Пендлтон, Орегон: История и Современность

Pendleton is a city in and the county seat of Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. 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. Pendleton is the smaller of the two principal cities of the Hermiston–Pendleton Micropolitan Statistical Area. This micropolitan area covers Morrow and Umatilla counties and had a combined population of 92,261 at the 2020 census. The city was incorporated by the Oregon Legislative Assembly 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. Like many cities in Eastern Oregon, where thousands of Chinese immigrant workers built the transcontinental railroad, it had a flourishing Chinatown 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. The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (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, for education and interpretation of their cultures.

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 (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, 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.

According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.52 square miles (27 km2), all 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. Pendleton has a semi arid climate (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 tied on June 29 2021 at Pelton Dam. The highest temperature recorded in Pendleton in recent times was on June 29, 2021.

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 for the city was $17,551. About 8.7% of families and 13.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.4% of those under age 18 and 8.1% of those age 65 or over. 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.

Local arts institutions include the Pendleton Center for the Arts (in the town's old Carnegie Library building) and Crow's Shadow Institute of the Arts on the nearby Umatilla Indian Reservation. 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.

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 slides as well tubes and smaller slides, three pools, a diving well, and picnic areas. The aquatic center is adjacent to the high school.

Highways serving Pendleton include Interstate 84 and U. S. Route 30 running east–west and U. S. Route 395 running north–south. The city is also served by Oregon Route 37 and Oregon Route 11. Pendleton lies along the Union Pacific Railroad (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, 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's Pioneer between Chicago and Seattle via Salt Lake City and Portland. Regional public aviation service is through Eastern Oregon Regional Airport, 3 mile (5 km) outside Pendleton. The airport is owned by the City of Pendleton. Boutique Air offers daily flights between Pendleton and Portland, which began in 2016.

Pendleton has a sister city relationship with Minamisōma, in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Minamisoma is 16 mile (26 km) north of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which was damaged by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Since then, Japanese exchange students from Minamisoma have continued to visit Pendleton, though students from Pendleton have stopped visiting Minamisoma over growing radiation concerns.