Umatilla County () is one of the 36 counties in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. 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 the Hermiston-Pendleton, OR Micropolitan Statistical Area, which has a combined population of 92,261. It is included in the eight-county definition of

Eastern Oregon Eastern Oregon is the eastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost ...

. The county is named for the

Umatilla River The Umatilla River is an tributary of the Columbia River in northern Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. Draining a basin of , it enters the Columbia near the city of Umatilla in the northeastern part of the state. In downstream order, beg ...

History

Umatilla County was created on September 27, 1862, out of a portion of

Wasco County Wasco County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,213. Its county seat is The Dalles. The county is named for a local tribe of Native Americans, the Wasco, a Chinook tribe w ...

. Adjustments were made to the county's boundaries following the creation of

Grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom * Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama * Grant, Inyo County, ...

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, Louisiana *Morr ...

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

, and Wallowa Counties. This legislative act also designated Marshall Station as the temporary county seat. An 1865 election selected Umatilla City, now known as Umatilla, as the county seat. With the development of wheat farming, population shifted to the north and east parts of the county, and a subsequent election in 1868 moved the county seat again to Pendleton. The

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 nor ...

was established by the

Treaty of Walla Walla The Walla Walla Council (1855) was a meeting in the Pacific Northwest between the United States and sovereign tribal nations of the Cayuse, Nez Perce, Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Yakama. The council occurred on May 29 – June 11; ...

in 1855. The

Umatillas The Umatilla are a Sahaptin-speaking Native American tribe who traditionally inhabited the Columbia Plateau region of the northwestern United States, along the Umatilla and Columbia rivers."Umatilla," in Barbara A. Leitch, ''A Concise Dictionar ...

, Walla Wallas, and Cayuse tribes were resettled there, and is located immediately southeast of Pendleton. EZ Wireless of Hermiston officially opened on February 4, 2004, one of the largest known

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wav ...

wide area network A wide area network (WAN) is a telecommunications network that extends over a large geographic area. Wide area networks are often established with leased telecommunication circuits. Businesses, as well as schools and government entities, u ...

s in the United States, covering parts of Umatilla County, Morrow County and

Benton County, Washington Benton County is a county in the south-central portion of the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 206,873. The county seat is Prosser, and its largest city is Kennewick. The Columbia River demarcates the coun ...

. Although created to facilitate communications among local police, firemen and EMT workers who immediately respond to possible accidents or terrorist attacks on the

Umatilla Chemical Depot The Umatilla Chemical Depot, (UMCD) based in Umatilla, Oregon, was a U.S. Army installation in the United States that stored chemical weapons. The chemical weapons originally stored at the depot consisted of various live munitions and storage co ...

, where the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

maintained a national arsenal of

nerve gas Nerve agents, sometimes also called nerve gases, are a class of organic chemicals that disrupt the mechanisms by which nerves transfer messages to organs. The disruption is caused by the blocking of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), an enzyme that ...

, the network can be accessed in some places by the public for free.

Geography

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 t ...

, the county has a total area of , of which are land and (0.5%) are covered by water. It borders the Columbia River across from

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Adjacent counties

(north) *

Walla Walla County, Washington Walla Walla County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 62,584. The county seat and largest city is Walla Walla. The county was formed on April 25, 1854 and is named after the Walla W ...

(north) *

Columbia County, Washington Columbia County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,952, making it the second-least populous county in Washington. The county seat and largest city is Dayton. The county was create ...

(northeast) *

Wallowa County Wallowa County () is the northeastern most county in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,391, making it Oregon's fifth-least populous county. Its county seat is Enterprise. According to '' Oregon Geographic Nam ...

(east) * Union County (east) *

Grant County Grant County may refer to: Places ;Australia * County of Grant, Victoria ;United States *Grant County, Arkansas *Grant County, Indiana * Grant County, Kansas *Grant County, Kentucky *Grant County, Minnesota *Grant County, Nebraska *Grant C ...

(south) * Morrow County (west)

National protected areas

Cold Springs National Wildlife Refuge Cold Springs National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge located northeast of Hermiston and south of the Columbia River in Umatilla County, Oregon; The refuge was established in 1909 as a preserve and breeding ground for native b ...

McKay Creek National Wildlife Refuge McKay Creek National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge located between plains and the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon. The refuge provides habitat for rare and endangered species and breeding and migratory birds. The ...

Umatilla National Forest The Umatilla National Forest, in the Blue Mountains of northeast Oregon and southeast Washington, covers an area of 1.4 million acres (5,700 km2). In descending order of land area the forest is located in parts of Umatilla, Grant, Columbia ...

(part) *

Whitman National Forest Whitman National Forest was established in Oregon on July 1, 1908 with from part of Blue Mountains National Forest. On June 20, 1920 part of Minam National Forest was added. In 1954 it was administratively combined with Wallowa National Forest to ...

(part)

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, 75,889 people, 26,904 households, and 18,647 families resided in the county. The population density was . The 29,693 housing units had an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 79.1% White, 3.5% American Indian, 0.9% Asian, 0.8% Black or African American, 0.1% Pacific islander, 12.5% from other races, and 3.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 23.9% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 21.4% were

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, 12.8% were

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

, 11.6% were

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, and 5.6% were

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

. Of the 26,904 households, 36.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.9% were married couples living together, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 30.7% were non-families, and 24.7% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.17. The median age was 35.7 years. The median income for a household in the county was $45,861 and for a family was $53,585. Males had a median income of $39,288 versus $30,489 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,035. About 11.0% of families and 15.8% 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 21.4% of those under age 18 and 9.5% of those age 65 or over.

