PENDLETON — Among the ruckus and fanfare of the Pendleton Round-Up, an intoxicating smell permeates Roy Raley Park, drawing rodeo visitors to a tent near the River Walk where Michelle Thompson, owner of MT’s Frybread, shows off her craft.
Each year, nearly 50,000 people flock to Pendleton to watch Round-Up, the Happy Canyon Night Show, the Kick-Off Concert and other annual festivities taking place throughout the week. More often than not, most visitors will find themselves at Roy Raley Park looking for a bite.
Thompson, a Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) member, said she started making frybread in her late teens or early 20s, noting that it didn’t start out perfectly.
“I made some frisbees, some hockey pucks,” she recounted. “Then I started helping (CTUIR member) Linda Jones at her frybread stand and then broke off from that and started MT’s Frybread.”
Thompson estimated she has been operating her stand in Roy Raley Park for about five years, and before that, she was located across the street by The Muffler Shop on Court Avenue. In those days, she said she had help from CTUIR members Linda and Sandy Sampson.
“I don’t know how I got a spot in the park, but I’m trying to keep it,” she said.
Over the course of the Round-Up week, Thompson said she goes through 200 to 250 pounds of flour to make her frybread, estimating 25 batches of dough in four days.
“It’s fun, but it is a lot of work because not only are you open during the day, but when you close down, you’ve got to clean up and start getting ready for the next day, get up early and start making your chili for that day,” Thompson said.
Outside of Round-Up, Thompson said she also cooks in the Mission Longhouse, making frybread dough for the events hosted there.
“I enjoy helping out families and dedicating myself to those events, just helping out families that might need my help,” she said.
Thompson said she’d been making frybread for 30 to 40 years, and visitors can now follow the intoxicating smell to her tent and indulge in what she does best.
“So, if you’re down here hanging out at the Round-Up grounds, swing by and grab a piece of frybread, a rez dog or a buffalo burger,” Thompson said. “Let’er buck!”
