Grave-robbing leads to fears of satanic cult

Workers in a wheat field on Sept. 22, 1992, found a recently disturbed grave at the edge of the abandoned Bowlus Cemetery, less than three miles from Milton-Freewater. Police investigating the report discovered that the shallow grave of Robert Z. Williams, who died in 1929, had been disturbed and Mr. Williams’ skull removed from the grave. Officers believed it was the work of a satanic cult.

According to Capt. John Trumbo, who was Umatilla County undersheriff at the time, evidence of satanic activity had been found in several areas of northern Umatilla County in recent years, and Umatilla County Cpl. Keith Garoutte had identified cult drawings and artifacts and confiscated county property from a site used in satanic ceremonies. Garoutte knew of an active group of Satan worshippers in the Walla Walla area and had heard reports of another in the Weston area. He said rumors of cult activity in the Milton-Freewater area were common, and he knew of activity in both Hermiston and Umatilla.

Anyone can check a book out of the library, Garoutte said, and use what they wish in their own religious ceremony. And self-styled satanists can make it tough to identify a crime as part of satanic religion. Reports of mutilated animals in the 1980s led some to fear a satanic cult was at work in the area; however, since animals that die of natural causes are often mutilated by predators, it is impossible to determine whether the animals were, in fact, part of a ritualistic sacrifice.

Whether the stolen skull was the work of a satanic cult or just some kids messing around in a gruesome fashion was anyone’s guess.

Before it was a pageant, Happy Canyon was a place

The Happy Canyon Indian Pageant and Wild West Show is an integral part of the Pendleton Round-Up. Thousands attend the nightly shows during Round-Up week at the Happy Canyon Arena, tucked behind the Pendleton Convention Center and the Round-Up Grounds. Hundreds of volunteers make it happen, and the roles are frequently handed down through generations of families.

The first iteration of the pageant was written and directed in 1913 by Roy Raley, a local lawyer and cattleman who thought rodeo fans might want something fun to do after the day’s rodeo was done. It was originally a vaudeville-type show, and was held in a temporary pavilion made to look like a frontier town near Main Street; it featured what is now the second act of the famous pageant. The show moved to its first permanent building in 1916, the year Raley and Anna Minthorn Wannassay wrote the pageant as it is now known. It has remained generally the same for the last 98 years.

But before Happy Canyon was a pageant, or even a vaudeville production, it was a well-loved place on the Umatilla River between Echo and Pendleton. According to an article in the Sept. 14, 1914 East Oregonian: “The real ‘Happy Canyon’ is that part of the Umatilla river lying between Barnhart and the old Jack Morton place a mile below Nolin. For a matter of 44 years it has borne that name, which is a monument to the happy times which a settler of that community had in the days when civilization was young here. A. W. Nye, one of the oldest pioneers of this city, is one of the two or three living persons who can tell the story of those happy times and of the christening of the community. The name was attached to the valley in the winter of 1868, according to his story. The settlers up and down the river between the points before mentioned had a dancing club which met each week at one of the houses. One evening at the conclusion of a dance which had been particularly enjoyed, Mr. Nye’s brother-in-law, Mr. Angel, moved that the valley be christened Happy Canyon and the motion carried with a whoop. Ever since then it has borne the name.”

Another article, in the Sept. 24, 1914 edition, has a slightly different story. Nolin was a social center as well as halfway point for freighters traveling from Umatilla Landing and either Pendleton or Pilot Rock. A race track several hundred yards long paralleled the road, separated by a rail fence that terminated near the base of the cliff that faces the river near Nolin. Settlers and freighters alike vied for cash and bragging rights. One particular day the stakes between two prominent stock raisers were quite high (between $40 and $60) and the excitement had been heightened by the addition of a keg of free liquor near the track. Two men began to argue, and the disagreement was punctuated with gunfire. Quite a crowd had gathered when the argument began, but scattered when the guns were displayed. Some people took cover behind the rail fence but a larger group made “an undignified effort to circle the fence in order to get to the bluff.” According to the article, “When pandemonium reigned supreme some individual who had been enjoying the day from the secure cliff top yelled, ‘Hurrah for Happy Canyon!’ From that time on Happy Canyon was the name it was known by.”

Whichever story holds the true origin of the name, Happy Canyon was indeed a memorable place for early settlers. Raley banked on the good memories to support the early show, and Happy Canyon has been as much a part of Round-Up as the famous rodeo ever since.

Cavemen invade Pendleton for bull-riding showdown

Pendleton’s Main Street Cowboys put on a week-long show on four blocks of Main Street during the Pendleton Round-Up each year. Music, comedy and magic fill stages on every block, with something different happening every hour from 2 p.m. through midnight Wednesday through Saturday. These days the Main Street show during Round-Up is a little tamer than it used to be; some residents can remember when the Cowboys staged a mock gunfight on Main Street as part of the show, complete with men falling out of windows and such. The Cowboys also used to greet celebrities and other important visitors throughout the year — sometimes on horseback with guns (loaded with blanks) blazing — as official representatives of the Round-Up City.

