Indian Blanket

by Jon Burch Photography

Title

Indian Blanket

Artist

Jon Burch Photography

Medium

Photograph - Digital Capture & Enhancement

Description

Pendleton Woolen Mills is an American textile manufacturing company in Pendleton, Oregon, United States known for its blankets and woolen clothing.

The company’s roots began in 1863 when Thomas Kay made a transcontinental trek to the west coast and began working in Oregon's woolen mills. He went on to open the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill in Salem, Oregon. Kay was an immigrant from England and a weaver by trade. He had worked in various textile mills on the east coast of the United States. Before opening his own mill in Salem, he helped to set up only the second mill in Oregon at Brownsville.

In 1909 the family moved to Pendleton in northeastern Oregon and took over the defunct Pendleton Woolen Mills. The town of Pendleton backed the family in their new business venture and the Bishops’ company also took over the name Pendleton Woolen Mills. The move made sense for the business because eastern Oregon was sheep country and having wool producers near the mills allowed the mills to significantly cut production costs. The town of Pendleton is a major railhead for the Columbia River Plateau and allowed convenient shipping for the growing business.

The family resumed the production of Native-American blankets and introduced new designs, colors, and patterns to their product line. They also changed the construction of the mill's Native-American blankets. Prior to 1909 the blankets had round corners. The Bishop blankets featured square corners. Pendleton round corner blankets are highly coveted by vintage Native-American blanket collectors. The company expanded their trade from the local Native-American tribes of the Columbia River area, to the Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni peoples of the American Southwest. To do this, they enlisted the help of designer Joe Rawnsley, who visited tribes to learn their customs and color preferences. Like many other mills of the day, Pendleton emulated the multicolor patterns of candy-stripe blankets, like those found on Hudson Bay point blankets, for their Glacier National Park blanket. The Pendleton blankets were not only basic wearing apparel, but were standards of trading and ceremonial use.

Some digital effects were applied to this original image after the photograph was made. No electrons were harmed during the transition. Ordered images will not contain the FAA watermark.

Image copyright 2018 Jon Burch Photography

Uploaded

December 19th, 2018

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