Pendleton is a city and the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
of
Umatilla County
Umatilla County () is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 80,075. Hermiston is the largest city in Umatilla County, but Pendleton remains the county seat. Umatilla County is part of ...
,
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
. The population was 17,107 at the time of the
2020 census, which includes approximately 1,600 people who are incarcerated at
Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution
The Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution is one of 14 state prisons in Oregon, United States. The prison is located in Pendleton, Oregon. The facility was originally built in 1913 as the Eastern Oregon State Hospital, a hospital for long-term ...
.
Pendleton is the smaller of the two principal cities of the
Hermiston–Pendleton Micropolitan Statistical Area. This
micropolitan area covers
Morrow
wikt:morrow, Morrow is a word meaning "the next day" in literary English. It also means "morning" in archaic English
Morrow may also refer to:
Places in the United States and Canada United States
*Morrow, Arkansas
*Morrow, Georgia
*Morrow, Louis ...
and Umatilla counties and had a combined population of 92,261 at the 2020 census.
History
A European-American commercial center began to develop here in 1851, when Dr.
William C. McKay established a
trading post
A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded.
Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...
at the mouth of McKay Creek. A United States Post Office named Marshall (for the owner, and sometime gambler, of another local store) was established April 21, 1865, and later renamed Pendleton, after politician and diplomat
George H. Pendleton
George Hunt Pendleton (July 19, 1825November 24, 1889) was an American politician and lawyer. He represented Ohio in both houses of United States Congress, Congress and was the unsuccessful History of the United States Democratic Party, Democratic ...
(1825–1889), who served as a U.S. Representative and Senator from Ohio. The city was incorporated by the
Oregon Legislative Assembly
The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the Ho ...
on October 25, 1880.
By 1900, Pendleton had a population of 4,406 and was the fourth-largest city in Oregon. The
Pendleton Woolen Mills and
Pendleton Round Up became features of the city captured in early paintings by
Walter S. Bowman
Walter Scott Bowman (February 8, 1865 – November 27, 1938) was a prominent professional photographer in Pendleton, Oregon. His work is included in the University of Oregon'shttp://library.uoregon.edu/speccoll/photo/Pendleton/fbowman.html Bo ...
. Like many cities in Eastern Oregon, where thousands of Chinese immigrant workers built the transcontinental railroad, it had a flourishing
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
that developed as the workers settled here. The sector is supposed to have been underlain by a network of tunnels, which are now a tourist attraction. The authenticity as a Chinese tunnel system has been questioned.
The town is the cultural center of
Eastern Oregon.
[ Pendleton's "Old town" is listed as a Historic District on the ]National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation are the federally recognized confederations of three Sahaptin-speaking Native American tribes who traditionally inhabited the Columbia River Plateau region: the Cayuse, Umatilla, and ...
(CTUIR) have their property nearby. They have established the Wildhorse Resort & Casino and golf course on the reservation to generate revenue for development and welfare. They have also built the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute
The Tamástslikt Cultural Institute is a museum and research institute located on the Umatilla Indian Reservation near Pendleton in eastern Oregon. It is the only Native American museum along the Oregon Trail. The institute is dedicated to the c ...
, for education and interpretation of their cultures.
Economy
Pendleton Woolen Mills is a maker of wool blankets, shirts, and an assortment of other woolen goods. Founded in 1909 by Clarence, Roy and Chauncey Bishop, the company built upon earlier businesses related to the many sheep ranches in the region. A wool-scouring plant opened in Pendleton in 1893 to wash raw wool for shipping. In 1895, the scouring mill was converted into a mill that made wool blankets and robes for Native Americans. Both businesses failed to survive, but the Bishops, with the help of a local bond issue, enlarged the mill and improved its efficiency. They developed a successful line of garments and blankets with "vivid colors and intricate patterns."
St. Anthony Hospital in Pendleton is a 25-bed medical center.
Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution
The Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution is one of 14 state prisons in Oregon, United States. The prison is located in Pendleton, Oregon. The facility was originally built in 1913 as the Eastern Oregon State Hospital, a hospital for long-term ...
