Pre-Convention Tour [Sold Out]

Pre-Convention tour (8 AM to 3 PM): Western Idaho & Eastern Oregon Trail Sites, assembling in western Idaho and ending mid-afternoon in eastern Oregon (not Pendleton)
Participants will meet at a location off of I-84 in Nampa (McDonald's at Karcher Road exit).

Sites that will be visited include the Ward Massacre Park, the Boise River crossing, the Fort Boise replica in Parma, and the location of old Fort Boise on the Snake River (where hopefully there will be two newly installed interpretive signs). Then on to Oregon to visit the Utter starvation camp interpretive signs and Keeny Pass. After a lunch break in Vale, Oregon, the tour will head back to Ontario and head west on I-84 to the Van Ornum burial site near Huntington. From Huntington, participants are free to head west on I-84 to Pendleton. The tour should be complete by 3:00 pm, so they can reach Pendleton at an early hour. The only part that is not paved is a short stretch into the site of the original HBC Fort Boise, but it is passable by regular cars. The tour will be led by Paul Dinwiddie and is limited to ten vehicles.

Sunday, July 21, 2024
Limited to 10 vehicles!

Opening reception at Wildhorse Resort & Casino (6:00 - 8:00 PM) [240 remaining]

Sunday, July 21, 2024

Opening Reception at Wildhorse Resort & Casino

Welcome & General Membership Meeting (8:00 AM to 10:30 AM)

Keynote Speaker (10:45 AM - 11:45 AM)

Dorothy Firecloud, Department of the Interior, Tribal Liaison for the National Park Service

Lunch, Noon to 1:00 PM

Lunch buffet, featuring BBQ pulled pork and fried chicken, creamed corn, baked beans, salad, coffee, tea, and water

Speaker 1 (1:00 PM - 1:50 PM)

Jim Hardee - Marie Dorion: A Woman of Fortitude

Jim Hardee is the editor of The Rocky Mountain Fur Trade Journal, published annually by the Museum of the Mountain Man in Pinedale, Wyoming. He is a nationally known presenter at many conferences and symposiums relating to myriad aspects of pre-1840 Rocky Mountain West studies. He has published three books and numerous articles on various fur trade topics. Hardee hails from Pierre’s Hole, Idaho (today’s Teton Valley), and is a recipient of Idaho Historical Society’s prestigious Esto Perpetua Award. He has been the director of the Fur Trade Research Center for over 25 years.

When asked to identify three Native American women who were important to US history, many people name Pocahontas and Sacagawea but stumble on coming up with a third. This presentation tells the story of Marie Dorion, an Ioway woman who went West with Wilson Price Hunt’s overland expedition to Astoria in 1811. The trip was full of adventure and, in itself, is a fascinating story. After reaching the Columbia River region, she accompanied the trapping brigade to which her husband was assigned. When all the men were killed in an encounter with hostile Bannocks, she suffered through a remarkable winter survival with only her two young children. The tale is the stuff of legends and secured a rightful place in history for this amazing person.

Speaker 2 (2:00 PM - 2:50 PM)

David L. Nicandri - John C. Fremont's 1843 Expedition to Oregon: Examining Ties to Lewis & Clark and Charles Wilkes

David Nicandri served as Executive Director of the Washington State Historical Society, 1987-2011, during which time he served as editor of "Columbia Magazine," the society's journal. In the last 15 years, he has published the following books: "River of Promise: Lewis and Clark on the Columbia" (2009); co-editor, "Arctic Ambitions: Captain Cook and the Quest for the Northwest Passage" (2015); "Captain Cook Rediscovered: Voyaging to the Icy Latitudes" (2020); and "Lewis & Clark Reframed: Examining Ties to Cook, Vancouver and Mackenzie" (2020). "Discovering Nothing: In Pursuit of an Elusive Northwest Passage," the sequel to "Captain Cook Rediscovered," will be published by UBC Press in May 2024. WSU Press has under study for potential publication an anthology of essays tentatively titled: "From Juan de Fuca to John C. Fremont: Exploring Northwest Geography, Real and Imagined." His presentation in Pendleton will draw from this manuscript.

Most exploration history is analyzed vertically, that is, within the confines of the subject expedition, from beginning to end. In his research and writing, he has attempted to convey the history of Northwestern exploration horizontally, that is, by drawing frequent comparisons and contrasts with other attempts at discovery, sometimes overlapping in time and space, in other instances diverging from those parameters. This approach helps bring into focus which aspects of any particular expedition are truly unique or even exceptional. His talk will be consistent with this approach.

