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Welcome to Northeastern Oregon--at the foot of the Blue Mountains! |
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Umatilla County is located in the Northeast corner of
Oregon, along The Oregon Trail, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. This site is a volunteer effort to assist historians, history buffs and genealogists to search public records and private records for information on the history of Umatilla County. It is one of hundreds of similar sites that are manned by volunteers across the United States. We welcome information for this website. If you have a website that you would like to suggest for a link to this page, please let me know. If you would like to submit your research or information or even photographs or maps, we would welcome it for this site as long as we are not infringing on copyright laws. We'll be happy to create the format for it. Suggestions are always welcome! Enjoy! |
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Umatilla County
History |
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Umatilla County was created September 27, 1862. It was carved out of
Wasco County, as it was laid out at that time. Umatilla County's
name is derived from an Indian word Youmalolam, as reported in
Lewis and Clark journals. It means "water rippling over sand." The first county seat was located at the town of Umatilla by a vote of the people in 1865. A legislative act in 1868 directed that the people decide on the location of the county seat. The new location was selected and named "Pendleton" in honor of George Hunt Pendleton, Democratic nominee for vice-president from Ohio. |
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The county is located at the southwest corner of the great Columbia
Basin and extends from the 200 foot elevation of the Columbia River,
across the rolling plains and low hills to the tops of the Blue
Mountains at the 5,000 foot elevation. Umatilla County is situated along the Oregon Trail and was visited by Lewis and Clark in . Wagon trains traveled through the Blue Mountains, winding their way down to the banks of the Umatilla River where Pendleton now stands. |
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Dedicated to preserving
Umatilla
County history!  |