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Hall of Fame

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https://rounduphalloffame.org/

Admission: FREE (Donation Only)

SUMMER Weekday hours: Tuesday-Friday 10am - 4pm

SUMMER Weekend hours: Saturday 10am - 4pm

The Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon Hall of Fame was founded in 1969. Ten men and five horses were the first honorees. Each year the Hall of Fame Board of Directors and its Members select other men, women and sometimes livestock as honorees. An honoree must have a long association with Round-Up and Happy Canyon. A special section of the Hall of Fame is devoted to our honorees. Each year, a special display case is set up for the current inductees. These cases include pictures, clothing and other memorabilia that showcase the contributions of the honoree.

Exhibits in the Hall of Fame cover a wide range of subjects and span more than 100 years of Round-Up history. Saddles, clothing, Indian costumes, photographs, firearms, trophies, wagons…hundreds of items are displayed for your enjoyment.

You can become a member of the Hall of Fame, and help to ensure the history and artifacts of the Round-Up and Happy Canyon we enjoy today will still be here tomorrow.

For more information call 541-278-0815. The Hall of Fame building is located at 1114 SW Court Ave, across from the Round-Up grounds.

2024 Hall of Fame Inductees

The Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon Hall of Fame introduce new inductees for 2024! The Hall of Fame Banquet honoring our newest inductees will be Sunday, September 08, 2024, preceding Round-Up week, at the Pendleton Convention Center. Cocktail hour: 5:30pm

Tickets are on sale at the store or call 541.612.3421

TICKETS: $45 IN ADVANCE | $50 AT DOOR

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Each year, the Pendleton Round-Up & Happy Canyon Hall of Fame membership selects a new class of inductees into the prestigious Hall of Fame. Nominees are submitted for various categories, which can include contestants, volunteers, contract personnel, animal, and Native Americans, and members of the Hall of Fame have the opportunity to vote on the nominees. Inductees are announced each spring, with an Inductee Banquet held during Round-Up to honor the year’s inductees. Inductees are also introduced during a presentation in the famous Pendleton Round-Up Arena on the Wednesday of Round-Up week each year.

The Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon Hall of Fame announced their 2024 inductees at their annual membership meeting.

This year’s inductees include;

Contract Personnel Category, Bobby Christensen Jr.
Early Years Category, Jesse Jones Sr.
Happy Canyon Volunteers, Scott & Bonnie Sager
Contestant Category, Pat Nogle
Special Inductees, Ron & Linné Dodge

Bobby Christensen Jr.

Bobby Christensen Jr.- Contract Personnel Category

Bobby Christensen’s involvement with the Pendleton Round-Up encompasses a 47- year period including roles as a Stock Contractor, Competitor, and Volunteer. A second-generation Rodeo Stock Contractor, Bobby Jr. became joint business partner and General Manager of the Christensen Brothers Rodeo and Stock Company in 1969. He worked alongside his Uncle Hank and father, Bobby Sr. to provide top-notch rodeos across the Northwest including Pendleton Round-Up for over 50 years. In high demand, Christensen Brothers became known as a Rodeo Stock Company that helped rodeo become the sport as we know it today. Annually, CB Rodeo traveled to over 36 locations in Idaho, California, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Canada conducting over 10,000 performances through the
years. Cowboys and crowds looked forward to the quality and competition on CB’s livestock and were not disappointed as CB repeatedly provided some of the top rodeo stock in the nation including World Championship Animals: War Paint, Checkmate, Miss Klamath, Smith & Velvet & Oscar’s Velvet. Locally, three of the Christensen Brother’s stock are inducted into the Pendleton Round-Up & Happy Canyon Hall of Fame including: Miss Klamath- 1975; Smith & Velvet 2018 and War Paint 1969. Prior to serving as Manager for CB, Bobby worked with the family rodeo business primarily in the arena as a Pick-Up man for approx. 25 years. Bitten by the “competitor” bug in the 1960’s, Bobby also competed at Pendleton Round-Up for 8 years in the Bareback event & also took a stab at the Wild Horse Race. Since the dissolvement of CB Rodeo Company in 1989, Bobby Jr. has continued to return to Pendleton Round-Up working many years as a volunteer in the backlot to mentor new cowboys and assist with the flow of arena events. Most recently he has assisted with historic programming details for the Hall of Fame relative to the research of contestants and animals for exhibits. In 2021, he participated in the Cowboy Special Moments Television Series on behalf of the Hall of Fame “War Paint Horse of the Decades” Celebration. Bobby Jr. and his wife Nancy make their home in Arlington, Oregon where they are actively engaged in numerous local community & Gilliam County activities.