Speaker 3 (3:00 PM - 3:50 PM)

David J. Welch - Route from the Blues to the Whitman Mission and Fort Nez Perces/Walla Walla

Dave served as OCTA’s president and national trails preservation officer. He also served as the Northwest Chapter president and a member of the national board of directors. He is currently chair of OCTA’s mapping and marking committee and the investment advisory committee. Dave is a retired aeronautical engineer and lives with his wife Wendy in Lacey, Washington.

While the first Oregon Trail emigrants in 1843 traveled to the Whitman Mission rather than continuing west to Echo, the official (designated) Oregon National Historic Trail has ignored this important alternate. In the course of time, the precise route of the early travelers was lost. Research over the past 25 years resulted in the identification of the probable route and the recommendation by the National Park Service that it be added to the Oregon National Historic Trail. This presentation will describe the research and the resulting route from the base of the Blue Mountains near Cayuse to the Whitman Mission and on to Fort Walla Walla at the Columbia River. The research was conducted primarily by Dave Welch, Sam Pambrun, and Brian VonBorstel.

Speaker 4 (4:00 - 4:50 PM)

Robert “Robin” Baker - Finding the Oregon Trail over the Blue Mountains

Robin's background is in hiking and exploration. He joined the Mazamas in 1965 and mountain-climbed, backpacked, and hiked with them for several years, climbing all the Cascade Mountains volcanoes and numerous other peaks. He was an avid backpacker through the 70s and 80s and did extensive solo off-trail backpacking trips in the Eagle Cap Wilderness and Columbia Gorge, among other locations. At 75 he no longer climbs or backpacks but is still an avid hiker and explorer. While a member of a Clackamas County 4-H Forestry Club in the early 1960s, he learned Orienteering with paper map and magnetic compass from Crown Zellerbach foresters while attending a 4-H Forestry Camp at Camp Wilkerson in Columbia County, Oregon.

He extensively mapped and documented the Barlow Road over the south side of Mt. Hood and in the Gate Creek area from 2017 through 2023, giving several NW-OCTA Zoom presentations and leading several NW-OCTA hikes. From 2021 to the present, he has been mapping and documenting the Oregon Trail and Toll Road over the Blue Mountains of NE Oregon. He has led hikes and explorations in several areas over the last three years and given several NW-OCTA Zoom presentations. Web access to the GLO Surveyor Maps and accompanying Surveyor notes have greatly facilitated this documentation effort, as has the recent availability of 1-meter LiDAR.

After locating the Oregon Trail over the Blue Mountains on the map, he will present some pioneer diary quotes and a profile map of a typical journey over the mountains. He will then outline the history of Oregon Trail mapping in Oregon, from the early General Land Office surveyors (1863-1887), the Oregon State Highway Department engineers in the late 1950s, BLM and NPS efforts in the 1970s, through the NW-OCTA trail-marking efforts in the late 1990s. Finally, he will talk about the modern efforts to map the Oregon Trail after the availability of accurate GPS, digital photography, and LiDAR. He will conclude with several sample NW-OCTA explorations using historical map overlays, the above technologies, and “shank’s mare.”

Author's Night Reception (6:00 - 9:00 PM)

Tour 1. Whitman Route, Base of Blues to HBC Ft. Walla Walla (8:00 AM - 5:00 PM)

Dave Welch and Sam Pambrun will lead this tour as a complement to their oral presentations. The tour will follow the route of the Oregon Trail from 1843 to 1847 to the Whitman Mission and on to the Columbia River at Fort Walla Walla. The legislation establishing the Oregon National Historic Trail ignored this route in favor of the route from the base of the Blues to Echo and beyond to The Dalles. The 1843-1847 route heads north from the base of the Blues to Adams, then on to a descent to the Walla Walla Valley near where Pine Creek enters the valley. It continues north-northeast across the valley to the Whitman Mission. From the Whitman Mission the tour will travel west to the mouth of the Walla Walla River and the site of the Hudson Bay Company's Fort Walla Walla, now underwater. The tour will return to Pendleton via the Columbia River Route (near both land and water versions). It will pass through Wallula Gap before turning south and east near Hat Rock to Pendleton. There will be a sign dedication at a local landowner’s property on the Whitman Mission Trail. This tour will drive by Whitman Mission but will not be stopping. Those who wish to spend any time exploring the Mission should select the Museums Tour.

Box lunch, snacks, and drinks included.

Tour 2. Museums Tour (8:00 AM - 5:00 PM)

Whitman Mission National Historic Site, Walla Walla, Washington. Whitman Mission National Historic Site is a unit of the National Park Service, established in 1936, outside the town of Walla Walla, Washington. This site marks the place where Christian missionaries, the Whitmans, lived within Cayuse homeland from 1836 to 1847. An attack on the mission in late 1847 killed both missionaries and 11 others and instigated a series of events that led to the establishment of Oregon Territory for the United States, wars between U.S. soldiers and Native nations, the Treaty of 1855, and more. Whitman National Monument was established in 1936 on the 100th anniversary of the Whitmans’ arrival in the Pacific Northwest. The site was subsequently redesignated as a National Historic Site in 1963.