As part of the 1957 Round-Up celebration, Pendleton was invaded by a group of cavemen from Grants Pass intent on a bull-riding showdown with the Cowboys. Bill Foster, president of the Main Street Cowboys, received a telegram from the Oregon Cavemen challenging the Cowboys to a bull-riding duel during Round-Up. “Cavemen very disturbed at Main Street Cowboys’ boasting. We riders of the dinosaurs challenge you to a bull ride, bulls being small compared to dinosaurs, thus making this a very safe bet.” The Cavemen wagered a priceless “sabre-tooth tiger skin” against Pendleton’s best spotted calf hide, claiming five to one odds in their favor.

Once the challenge was accepted, the posturing began. Rushing to the aid of the Cowboys were the La Grande Blue Mountain Boys, who offered their squirrel rifles to back up the Cowboys “if the cave critters git out of hand.” When the Cavemen cried foul, the Cowboys countered that they had heard the Cavemen had enlisted the help of the Lone Ranger and a secret weapon (a trained skunk). An attempt by the Cavemen to enlist the help of the Sixth Army Bagpipers was unsuccessful.

The Cavemen’s dinosaur riding champion, Princess Lulu Smith, was kidnapped by the Cowboys prior to the bull-riding battle, allegedly for her own protection. “Any Westerner ought to know a dinosaur is a lazy, half-dead beast and a bull is a high-spirited animal,” said Foster. Cavewomen captured a Cowboy in retaliation, but he was liberated the following night after a rooftop gun battle. The Cavemen were still searching for Princess Lulu as they participated in the Westward Ho! Parade at the wrap-up of the festivities, bashing heads along the way (presumably with foam clubs).

Without their champion, the bull-riding contest was a bust; the Cavemen did, however, take time from their search to visit local service clubs to exchange greetings and mementos between the two cities.

As for the Lone Ranger? Clayton Moore, the man who played the original Lone Ranger on the TV series, was scheduled to appear during the 1957 Round-Up, including an appearance on Main Street. Thousands of youngsters showed up, only to be disappointed when he slipped out the side door of the Temple Hotel in street clothes. When Moore appeared during the televised portion of the finals on Saturday, he was greeted with more boos than cheers, and later apologized for what he called “a horrible misunderstanding.”

Morrow County honors returned POW

Morrow County gathered in April 1973 to welcome home one of its own. Michael “Butch” Benge, a graduate of Ione High School, was taken prisoner during the Tet offensive in 1968 in Vietnam. Following five years as a civilian POW, Benge was freed by his captors and flew home for a brief visit with his family.

Benge joined the International Volunteer Services in Vietnam in 1962 and then the Agency for International Development in 1965 as an area development advisor. He was adopted as a blood brother by the Montnegards, with whom he was working in the central highlands in Vietnam. Captured by the Viet Cong on Jan. 31, 1968, Benge was held in various places in South Vietnam for two years before being taken to North Vietnam.

“Welcome Home” signs on the walls of the Morrow County fair pavilion greeted Benge as he and his family joined 450 Morrow County residents at a potluck welcome reception April 16, 1973, in Heppner. Mayors Robert Drake of Ione, Gene Orwick of Lexington and Jerry Sweeney of Heppner presented Benge with keys to their respective cities, and other gifts included a tape recorder and typewriter, as Benge planned to write a book about his five-year captivity. He also was invited to attend the Oregon Legislature as an honored guest of State Rep. Jack Sumner of Heppner. Glenn Ward, chairman of the “Michael Benge Day” committee, said the outpouring of support was so great there weren’t enough jobs to give all the volunteers.

When Ward, a friend of the Benge family for 20 years, asked Benge how he was able to keep up with all the activities since his return, Benge replied, “Well, for five years I’ve been doing nothing.”

Benge returned to Washington, D.C., the following Monday, where he was being treated as an outpatient at Bethesda Naval Hospital. Following his release from the hospital, Benge planned to campaign around the U.S. to push for an accounting of other prisoners of war and those missing in action.

Quick action by teens saves diabetic girl

Glenn Hamby is well known in Pendleton as an advocate for kids. The Pendleton police officer has been part of the DARE program in Pendleton schools for many years, and recently grew out his curly locks with other members of the Pendleton police force to donate to kids battling cancer. But Hamby began his advocacy for local kids as a teenager when he and two friends saved the life of a girl on the edge of a diabetic coma in August of 1970.

Bruce Evans, a 10-year-old Pendleton boy, was wrapping up a day at the pool when he realized he couldn’t find his 9-year-old sister Sandra. The girl was diabetic and Bruce knew she could be in trouble if he couldn’t find her. He ran home and told his mother, Mrs. Dan Evans, who immediately called her husband and the police to search the North Hill area for the girl.

In the meantime, Glenn Hamby, 14, and friends Andy Palmer, 14, and Bryan Rainwater, 12, were also walking home from the pool when they saw a girl acting strangely in an empty lot, weaving and staggering. Glenn noticed a bracelet on her arm and recognized it as a medical alert bracelet from his Boy Scout training in first aid. Andy ran to find a phone to call police and Glenn found another phone to call an ambulance while Bryan remained with Sandy. The boys were waiting with her when both Gallaher and Dan Evans drove up at the same time.

