Page:Oregon, her history, her great men, her literature.djvu/300

 they have succeeded in making classic many features belonging to the border. Their performances are given on a quarter-mile circuit surrounded by grandstand and bleachers with a total seating capacity of 40«000—the largest west of the Mississippi River.

The Pendleton Round-Up was first produced in 1910. Since then it has been held annually. The performances continue three days, during which world championships in the sports of the cowboy are won and lost. Patronage has steadily increased until this exhibition of frontier horsemanship is witnessed by the largest assemblages attending any single event in the western part of the continent.

A peculiar feature of the Round-Up at Pendleton is its absolute freedom from commercialism. Citizens of that community own the stock. The officials tender their services without compensation; they purchase their own tickets of admission; and all profits are expended in improving the performances and the stadium. It is thus that the Pendleton Round-Up has been safeguarded from criticism and preserved from decay.

Oregon's "Grand Old Man." A distinctive honor came to the State of Oregon when, in 1871 President Grant appointed Hon. George H. Williams, its most prominent citizen, to the position of Attorney General of the United States, who thus became the first member of a President's cabinet to be selected from the Pacific Coast. Mr. Williams was born