Visitors to the National Historic Site today can explore either or both trails on the grounds. The Mission Trail is a 1/3-mile-long loop trail over a relatively flat, paved sidewalk. It leads to the Whitman’s two homes, the site of the re-created mill pond, and other mission building sites. Foundations are outlined by cinderblocks along the trail.

The Gravesite and Hill Trail is a 0.5-mile paved trail leading past the Great Grave site to the hilltop sporting a memorial obelisk created on the 50th anniversary of the attack in 1897. There are two approaches to the hilltop, a north side, and a south side approach. Both are steep, but the southern approach is slightly longer with switchbacks. From the hilltop, visitors get a panoramic view of the mission grounds, including the building sites, mill pond, as well as the setting of the long descent of the Oregon Trail to the Walla Walla River Valley. A connecting link between the north and south approaches has a gravestone for Alice Whitman who, at age two, drowned in the Walla Walla River.

Inside the park visitor center, there is a 22-minute park film entitled A Prophecy Fulfilled that summarizes the history that occurred here. The visitor center also contains museum exhibits, a small sales area, and a hands-on area.

Frazier Farmstead Museum, Milton-Freewater, Oregon. The Milton-Freewater Historical Society was formed in 1983 to permanently preserve and display the history of the Milton-Freewater area. The next year it opened the Frazier Farmstead Museum. The museum preserves artifacts, photographs, stories, and other items important to the area. The area was one of the earliest developed communities in eastern Oregon and Washington. As noted in the convention booklet, Tom McCoy built one of the earliest cabins in the area. You will visit McCoy’s cabin on the grounds of the farmstead.

The house is representative of early settlers emerging from the “cabin” era. William Samuel Frazier built his home in 1892. Frazier family members lived in the home until 1983. In 1913, the house was moved 100 feet to permit construction of a through street. It was renovated following his death in 1896, and again modernized following its relocation. The museum currently maintains and displays relics of domestic activities, includes a gift shop, and preserves stories of local history. For example, the convention booklet again explains the story of one of the earliest settlers in the Walla Walla Valley who settled near Milton in 1859, that of Ninevah Ford. Ford’s daughter, Martha Jane, is reported to be the second white child born in the valley, preceded only by the Whitman’s daughter, Alice. Martha Jane Ford’s doll is on display in the museum.

Tamastslikt Cultural Institute. Tamastslikt Cultural Institute is a museum established by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (Walla Walla, Umatilla, and Cayuse Tribes). Established during the Oregon Trail Sesquicentennial in 1993, its mission is “to preserve and perpetuate the diverse cultures and histories of the indigenous people now known as the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Tribes and to educate people about our cultures, histories and contemporary lives.” This mission closely meshes with the focus of our conference, an attempt to emphasize the impact of nineteenth century pioneers on Oregon natives as much as the experiences of those who came over the Oregon Trail, a “shifting legacy.” The institute has evolved as a research facility, as well as a repository of books, artifacts, photographs, and other materials important to the tribes’ stories. Visitors can enjoy a reconstructed winter lodge, traditional regalia, dioramas, replica of a boarding school and church, a recreation of the 1855 Treaty Council, and view a movie telling the tribal story in Coyote theater, as well as other displays regarding tribal culture.

Box lunch, snacks, and drinks included.

Tour 3. Baker City Oregon National Historic Trail Interpretive Center and Blue Mountain Interpretive Park Bus Tour (8:00 AM - 5:00 PM)

Oregon Trail Interpretive Park at Blue Mountain Crossing, US Forest Service. First stop on this tour will be short visit of the US Forest Service’s Oregon Trail Intrepretive Park at Blue Mountain Crossing. At this mountain park, visitors will experience a well interpreted stretch of pristine Oregon Trail rut swales in a forested setting of ponderosa pine, some of which still display scars made by passing covered wagons. Visitors can choose one or both loops of an interpretive trail alongside these trail remnants.

The shorter Oregon City Loop Trail is ¼ mile in length and is marked by six numbered interpretive posts. The longer Independence Loop Trail is ¾ mile long, marked by ten numbered posts. Each of these posts correspond to interpretive stories or diary excerpts to help the hiker more fully understand the trail or related some of the stories of those who ventured west in the 19th century. There may be on-site park hosts and a wagon display.