Jessie Jones Sr.

Jesse Jones Sr. – Early Years Category

Also known as Chief Umapine, Jessie Jones Sr. agreed to have his people of the Cayuse Tribe participate in the Pendleton Round-Up celebration in August of 1910. He was known through Indian history to be part of numerous functions throughout the Tribes of the Umatilla reservation. He, along with the other Chiefs of the Umatilla tribes voted unanimously to participate in the first Round-Up celebration. According to Indian history, in his early years he raised and trained horses for Indian Chiefs, War Chiefs, and Warriors of the three tribes of the Umatilla reservation. He later became the Chief of the Cayuse and became a local legend of the area from where he was from, later to be called Umapine, Oregon. He was well known for leading numerous ceremonies, spreading Native American awareness for Indians and non-Indians, and participating in significant events, such as the Pendleton Round-Up. He participated in Round-Up for 40-plus years.

Scott & Bonnie Sager

Scott & Bonnie Sager – Happy Canyon Volunteers Category

Dedicated to the behind-the-scenes action of Happy Canyon and Pendleton Round-Up for over 63 years, Scott and Bonnie Sager are best known as the “go-to” couple for wisdom in project development and the historic connections that are vital to the Happy Canyon and Pendleton Round-Up. Both have spearheaded significant projects including planning and fundraising for the Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon Hall of Fame building under Bonnie’s leadership as a 3 term President. They were also involved in the development of the “Rendezvous” Wagon Train in 1983 which continues today as the Pendleton Round-Up Wagon Train. They also helped in the Round- Up and Happy Canyon Rendezvous Ceremonial Celebration/International Media Event in 1988 and Scott created a stop at Indian Lake which included ceremonial participation from Native Americans in memory of Chief Clarence Burke. Scott served as a Happy Canyon Director from 1984-1993, while Bonnie served on the Hall of Fame from 1995-2002. Scott’s ability to work with the public enabled him to draw a huge level of Native American participation in full regalia for the Rose Festival parade the 75th year of the Happy Canyon. Scott also provided security for many years for the Happy Canyon and Round-Up grounds as a volunteer deputy sheriff. Scott performed in the Happy Canyon town scenes in the early 60’s, Bonnie joined in the early 80’s. Their three daughters have been volunteers for Round-Up and Happy Canyon. Both are retired and are enjoying their mountain home above Pilot Rock, however, they both continue to serve on numerous community projects and boards of directors.

Pat Nogle

Pat Nogle – Contestant Category

Pat is a native Oregon cowboy who grew up on his family’s ranch in Grass Valley. Many thought his rodeo career could have been much grander, especially as a National Finals Rodeo qualifier, where he competed only twice, once in 1976 and again in 1979. However, Pat competed primarily in the Pacific Northwest because he was so dedicated to helping on the family ranch. He won the Oregon High School championship twice, and came in 2nd those same years at
the High School National Finals. He then placed 2nd in the Nation 3 consecutive times at the college level while competing for Walla Walla Community College. He also holds three records within the Columbia Circuit, where he won the most year-end steer wrestling titles of 8, had the most consecutive titles of 3, and the longest span between the first and last titles of 17 years. Pat competed in the Pendleton Round-Up for four decades beginning in the 1970’s and up to the early 2000’s. Pat won the Bulldogging Championship in 1976 at Pendleton, as well as Championship buckles in Ellensburg, Salinas (CA), Omak (5-times), St. Paul (3-times), and the Columbia River Circuit numerous times over 3-decades, with numerous records that still stand to this day. Pat has been married for 40-years to his wife Sandy and still lives on the family ranch in Grass Valley, Oregon. They have two daughters and three grandchildren. He continues to promote rodeo through this involvement in rodeo schools around the Northwest.

