Tuesday, September 5, 2023
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Our Place in Walla Walla: The Happy Canyon Pageant
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Feature by: Noah Leavitt, College Liaison for Community Affairs
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Photo (Natalie Mutter): Pendleton Round-Up photo from the Sept. 22, 2016 issue of The Whitman Wire in the Whitman College and Northwest Archives.
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The Pendleton Round-Up, running from Wednesday, Sept. 13 through Saturday, Sept. 16, is one of the oldest and largest rodeos in the United States. Visitors from around the globe inundate the small city to watch extraordinary riders test their skills. The phrase, “Let ’er buck!”—the event’s motto—seems ubiquitous.
Another special event connected to yet quite distinct from the rodeo is the Happy Canyon Pageant.
“The Pageant is a show depicting the settling of the American West, beginning with a portrayal of the Native American way of life prior to the arrival of the white man, continuing with the arrival of Lewis and Clark, followed by the prairie schooners of the pioneers of the Oregon Trail and concluding with a reenactment of a frontier town's rollicking main street mishaps.” (from the Round-Up website)
The pageant’s original script was written in 1914 by Roy Raley. According to the Happy Canyon history webpage, Raley was a sort of liberal artsy-type of his time, working as a “lawyer, legislator, cattleman, banker, surveyor, engineer, sportsman, businessman, and creator of community celebrations. He was a man who ‘made things happen’ and not just any way, but the right way.” In 1916, Raley reworked his script to add an Indian component to the story.
Becky Fletcher Waggoner is a Happy Canyon volunteer and current Show Director (third generation) and is the author of the 2016 book, “Happy Canyon: A History of the World’s Most Unique Indian Pageant & Wild West Show.” Becky told me that the event is the official Oregon Outdoor Indian Pageant and Wild West Show and the “OLDEST Indian Pageant and Wild West Show in the world going into our 107th year.”
Read more.
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Whitman Professors to Stage Play in Walla Walla
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Visiting Professor of Philosophy Timothy Golden and Professor of Theater Emerita Nancy Simon are collaborating on a local production of “How I Learned What I Learned.” The show will be presented on Saturday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 10 at 2 p.m. at Gesa Power House Theatre in Walla Walla. In this one-man memory play, Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning writer August Wilson shares stories of his personal and artistic journey, focusing on his early years in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, his first jobs and first loves, the friends who inspired and supported him, his skirmishes with racism and the music and memories that inspired his American Century Cycle: 10 plays, one for each decade of the 20th century, illuminating the human condition through the lens of African-American experience.
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Kaufman-Osborn To Be Featured at Political Theory Conference
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Timothy V. Kaufman-Osborn, the Baker Ferguson Professor of Politics and Leadership Emeritus, will participate in an “Author Meets Critics” discussion at a Western Political Science Association virtual mini-conference on Friday, Sept. 8 from 9–10:30 a.m. The subject will be his book, “The Autocratic Academy: Reenvisioning Rule within America’s Universities.” The event is free and open to the public (Zoom link).
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Correction: The headline for the recent news of Professor Majumdar’s book publication should have read, “Gaurav Majumdar Paperback Published.”
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Campus Update Meetings on Wednesday, Thursday
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President Sarah Bolton invites all staff and faculty members to attend one of two Campus Update meetings this week, on Tuesday, Sept. 5 at 4 p.m. or Wednesday, Sept. 6 at 8 a.m. in Maxey Auditorium. Please join your colleagues for a conversation about the state of the college and plans for the upcoming academic year.
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If you missed the virtual presentation titled “The Humans at the Center of Human-Centered Design at Whitman” earlier this month, a video recording is now available for viewing at your convenience. Hear from five faculty members and learn more about the new Human-Centered Design concentration.
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Campus Update with President Bolton
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Reid Campus Center, Side Lawn
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Campus Update with President Bolton
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Reid Campus Center, Young Ballroom
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Reid Campus Center, Room 207
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North Fork John Day Wilderness
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Would you like to share an event with campus? Submit the information to the Events Calendar.
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“Whitman Today” is produced by the Office of Communications and is emailed Monday through Friday to Whitman College staff, faculty and students.
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Previous issues of Whitman Today are archived on our website.
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