Cutler

We are moving into the last phase of our 100th anniversary special edition recounting the life and death of former Umatilla County Sheriff Til Taylor.

The edition will be published in mid-August, and I think we’ve assembled a solid variety of stories reflecting the unique story of Taylor and, to some extent, Umatilla County.

I’m eager to get the edition out to our readers as soon as possible because I think this special edition carries the potential to be one of the best sections we’ve produced during my short tenure as editor at the East Oregonian.

That is a risky proclamation to some degree because, simply put, during the past few years, the staff of the East Oregonian has produced a number of high-quality products.

One of those high-quality products the EO produces year in and year out is the Round-Up magazine. The product has garnered a well-earned reputation through the years as being the premier product produced about Pendleton’s premier event. Achieving that status wasn’t easy, but it is a testament to the vision of people like Kathryn Brown and former EO editor Daniel Wattenburger, plus the hard work of reporters and photographers like E.J. Harris, Kathy Aney and Phil Wright — just to name a few.

That makes the unfortunate circumstances of 2020 we find ourselves in sting a little more with the cancelation of the Round-Up. Not only will the Round-Up Arena be dark in September, but my newsroom doesn’t get the chance to stretch its creative wings in a way we only get to every so often.

But, in a way, that’s where the Til Taylor section will scratch that creative itch.

For those who are unaware, Sheriff Tillman Taylor was shot and killed during a jail break from the Umatilla County Jail on Sunday, July 25, 1920. In the days that followed, hundreds of men converged on Pendleton and headed out in search parties across the Umatilla Indian Reservation and beyond into the rough country of the Blue Mountains. The five suspects were eventually apprehended. Two of them were sentenced to life, one was hung in December 1920 and the remaining two were hung in July 1922.

The long-serving and highly respected Taylor became deputy sheriff in 1898 and won the job of sheriff in 1902. He served as president of the Pendleton Round-Up from 1911 until his death.

So far, this special edition has very much been about teamwork. Without the help of every department during the planning stages — especially advertising and production, which includes the pressroom and mailroom — at the East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald, this section would not be possible.

Yet, even with all of the great efforts we’ve made to make this section possible, in the end it really isn’t about us, but about the reader.

We went into this project with high hopes and ambitious intentions. We wanted to find a way to celebrate this historic event, but do it in a way that was radically different than anything the paper has produced in the past. I think we’ve been able to do that with a weeklong podcast series — that started on July 25 — about the man and his murder, manhunt and capture on the EO‘s website, www.eastoregonian.com; on our social media channels and Apple’s Podcasts and Stitcher; and with a short video documentary that will debut on Saturday, Aug. 15.

In addition, it also meant seeking out, and then securing a method to present a product that was both readable and full of good history.

I am not going to make wide, sweeping proclamations about its quality or how big an impact it will make. Suffice to say, I think it is a pretty darn good piece of local writing and history.

I hope readers will enjoy it because, in the end, that’s the final test.