100 Years Ago

From the East Oregonian

Dec. 1, 1920

Old Mother Umatilla, who produces her own Christmas trees for the delight of her children at the Yuletide season, has not been idle during the past year and from all reports, there will be an abundance of evergreen to bloom with gifts and candles on December 25, 1920. The fir, undoubtedly the Christmas tree par-excellence, grows in abundance in this county and is brought to Pendleton from Meacham, Kamela and Weston Mountain. The trees sold are from private lands, as evergreens can be cut from the national forests only through a timber sale. Prices of Christmas trees vary from 25 to 50 cents on up. There is little profit in the business, and farmers and owners of woodlots who look upon the fragrant trees as gifts of nature, sell them for the cost of cutting and hauling.

50 Years Ago

From the East Oregonian

Dec. 1, 1970

A horseless “Lady Godiva” was arrested by city police Tuesday evening. Well, she really couldn’t qualify as a Lady Godiva because she was wearing something — a pair of black cowboy boots. A policeman spotted her crossing Dorion Avenue at SE 1st, near the city hall, about 6:30. He took the 46-year-old woman to the police station and draped a coat over her before charging her with indecent exposure. The municipal judge sentenced the woman to 30 days and then suspended it on condition that no further charge was lodged against her in the next six months.

25 Years Ago

From the East Oregonian

Dec. 1, 1995

The raging waters of the Umatilla River swelled and spilled through ruptured levees onto driveways, lawns and porches Tuesday in Mission Basin. Residents arrived home from work or errands to find their houses nearly inaccessible in a matter of hours in a flood that’s bringing back memories of May 1991. Snow melt and two day of steady rains — nearly an inch in Pendleton on Monday and nearly 3 inches at Meacham — ran the Umatilla River as high as 10,000 cubic feet per second. Bureau of Indian Affairs staff are assessing the area flood damage by helicopter today, said administrator Paul Sanchez. He said the two hardest hit areas were Squaw Creek — where four feet of water swamped the bridge — and Mission.