Chief Gallaher and Evans put Sandy in the police car and took her to the hospital. She had passed through the diabetic convulsion stage and was sinking into a coma. After a night in the hospital, Sandy returned home and was completely recovered from her reaction.

In all the excitement, the Evanses didn’t get the names of the boys who saved Sandy’s life. Chief Gallaher had recognized Glenn, so the East Oregonian tracked down the other boys by calling his mother, Mrs. Robert Hamby. The boys were reunited with a grateful Evans family to receive their thanks.

Pony Express rides again

An invitation for Idaho Governor Charles (C.A.) Robins to attend the Oregon City Centennial celebration passed through Pendleton July 28, 1948, on its way to Boise. But the invitation wasn’t traveling by U.S. Post Office mail, it was carried in a saddlebag on the back of a horse. As part of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Oregon City, invitations were sent to the governors of adjoining states via the Pony Express — or, at least, a recreation of the mail system that ran from Missouri to California between April 3, 1860 and October 1861 prior to the invention of the telegraph. Washington Governor Monrad Wallgren also had an invitation delivered by horse.

Janice Daugherty, queen of the 1948 Umatilla County Fair and a member of the Hermiston Trail Dusters, rode into Pendleton and handed off the saddlebag containing Idaho’s invitation to Patti Folsom, queen of the 1947 Pendleton Round-Up, at exactly 8 a.m. Folsom took off so fast that a message from the city of Hermiston to the city of Pendleton was forgotten in the packet and had to make the trip to Idaho.

Folsom and other members of the Mustangers riding club in Pendleton ran their leg of the journey through Tutuilla and the Umatilla Indian Reservation on the way to Kamela, where they were to meet the La Grande Riders later that day. The journey was scheduled to cover 36 miles, with the packet changing hands every four miles. The Pendleton contingent arrived in Kamela so far ahead of schedule they traveled another six miles, meeting the La Grande group on the way. And they covered the distance in a record 3 hours, 11 minutes, according to old-timers who said “When you make 14 miles an hour, mostly uphill, you’re a-travelin’.”

Kathryn Lazinka, who rode three sections of the route, made the final handoff. Lazinka was one of the most famous Mustangers of the time and was leading for both the men’s and women’s senior championships for the 1948 Mustangers season. 

Round-Up serves as backdrop for 1924 movie shoot

A rowdy group of Pendleton people was out in force in August 1924 when Hoot Gibson, star of Universal Pictures and the first all-around champion of the 1912 Pendleton Round-Up, arrived with a crew from the California studio to shoot the outdoor scenes for two movies. One, “The Ridin’ Kid from Powder River,” was staged on Emigrant Hill near Meacham, in the Blue Mountains east of Pendleton. The second movie, “Let ’er Buck,” would use the 15th annual Round-Up as its backdrop.

Accompanying Gibson were the movie’s director, Edward Sedgwick, female lead Marion Nixon, and Josie Sedgwick, who had the “sympathetic lead” role. The company also included Tommy Grimes, who won the steer roping contest in the 1923 Round-Up; Tommy Sutton, winner of the 1923 Northwest bucking contest; and many other notable cowboys and cowgirls. Pendleton locals Herbert Thompson and Mrs. James Sturgis also were chosen by Sedgwick to play small parts in “Ridin’ Kid.” Round-Up president Henry Collins and James Sturgis earned bit parts in “Let ’er Buck,” and many of the scenes for the second film were shot not only at the Round-Up Grounds but in Pendleton’s streets, with locals as extras.

Action scenes for “Let’er Buck” were shot during the rodeo’s daily performances, but the film crew had to follow strict rules. Nothing is allowed to interfere or slow up the competition during Round-Up competition. Nothing but the actual competitions are allowed in the arena, which is kept clear of everything but the competitors. Gibson and his company, in order to film the action of his story, had to take the action of the Round-Up as it really happened, with no specially arranged stunts. Where the story called for footage of Hoot or any of his company in the Round-Up events, they had to participate as actual competitors, and his cameramen had to take the results as they actually happened. But the “gang” was eminently qualified, as all were past rodeo champions.

As an added bonus for the troupe, Josie Sedgwick was chosen to serve as queen of the Round-Up during the 1924 celebration. Edward Sedgwick was made an honorary “Pendletonian” during the crew’s time in the Round-Up City. And Gibson was presented with Mrs. Wiggs, a bucking horse that tossed him in 1913, who was retired after 12 years as part of the Round-Up’s famous bucking string.

In 1912, Gibson drifted into Pendleton with not much more than the clothes on his back, and walked away with the rodeo’s highest honor. When he returned in 1924, he gave back something to the town that helped him get his start, spending a reported $80,000 in cash during the movie shoot. “Pendleton treated me right when I was flat,” said Gibson. “It never forgets the cowboys that helped put the Round-Up over when it was young, and I just wanted to show that the boys never forget Pendleton either.”