Standing in the Gap for Oregon

Athena house, Umatilla County, Oregon Photo: Gary Halvorson, Oregon State Archives   Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy. Proverbs 31:8-9 Hermiston is the largest city in Umatilla County, but Pendleton is the county seat. We are still in the Northeast region of Oregon, part of the eight counties considered “eastern Oregon.” The population is 80,075 over 3,231 square miles of land. The Umatilla Indian Reservation was established in 1855 before the county itself was created in 1862. Located to the southeast of Pendleton, the Umatillas, Walla Wallas, and the Cayuse were settled there. The Wild Horse Casino is a tribe-owned casino and resort that has been prospering and expanding. It is located near Pendleton.  The Hermiston city motto is, "Where Life is Sweet," and includes a slice of watermelon. The area is famous for its watermelons, among other agricul...

Victorian house, Union, Oregon Give to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come before Him. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness . I Chronicles 16:29 We are in the heart of the six-county Northeast Region of Oregon. Union County is in the middle, west of Baker and Wallowa, and east of Umatilla, Grant, and Morrow. Once again, this is an area of beautiful country that attracts a lot of tourists and outdoor enthusiasts. La Grande is the county seat. The county has a population of 26,196 as of 2020. The town of Union, 15 miles southeast of LaGrande, was an early settlement and the first county seat, although that was later moved to LaGrande in the early twentieth century. It was built due to the mining boom in the mid-1800s and has retained much of its late-nineteenth-century charm, including a main street lined with ornate Victorian homes, many on the National Register of Historic Places. It is known as the “City of Victorian Heritage.” Union now has a po...

Wallowa County, OR For I the  Lord  love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Isaiah 61:8 Wallowa County is in the extreme northeastern corner of the state. Settlers first started coming into the area in 1871. The county population of just over 7,300 makes it the 5 th least populated in Oregon. In 1887 a post office was established at Enterprise, and that town later became the county seat. An interesting side note: The actor Walter Brennan has ties to Wallowa County. One of his sons and family lived in the town of Joseph and in 1940 Walter Brennan bought a 12,000-acre ranch north of Joseph, then built the Indian Lodge Motel, a movie theater, and a variety store in Joseph. Walter Brennan visited the area often between film roles until his death in 1974. Wallowa County, OR This county was the home of the Nez Perce, and famously of Chief Joseph, who tried to keep his people in their ...

Baker County, Oregon I'm asking God for one thing, only one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long. I'll contemplate his beauty; I'll study at his feet. Psalm 27:4 The Message We are moving into the Northeast Region of Oregon, which includes Baker, Wallowa, Union, Marrow, Umatilla, and Grant Counties. This is a mountainous and, in many places, isolated corner of Oregon, but with a rich history. Baker City was named the county seat in 1865 and incorporated in 1874. It is situated at the southern end of Baker Valley, and while thousands heading for the Willamette Valley during the wagon train days passed through this beautiful area, no one stopped to settle until four miners - Henry Griffin, David Littlefield, William Stafford, and G.W. Schriver - found gold in 1861 just a couple of miles from the present settlement.   Baker County, Oregon Baker City is a pretty town, with the Elkhorn Mountain Range to the west and the Wallowas to the east. The area has unl...