COFFEE BREAK
Saturday, July 27, 2019
East Oregonian
C5
OUT OF THE VAULT
Umatilla: From boom to bust and back
By RENEE STRUTHERS
East Oregonian
The city of Umatilla, located at
the confluence of the Umatilla and
Columbia rivers in northeast Ore-
gon, was once a boom town serving
the throngs of people traveling from
Portland to the gold fields of Idaho.
Established as a transfer stop for
miners and supplies from the river
to the inland route in 1862, Umatilla
Landing was first platted in 1863,
just after the establishment of Uma-
tilla County.
The town quickly grew to a popu-
lation of 1,500-1,800 permanent resi-
dents, and as many or more transients
moving along the Portland-Umatil-
la-Boise route, the shortest way to
get supplies to the gold fields. Uma-
tilla Landing from 1863-1867 fea-
tured trading stands, a drug store,
hotels, dance halls, feed stables,
barber shops, blacksmith shops and
22 saloons, along with many other
stores. Six stores averaged sales of
$200,000 a year, and about 95% of
the payments were in gold dust.
By 1864 the town had a mayor,
a marshal and a town council, and
Umatilla was designated the county
seat in 1865, when the first school
was also built. A stage route estab-
lished in 1864 hauled supplies from
Umatilla to the foot of the Blue
Mountains, and from there John Hai-
ley and his partner William Ish took
the goods by saddle train to Boise,
serving 15,000 miners in the Boise
area.
Chinese passing through the area
also established a village two or
three miles below Umatilla.
In the winter, when the Columbia
River iced over, the permanent res-
idents spent their days ice skating,
playing games and practical jokes,
dancing and waiting for the return
of the steamboats. The first steamers
to arrive each spring were packed so
tightly with passengers that the offi-
cers and deck hands could barely get
around to do their jobs.
The decline of Umatilla was as
sudden as its expansion. Alternative
routes to the gold fields were devel-
oped in 1866, and Umatilla’s trade
evaporated quickly. With the estab-
lishment of other, larger cities the
county seat was moved to Pendleton
in 1868. And when the Central Pacific
and Union Pacific railroads linked in
1869, the Portland-Umatilla-Boise
route traffic dried up. Umatilla’s pop-
ulation dropped precipitously.
Travel writer Theodor Kirchhoff
stepped off the steamboat at Uma-
tilla in 1872 to find the town he had
known was gone. Instead of har-
ness bells jingling while hundreds of
muleteers’ whips cracked, Kirchhoff
witnessed the wind howling around
empty buildings with shattered win-
dows, blinding clouds of dust, sand
flats and sagebrush, and a popula-
tion of 100. “From the opposite shore
of the river, a few miserable Indian
tents glumly watch the city sink
into ruin,” Kirchhoff wrote in his
account.
Today’s Umatilla, however, has
rebounded nicely. The construction
of McNary Dam from 1947-1954
brought an influx of new residents,
but it was the opening of Interstate
82 in the late 1980s that put the city
back on the map. The growth of
Hermiston to the east and the Port
of Morrow to the west have helped
reestablish Umatilla as a crossroads
community along the Columbia.
The history of Umatilla Coun-
ty’s first boom town was placed in
the hands of a newly formed histor-
ical society in 1993. The Umatilla
Museum, featuring 157 years of the
city’s ups and downs, is located at
911 Sixth St.
DAYS GONE BY
100 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
July 27-28, 1919
Lee Drake never had visions of being a prize win-
ning trap shooter and, in fact, never had his score sheets
framed when the state tournament was held in Pendleton
on May 5, 6 and 7. Naturally he was surprised when he
received a letter today from the American Trapshooting
Association, notifying him that an engraved trophy was
being sent him for winning in Class D. Although a reg-
istered tournament, the local shoot had no word of tro-
phies being put up in the various classes by the Ameri-
can Trapshooting Association. The award of a cup is as
much of a surprise to other members of the club as to
Drake.
50 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
July 27-28, 1969
Phebe Bartholomew, the peppy oldster who is the
friend of three or four generations on Butter Creek, will
celebrate her 95th birthday. There will be an open house
“at the ranch down Butter Creek way,” and callers will
be welcomed at the gate from 2 to 6 p.m., said Mrs. Bar-
tholomew’s daughter, Mrs. Jasper Myers. “The last time
we had a big party for Mother was on her 90th birthday,”
said Mrs. Myers. “We invited people to lunch, and 175
showed up. I told her we’d better make this afternoon
refreshments.”
25 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
July 27-28, 1994
A 22-year-old Gilliam County woman arrested for
a shooting that left her father paralyzed and without an
eye will not stand trial. A grand jury Wednesday failed
to return an indictment against Teddy Bean after hearing
testimony from several witnesses most of the afternoon,
Gilliam County District Attorney Pat Wolke said. The
grand jury did, however, issue indictments on two counts
of fourth-degree assault against Clarence Bean, the vic-
tim in the July 12 shooting. Wolke said he didn’t know
exactly why the grand jury failed to indict Teddy Bean.
He said the seven-person panel was instructed on the laws
regarding self-defense and defense of a third party, but he
couldn’t say if that’s what it relied upon. Police said Clar-
ence Bean, 50, had been assaulting his wife and 15-year-
old son the night of the shooting.
Universal Crossword
Edited by David Steinberg July 27, 2019
ACROSS
1 Daily delivery
5 Walk unsteadily
11 52, in ancient Rome
14 Berry harvested from
a palm
15 Night light?
16 ___ Taylor (fashion
store)
17 *Prominent place for
an NBA team’s logo
(see letters 1-8)
19 E.R. figures
20 Legendary
21 It may be inherited
23 For all to hear
26 Egg designation
28 *Farm family’s food
source, perhaps
(letters 7-14)
32 Kimono accessory
33 Vivacity
34 Put mileage on
35 Gala
37 “In seventh heaven”
or “on cloud nine”
39 Big Mack?
43 Like a fictional hatter
45 Former Chevrolet
subcompact
47 Bossy’s mouthful
48 *Certain jazz piece
(letters 6-13)
53 Wide-ranging
54 Letter-shaped
fasteners
55 First installment
56 Collared
60 In the style of
61 Foundation
foundation? ... or a
hint to the starred
entries’ indicated
letters
66 Slop-serving spot
67 Sounds off
68 Top-of-the-line
69 Plea for help
70 Stunning weapons
71 Tear up
DOWN
1 Cheese partner
2 One-hit wonder?
3 Blackbeard portrayer
McShane
4 Acid test paper
5 Small fruit pie
6 “That hurts!”
7 Deanna on the
Enterprise
8 Froot Loops mascot,
e.g.
9 Drop the ball
10 Noisy crib toys
11 Hedy in old films
12 Rainbow color before
violet
13 Top of a foot
18 Singer Gorme
22 Speeds (along)
23 Beginning
24 Garage service
25 Final notice
27 Keen insight
29 Presentation parts,
often
“HARD SCRAMBLE” By Roland Huget
sudoku answers
30 Wee bit
31 “Giant Brain” of 1946
36 “The Lego Movie”
hero
38 ___-lacto vegetarian
40 Neutral shade
41 Mixed breed
42 Altar declarations
44 Small stone fruit
46 Good-sized chamber
group
48 Six-point completion,
informally
49 Theater district
50 Tanning bed
emanations
51 Game with sets and
matches
52 Win over
57 Dermal woe
58 ___ Rabbit
59 Porgy’s girlfriend
62 ___-Locka, Florida
63 Curly companion
64 Rural stopover
65 Crossed (out)