National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, Bureau of Land Management. After the Blue Mountain Crossing stop, participants will journey on to Baker City, where they will visit the newly renovated National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center (NHOTIC). Originally opened May 23, 1992, nearly 2.4 million visitors have enjoyed the trail history told by the exhibits. The facility has been closed since November 2020, first due to Covid-19 and then by an extensive $6.5 million infrastructure renovation. Some exhibit enhancements were also part of the renovation project. The center will reopen May 24, 2024. Since the Trail Tenders, a long-time volunteer partner, disbanded during the closure in 1992, Baker City’s Crossroads Carnegie Art Center will fill the void left by the Trail Tenders. They will operate the center’s gift shop, manage marketing, and assist with programming upon reopening.

The 500-acre site atop Flagstaff Hill offers a view over the Powder River Valley and its trail ruts. While looking over this valley, try to imagine what the visual impact on the trail experience will be when the B2H project constructs a series of transmission towers across this panorama. There are over four miles of interpretive hiking trails with an easy access path to original trail ruts. The center’s emphasis is on six themes relating to westward migration and settlement: pioneer life on the trail; mountain men and early travelers; Native Americans; natural history along the trail; mining and early settlement; and history of the General Land Office, predecessor of the Bureau of Land Management. The site also displays a wagon train encampment and a theater hosting lectures, films, music, and dramatic presentations, and a gift shop. Located on the site of a nineteenth-century mill site, there is a replica gold stamp mill and gold panning demonstration area.

Box lunch, snacks, and drinks included.

Tour 4. Blue Mountains Hike (8:30 AM - 5:00 PM)

Robin Baker will lead this hike, which will begin and end at the Blue Mountain Crossing Interpretive Park, operated by the U.S. Forest Service. The hike will consist of two out-and-back sections:
• Downhill to the Robert Furst property boundary, then back uphill to the trailhead
• 2.4 miles total
• The trail gradient is gentle
• Elevation loss (and gain) is only about 300 feet
• Uphill to the National Forest boundary, then back downhill to the trailhead.
• 3.4 miles total
• The trail gradient is gentle
• Elevation gain (and loss) is only about 300 feet

The terrain is open conifer forest, with minimal brush and blowdown. There are bathrooms available at the trailhead. Sturdy footwear is highly recommended, as is a sun hat and sunscreen. It can be hot and sunny. Water will be available at the shuttle, but hikers are encouraged to bring carriable water bottles for consumption while hiking. There will be a 30-minute lunch break midway through the hike at the trailhead.

Entertainment by CTUIR Drummers & Dancers, followed by Laura Dean musical presentation, Music in the Westward Expansion (6:30 PM - 9:00 PM)

Note: this event does not include dinner. Dinner is on your own this evening.

Tour 1: Whitman Route, Base of Blues to HBC Ft. Walla Walla (8:00 AM - 5:00 PM) [33 remaining]

Dave Welch and Sam Pambrun will lead this tour as a complement to their oral presentations. The tour will follow the route of the Oregon Trail from 1843 to 1847 to the Whitman Mission and on to the Columbia River at Fort Walla Walla. The legislation establishing the Oregon National Historic Trail ignored this route in favor of the route from the base of the Blues to Echo and beyond to The Dalles. The 1843-1847 route heads north from the base of the Blues to Adams, then on to a descent to the Walla Walla Valley near where Pine Creek enters the valley. It continues north-northeast across the valley to the Whitman Mission. From the Whitman Mission the tour will travel west to the mouth of the Walla Walla River and the site of the Hudson Bay Company's Fort Walla Walla, now underwater. The tour will return to Pendleton via the Columbia River Route (near both land and water versions). It will pass through Wallula Gap before turning south and east near Hat Rock to Pendleton. There will be a sign dedication at a local landowner’s property on the Whitman Mission Trail. This tour will drive by Whitman Mission but will not be stopping. Those who wish to spend any time exploring the Mission should select the Museums Tour.

Box lunch, snacks, and drinks included.

Tour 2: Museums Bus Tour (8:00 AM - 5:00 PM) [42 remaining]

Whitman Mission National Historic Site, Walla Walla, Washington. Whitman Mission National Historic Site is a unit of the National Park Service, established in 1936, outside the town of Walla Walla, Washington. This site marks the place where Christian missionaries, the Whitmans, lived within Cayuse homeland from 1836 to 1847. An attack on the mission in late 1847 killed both missionaries and 11 others and instigated a series of events that led to the establishment of Oregon Territory for the United States, wars between U.S. soldiers and Native nations, the Treaty of 1855, and more. Whitman National Monument was established in 1936 on the 100th anniversary of the Whitmans’ arrival in the Pacific Northwest. The site was subsequently redesignated as a National Historic Site in 1963.

Visitors to the National Historic Site today can explore either or both trails on the grounds. The Mission Trail is a 1/3-mile-long loop trail over a relatively flat, paved sidewalk. It leads to the Whitman’s two homes, the site of the re-created mill pond, and other mission building sites. Foundations are outlined by cinderblocks along the trail.

