100 Years Ago

From the East Oregonian

July 14, 1920

Had William Jennings Bryan known that a delegation was at the Pendleton depot to meet him Saturday evening, he would have been glad to talk with them, says a letter from Mr. Bryan, received today by Joseph N. Scott. Mr. Bryan was sleeping when the train went through Pendleton but regrets he was not awakened. He asked in his letter that Mr. Scott express his regret at not meeting the delegation.

50 Years Ago

From the East Oregonian

July 14, 1970

Echoes of a dispute that flared up at a Umatilla County Democratic Party platform meeting are ringing from one end of the county to the other. On the invitation of Alice Bowman, Echo, the party’s county chairman, Larry Campbell, a Republican and Hermiston businessman, read a speech on “Americanism.” The speech had been delivered last May by the immediate past national Grand Exalted Ruler of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. R. P. “Joe” Smith, district attorney of Umatilla County, took strong exception to the speech and Campbell’s comments. “A member of the Elks has no right to lecture me on Americanism,” he said, “not when the Elks deny membership to one-fifth of the American people.” Negroes are not allowed to be members of the Elks lodges. The argument spilled over into the hallway after the meeting broke up. Others of the 30 persons at the meeting joined in, on both sides of the dispute.

25 Years Ago

From the East Oregonian

July 14, 1995

The Umatilla County commissioners declared the county a natural disaster area and sent a letter to Gov. John Kitzhaber asking him to do the same. Preliminary estimates indicate last weekend’s thunderstorms caused more than $30 million damage to county farmers, businesses and property owners, the board of commissioners said in its resolution. Two-thirds of that figure is crop damage, the Oregon State University Extension Service figures occurred in the area, and $10 million is an early estimate of damage to businesses and property within the city of Hermiston. The county commissioners’ declaration of disaster is the first step toward receiving a similar declaration from the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, which would make available emergency loans and other programs.