(EOCI) in Pendleton is the only place in Oregon where inmates make "Prison Blues" denim clothing. The prison also operates a commercial laundry serving customers that include EOCI, the Snake River Correctional Institution
Snake River Correctional Institution (SRCI) is a medium security prison in the western United States in eastern Oregon. The largest facility in the Oregon Department of Corrections system, it is located in unincorporated northeastern Malheur County ...
, Pendleton High School, a local flour mill, and other entities. In addition, some EOCI inmates work as clerks or have jobs in food service or maintenance.
Geography and climate
According to the United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the city has a total area of , all of it land.
The city was built on both sides of the Umatilla River, which has periodically flooded and caused some damage. In the beginning, the river was vital as a transportation and trading route for settlers, as well as a water and power source. It connected the city to the Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...
.
Pendleton has a semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...
( Köppen ''BSk'') with short, cool winters and hot summers. Pendleton had the highest temperature recorded in Oregon at on August 10, 1898, which was later proven to be unreliable. The highest reliable temperature recorded in Pendleton was on June 29, 2021.
Demographics
As of 2000 the median income for a household in the city was $36,800, and the median income for a family was $47,410. Males had a median income of $31,763 versus $23,858 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the city was $17,551. About 8.7% of families and 13.3% of the population were below the poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 16.4% of those under age 18 and 8.1% of those age 65 or over.
2010 census
As of the census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2010, there were 16,612 people, 6,220 households, and 3,789 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was . There were 6,800 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 87.3% White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 1.4% African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 3.2% Native American, 1.1% Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.2% Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 3.6% from other races, and 3.3% from two or more races. Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 9.7% of the population.
There were 6,220 households, of which 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.9% were married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 39.1% were non-families. 31.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.96.
The median age in the city was 36.9 years. 21.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 11.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 28% were from 25 to 44; 26.3% were from 45 to 64; and 12.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 53.4% male and 46.6% female.
Arts and culture
Annual events
In addition to the woolen mills, Pendleton is also famous for its annual rodeo
Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working va ...
, the Pendleton Round-Up. First held in 1910, it is part of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA)-sanctioned rodeo circuit. It is among the top ten PRCA venues in terms of prize money.
Pendleton is also home to the annual Pendleton Whiskey Music Festiva
This annual event is held in the historic Pendleton Round-up Arena in July. Past performers have included Maroon 5, Toby Keith, Zac Brown Band, Pitbull, Blake Shelton, and Post Malone.
The Festival of Trees is held in early December each year. It is a fundraising event produced by the St. Anthony Hospital Foundation.
Museums and other points of interest
Local arts institutions include the Pendleton Center for the Arts
The Pendleton Center for the Arts is an arts center located in the historic former Umatilla County Library building, also known as Pendleton Public Library in Pendleton, Oregon, United States.
Building
The center is located in Pendleton's 1915 ...
(in the town's old Carnegie Library building) and Crow's Shadow Institute of the Arts on the nearby Umatilla Indian Reservation
The Umatilla Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It was created by The Treaty of June 9, 1855 between the United States and members of the Walla, Cayuse, and Umatilla tribes. It lies in nort ...
.
The Heritage Station Museum operated by the Umatilla County Historical Society is located in the historic 1909 Pendleton Train Depot. The museum offers two galleries covering regional and local history as well as a one-room schoolhouse, family cabin, caboose, barn, and signal house.
The Pendleton Farmers' Market operates on Friday evenings from May through October on South Main Street.
Pendleton Underground Tours which features the history of Pendleton and a tour through the tunnels and the brothels. It is open year-round.
Sports and recreation
The city hosts the annual Oregon School Activities Association 2A basketball tournament at the Pendleton Convention Center. Eight teams of boys and eight of girls compete for their respective championships during a four-day tournament. Civic leaders regard the influx of family and other fans the second-most important boost to the local economy, behind the Round-Up. Total attendance at the tournament in 2010 exceeded 13,000.
