Umatilla County OR Archives Biographies.....Bitney, Walter R. October 25, 1874 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Carlene Still crstill@oregontrail.net August 4, 2006, 2:44 am

Author: Colonel William Parsons

Page 405

WALTER R. BITNEY
	Walter R. Bitney is a western man.  He was born in Madison county, 
Montana, October 25, 1874.  His parents, John and Eliza (Guild) Bitney, 
brought him to this county in the fall in 1881.  The common schools of 
Umatilla county laid the foundation of his education, and then for two years 
he continued his studies at the Willamette University, in Salem, this state.  
After thus being well fitted for the enterprises of life he returned to this 
county and selected a homestead where he now resides fifteen miles northwest 
from Pendleton.  On this bit of wild prairie he commenced operations, and now, 
being not yet thirty years of age, he owns nearly twelve hundred acres of fine 
farming land in the Despain Gulch region.  Surely this is a record that well 
may inspire respect for his ability and that indicates the financier.  The 
energy, skill and good judgment displayed in acquiring this magnificent 
holding are to be commended.  With this broad foundation so well laid one may 
expect that in the future there shall be displayed more of the same talent 
that has begun so well and the county shall have occasion to be proud of her 
citizen.  It was the wise man that secured land in these fertile regions of 
the west and which shall reap the rewards of this wisdom as the country 
progresses and develops.  How many would do differently if they could only 
revert to the past for a little while!  At the time when the opportunity  
arises is the time to embrace the opportunity and that is the time that Mr. 
Bitney used so wisely, as his broad farms indicate.  The same skill that could 
acquire is that which develops and uses.  He farms about five hundred acres 
and uses the balance for stock.  In this way he so divides the farm that it is 
all kept in good condition.  Fine stock, such as he raises, is a very paying 
product for the farmer and one that will surely come to be depended on more.
	He is a member of the Maccabees and stands high in social circles.  
The affairs of his county are a matter of personal interest to him, as are 
school matters.  He thus shows the true qualities of a useful and progressive 
citizen.
 

Additional Comments:
An Illustrated History of Umatilla County by Colonel William Parsons and of 
Morrow County by W. S. Shiach with a brief outline of the early history of the 
State of Oregon.  W. H. Lever, Publisher  1902.


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