History

  From Northeast Oregon Now, Aug. 15, 2013 Michael Kane This is the story of a humble postcard’s journey from Hermiston to The Dalles to Coeur d’Alene to Florida – and likely many parts unknown – before arriving back in Hermiston 60 years later. Oh yeah – and Frank Harkenrider’s involved. I don’t know the complete history of this remarkable postcard – I only came upon it toward the back end of its story. Who knows how many other cities and states it has called home. I discovered it a few months ago when I was on eBay and innocently typed in the word “Hermiston”

Paddling down the Columbia River on a clear and frosty day in 1805, William Clark saw a round rock, with a flat top and vertical sides. The handsome rock stood seven stories above the surrounding landscape. Struck by the sight, he noted an outcropping “resembling a hat” in his journal entry of Oct. 19. On his hand-drawn map, he placed a dot and labeled it “Hat Rock.” Hat Rock, situated in a state park about eight miles northeast of Hermiston, was the first distinctive landmark noted by the Lewis and Clark Expedition on its trip down the Columbia River. It’s one of few sites

From McNary Dam to the #MeToo Movement, a Hollywood Icon Endures Hollywood came to celebrate the groundbreaking of McNary Dam in 1947. In April 1947 Janis Paige was crowned “Miss Damsite” and appeared at the ground-breaking ceremony for the dam on the Columbia River at Umatilla, alongside Oregon Gov. Earl Snell and Cornelia Morton McNary, Sen. Charles McNary's widow. In 1941, Congress approved dam construction and a groundbreaking followed in April 1947. Consistent with tradition, “People demanded that this event have its queen,” the McNary Dam employee newsletter reported. Janis Paige, a Tacoma native who had become a Warner Bros. screen star known

Russell Lee was an American photojournalist who in 1936 went to work for the federal Farm Security Administration documentation project. The FSA built a remarkable collection of 80,000 photographs of America during the Depression because they hired great photographers—Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, Ben Shahn, Russell Lee, Carl Mydans and Gordon Parks, who crossed the U.S. to produce a “visual encyclopedia of American life.” Lee is responsible for some of the most iconic images produced by the FSA. In September 1941, Lee visited Hermiston and took numerous photos in area communities. After the FSA was de-funded in 1943, Lee produced photographs for Standard Oil

A 20th Century Master In Morrow County As she rose to the peak of her creative powers, Dorothea Lange visited Irrigon in 1939 on a trip through Oregon documenting the Great Depression for FDR Working in the crisp fall air, a farmer and his wife caught Dorothea Lange’s eye as they dug sweet potatoes along the Columbia River at Irrigon in October 1939. As part of the legendary stable of photographers at the Farm Security Administration during the New Deal, Lange spent much of the 1930s capturing the suffering and dignity of those who survived the Great Depression. Along with Lange, Walker Evans, Gordon

The City of Hermiston has had 27 mayors in its history, dating to 1907. Some served for more than a decade and one served for just a single meeting. Three died in office, while one served multiple terms separated by more than a decade. Here’s a list of each of Hermiston’s mayors: George H. Car – July 10, 1907 to January 1908 James Griffin – January 14, 1908 (received oath of office, took chair and resigned that same meeting) Fred A. Yates – January 22, 1908 to January 1909 Harvey Ross (H.R.) Newport – January 1909 to January 1912 H.A. Waterman – February 1912 to

During its history as a military base, the U.S. Army Depot near Hermiston, Oregon stored, maintained, and demilitarized ammunition. Now closed and transferred to community ownership for economic development, the depot is located on 19,729 acres in Umatilla and Morrow Counties in northeastern Oregon, approximately three miles south of the Columbia River and 180 miles east of Portland. Although explored by the Spanish and English as early as the 1500s, the Umatilla area remained unsettled, except by various Indian tribes, through the early 1800s. The Lewis and Clark expedition traversed the area in 1805, and the Oregon Trail, located south of