Standing in the Gap for Oregon

Lafayette Historical Museum They may curse, but  you will bless: when they attack they will be put to shame, but your servant will rejoice .   Psalm 109:28   Lafayette, Oregon is a pretty little town along the Yamhill River on Oregon Route 99, about 35 miles southwest of Portland, 25 miles north of Salem. It is the third oldest town in the Willamette Valley, established in 1846 and incorporated in 1878. It is in Yamhill County and was originally the county seat until 1889 when the citizens voted to make McMinnville the seat. The population is currently around 4,000.   The town has a number of old homes and historic buildings, a few even on the National Register of Historic Places. The Lafayette Locks Park is at the site of a former dam and locks that were decommissioned in the 1950’s. Other points of interest include a log house museum and the Lafayette Pioneer Cemetery which was established in 1873.   The old cemetery has a lot of atmosphere and is associated w...

  The  Lord   is  my  shepherd ; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters… Psalm 23:1 Morrow County was created in 1885 from the western part of Umatilla County and a bit of eastern Wasco. In 1887 an election was held to determine the county seat with Heppner defeating Lexington by a narrow margin.     I’ll admit I have not been very familiar with Morrow County. It’s a bit like “flyover country” to someone who drives to the eastern part of the state occasionally. I have driven through Morrow many times via I-84 but never paid much attention to where Wasco County left off and Morrow began.    It has, I find, a fascinating history.   The story of Morrow County is often linked to or even hyphenated with Umatilla County (Umatilla-Morrow.) The geography and economy, tied to agriculture, ranching and the Columbia River, are very similar.    In 1855 the Native Americans in that a...

Ontario, OR park The   stranger  who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were  stranger s  in   the   land  of Egypt: I  am   the   Lord  your God .  Leviticus 19:34   We briefly mentioned the eastern Oregon town of Ontario when we wrote about Malheur County. Today I want to delve into the history a little more, and to honor one long-term resident, my mother-in-law Ila Mae Mills, who passed away August 13 th  at the age of 97.   Ontario is a town with which I am familiar. My grandparents lived there for many years, from the 1940’s until the 1970’s. My parents were married there, as was I. My in-laws lived in Ontario from 1948 on. My father-in-law, a local bookkeeper, passed away in 2013 at the age of 95.    Ontario is the largest town in the far eastern portion of Oregon and sits right up against the Snake River and the border with Idaho. P...

The wilderness and the dry land will be glad; the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.  Isaiah 35:1   We have covered ten of the thirty-six Oregon counties in our blog so far. This week we are looking at the county just to the west of Wallowa and Union Counties in the northeastern section of the state.     Umatilla County was established in 1862 out of part of Wasco County. Its northern border is the Columbia River. Like many places in Oregon, it was gold that first drew pioneers to the area who then realized the country was a good place to raise cattle. By 1868 the town of Pendleton had become the county seat and remains so. In 1881 the arrival of the railroad made dryland wheat farming practical. Other types of agriculture were limited, however, in an area that grew sagebrush best until the Umatilla Irrigation Project was established early in the 20 th  century. Then "the desert bloomed" and the economy began to grow, especially in the western section ...