The Pendleton Aquatic Center, managed by Pendleton Parks & Recreation, features two tower water slide
A water slide (also referred to as a flume, or water chute) is a type of slide designed for warm-weather or indoor recreational use at water parks. Water slides differ in their riding method and therefore size. Some slides require riders to si ...
s as well tubes and smaller slides, three pools, a diving well, and picnic areas. The aquatic center is adjacent to the high school.
Transportation
Highways serving Pendleton include Interstate 84 and U.S. Route 30 running east–west and U.S. Route 395
U.S. Route 395 (US 395) is a U.S. Route in the western United States. The southern terminus of the route is in the Mojave Desert at Interstate 15 near Hesperia. The northern terminus is at the Canada–US border near Laurier, where the road be ...
running north–south. The city is also served by Oregon Route 37
Oregon Route 37 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Oregon that runs between Cold Springs, Oregon, Cold Springs Junction on the Columbia River in north-central Oregon, to the city of Pendleton, Oregon, Pendleton. The highway comprises the Pe ...
and Oregon Route 11
Oregon Route 11 is an Oregon state highway that runs between the city of Pendleton in eastern Oregon, to the Washington border south of Walla Walla, Washington. OR 11 traverses the Oregon–Washington Highway No. 8 of the Oregon stat ...
.
Pendleton lies along the Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
(UP), constructed originally through the area in the 1880s by the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company (OR&N). In 1880, the OR&N began construction of a rail line from Portland through the Columbia Gorge to eastern Oregon. It reached Umatilla and Wallula in 1881, Pendleton in 1882, and then La Grande, Baker City, and Huntington, where by 1884 it met the UP line from Utah. Since Pendleton was also connected by rail to the Northern Pacific line at Wallula and Walla Walla Walla Walla can refer to:
* Walla Walla people, a Native American tribe after which the county and city of Walla Walla, Washington, are named
* Place of many rocks in the Australian Aboriginal Wiradjuri language, the origin of the name of the tow ...
, by 1885 it was a stop on two transcontinental lines. The UP absorbed the OR&N line in 1889.
Between 1977 and 1997, the city was a regular stop along the former route of Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
's ''Pioneer
Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land.
In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...
'' between Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
and Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
via Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
and Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
.
Regional public aviation service is through Eastern Oregon Regional Airport
Eastern Oregon Regional Airport (Eastern Oregon Regional Airport at Pendleton) is a public airport three miles northwest of Pendleton, in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. Commercial service is provided by Boutique Air to Portland, subsid ...
, outside Pendleton. The airport is owned by the City of Pendleton. Boutique Air
Boutique Air, Inc. is a commuter airline based in San Francisco, California. The airline offers charter services as well as scheduled passenger services subsidized under the Essential Air Service (EAS) program. Boutique operates the second larg ...
offers daily flights between Pendleton and Portland, which began in 2016.
Media
Two newspapers are published in Pendleton. The '' East Oregonian'' is a daily with a circulation of about 6,800. ''The Pendleton Record'' is a weekly with a circulation of about 900.
KFFX-TV (Fox 11), a television station based in Pendleton, serves a market that also includes the Washington cities of Yakima, Pasco, Richland, and Kennewick. Oregon radio stations based in or near Pendleton include: KTIX
KTIX (1240 AM, "103.1 The Outlaw") is a radio station licensed to serve Pendleton, Oregon, United States. The station, which began broadcasting as KWRC in May 1941, is currently owned by Randolph and Debra McKone's Elkhorn Media Group and the ...
AM 1240, sports; KUMA AM 1290, news and talk; KRBM FM 90.9, Oregon Public Broadcasting, news and talk; KLKY
KLKY (96.1 FM, "U-Rock Radio") is a radio station broadcasting a classic rock music format. Licensed to Stanfield, Oregon
Stanfield () is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. The population was 2,043 at the 2010 census. It is part ...
