BUSINESS
Saturday, August 24, 2019
East Oregonian
A7
Frontier town gets a newspaper
Editor’s Note
In 2018, EO Media
Group published a his-
torical book by author
William F. Willingham,
“Grit and Ink: An Ore-
gon Family’s Adventures
in Newspapering, 1908-
2018” (http://books.
eomediagroup.com/grit-
ink/) Since its publica-
tion, the family-owned
media company that
owns and operates the
East Oregonian has
doubled in size, having
recently acquired news-
papers in La Grande,
Baker City, Bend and
Redmond. The following
story is excerpted from
this book and is part one
of a seven-part weekly
series.
EO Media Group
PENDLETON — The
publishing company that
is the focus of this history
had its origins in a feisty,
nineteenth century fron-
tier newspaper located in
Pendleton, Oregon. Fol-
lowing its 1875 founding
and gestation under sev-
eral owners and editors,
providence
intervened
in the form of a 20-year-
old Virginian who would
become a legend of Ore-
gon journalism. Charles
Samuel Jackson took con-
trol of the East Oregonian.
Under Jackson’s leader-
ship, the EO became a
respected and influential
daily newspaper.
Before leaving for a
larger enterprise in Port-
land, Jackson became a
mentor to a 1900 grad-
uate of Oregon Agricul-
tural College, today’s Ore-
gon State University. This
conjunction — between
Jackson in his forties and
Edwin Burton Aldrich in
his twenties — began a
family publishing history
that would endure for more
than 100 years.
When Jackson left the
EO in 1902 to rescue the
struggling Oregon Jour-
nal in Portland, he placed
the Pendleton paper in
the hands of several vet-
eran newsmen on his staff,
while keeping a controlling
interest in it. Aldrich
joined the paper in 1904
and quickly demonstrated
his journalistic chops as
a reporter. In 1908, when
Jackson again reorganized
EO Media Group Photo
Home of the East Oregonian from 1887 to 1956.
EO Media Group.
Success with the EO
led Aldrich and his part-
ners to acquire the Astoria
Evening Budget in 1919
and the Morning Astorian
in 1930. Beginning in the
1970s, with the purchase
of the Blue Mountain
Eagle in John Day, Oregon
— the state’s oldest contin-
uously published weekly
— the EOPC bought more
weekly newspapers. The
weekly publications are
clustered around Pend-
leton and Astoria, home
of the company’s flag-
ship dailies. The fami-
ly-run EOMG has weath-
ered adverse economic
times and the challenges
of changing technology.
Through it all, the com-
pany’s lodestar has been
a commitment to com-
munity journalism and
a fierce desire to remain
independent.
The East Oregonian
gained life in a newly set-
tled country as white pio-
neers flocked to north-
eastern Oregon – the
traditional homeland of
the Umatilla, Walla Walla
and Cayuse tribes. Pend-
leton was a raw frontier
town of about 275 when
Mathew P. Bull launched
the EO on October 16,
1875. The town rose from
the crossroads of the Ore-
gon Trail and the Umatilla
River at the base of the
Blue Mountains.
Though small and iso-
lated in the northeastern
corner of the relatively
new state of Oregon, Pend-
leton was perceived to
have excellent prospects.
It was surrounded by thou-
sands of acres of luxuriant
bunchgrass. During the
1860s, the region attracted
cattle and sheep men.
The cattle supplied min-
ing booms in eastern Ore-
gon and Idaho. The sur-
plus was driven to eastern
markets and to stock other
ranges. Wool was shipped
to east coast markets. A
component of the larger
Columbia Basin range-
lands, Umatilla County —
according to a state census
taken in 1865 — counted
5,687 cattle and 7,446
sheep. By 1875, the num-
ber of cattle had grown to
28,024, and the count of
sheep stood at 80,241.
EO Media Group Photo
Circa 1900, inside the East Oregonian building on Main and Emigrant streets, opened in 1887, are C.S. Jackson and family.
From left — Unknown, Frank Clopton, C.S. Jackson, Maria Clopton Jackson, and Mrs. Clopton (mother of Frank and Maria).
the ownership of the paper,
he made Aldrich the editor
and a part-owner.
For the next 110 years,
Aldrich and his direct
descendants
continued
Jackson’s tradition of
community-focused jour-
nalism. This happened in
Pendleton, Astoria and
nine other locations in Ore-
gon and Washington — at
papers acquired under the
banner of the East Orego-
nian Publishing Company,
subsequently renamed the
GLANCE BOX
In 1870, Oregon had 30
newspapers. By 1880,
that number more than
doubled to 74.
BRIEFLY
EO Media Group
names next editor
of The Bulletin
Boardman
chamber hosts
night out
BEND — The new edi-
tor of The Bulletin and Red-
mond Spokesman will be
Gerard O’Brien, the general
manager and editor of the
Herald and News in Klam-
ath Falls.
T h e
EO Media
G r o u p ,
owner
of
East
the
Oregonian
and Herm-
O’Brien
iston Her-
ald, recently bought the
two Central Oregon papers
for $3.65 million in a bank-
ruptcy auction and this
week announced O’Brien’s
hiring. The sale closes by
the end of the month, and
O’Brien starts work in Bend
on Sept. 16.
