PENDLETON — Happy 200th birthday, Moses Goodwin.

Pendletonians might remember Goodwin as the man who gave Pendleton its beginning by deeding 2.5 acres as a townsite in 1868.

Goodwin might never even have settled in the area if not for a bit of serendipity.

According to an account by late Athena historian and author Mildred Searcey, a grizzled Goodwin, his wife, Aura, and two children were headed to Idaho by wagon when they stopped for the night near the Umatilla River.

This was just another leg in the Goodwin’s life journey. They had traveled to the West on the Oregon Trail to Vancouver where they had farmed and operated a hotel, but frightened by conflicts with Indians, the couple headed to Idaho. On the way, they stopped at Abram Miller’s sod-roofed cabin looking for a night’s rest. Abram and Nancy Miller invited them inside for a meal. During the evening, Miller told Goodwin he was unhappy with his place. When Goodwin offered a pair of matched mules for the 160 acres, Miller accepted.

The cabin, sitting on the corner of present-day Main Street and Court Avenue, was known as Goodwin Station.

“It wasn’t long before Goodwin’s place became known as the Cat Ranch,” wrote Searcey. “It was said that it was not unusual to see 20 or 30 cats, all tame, and all with pet names, following ‘Uncle Mosey’ about the premises.”

Besides his fondness for felines, various accounts paint Goodwin as a man with a head for business, as well as a well-honed taste for liquor. He and Aura opened a hotel just south of the Umatilla River on Main Street. He also built a bridge over the Umatilla River to make it easy for travelers to reach the new hotel. A sign pointed the way.

An ad for “Goodwin’s Hotel” in the Columbia Press describes “good hay corrals attached to the place” and “prices to suit the hard times.” The bridge, the ad said, was free to travelers. That sentence vanished from advertisements in 1868 when travelers apparently started paying tolls.

In late 1868, the Goodwins deeded 2.5 acres to the county, which erected a combination county courthouse and jail on the site. Goodwin’s brick smokehouse became part of the courthouse.

The newly platted town, also the new county seat, was named Pendleton, after Ohio Sen. George Hunt Pendleton, a Democratic candidate for vice president in 1864. Residents numbered 250 at the time. When Pendleton was officially incorporated in 1880, the population had grown to 730.

Goodwin died in 1871 at age 49. Photographs of the entrepreneur are hard to come by. His wife, Aura, who lived to age 84 and is often called “the mother of Pendleton,” is memorialized in a bronze statue on Main Street.

Some Pendleton streets bear the Goodwin name — Goodwin Avenue, Goodwin Lane and Goodwin Place. Aura Avenue pays tribute to Aura, who eventually married Henry J. Raley.

Last month, Pendleton Mayor John Turner proclaimed Moses Goodwin’s birthday, Feb. 15, 2021, as Moses Goodwin Day.

“As Mayor of Pendleton I feel a direct connection to the man who founded Pendleton, Moses Goodwin,” Turner said. “So I thank him for this legacy and feel honored to follow in his footsteps as we celebrate his 200th birthday.”

Turner said Moses packed a lot into his five decades of life.

The proclamation reads: “In January 1871, after a life well filled with good deeds, and leaving a record few will ever equal, Mr. Goodwin passed from earthly scenes to those of another world. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that I, John H. Turner, Mayor of the City of Pendleton, and on behalf of the City of Pendleton, honor Mr. Moses Goodwin, declaring February 15, 2021 — the date of the 200th anniversary of Mr. Goodwin’s birth — Moses Goodwin Day.”