FM 96.1, based in Stanfield and broadcasting by translator
Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
K237DS in Pendleton at FM 95.3, classic rock; KZIU-FM
KJYR (104.5 MHz) is a non-profit FM radio station licensed to Newport, Washington, and serving the Spokane metropolitan area. The station is owned by the Growing Christian Foundation, and broadcasts a Christian adult contemporary radio format.
...
101.9, based in Weston and broadcasting by translator K262CJ in Pendleton at 100.3 FM, top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
; KWHT
KWHT (103.5 FM, "K-Wheat") is a radio station licensed to serve Pendleton, Oregon, United States. The station, which began broadcasting in 1984, is currently owned by Randolph and Debra McKone's Elkhorn Media Group and the broadcast license is ...
FM 103.5, country; and KWVN-FM
KWVN-FM (107.7 FM broadcasting, FM, "107.7 Hot FM") is a commercial radio station city of license, licensed to serve Pendleton, Oregon, United States. The station, originally launched in October 1978, is currently owned by Randolph and Debra McKon ...
107.7, variety.
Notable people
*Tracy Baker
Trace Lee "Tracy" Baker (November 7, 1891 – March 14, 1975) was a first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Boston Red Sox. Baker batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Pendleton, Oregon, and studied at the University of ...
– Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
player; born in Pendleton
*Walter S. Bowman
Walter Scott Bowman (February 8, 1865 – November 27, 1938) was a prominent professional photographer in Pendleton, Oregon. His work is included in the University of Oregon'shttp://library.uoregon.edu/speccoll/photo/Pendleton/fbowman.html Bo ...
, professional photographer; based in Pendleton from the late 1880s to mid-1930s
* John Bunnell – hosted ''World's Wildest Police Videos
''World's Wildest Police Videos'' (shortened to ''Police Videos'' in Season 4) is an American reality TV series that ran on Fox from 1998 to 2001. In 2012, Spike announced that it had commissioned 13 new episodes with the revival of the origina ...
''; born in Pendleton
* Dave Cockrum – comic book artist; born in Pendleton
*Dave Kingman
David Arthur Kingman (born December 21, 1948), nicknamed "Kong," "King Kong," and "Sky King", is a former Major League Baseball left fielder, first baseman, third baseman, and designated hitter who was a three-time MLB All-Star with 442 career hom ...
– Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
player, three-time All-Star; born in Pendleton
*Michael J. Kopetski
Michael Joseph "Mike" Kopetski (born October 27, 1949, in Pendleton, Oregon) is an American lawyer, businessman, and former politician who served two terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1991 to 1995.
Early life a ...
– former representative for Oregon's 5th congressional district
Oregon's 5th congressional district represents Oregon's central coast through Salem, north to the southern Portland suburbs – including a sliver of Portland itself – and east to the summit of Mount Hood. It includes Lincoln, Marion ...
; born in Pendleton
*James Lavadour
James Lavadour (born 1951) is an American painter and printmaker. A member of the Walla Walla tribe, he is known for creating large panel sets of landscape paintings. Lavadour is the co-founder of the Crow's Shadow Institute of the Arts.
''I bel ...
– painter; lifelong resident of Umatilla Reservation
* Bob Lilly – Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
defensive tackle
A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...
; graduated from Pendleton High School in 1957
* Donald McKay – scout
Scout may refer to:
Youth movement
*Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement
**Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom
**Scouts BSA, sectio ...
and leader of the Warm Springs Indians during the Modoc War
*William Cameron McKay
William Cameron McKay (1824–1893) was a scout in the Snake War and Modoc War, a Captain in the U.S. Army, a member of the Warm Springs Scouts, and a physician and surgeon.
William Cameron McKay was born at Fort Astoria, Fort George on May 18, 18 ...
, Oregon pioneer physician, scout
*Elaine Miles
Elaine Miles (born in Pendleton, Oregon) is an American actress known for her role as Marilyn Whirlwind in the television series ''Northern Exposure''.
Biography
Elaine Miles was born in Pendleton, Oregon, of Cayuse/Nez Perce ancestry, and ...