EO Media’s chief oper-
ating officer, Heidi Wright,
will serve as publisher of
The Bulletin. She worked
with O’Brien in Butte, Mon-
tana, and Klamath Falls.
O’Brien has overseen
printing and newsroom
operations in Klamath Falls
since January 2013. Under
his leadership, the news-
paper became involved in
causes such as raising high
school graduation rates.
BOARDMAN — Free
food, fun and fellowship is
planned during the Board-
man Community Night
Out.
Sponsored in part by
the Boardman Chamber
of Commerce, the event
encourages
people
to
come out and meet local
first responders. Personnel
from the Boardman Police
Department,
Boardman
Fire Protection District and
paramedics will be on hand.
The free event is Tues-
day, Aug. 27 from 5-8 p.m.
at Boardman City Park,
located between Boardman
Avenue and Park Place.
For
more
informa-
tion, call the chamber at
541-481-3014.
Businesses can
qualify for funds
to stay competitive
PENDLETON — Busi-
nesses in eight Eastern Ore-
gon counties could qual-
ify for money to remain
competitive.
The Eastern Oregon
Workforce Board and
Training & Employment
Consortium has $50,000
available in its Incum-
bent Worker Training Pro-
gram to assist employers
in training workers to keep
businesses and workers
competitive. Private sector
employers in Baker, Grant,
Harney, Malheur, Morrow,
Umatilla, Union and Wal-
lowa counties may be eli-
gible for the assistance if
they face changing skill
requirements due to new
technology, new prod-
uct lines or other industry
changes.
The funds are avail-
able to assist compa-
nies to retrain employ-
ees, including in new or
advanced skills that enable
an employee to multitask
or be more productive.
For the employee, sim-
ply to remain employable
may require the attain-
ment of new or advanced
skills, certifications or
credentials.
The consortium gives
priority for funding to
applicants who demon-
strate the funding could
assist the business in avoid-
ing a layoff, downsizing or
closure, or would provide
retention opportunities by
upgrading employee skills
as a result of the training.
To learn on how your
business can apply and
qualify for Incumbent
Worker Training funds,
contact the following:
Morrow and Uma-
tilla counties: Tara Bishop
541-276-9050.
Grant, Harney and Mal-
heur counties: Lisa Norton
541-889-7864.
Baker, Union And Wal-
lowa counties: Lynn Trice
ar 541-963-7111.
book when you dine there,
because
the
Rainbow
does not do credit or debit
cards.
Likewise, The Park Inn,
Spokane’s oldest bar, won
the honor for Washing-
ton, and The Depot Grill
in Twin Falls is the Idaho
representative.
To view the full list
visit msn.com and search
for “Best Hole-in-the-Wall
Spots for Fried Chicken in
Every State.”
— East Oregonian staff
VISIT US ON THE WEB AT
Rainbow Cafe
makes list for top
fried chicken
PENDLETON — The
Rainbow Cafe in Pendle-
ton made Microsoft News’
list of the “Best Hole-in-
the-Wall Spots for Fried
Chicken in Every State.”
“We examined customer
reviews and expert recom-
mendations,” the report
stated, “to find fried chicken
joints in every state that
offer fantastic chicken in an
unpretentious atmosphere.”
The “Bow” at 209 S.
Main St. is Pendleton’s lon-
gest continually operating
business. According to the
entry, “Though breakfast is
popular, the fried chicken
is the real draw here, with
thick, crunchy crust that
shatters when you bite into
it.”
Indeed. But be sure to
bring cash or your check-
EastOregonian.com
8/23-8/25
8/26
Cineplex Show Times
Cineplex Show Times
$5 Classic Movie
$5 Classic Movie
Showing Wednesday
Showing Wednesday
Apollo 13 at 12p
Apollo 13 at 12p
Angel Has Fallen (R)
1:50p* 4:30p 7:10p 9:50p
Angel Has Fallen (R)
4:30p 7:10p 9:50p
The Angry Birds Movie 2 (PG)
12:10p* 2:30p* 4:40p 7:00p 9:20p
The Angry Birds Movie 2 (PG)
4:40p 7:00p 9:20p
Scary Stories to
Tell in the Dark (PG13)
11:50a* 2:20p* 4:50p
7:20p 10:00p
Scary Stories to
Tell in the Dark (PG13)
4:50p 7:20p 10:00p
Fast & Furious Presents:
Hobbs & Shaw (PG13)
12:40p* 3:40p* 6:40p 9:40p
The Lion King (PG)
1:30p* 4:10p 6:50p
47 Meters Down: Uncaged (PG13)
9:30p
Fast & Furious Presents:
Hobbs & Shaw (PG13)
3:40p* 6:40p 9:40p
The Lion King (PG)
4:10p 6:50p
47 Meters Down:
Uncaged (PG13)
9:30p
* Matinee Pricing
* Matinee Pricing
wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850
wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850
Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216
Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216