The Gravesite and Hill Trail is a 0.5-mile paved trail leading past the Great Grave site to the hilltop sporting a memorial obelisk created on the 50th anniversary of the attack in 1897. There are two approaches to the hilltop, a north side, and a south side approach. Both are steep, but the southern approach is slightly longer with switchbacks. From the hilltop, visitors get a panoramic view of the mission grounds, including the building sites, mill pond, as well as the setting of the long descent of the Oregon Trail to the Walla Walla River Valley. A connecting link between the north and south approaches has a gravestone for Alice Whitman who, at age two, drowned in the Walla Walla River.

Inside the park visitor center, there is a 22-minute park film entitled A Prophecy Fulfilled that summarizes the history that occurred here. The visitor center also contains museum exhibits, a small sales area, and a hands-on area.

Frazier Farmstead Museum, Milton-Freewater, Oregon. The Milton-Freewater Historical Society was formed in 1983 to permanently preserve and display the history of the Milton-Freewater area. The next year it opened the Frazier Farmstead Museum. The museum preserves artifacts, photographs, stories, and other items important to the area. The area was one of the earliest developed communities in eastern Oregon and Washington. As noted in the convention booklet, Tom McCoy built one of the earliest cabins in the area. You will visit McCoy’s cabin on the grounds of the farmstead.

The house is representative of early settlers emerging from the “cabin” era. William Samuel Frazier built his home in 1892. Frazier family members lived in the home until 1983. In 1913, the house was moved 100 feet to permit construction of a through street. It was renovated following his death in 1896, and again modernized following its relocation. The museum currently maintains and displays relics of domestic activities, includes a gift shop, and preserves stories of local history. For example, the convention booklet again explains the story of one of the earliest settlers in the Walla Walla Valley who settled near Milton in 1859, that of Ninevah Ford. Ford’s daughter, Martha Jane, is reported to be the second white child born in the valley, preceded only by the Whitman’s daughter, Alice. Martha Jane Ford’s doll is on display in the museum.

Tamastslikt Cultural Institute. Tamastslikt Cultural Institute is a museum established by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (Walla Walla, Umatilla, and Cayuse Tribes). Established during the Oregon Trail Sesquicentennial in 1993, its mission is “to preserve and perpetuate the diverse cultures and histories of the indigenous people now known as the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Tribes and to educate people about our cultures, histories and contemporary lives.” This mission closely meshes with the focus of our conference, an attempt to emphasize the impact of nineteenth century pioneers on Oregon natives as much as the experiences of those who came over the Oregon Trail, a “shifting legacy.” The institute has evolved as a research facility, as well as a repository of books, artifacts, photographs, and other materials important to the tribes’ stories. Visitors can enjoy a reconstructed winter lodge, traditional regalia, dioramas, replica of a boarding school and church, a recreation of the 1855 Treaty Council, and view a movie telling the tribal story in Coyote theater, as well as other displays regarding tribal culture.

Box lunch, snacks, and drinks included.

Tour 3. Baker City Oregon National Historic Trail Interpretive Center and Blue Mountain Interpretive Park Bus Tour (8:00 AM - 5:00 PM) [30 remaining]

Oregon Trail Interpretive Park at Blue Mountain Crossing, US Forest Service. First stop on this tour will be short visit of the US Forest Service’s Oregon Trail Intrepretive Park at Blue Mountain Crossing. At this mountain park, visitors will experience a well interpreted stretch of pristine Oregon Trail rut swales in a forested setting of ponderosa pine, some of which still display scars made by passing covered wagons. Visitors can choose one or both loops of an interpretive trail alongside these trail remnants.

The shorter Oregon City Loop Trail is ¼ mile in length and is marked by six numbered interpretive posts. The longer Independence Loop Trail is ¾ mile long, marked by ten numbered posts. Each of these posts correspond to interpretive stories or diary excerpts to help the hiker more fully understand the trail or related some of the stories of those who ventured west in the 19th century. There may be on-site park hosts and a wagon display.

National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, Bureau of Land Management. After the Blue Mountain Crossing stop, participants will journey on to Baker City, where they will visit the newly renovated National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center (NHOTIC). Originally opened May 23, 1992, nearly 2.4 million visitors have enjoyed the trail history told by the exhibits. The facility has been closed since November 2020, first due to Covid-19 and then by an extensive $6.5 million infrastructure renovation. Some exhibit enhancements were also part of the renovation project. The center will reopen May 24, 2024. Since the Trail Tenders, a long-time volunteer partner, disbanded during the closure in 1992, Baker City’s Crossroads Carnegie Art Center will fill the void left by the Trail Tenders. They will operate the center’s gift shop, manage marketing, and assist with programming upon reopening.

