History

The site of Umatilla was first visited by Lewis & Clark on Sunday, April 27, 1806 as they surveyed the Pacific Northwest for the U.S. Government.  Stories are told of Lewis & Clark standing on a hill approximately 200 feet above the Columbia River, possibly not too far from the present day site of the Two Rivers Correctional Institution.  From this vantage point they saw Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams before they traversed or "shot" the Musselshoal Rapids which ran through Umatilla at that time.  

Umatilla was visited again on February 21, 1812 by Wilson Price Hunt for John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company.  Robert Stuart also visited on his way west to Fort Astoria on July 24, 1812.  

In September 25, 1861,  the area east of the mouth of the Umatilla River was surveyed by Timothy W. Davenport and became known on the General Land Office Map as Umatilla Landing.  The only structure reported to be present at the time was the Umatilla Warehouse.  On August 2, 1862, Jesse Lurchin applied for preemption of 120 acres above the mouth of the Umatilla River to establish a town site.  On May 28, 1863 the first Post Office was established and Z. F. Moody was assigned as the first Postmaster.  The original city plat of Umatilla was filed on June 6, 1863.  In 1864, a license was granted to F.  P. Foster and D.A. Clifford to operated the first ferry across the Columbia River from Umatilla.  In June 1864, Umatilla became the County Seat of Umatilla County.  Umatilla was incorporated on October 24, 1864; on December 18, 1865 the incorporation was repealed.  Then in 1906, Umatilla was reincorporated.  In 1867, the ANN and the LEWISTON steamships were built at Umatilla.  In 1868 the County Seat was moved from Umatilla to Pendleton.  On Tuesday, December 5, 1906, Laura J. Starcher was elected as Mayor.  Women were also elected as Recorder, Treasurer, as well as to four Council positions.

Between 1928 and 1931, an intensive study was done for the McNary Dam site.  Construction began on the McNary Dam project in 1947 with the dedication by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on September 23, 1954.  In 1955 a bridge was constructed over the Columbia River replacing the ferry between Umatilla and Plymouth, Washington.  

In 1968 the John Day Dam project was completed 76 miles downstream to form what is called Lake Umatilla, which reaches from the John Day Dam at Rufus, Oregon to McNary Dam.  Between 1965 and 1966, the original town site was relocated to it's current location.  In 1973 the town site of McNary was annexed into the City creating a population of approximately 2,000 people.

Major improvements were made to city water system in 1994 and a new wastewater treatment facility was completed in 2000.  Construction of the medium-security Two Rivers Correctional Institution was started in 1998 and a new high school was completed in 1999.  The Umatilla High School boys basketball team won the state 2-A Championship in 1997.

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