Ron & Linné Dodge

Ron & Linné Dodge – Special Inductee

This year, The Round-Up and Happy Canyon Hall of Fame Board of Directors have approved the special induction of Ron and Linné Dodge. When the first Pendleton Whisky was poured in 2003, it opened the door for a lasting friendship with Ron and Linné Dodge. The Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon were soon to realize how humble and generous these two people could be. The idea of a rodeo-themed whisky actually got started with the HRD sales team in 1999. After some consideration they believed the Pendleton Round-Up was the one rodeo with a lot of history, so the decision was to approach the Pendleton Round-Up. Ron thought since Hood River Distillers was an older Oregon company and the Pendleton Round-Up was such a good tradition that it would be a good match. They approached the Logo Committee in 2001 with the idea of “Let’er Buck Whisky” and met with the full Board in 2002 to make their presentation. Later their marketing firm felt they could do a much better job in sales with a higher end whisky called “Pendleton Whisky”. After negotiations were complete with Round-Up, Pendleton Whisky was launched in 2003.

The first-year contract had a minimum royalty guarantee of $10,000 regardless of the sales percentage. Ron said he had plenty of sleepless nights over that guarantee. The first check to Round-Up was for $13,532.99 for 2003. The second year it was $55,334.96. The popularity and sales grew much faster than anyone could have anticipated. Ron said many companies and rodeos have tried but nothing has been duplicated. The last year, which was 2018, that Hood River Distillers owned Pendleton Whisky, the royalty check to Pendleton Round-Up was $1,934,097. When they first launched Pendleton Whisky they thought it would be a northwest or regional whisky. They didn’t consider all the cowboys that come to the Pendleton Round-Up. They come from all over the country and so it spread like wildfire that there was a cowboy whisky that was great. Linné said the cowboys and Directors were their best marketing. Linné’s real work was being Ron’s right-hand person. She took care of more than 50 guests they had coming each year, making sure they had tickets, hotel rooms, meals, and getting them from Round-Up to Happy Canyon or wherever they needed to be. It was important to her that the guests learned and appreciated all the history and tradition surrounding Pendleton and the western lifestyle, not just the rodeo. Linné became a volunteer on the runout crew during slack. Linné thought it was a one-time thing but they kept inviting her back. She also enjoys riding in the Westward Ho! Parade. Ron and Linné were very excited for the Centennial year knowing that Pendleton Whisky funds contributed in building the new West Grandstand. Ron and Linné were chosen as Grand Marshals in the Westward Ho! Parade in 2013. More recently, Linné and Ron have enjoyed camping and riding with the annual Pendleton Round-Up Wagon Train up in the Blue Mountains. Ron joined HRD in 1980 as an assistant to the Vice President of Operations. His grandfather and three business partners purchased Hood River Distillers from the original founders in 1949. He progressed through the ranks becoming Plant Manager in 1988, and then in 1999 became President and CEO. After the sale of Pendleton Ron focused on leadership succession planning and handed off his President and CEO responsibilities. The next generation of the Dodge family is hard at work ensuring that the legacy of Hood River Distillers continues for another 90 years. Their son Russell is Vice President of Corporate Development and daughter Korrie is Senior Brand Manager in the Marketing Department. Members of the other three families are still active shareholders.