The 500-acre site atop Flagstaff Hill offers a view over the Powder River Valley and its trail ruts. While looking over this valley, try to imagine what the visual impact on the trail experience will be when the B2H project constructs a series of transmission towers across this panorama. There are over four miles of interpretive hiking trails with an easy access path to original trail ruts. The center’s emphasis is on six themes relating to westward migration and settlement: pioneer life on the trail; mountain men and early travelers; Native Americans; natural history along the trail; mining and early settlement; and history of the General Land Office, predecessor of the Bureau of Land Management. The site also displays a wagon train encampment and a theater hosting lectures, films, music, and dramatic presentations, and a gift shop. Located on the site of a nineteenth-century mill site, there is a replica gold stamp mill and gold panning demonstration area.

Box lunch, snacks, and drinks included.

Tour 4. Downtown Pendleton (Heritage Station Museum, Pendleton Underground, and Pendleton Woolen Mill) Bus Tour (10:00 AM - 5:00 PM) [28 remaining]

Two shuttle trips, leaving at staggered times will board at Wildhorse Resort and journey to downtown Pendleton. Lunch will be on your own at your choice of downtown eating establishments. While above ground, be sure to visit the statues of significant Pendleton personalities on each side of the street between Byers Street along the river and Emigrant Street, three blocks south. These include statues of Pendleton’s founding mother, Aura Raley across the street from Madam Stella Darby.

Passengers on this tour will disembark at Umatilla County Historical Society’s Heritage Station Museum where they can learn about Umatilla County history and a newly installed exhibit on the Oregon Trail through the county. After lunch, participants will go to 31 SW Emigrant Street to the gift shop of Pendleton Underground Tours for a guided tour beginning at 1:00 pm for the first shuttle group and at 1:15 pm for the second group. The tour will step back in time via a 90-minute guided tour through Pendleton’s historic underground and redlight district. Learn why Pendleton was the entertainment capital of the Pacific Northwest. The tour will visit the Shamrock Cardroom Bar, Hop Sings Laundry, the Empire Ice Cream Parlor, travel through service tunnels to the Empire Meat Market, Prohibition Cardroom, Duckpin Bowling Alley, opium den and jail, all located beneath Pendleton. Be aware, there are 31 stairs to reach the Cozy Rooms Bordello that was operated by Madam Stella Darby, as well as a couple of other shorter stair ascents and descents.

After completing the Underground Tour, passengers will reboard the shuttle at Heritage Station and make a final stop at the Pendleton Woolen Mills retail store, where visitors may purchase Pendleton’s renowned woolen products and visit the small Heritage Collection Museum with exhibits on the history of Indian trade blankets, blanket patterns, and featured artists, as well as Indian artifacts and artistry. Shuttles will return to Wildhorse by 5 pm.

Awards Banquet, w/no host bar (6:00 PM - 9:00 PM) [276 remaining]

Option 1 - Smoked chicken breast with tomato fondue and roasted red peppers, vegetables, rice, salad, dinner rolls, Pendleton Whisky crème brûlée, water, tea, and coffee

Awards Banquet, w/no host bar (6:00 PM - 9:00 PM)

Option 2 - Grilled salmon with Pendleton Whisky BBQ, vegetables, rice, salad, dinner rolls, Pendleton Whiskey crème brûlée, water, tea, and coffee

Speaker 1 (8:00 AM - 8:50 AM)

Blaine Harden - The Whitman Myth

Harden is the author of six books, most recently "Murder at the Mission: A Frontier Killing, Its Legacy of Lies, and the Taking of the West." He is also a longtime foreign correspondent who reported for The Washington Post from Africa, Eastern Europe, and Northeast Asia. He was a roving national correspondent for the New York Times, a contributor to the Economist, and has reported for PBS FRONTLINE. He was born and raised in Moses Lake, WA.

Blaine will explain how the Whitman saved Oregon lie was invented and popularized by the Rev. Henry Spalding and why it endured in the Pacific Northwest for most of the 20th century.

Speaker 2 (9:00 AM - 9:50 AM)

Sam Pambrun - Reading Between the Ruts: Pierre and Kitty’s North American Journeys

Sam is a descendant of Canadien fur traders who came to the Oregon Country in 1823. He lives in Pendleton, Oregon with Dottie, his wife of 55 years. He is a retired school administrator. He collects family and local history stories. He is past president of Frenchtown Historic Foundation and Umatilla County Historical Society. Finding and following historic trails now occupies most of his time.

“Pambrun Family History” documents the journey of a fur trade family. The journey starts in the Pyrenees Mountains of France and continues through Canada and the United States. Following trails across North America seemed to be a family calling. Along the way the Pambrun family married into the Cree Nation, worked in trading, manufacturing, agriculture, government, and finance. Where these trails will lead from here is yet to be determined.

