7A Heppner
HEPPNER GAZETTE -TIMES CENTENNIAL EDITION
r
"Let 'er
BUCK"
s
PENDLETON ROUND-UP
and HAPPY CANYON
4 THRILL PACKED DAYS AND NIGHTS
September 13, 14, 15, 16. 1972
WEDNESDAY Sept. 13
Barbecue Dinner in RoundUp Arena 5 p.m.
THURSDAY Sept. 14
Junior Indian Beauty Pageant 10 a.m.
FRIDAY Sept. 15
Unique Westward Ho! Parade 10 a.m.
American Indian Beauty Contest 9 a.m.
SATURDAY Sept. 16
Indian Tribal Ceremonial Dance Contest 9 a.m.
- DAILY -
Cowboy Breakfast - 7:00 a.m. Free Main Street Show RoundUp - 1:15 p.m.
Indian Village Open to Visitors Happy Canyon- 7:45 p.m. Dance following
Happy Canyon every night.
61st Annual Pendleton Round Up features six RCA timed events each day. Wild
Horse Races, and much more! 1500 Indians live in Indian Village, and participate
in Round Up and Happy Canyon Pageant, which tells the story of the West before
the White Man arrived. Dancing nightly - Free Main Street Shows twice daily -Parades
- Tribal Dancing - Something for everyone all the time.
For Tickets & Information:
ROUND UP ASSOCIATION
P. O. BOX 609
PENDLETON, OREGON 97801
NAME
ADDRESS.
TOWN .
The Morrow County Muse
um lias a collection of ncws
laer clippings about Henry
Heppner; the 1889 History
of (lie l'acific Northwest car
ries a sketch of his life up
to 1875 as does the History
of Umatilla and Morrow Coun
ties. In 1025 Harold Becket,
then a tiiiitt school senior,
wrote a very goixl account
of Mr, Heppner's life, some
of it being based on inter
views with eople who re
membered Henry lleppner
very well. The various ac
counts differ some on cer
tain details about the life of
the man for whom the town
was named, but probably give
a fairly accurate composite
picture of him.
Henry Heppner was born in
Prussia ( east Germany )
of Hebrew parents. Three
different birthdates are given
1825, 1831, ami 1843.
The obituary published in a
1905 Gazette makes him 74
at his death in 1905, another
clipping says he was 7G years
old. Harold Becket wrote,
"He, himself, did not know
the exact date of his birth."
One account says he left Ger
many in 1855, another states
he emigrated in 1858. He
lived and "engaged in busi
ness" in New York City
for several years. He came
to Shasta, Ca. in 1857 or
18G3. The History of the
Pacific Northwest says that
after two years in the mer
cantile business in Shasta,
he moved his business to
Corvallis, Oregon, and
" meeting little encouragiiient
there he opened a store at
The Dalles, doing well there
for six years." However the
I860 census lists him as a
pack train operator in Wasco
County (which then was all
of Eastern Oregon).
HEPPNEH'S PACK TRAIN'S
Accounts agree that about
the middle 18G0's this ambi
tious business man was op
erating a large pack train.
His train carried supplies
from The Dalles and Umatilla
landing over the Canyon City
route to the mines of Idaho
and to points in between.
Harold Becket wrote" He em
ployed Mexicans who did the
actual packing. A pack train
might consist of up to 150
mules. It is said that Mr.
Heppner had the- biggest and
best-cared-for-inules in this
part of the country. The Cay
use Indians of the Blue Moun
tains committed many depre
dations on his train, stealing
several mules at a time, and
finally taking the last of the
train. Before he died Mr.
Heppner received re
embursement from the
government for that train."
The History of the Pacific
Northwest reports, "On one
of his trips, nearly two years
alter the commencement
the business, his train
twenty-nine mules was attack
ed, and the animals driven in
one direction, and the five
men in charge compelled to
take shelter in another. For
tunately this mishap occurred
on the return trip when the
train was empty. He was able
to replace the animals and
continued his business with
out trouble from the Indians,
of
of
except us he says phlegmati
cally, Mieing" fired on once
or twice.' Being shot at was
so common an occurrence up
east of the mountains as scar
cely to be noticed."
HE SFTT1.ES IX1WN IN 1872
in 1871 Mr. Heppner quit
his arduous business luck
ing freight and went to La
Grande where he liad a busi
ness contract supplying sacks
for a flour mill. He came
traveling through the Willow
Creek valley and camiwd
where Heppner now stands
on July 4, 1872, and It is
reported tliat lie was impres
sed with the locality and
visualized a settlement there.
Mr. J.L. Morrow who was
in the mercantile business
in LaGrande was persuaded
somehow to look over the
site and determined to sjx'C
ulate on a store at the loca
tion. The new partners divid
ed organizational tasks; Mr.
Morrow took charge of erect
ing a building Mr. Hep
pner took charge of buying
goods and getting them there.
Mr. Harold A. Colin, a
grand-nephew of Mr. He
pner, has said that goods
were shipped from various
locations marked "Henry
Heppner" and tliat the new
place gradually assumed his
name. Another story is that
Mr. Morrow or maybe Mr.
Stansbury suggested that the
old name Stansbury Flat be
changed to Heppner. This was
done within the year after
the new store was finished
and opened with a big cele
bration on August 10, 1872.
HIS CHARACTER
AND WORKS
Writers say Henry Heppner
was always planning his next
move. He was very energe
tic and ambitious and must
have been thoughtful of
others. The old history book
tells about the new commun
ity's effort to organize its
first school. "Accordingly
Mr. Heppner mounted a Cay
use and proceeded around
the neighborhood to solicit
subscriptions, the firm to
which he belonged having first
started the list with a dona
tion of one hundred dollars'
worth of materials." After
the building was built a bell
was furnished by Henry Hep
pner. "Mr. Heppner had no
children to educate but being
a public-spirited man he was
willing to work for anything
tending toward the promotion
of the commonweal." During
the Indian scare of 1878 lie
furnished, without compensa
tion, the materials to build
the fort at Heppner and gave
to the needy refugees pro
visions without stint, accord
ing to a letter written to the
G-T editor by Josephine
Mahoney Baker.
By 1875 Mr. Heppner was
in partnership with Frank
Maddock in a mercantile
store. Soon after this he
moved to Arlington, through
which the railroad had just
been built and constructed
a warehouse for grain, wool
and hides and also built a
store. His sister's husband
Henry Blackman came from
San Francisco in 1880 and
Continued -