pendleton Round-Up in 1916, thereby effectively accomplish- ing her triple crown,” Thomas said. Crowns for the regatta and the rodeo were bestowed at the same ceremony. To honor Saling’s trifecta, the Pendleton Round-Up Association invited Saling’s granddaughter, Muriel Giorgi, of Reno, to expe- rience the rodeo over which her grandmother had reigned. After making Pendleton on Friday, Giorgi sat down at Starbucks to relax from the 600-mile car trip and remi- nisce about her grandmother over a cup of iced tea. She said she loves sharing the name Muriel with her grandmother. “I wear my grandmother’s name proudly,” Giorgi said. Tragic end Saling, Giorgi said, married Frank Cronan soon after the 1916 Round-Up, gave birth to two daughters and eventually divorced. Eventually she married “the love of her life,” Edward Crane. The cou- ple ran their linoleum store in the Bay Area until disaster struck. “They had been married nine months when somebody came into the store and robbed him of $90 and killed him,” Giorgi said. Saling eventually moved to Reno to be near family where she worked as secretary at an insur- ance offi ce. She kept her husband’s glasses, cracked in the fatal attack, in her lingerie drawer. She never married again. Saling was something of a par- adox, said Giorgi, who saw her grandmother most days until her death at age 75 of a stroke, when Giorgi was 17. Saling, a southpaw, remained a long-legged looker even into her later years and also pos- sessed a shrewd mind. She loved wearing pearls and fancy hats — her favorite sported a peacock feather. “She was a sharp dresser,” Giorgi said. “Even when she was gardening, she was a sharp dresser. She was pretty prim and proper.” No nonsense Conversely, she had a fondness for smoking cigarillos and often had a cocktail in hand, Giorgi laughed. Her grandmother said what was on her mind and didn’t put up with nonsense from her grandchildren. In all their time together, Saling spoke little about her time as a tri- ple-queen in 1916. Giorgi will try to glean some more details about her grand- mother during her fi rst visit to Umatilla County. She and a friend will visit Weston, where Sal- ing was born and family mem- bers ranched. She will look at Sal- ing’s photo hanging on a wall at the Pendleton Round-Up & Happy Canyon Hall of Fame. She’ll soak in the Westward Ho! Parade. According to Thomas, “she’ll attend the Pendleton Round-Up for the fi rst time on the 100th anni- versary of her grandmother’s triple crown.” Pendleton Round-Up Queen Muriel Saling and Round-Up President Til Taylor ride the arena track in 1916. W.S. Bowman/File Photo ? 9-1-WHAT? What the cluck? S ometimes, emergency dispatch just leaves us speechless … “Caller reported a sex offender in her chicken coop feeding her chickens.” Follow reporter Kyle Spurr on his 9-1-What? Twitter watch, where a few of the sometimes head-scratching calls to area dispatch take center stage. The full feed is at www.twitter.com/9_1_WHAT. THE BEST OF THE WORST CALLS TO ASTORIA 911 DISPATCH Now available in the The Daily Astorian and Chinook Observer For more information call 503-325-3211 crbizjou rn a l.com
