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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 13, 2016)
DONALD LIEUALLEN OF ADAMS A girl waves during Saturday’s Dress-Up Parade in downtown Pendleton. For more photos and story see Page 7A. Enjoy a framed art print from Pendleton Art + Frame 72/44 The weather is perfect for bucking. For a Round-Up week forecast, see Page 2A. Staff photo by Kathy Aney RODEO WEEK KICKS OFF WITH BULLS SPORTS/1B TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2016 140th Year, No. 237 WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD One dollar Irrigon man dies in Boardman shooting Courtesy of Wayne Low Jackson Sundown waves to the crowd after winning the bucking competition at the Pendleton Round-Up in 1916. East Oregonian One man died Sunday night in a shooting in Boardman. Morrow County District Attorney Justin Nelson in a written statement said the Morrow and Umatilla counties major crime team is seeking “a juvenile person of interest in the case.” Police responded around 9 p.m. to Wilson Road Mobile Home Park, 600 Wilson Road, Boardman, on a report of a male with gunshot wound. Offi cers found Evencio Salas Birrueta, 28, of Irrigon, was the victim, and immediately began lifesaving measures. The efforts were unsuccessful, according to Nelson, and Birrueta died at the scene. Nelson also reported the major crime team is using witness interviews and crime scene analysis to fi nd a juvenile person of interest. According to the statement, “Law enforce- ment currently does not believe there is a danger to the public.” Nelson on Monday afternoon said police were working on two search warrants and still ques- tioning people to fi nd the juve- nile. He also urged anyone with information concerning this case to contact the Boardman Police Department at 541-481-6071. HERMISTON Staff photo by E.J. Harris A bronze statue of Jackson Sundown graces Main Street in Pendleton as a testament to his accomplishments as a cowboy. Bronc rider fi nally earned Round-Up title at age 53 in his last appearance By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian ith one of the fl ashiest monikers in rodeo history, Jackson Sundown lived up to his name. One hundred years ago, at age 53 and at twice the age of any other contestant, Sundown won the bucking horse contest at the Pendleton Round-Up. The achievement etched his name into history as the fi rst American Indian to win an event since the rodeo orig- inated in 1910. The crowd loved the rider’s fl amboyant style and his long black braids tied in front. The Nez Perce bronc rider instantly became a star in Indian Country. Roberta Conner, director of the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute, said Sundown’s name is still idolized along with Billy Mills, Jim Thorpe, Notah Begay and other native sports heroes. “I grew up around rodeo and I don’t W Tania produced “American remember not knowing Sundown’s Cowboys,” which chronicles name,” Conner said “This man was the lives of Sundown and other an enormous inspiration.” cowboys in the American West. In Back then, saddle bronc riders researching the documentary, Wild- needed extra grit and a full tank of 1 DAY UNTIL ROUND-UP bill interviewed tribal elders who self-confi dence. had known Sundown and watched “In those days, there was no grainy footage of Sundown’s rides time limit,” said Randy Thomas, again and again. a director on the Round-Up “He had a unique style,” Association Board. “So you rode Wildbill said. “He would twist the your horse until either the rider or More inside bronc rein with his free hand in the the horse was exhausted or they both For a full listing air above his head.” became one.” of Round-Up The beginning of Sundown’s story Sundown possessed an uncanny week events rivals the triumph of his later years. fl air for staying aboard a spinning, see Page 6A As a young boy in Oregon and Idaho, twisting bronc by making his body he learned the ways of the Appaloosa morph into the perfect counterweight. horses for which his Nez Perce tribe was “He had fortitude and will and athletic known. He was 14 when he fl ed with Chief ability,” Conner said. “He played to his Joseph and hundreds of others to escape the strengths and his strength was horses. His power was horses.” See SUNDOWN/10A Filmmaker Cedric Wildbill and his wife PENDLETON Digitizing agriculture State ag board views drone demonstration By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian The Yamaha RMAX Type II drone growled like a motorcycle just before takeoff Monday at the Columbia Basin Agricul- tural Research Center. Members of the Oregon Board of Agriculture watched from a safe distance as the unmanned helicopter hovered over a small plot of wheat stubble, carrying water to spray for imaginary weeds. Gusty winds cut the demonstration short after a few minutes, but it was enough to prove how See DRONE/10A Staff photo by George Plaven Steve Lawn, drone pilot and system engineer with Digital Harvest, prepares the Yamaha RMAX Type II for a demonstration fl ight Monday. When is it time to consider assisted living? 1550 NW 11th Street • Hermiston 541-564-2595 • 800-550-3449 regencysunterracehermiston.com See the choices available - schedule your tour today! Rodeo arena bid doesn’t include lighting, restrooms By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian The Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center board awarded a contract for construction of the project’s rodeo arena Monday, but it doesn’t include restrooms or arena lighting. Hendon Construction of Umatilla was the sole bidder at $3.9 million. Board chair Byron Smith said the $3.9 million meets the budget for the project but does not leave any extra money to add restrooms or lighting, which the board had separated out from the base bid after a fi rst round of bidding produced bids well over $4 million and was rejected. “My encouragement to the contractor would be to look for some value engineering oppor- tunities,” he said. Smith said at a previous meeting that if the money couldn’t be found for arena lighting, a “worst-case scenario” would be that the Farm-City Pro Rodeo becomes a daytime event in 2017. However, he clarifi ed after Monday’s meeting that there were other options also being explored, including leasing lights or bringing over lights from the current rodeo arena as an interim measure until more money could be raised. See EOTEC/10A
