Senate Concurrent Resolution 2 Oregon Laws 2011

Whereas the Happy Canyon Indian Pageant and Wild West Show is the longest running outdoor pageant and wild west show in the United States; and

Whereas the Happy Canyon Indian Pageant and Wild West Show will be celebrating its 95th anniversary in 2011; and

Whereas the Happy Canyon Indian Pageant and Wild West Show is well known for its distinctive quality and portrayal of both historic and cultural events during the era of Lewis and Clark and the Oregon Trail; and

Whereas the Happy Canyon Indian Pageant and Wild West Show has been annually presented since 1916 by a cast of both Native Americans from many different area tribes and local community volunteer actors, who participate as a long-standing family tradition; and

Whereas the Happy Canyon Indian Pageant and Wild West Show enlists more than 500 people and more than 50 animals for the production of each year’s show; and

Whereas the Happy Canyon Indian Pageant and Wild West Show takes place each year in Pendleton, Oregon, for four nights during the Pendleton Round-Up; and

Whereas Roy Raley conceived the idea for both the Happy Canyon Indian Pageant and Wild West Show and the Pendleton Round-Up and is often called the “father” of both events; and

Whereas Roy Raley wrote a show in 1914, now known as the wild west portion of the Happy Canyon Indian Pageant and Wild West Show, using stories from his father, Colonel Raley, who came to Oregon on the Oregon Trail; and

Whereas Roy Raley designed the scenery and directed the first pageants and later in 1916, with the help of local tribal members, worked up a sequence of Indian village life seen now in the present-day script; and

Whereas the Happy Canyon Indian Pageant and Wild West Show depicts the settling of the American West, beginning with a portrayal of the Native American way of life prior to the arrival of Europeans, 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; and

Whereas the Happy Canyon Indian Pageant and Wild West Show is accompanied by a live orchestra of outstanding professional musicians from Oregon, Washington and California; and

Whereas the Happy Canyon Indian Pageant and Wild West Show is known as the “world’s most unique Indian pageant”; and

Whereas the Happy Canyon Indian Pageant and Wild West Show contributes to the state’s economy by attracting residents and travelers to Oregon to attend, resulting in economic benefit to the local community and businesses; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Oregon:

That we, the members of the Seventy-sixth Legislative Assembly, designate the Happy Canyon Indian Pageant and Wild West Show as Oregon’s official state outdoor pageant and wild west show.

Filed in the office of Secretary of State June 17, 2011

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