East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1912-02-10
WESTERN UMAT|LLA
HISTORY IS GIVEN
PRES. DODD OF HERnSTON
ENLIGHTENS ENGINEERS
Leads Reclamation Men Through
Three Million Years of Habitation
of Jack Rabbits and RattIesnalSes
to Present Time.
Especial Correspondence

Hermiston, Ore, Feb. 10.-At the
banquet given the engineers of the
reclamation service by the people or
Hermiston Wednesday evening, am
ong the principal speakers of the
evening was Elmer P. Dodd, PRECEDENT
of the Hermiston Commercial club.
His address was as follows:
When most of us came to Hermis-
ton there was little else than rabbits,
rattlesnakes and reclamation engi-
neers. The rattlers have disappear
ed, the long-eared jacks are on the
run, but the engineers are with US
still, and we hope are here to stay.
A long article in the Oregonian the
other day told us that oregon was
three million years old and it is my
opinion that If the rabbits and rat
tlesnakes could make nothing more
than sagey, sandy waste of this re-
markable region in such aeons of
time, it is high time we were welcom-
ing most anyone to drive them hence.
After the engineers came to inter-
rupt this long UNMARRIED course of ma
ture, we came. Like true Americans
we followed the flag. We have seal
ed the ramparts built by the wild
elements of nature and a cultured
race is breeding culture into the
sands of time" In a country for
got three million years, we, in the
| fullness of our faith in the demands
or the century set foot upon wild
soils and are tanning them to gentle
ness in half a decade. And now like
Il 40 al tx-a N
worlds to subdue. 1t is to show how
strong is our faith and how great that
yearning has been shown by actua
deeds, that / was appointed to write
for you a brief history of the popu.
lar support that has been given the
West Extension by the people whC
know most of the government recla
nation work here, and the character
of the proposed west extension.
The editor of the Irrigation Ag,
wrote, after years of travel and in
vestigation, that the desert sand soil
are the richest and most enduring o
any soils in the world. The forces II
them are latent and need but to b.
released by chemical action to be
come the most fertile of all lands
II
because of the mild climate in sue
latitude; of the low elevation; of tn
excellent transportation facilities an
nearness to market, we have estah
lished our faith in the country, an
since the cry of the time is back
the land" and the demand of the ag
is diversified farming we know {
no greater opportunity to satisfy til
= calls and needs of the people, whiG
is the purpose of good government
- and which makes good distory.
August 25th, 1909, the secretary
the interior withdrew from entl
lands now in the west extension. FC
some months these lands had bee
open to the public, but for muc
longer prior to that period they ha
been in a reserve. The placing
j. them back into a reserve raised
question in our minds as to what II
government had up its sleeve. SO. "
as citizens of the immediate vicii
ity began to figure a little and il
h quire. We got hint or two, an
with a hunch or two made a Ion
guess or two and went to work
promote the construction of the We
Extension of the Umatilla project; o
in 1uct, the real original Umatil
project. We believed, that, as cit
zens of the first division of the Umi
tilla project. it was our duty to rel
resent as we'll as we could the pop
lar sentiment side of the question. "
believed that other things were n
cessary than the creation Of a r
serve and the engineering feasibi
ity. There must be a demand show
for such great public works, and v
set about to prove to the authoriti
in control that there was such d
mand We knew that the feasib
ity or unfeasibility of the extensi'
n would be presented by the reclaim
ton service. With that we had lit
to do, but we did know other mer
or the enterprise, and we have do
all we could to present them on
occasions.
On November II, 1909, ma
-. meeting was held in Hermiston
- the form of banquet like this. o
cf our congressman was present a
we presented the matter and urg
and received promise of his heal
support. At that meeting, a nul
Der of Pendleton citizens We're pr,
ent and invited us to attend a simi
meeting in Pendleton on Noveml
27th. A large number of Hermist
citizens went to Pendleton, and a
citizens from Umatilla and Irrig,
1t was a big meeting and Pendlet
pledged its unanimous support to
cause. A committee of ten was {
pointed by the president of the p,
dleton Commercial club-five fir,
Pendleton and five from this local.
This committee raised funds in P,
no- dleton, Hermiston, Umatilla and
rigon for its work. We began to
tition the director of the reclamat
- service, and the secretary of the
terror. A subcommittee of tn
prominent and influential citizens
OC Pendleton was selected by the &C
mittee of ten to go to Portland
cS arouse interest among the organi
bodies of that city, and with
press and statewide campaign
thus inaugurated. A great dem
went up that oregon, the grea
contributor to the reclamation fl
be recognized. Then congress {
vened. Senator Borah proposed
thirty million dollar bond issue.