Greater Redmond Historical Society

10/21/2026

Metolius in it’s Prime

10/20/2026

Camp Abbot history

MUSEUM MONDAY – CAMP ABBOT was named after Lt. Abbot who camped there in September of 1855 while looking for a railroad route from the Columbia River to Sacramento
In 1942 Camp Abbot was created with 5500 acres and dedicated to train combat engineers. The troops were taught to build bridges, canals and roads, lay mines and clear mine fields. The population of the camp grew to 10,000 soldiers!
The General Patch bridge was built by the engineers and troops during this time as was an airfield where Cross Water is today.

10/14/2026

This might interest some of you.

Come join us for our first talk of the new season!

10/13/2026

Downtown Redmond in the 1950’s

10/08/2026

This will be interesting Central Oregon history.

Calling all history buffs!

Hike back in time with the Land Trust this month. Imagine traveling west in a wagon train to transport wool while exploring the Santiam Wagon Road at Whychus Canyon Preserve on October 16th.

Then, head to Camp Polk Meadow Preserve on October 17th to learn what brought Indigenous people to the meadow, and see evidence of Euro-American settlers making a living there. You'll also learn about some of the early settlers buried at Camp Polk Cemetery.

Photo: Joan Amero.

10/06/2026

Interesting

First crossing over the Crooked River Bridge

09/30/2026

In 1909, a family named Bishop bought a shuttered wool mill in Pendleton, Oregon, and turned it into one of the most recognizable names in American textiles. Charles and Fannie Bishop weren't strangers to wool. Fannie had grown up learning the trade from her father, Thomas Kay, who ran his own woolen mill up in Salem, and she passed that knowledge straight down to her three sons. 🧶

What set the Pendleton mill apart from the start was who it was weaving for. As early as 1896, the mill was producing trade blankets for the Umatilla, Cayuse, Nez Perce, and Walla Walla peoples, working directly with tribal buyers on the patterns and colors that would matter to them. That relationship shaped the company's whole identity, and it later expanded those partnerships to Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni communities in the Southwest. 🪢

The company moved its headquarters to Portland in 1919, but the original Pendleton mill still stands, weaving blankets more than a century after the Bishops first fired up the looms. 🏭

Pendleton's earliest trade blankets were designed in direct partnership with the tribal nations who bought them. Do you have a Pendleton blanket or jacket that's been passed down in your family?