PENDLETON, Ore. – This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Pendleton Roundup and is expected to be the biggest event in its history. Rodeo week runs from Sept 11 – 18 with the Roundup itself taking place the final three days, although other rodeo events precede it. The kickoff concert on Sept. 11 starts off the week and is headlined this year by country music icons, Kenny Rogers and The Oak Ridge Boys. The week includes parades, dances, four cowboy breakfasts, barbecues and other events including the famous Happy Canyon Indian Pageant.
Happy Canyon is a historical pageant showing the changes that have taken place in the West from before the arrival of Lewis and Clark and white settlers and concluding with a re-enactment of the rollicking mishaps of a frontier town. This annual event features actors who are local people including many Native Americans from various tribes and many play the same roles passed down by earlier generations of their families.
A thank you dinner in mid-August honored the Roundup and Happy Canyon royalty for the work they have done during the year in promoting the event. The 100th anniversary placed an even bigger work load on Roundup organizers and royalty.
“This event (tonight) has always been the signal before the race and before you know it Roundup is here,” said Roundup President Randy Severe. “That happened every year up to this year. This year it started the day after Roundup ended last year. It’s been a fun year. It’s been a great year.” Ticket sales for the rodeo and motel rooms in the area have been sold out since a day or two after the Roundup ended in 2009.
Katie Harris and Alexandria (Alex) Nilo are the two Happy Canyon princesses. Both are enrolled on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and both are college students. These beautiful young ladies have spent nearly a year representing the Pendleton Roundup and especially Happy Canyon at events throughout the West.
“I’ve been excited the whole time,” Alex said. “When we first started it was really slow and then we picked up in May and started having more events. August is our heaviest month. We have events nearly every day. Yeah, I like it a lot.”
Each of the Happy Canyon princesses will be wearing beautiful old dresses which have been passed down through the years. Each dress has a history associated with earlier pageants. Katie will be wearing a dress worn by Eliza Wild Bill when she won the American Beauty Contest at the first contest back in 1916. Katie comes from a large family with an amazing history. At least 20 former Happy Canyon princesses and a like number of American Beauty contestants are related to her.
Alex’s dress is even older, “about 150 years old,” she said. “It was made by Mary Samuels who my grandparents took in after her husband passed away. They helped raise her as she was alone. She made all the dresses in the family and my mom got some. It’s made out of ram hide and is fully beaded on the top and flares on the bottom and is made for riding horses. It’s the third time it’s been in the pageant. My cousin, Lorena Thompson, wore it in 1984 and my mother wore it in the Indian Pageant in 1988.”
A huge crowd gathered on this evening at the Pendleton Convention Center for a lavish meal. It was a mixed crowd invited to attend. Many Native Americans were among the ranch folks. Royalty from past years were seen in the crowd as well as Gary Burke, current chief of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation.
Photos were projected on a large screen showing the Pendleton Roundup queen, Cheyenne Williams and her four princesses and the two Happy Canyon princesses, at many events they visited in several states promoting the Roundup.
Each of the young women took their turn at the microphone to introduce her family and to thank those who had made the year special. Katie remarked, “It’s been Christmas practically every single day this year because of you guys.”
Alex concluded her remarks saying, “You guys are awesome!”
“I’m very grateful for your support with the Happy Canyon princesses throughout the year and the many things you do behind the scenes,” said Happy Canyon Chairman Allen Waggoner. “In speaking of the two princesses he said, “I’ve really appreciated their effort and work this year in promoting Happy Canyon. I think they’ve done a fantastic job. We’re appreciative of the work they’ve done and thankful to have them this year.”
Lona Pond, a Happy Canyon princess in 1982 and 1983 and Katie’s aunt, talked of the history of the Roundup and Happy Canyon. “They’re unique in that since the beginning the cowboys and Indians worked together. Cowboys wanted to celebrate the end of harvest and the Indians celebrated the last feast, the huckleberry feast. It belongs to the ancient religion of the Washat here on the Plateau. We all share in the history of the Pendleton Roundup and Happy Canyon Pageant.”
