Retiring blankets for 2020

Pendleton has been telling stories with our blankets since the first blanket mill opened in 1909. Each year, certain Pendleton blanket designs are retired. These designs are all available at pendleton-usa.com in limited quantities. Is one of these stories yours?

PAINTED HILLS

Rising from the dry plains of Eastern Oregon, bare earth undulates in folds of scarlet, ochre, and yellow. These are the Painted Hills, whose brilliant stripes inspired this design and were created by oxidized mineral deposits in layers of volcanic ash. Adventurers who want to take a road trip into the past can see the hills, visit the nearby John Day Fossil beds and explore the ghost towns of this remote part of Oregon’s landscape.

Learn more here: Painted Hills Blanket (retired)

BIGHORN

Straddling the borders between Wyoming and Montana, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area is home to spectacular canyons, clear blue waterways and countless wildlife. In 1825, the Bighorn River called famed mountain man Jim Bridger to build a raft of driftwood and ride it through the foaming rapids. Part of the river was dammed to create Bighorn Lake, but the spectacular canyon it carved remains, named for the Bighorn sheep that travel its rocky, treacherous paths. Located in Montana and Wyoming, about one third of the park unit is located on the Crow Indian Reservation. One quarter of the Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range lies within the Bighorn Canyon Recreation Area.

Learn more here: Bighorn blanket (retired)

TURQUOISE RIDGE

Turquoise is known as the “fallen sky stone.” Prized for its beauty in colors that range from white to aqua to deepest green, turquoise has been used for amulets, beads, jewelry, carvings and more for ten thousand years. Legends of the Navajo, Hopi, Pueblo and Apache nations mention turquoise. In one legend, a tremendous drought brought great suffering to the People of the Earth. When the skies finally opened and shed rain on the People, they rose up to sing, dance and shed tears of joy. Their grateful tears mixed with the rain and seeped into Mother Earth to become Sky Stone.

Learn more here: Turquoise Ridge blanket (retired)

BUTTERFLY

Sitting Bull challenged us all “to put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children." Sitting Bull College and the American Indian College Fund memorialize his efforts and echo his belief that education can transform the future. We honor Sitting Bull’s legacy with flower and butterfly designs similar to those on his regalia.  A caterpillar’s transition to butterfly mirrors the transformative power of education—a fitting remembrance for such a visionary leader.  Created exclusively for the American Indian College Fund, a nonprofit organization that helps fund scholarships for Native American students and tribal colleges. Your purchase helps support their honorable mission.

Learn more here: Butterfly blanket (retired)