2016 Census household incomes

Strong economic growth in the west end of the county has propelled Hermiston well past Pendleton with the highest median household incomes in Umatilla County.

Government and politics

State legislature

Umatilla County contains two Oregon State House Districts: State House District 57, which is currently represented by Greg Smith, and State House District 58, which is currently represented by Bobby Levy. Umatilla County is also located in Oregon State Senate District 29, represented by Bill Hansell. Smith, Levy, and Hansell are registered Republicans.

Board of commissioners

Umatilla County is represented and governed by three

county commissioner A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...

s. The Umatilla County Board of Commissioners is currently made up of Dan Dorran, John Shafer, and Chair George Murdock.

Make-up of Umatilla County voters

Political orientations in Umatilla County, Oregon (April 2009)

Like all counties in eastern Oregon, the majority of registered voters who are part of a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

in Umatilla County are members of the Republican Party. In the 2008 presidential election, 59.77% of Umatilla County voters voted for Republican John McCain, while 37.16% voted for

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

and 3.07% of voters either voted for a

third-party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a Ve ...

candidate or wrote in a candidate. These numbers show a small but definite shift towards the Democratic candidate when compared to the 2004 presidential election, in which 65.8% of Umatilla Country voters voted for

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

, while 32.8% voted for

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

, and 1.4% of voters either voted for a third-party candidate or wrote in a candidate.

Economy

The gold rush of 1862 brought miners and stock raisers to the mountains and grasslands of Umatilla County. Another stimulus was the arrival of the railroad in 1881, opening the region to the development of dry-land wheat farming. Water for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

has been key to economic diversification and growth, most recently in the Hermiston area, where potatoes, onions, corn, and more than 200 other crops are grown commercially. Low-cost power through Umatilla Electric Cooperative and good freeway access are also driving growth in the Hermiston area, with

amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...

developing large data-center operations there, and major distribution facilities for

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

, FedEx, and

UPS UPS or ups may refer to: Companies and organizations * United Parcel Service, an American shipping company ** The UPS Store, UPS subsidiary ** UPS Airlines, UPS subsidiary * Underground Press Syndicate, later ''Alternative Press Syndicate'' or ...

are all located in Hermiston.

Communities

Umatilla County is generally divided into three distinct economic and cultural areas, which are the West End, the Pendleton area, and the Milton-Freewater area. Although each of these communities shares some economic ties, the distance between each creates three very distinct communities. The West End includes the communities of Hermiston, Umatilla, Stanfield, and Echo. The Pendleton area includes Pendleton, Pilot Rock, Adams, and Athena. The Milton-Freewater area is largely tied to the Walla Walla, Washington area, and is considered a part of the Walla Walla Metropolitan Planning Organization. The similarities between the areas has created a long-standing rivalry, particularly between the West-End and the Pendleton-area, with regard to economic opportunity and public resources. The West End, led by Hermiston as its largest city, is now nearly twice the size of the Pendleton area, and is projected to be nearly three times the size of the Pendleton area by 2035.

Cities

* Adams *

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded ...

Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

Helix A helix () is a shape like a corkscrew or spiral staircase. It is a type of smooth space curve with tangent lines at a constant angle to a fixed axis. Helices are important in biology, as the DNA molecule is formed as two intertwined helic ...

* Hermiston * Milton-Freewater * Pendleton (county seat) * Pilot Rock * Stanfield * Ukiah * Umatilla *

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * ...

Census-designated places

* Cayuse * Gopher Flats * Green Meadows * Kirkpatrick *

McKay McKay, MacKay or Mackay is a Scottish / Irish surname. The last phoneme in the name is traditionally pronounced to rhyme with 'eye', but in some parts of the world this has come to rhyme with 'hey'. In Scotland, it corresponds to Clan Mackay. No ...

* Meacham *

Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

* Tutuilla * Umapine

Other unincorporated communities

* Bingham Springs * Blakeley (ghost town) *

Cold Springs Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

* Cold Springs Junction * Ferndale * Gibbon *

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

* Hinkle * Holdman * Lehman Springs * McNary * Myrick * Nolin * Nye *

Ordnance Ordnance may refer to: Military and defense *Materiel in military logistics, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment. **The military branch responsible for supplying and developing these items, e.g., the Unit ...

(ghost town) *Pine Grove *Power City * Rieth * Riverview (ghost town) * Sunnyside *

Tollgate A tollbooth (or toll booth) is an enclosure placed along a toll road that is used for the purpose of collecting a toll from passing traffic. A structure consisting of several tollbooths placed next to each other is called a toll plaza, tollga ...

*Westland

Education

School districts include:
Text list
/ref> * Athena-Weston School District 29J * Echo School District 5 * Helix School District 1 *

Hermiston School District 8 Hermiston may refer to: * Hermiston, Edinburgh, Scotland * Hermiston, Oregon, U.S. **Hermiston Butte * ''Weir of Hermiston'' (1896), an unfinished novel by Robert Louis Stevenson People * Andrew Douglas of Hermiston (died before 1277), Scottish no ...

* Milton-Freewater School District 7 * Pendleton School District 16 * Pilot Rock School District 2 * Stanfield School District 61 * Ukiah School District 80 * Umatilla School District 6

References

External links

Umatilla County
(official website) {{authority control 1862 establishments in Oregon Populated places established in 1862 Oregon placenames of Native American origin Pendleton–Hermiston Micropolitan Statistical Area