Speaker 3 (10:00 AM - 10:50 AM)

Sarah Hurlburt - Frenchtown

Sarah Hurlburt is a Professor of French and Francophone Studies at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA. She has been working on the history of the French-Canadian fur trade communities and their descendants in the Pacific Northwest since 2013. Her research focuses on family letters and photos, combining archival work with community collaboration and outreach. She has served on the board of the Frenchtown Historical Foundation since 2014.

Frenchtown was a settlement of French-Canadian laborers from the fur trade who married Walla Walla and Cayuse women and settled along the Walla Walla River between Cayuse villages, on locations chosen in agreement with tribal families. The earliest cabins predated the arrival of the Whitmans by nearly ten years. The Frenchtown families sold food to the fort system and then to the settlers on the Oregon Trail, until the Battle of 1855 raided their farms and drove the community from the valley along with the tribespeople. Not all of the families returned, but new French-Canadian immigrants to the valley took their place, and portions of the Frenchtown area continued to be French-speaking and Catholic into the early 20th century.

Speaker 4 (11:00 AM - 11:50 AM)

Kate Kunkel-Patterson - New Mission, Same Legacy: Marcus Whitman and his Shifting Purpose in Cayuse Country

Kate Kunkel-Patterson is an interpretive Park Ranger for the National Park Service at Whitman Mission National Historic Site in Walla Walla, Washington. She has been at Whitman Mission NHS since 2020 and has worked for the National Park Service full-time since 2013. Prior to working at Whitman Mission NHS, Kate worked at Nez Perce National Historical Park in Idaho, Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Illinois, and Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park in South Carolina. Kate graduated from Whitman College with a degree in history in 2013 before beginning her career full-time with the National Park Service. Kate enjoys a variety of historical topics, but she especially enjoys working with the public to explore complex histories that challenge assumptions.
This talk will explore how Protestant, American missionary Marcus Whitman, shifted his purpose while working with Cayuse and Walla Walla peoples within the Cayuse nation. Whitman was funded as a Presbyterian missionary and began this work in 1836. After a few years, and the introduction of the new “Oregon Trail,” Whitman made a distinct pivot in his work: away from doing missionary work with Cayuse and Walla Walla people, focusing his time and energy instead on aiding and supplying Oregon Trail emigrants. Americans today, especially those in the West, know of Whitman as a martyred missionary; this talk aims to expand the knowledge of what Whitman was actually doing in Cayuse Country and encourage reevaluation of his life and legacy.

Lunch (Noon - 1:00 PM)

Seasonal Fruit Display - Coleslaw & red potato salad -
Corn on the cob - Macaroni & cheese -
All beef hot dogs & condiments - Marinated chicken breast -
Buns, lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese - Assorted cookies & brownie bars - Fresh brewed coffee, iced tea, and water

Speaker 5 (1:00 PM - 1:50 PM)

Matthew Johnson - The Treaty of 1855

Matt Johnson, Court Director of the Umatilla Tribal Court, is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation of Walla Walla, Cayuse, and Nez Perce descent. Matt has worked for his tribe in various roles for over 15 years, with nine years of experience representing the CTUIR on natural resource and hazardous waste cleanup projects at the Hanford Site and Portland Harbor before becoming Communications Director in October 2020. Matt then spent a year and a half as Interim Deputy Executive Director prior to becoming the Court Director in the Spring of 2022. Aside from his time with CTUIR, Matt’s professional experience includes a stint in Washington D.C. working as a tribal lobbyist representing numerous tribes across the United States as well as working for the federal government, first as a policy analyst in the Office of Tribal Self-Governance at the Indian Health Service headquarters and then for the Bureau of Indian Affairs Water Rights Program in the Northwest Regional Office in Portland, OR. A licensed attorney in Oregon, Matt’s law degree is from Lewis and Clark Law School along with an undergraduate degree in History from Willamette University.


In discussing the Treaty of 1855, this presentation will focus on the conditions and context surrounding the negotiations between representatives of the Cayuse, Umatillas, and Walla Wallas and the United States. The session will also review some of the treaty provisions, the meaning of those provisions from a CTUIR perspective, and how the Treaty set the foundation for the economic, community, and governmental development that the CTUIR has experienced in the nearly 170 years since the negotiations and signing at the Treaty Council in the Walla Walla valley.

