Members of the Astor Party under the leadership of Wilson Price Hunt camped here in 1812 on their way to the mouth of the Columbia. They traded with the Indians for horses which they used for food. The river was called the Eu.o.tal.la (Umatilla) and abounded with beaver. From 1844 the wagon migrations to the Willamette Valley passed this way. This was also an important point during the Stagecoach Period. Pendleton was founded in 1868 and named for George Hunt Pendleton, U.S. Senator from Ohio.