IN SCOTLAND   Long before the earliest American colonists settled in Virginia and Massachusetts, Scotland (then known as Caledonia or Scotia) could already boast centuries of history and culture. The precursors to athletic events now enjoyed at all modern Scottish Games were being practiced on Scotland's farms at least 1,000 years ago. Some historians believe that today’s athletic competition events originated perhaps more than 1,400 years ago as tests of strength and conditioning for Scottish warriors. Tree trunks shaped into long poles (cabers) were tossed by the strongest military men. Large, smooth rocks from river beds were heaved for distance. Weights and bags of hay were tossed underhand or by pitchfork over a bar more than twice as high as the soldier’s head. Over the centuries, competitions featuring these military exercises became common during annual country fairs, and with the addition of dancing, music, food and drink, the modern Highland Games festival was born. These gatherings, held throughout Scotland and spreading around the world, have become a favorite method of passing Scottish culture from generation to generation.

 

IN UMATILLA COUNTY  During the mid-1800s, thousands of Scottish families emigrated to Canada and America. Hearing stories of the rich farmland available in the Pacific Northwest, many headed west. In the 1880s and 1890s, numerous Scottish families began settling farms in the Northeast Oregon region. So many Scots moved into the area that they organized the Umatilla County Caledonian Society with a goal of preserving and promoting Scottish culture in the region. The first Caledonian Picnic was planned for June 30 & July 1, 1898, but the event was basically cancelled by heavy rains. Weather cooperated the following year, and 1899 was recognized as the inaugural year of the Athena Caledonian Picnic and Games.

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IN ATHENA   Athena’s high-spirited Scots gathered every summer

for 15 years in "The Grove" (site of the future Athena City Park, where

we still gather) until the celebration was suspended after the First

World War began in 1914. For six decades Athena’s Scottish

heritage celebration remained in limbo. Then, as America's 200th 

birthday drew near in the early 1970s, Athena resident Don Duncan

proposed reviving the Games as part of Athena’s contribution to the

region’s Bicentennial festivities. The idea was eagerly received, and since 1976, only the 2020 pandemic lock down has kept Athena from celebrating her Highland heritage with an annual summer festival and Scottish athletic competition.

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TODAY   Every July Athena still welcomes hundreds of pro-Scotland enthusiasts from around the Northwest and beyond. Few other small cities in the Pacific Northwest have such a long-standing history of verifiable Scottish population and culture. Today’s Athena Caledonian Games Association acknowledges and appreciates the dedication of the members of the Umatilla County Caledonian Society of over 125 years ago, whose love for Scotland, their native land, continues to enrich our lives today.