Speaker 7 (2:00 PM- 2:50 PM)

Jennifer Karson Engum - The Cayuse Five Project

Jennifer Karson Engum has worked as Cultural Anthropologist-Curator for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation since 2003, first at Tamástslikt Cultural Institute, where she edited a tribally authored history book, "Wiyáxayxt - As Days Go By – Wiyáakaa’awn:
Our History, Our Land, and our People – The Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla," and co-authored "Čáw Pawá Láakni ‘They Are Not Forgotten’: Sahaptian Place Names Atlas of the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla." In 2009, she worked for the Cultural Resources Protection Program in the Department of Natural Resources as cultural anthropologist/ethnographer and NAGPRA coordinator, focusing on repatriation work and the documentation of tribal historical and cultural knowledge for the CTUIR. From 2016-2018, Jennifer served as interim chair of the Oregon Historic Trails Advisory Council. She holds a masters in Cultural Studies from the Claremont Graduate School and a doctorate in Anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin. Her current focus is on curation, research, and interpretation projects for Tamástslikt and assisting with legacy work in the realms of culture, history, land recognition, and treaty rights.

In 1850, five Cayuse men were hanged in Oregon City for the 1847 murder of the Protestant missionary Marcus Whitman after a three-day trial. They were buried nearby in a location that became unknown to generations over time. However, their descendants and community never forgot them. The CTUIR tribal government began to formally search for them in the 1980s with hopes of repatriating them to their homeland and finally laying them to rest with a ceremonial funeral. The search for their unmarked grave or graves has taken many forms since then, has grown in momentum, and continues to this day. And while it can be referred to in simple terms as “The Cayuse Five Project,” the historical legacy, whereabouts, and eventual return of these five men steadfastly remains at the heart of the concern for the CTUIR.

Speaker 6 (3:00 PM - 3:50 PM)

Bobbie Conner - The Impacts of Foreign Incursion onto Traditional Tribal Lands and Lifeways

Bobbie is the Director of Tamástslikt Cultural Institute. (Tamástslikt (Tah-MAHST-slickt) means “turn, translate, or interpret” in Wallulapam.) The Institute is a 45,000 square foot museum that represents the Tribal perspective of westward expansion as well as the culture that has sustained the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla for millennia. The Institute is the only tribally owned interpretive center on the entire National Historic Oregon Trail. Bobbie is Cayuse, Umatilla, and Nez Perce, and is enrolled at the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla.

She has contributed to numerous publications including: the Tribes’ history book "As Days Go By, Alvin Josephy’s Lewis and Clark through Indian Eyes;" an introduction to the "Pendleton Round-Up at 100;" the Treaty Edition of "The Cayuse Indians Imperial Tribesmen of Old Oregon;" and "Cáw Pawá Láakni (chow powah lockney), They Are Not Forgotten," the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla native place names atlas which was awarded High Honors by Harvard’s Honoring Nations Program in 2016. She chaired the Board of Trustees for the National Museum of the American Indian for two years during service from 2008 to 2014.

The homeland and peoples of the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla were intersected by explorers, traders, missionaries, and immigrants from more than one country. Both the land and the people were riddled by two centuries of relentless federal policies that would alter life again and again.

Chapter Meetings (4:00 PM - 5:00 PM)

Meet individually with your local chapter. Meeting rooms will be assigned and announced during the convention.

YouTube and Social Media Workshop (5:00 PM - 6:00 PM)

Gina Sifers, chair of OCTA's PR/marketing committee, and OCTA Association Manager Travis Boley will team up with members of Knowledge Tree Media Group to present a "YouTube and Social Media 101" workshop to introduce chapter members to the basics of launching, promoting, and maintaining successful YouTube and social media presence.

Farewell Banquet w/Raffle Conclusion & Live Auction (6:00 - 9:00 PM)

Option 1 - Smoked chicken breast with tomato fondue, roasted red potatoes, Caesar salad and romaine heart, shaved parmesan, roasted garlic crouton, seasonal vegetables, and Banana Foster cheesecake with vanilla whip cream

Farewell Banquet w/Raffle Conclusion & Live Auction (6:00 - 9:00 PM)

Option 2 - Oregon Blueberry glazed pork tenderloin with sweet potato-andouille sausage hash, Caesar salad and romaine heart, shaved parmesan, roasted garlic crouton, seasonal vegetables, and Banana Foster cheesecake with vanilla whip cream

Friday, July 26 - Post-Convention Tour: Pendleton to The Dalles (8 AM -5 PM) [Sold Out]

Those wishing to follow the trail west on their return home after the formal convention can join leaders Wendell Baskins and Rich Herman as they highlight selected Oregon Trail sites between Pendleton and The Dalles, Oregon. Stops will include Echo Meadows (White House Road and BLM site with kiosk), considered sacred ground for OCTA, since it was loss of ruts here that prompted the formation of OCTA. Then it is on to Well Spring site and kiosk, located on the periphery of Boardman Bombing Range. Further west is a photo stop at the descent at the end of Immigrant Road bordering the bombing range, and on to the BLM kiosk at 4 Mile Canyon, and the descent to the crossing the Deschutes River, before finishing in The Dalles. The photo featured here was taken at Echo Meadows.