– actress who played Marilyn Whirlwind
The following are fictional characters who appeared in ''Northern Exposure'', an American television series which originally aired on CBS from July 1990 to July 1995.
Main characters
; Joel Fleischman
: Joel (Rob Morrow) is the central character ...
on ''Northern Exposure
''Northern Exposure'' is an American Northern comedy-drama television series about the eccentric residents of a fictional small town in Alaska that ran on CBS from July 12, 1990, to July 26, 1995, with a total of 110 episodes. It received 57 ...
''; early childhood on Umatilla Reservation
* Frances Moore Lappé – author and activist; born in Pendleton
*Lee Moorhouse
Lee Moorhouse (1850–1926) of Pendleton, Oregon, United States, was a photographer and an Indian agent for the Umatilla Indian Reservation. From 1888 to 1916, he produced over 9,000 images documenting urban, rural, and Native Americans in th ...
- Indian agent in Pendleton and amateur photographer
*Roy Schuening
Roy Schuening (born April 8, 1984) is a former American football Guard (American football), guard. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Oregon State Beavers football, Oregon S ...
– football player, Oregon State and NFL; born in Pendleton
*Gordon Smith Gordon Smith may refer to:
In politics
*Gordon H. Smith (born 1952), former U.S. Senator from Oregon, and current Area Authority for the LDS Church
* Gordon Elsworth Smith (1918–2005), Canadian politician
* Gordon Smith (academic) (1927–2009), ...
– 1997–2009 U.S. Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
(R) from Oregon, born in Pendleton
* Milan Smith – judge on United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts:
* District ...
; born in Pendleton
*Kenneth Snelson
Kenneth Duane Snelson (June 29, 1927 – December 22, 2016) was an American contemporary sculptor and photographer. His sculptural works are composed of flexible and rigid components arranged according to the idea of 'tensegrity'. Snelson prefer ...
– sculptor and photographer; childhood in Pendleton
* Dan Straily – Major League Baseball player; grew up in Pendleton
*Archie R. Twitchell
Archie Raymond Twitchell (November 28, 1906 – January 31, 1957) was a pilot for over three decades between the 1920s and the 1950s. He also had a second profession as a movie actor. He was a captain in the US Army Air Force. He was killed ...
- test pilot and actor
*Quade Winter
Edward Quade Winter (April 8, 1951 – October 8, 2019) was an American composer, musical restorer and translator, specializing in the light operas of Victor Herbert. He began his career as a performer, singing opera for over two decades.
Early ye ...
, opera singer
Sister city
Pendleton has a sister city
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
relationship with Minamisōma, in Fukushima Prefecture
Fukushima Prefecture (; ja, 福島県, Fukushima-ken, ) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,810,286 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miya ...
, Japan. Minamisoma is north of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which was damaged
Damage is any change in a thing, often a physical object, that degrades it away from its initial state. It can broadly be defined as "changes introduced into a system that adversely affect its current or future performance".Farrar, C.R., Sohn, H. ...
by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...
. Since then, Japanese exchange students from Minamisoma have continued to visit Pendleton, though students from Pendleton have stopped visiting Minamisoma over growing radiation concerns.
See also
*McKay, Oregon
McKay is an unincorporated community in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. Its name accompanies McKay Creek, which is named for Dr. William Cameron McKay,
located in Umatilla County at North McKay Creek Road (County 1050 Rd.) on Ross Road. ...
* McKay Creek National Wildlife Refuge
*McKay Reservoir
McKay Reservoir is a reservoir in Umatilla County of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is an impoundment of McKay Creek, a tributary of the Umatilla River. The reservoir is located south of Pendleton on U.S. Route 395. The reservoir has a capacity of ...
References
External links
*
Pendleton listing
in the '' Oregon Blue Book''
*
Pendleton Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control
1851 establishments in Oregon Territory
Cities in Oregon
Cities in Umatilla County, Oregon
County seats in Oregon
Pendleton–Hermiston Micropolitan Statistical Area
Populated places established in 1851