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THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2021
Photos by Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Chuck Sams speaks to attendees at the ceremony celebrating the completion of the mural of George Fletcher in Pendleton.
Mural pays tribute to ‘the people’s champion’
Fletcher competed
in the Pendleton
Round-Up
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Cow-
boy George Fletcher rides
again in Pendleton.
A mural of Fletcher
astride a bucking bronco at
the Pendleton Round-Up
has adorned a whitewashed
wall near the intersection of
Southwest Dorion Avenue
and First Street since Sep-
tember. But Travel Pendle-
ton last week unveiled the
latest tribute to the cow-
boy, complete with tourism
promoters, local govern-
ment offi cials and organi-
zations celebrating the art
and its addition to the Ore-
gon Mural Trail with a rib-
bon cutting ceremony.
A competitor at the
famous 1911 Round-Up,
Fletcher was never truly
forgotten: The Pendleton
Round-Up and Happy Can-
yon Hall of Fame inducted
him into its inaugural class
in 1969, he was fi ctional-
ized in Ken Kesey’s 1994
novel “Last Go Round”
and his likeness was cast in
bronze and erected on South
Main Street in 2014.
But his legacy was kept
alive by the people who told
his story as a part of oral
history.
Seeing as he is in the
fi nal stages of the confi rma-
tion process to become the
next National Park Service
director, Chuck Sams may
have been the most high
profi le speaker at the cer-
emony. But Sams wasn’t
there as a representative of
the federal government, but
as the immediate past presi-
dent of the Oregon Cultural
Trust.
Sams, a member of the
Confederated Tribes of
the Umatilla Indian Res-
ervation, also had stories
about Fletcher to share. His
grandfather was Fletcher’s
contemporary and would
tell stories of riding with
Fletcher as they transported
cattle or broke horses at the
Sams’ ranch.
Born in 1890 in Kan-
Todd Davidson, CEO of Travel Oregon, speaks to attendees at the ceremony.
sas, Fletcher, who was
Black, moved to Pendle-
ton as a child and learned
to ride broncs on the Uma-
tilla Indian Reservation
while facing discrimination
and racism from Pendleton
residents.
He entered the bronc
riding competition at the
Round-Up in 1911, mak-
ing it all the way to fi nals.
While Fletcher’s fi nal ride
was a crowd favorite, the
judges awarded fi rst place
to white cowboy John
Spain. Fletcher was quickly
dubbed “the people’s cham-
pion” and an impromptu
fundraiser in the stands
garnered him $700 for his
eff orts. Fletcher remained in
Pendleton until his death in
1973, although he stopped
competing after he was
injured in World War I.
Fletcher’s story res-
onated beyond Pendle-
ton. Mariotta Gary-Smith,
the chair of the Oregon
Commission on Black
Aff airs, went up to speak
about her own grandfa-
ther. Gary-Smith’s grandfa-
ther migrated from the Deep
South to Portland during the
Jim Crow era. A huge rodeo
fan, her grandfather would
frequently take his family
to the Round-Up and share
stories about Fletcher.
Those stories of the peo-
ple’s champion made their
way down to Gary-Smith’s
mother and eventually Gary-
Smith herself. It was some-
thing on her mind when the
Oregon Cultural Trust asked
for ideas for its new license
plate. The plate features a
scenic Oregon vista, but on
closer inspection, the scen-
ery is composed of smaller
pictures refl ective of the
state’s culture and history.
Gary-Smith submitted
Fletcher, and she was pleas-
antly surprised when she
saw the fi nal design came
out and Fletcher’s cowboy
hat was near the top right
hand corner, right under a
wagon wheel signifying the
Oregon Trail. Gary-Smith
said she planned to take a
picture of the mural to send
to her mother.
Travel Oregon CEO
Todd Davidson said the
mural was exactly what his
organization had in mind
for the next iteration of its
“Only Slightly Exagger-
ated” campaign. Davidson
said the initial stages of the
campaign focused heavily
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“We want these to be a
point of community pride,”
he said.
The completion of the
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mural means Pendleton is
now a stop on Travel Ore-
gon’s nine-city Oregon
Mural Trail, which stretches
from Gold Beach to Ontario.
Travel Pendleton coordina-
tor Kristen Dollarhide said
the two agencies have been
working together on the
project for years.
After securing funding
from both travel agencies
in addition to the Pendle-
ton Foundation Trust, the
Wildhorse Foundation and
the Pendleton Arts Com-
mittee, Dollarhide said they
looked for mural sites all
over town.
They soon settled on the
spot by the Old West Fed-
eral Credit Union parking
lot, which was desirable due
to its close proximity to a
busy street. The mural only
takes up a small section of
the long wall, an intentional
move meant to make it eas-
ier for people to take pic-
tures by the art.
If tourists fl ock to the
mural like tourism promot-
ers hope they do, it means
Fletcher will be the back-
ground of many more social
media posts to come.