I first met Mark in 1957 or early 1958 when he made his first ever TV appearance. It was on the public TV station, where I ran the small Statehouse studio for Oregon public TV and radio.  I remember Mark as a handsome, cheerful, almost too well dressed (cuffs with cufflinks) man, amiable and with a sense of humor.  He came to the studio with his aides Travis Cross and Elections Director Freeman Holmer.

Soon after Freeman hosted and presented a weekly series at the station, focusing on different aspects of Oregon’s unique and important history of elections, such as the initiative and referendum.  Mark appeared in at least two of these programs.

Later that year I met with Mark, then Oregon Secretary of State, along with State Treasurer Sig Unander and Gov. Robert Holmes.  It was a meeting in the Governor’s office where I met these top state officials in their capacity as the Oregon Board of Control.  They agreed to appropriate a small sum of money ($1,200) for me to spend in the production of a series of 12 documentaries about the Board of Control institutions—prison, mental hospital, schools for troubled girls and boys, etc.

From 1958 to 1960 I made those documentaries, unprecedented at that time, broadcast on the Oregon public station and then, also unprecedented, re-run on commercial TV stations in Portland and Medford.  I managed to show the last of the films, about the severely retarded confined to Fairview Home, to the right people at CBS Reports – then run by Oregon-connected Fred Friendly and Washington-connected Edward R. Murrow.  I was hired as a producer for that CBS series, a dream come true in part due to Mark’s support.

But meanwhile I was also a journalist, covering Oregon for public radio and TV, and occasionally talking to Mark who was then Governor.  I will always remember going to his home for dinner and to meet Antoinette, his wife, who invited me and others in the journalistic community.

When I became the New York Times reporter for Oregon in 1962 I quickly learned of that paper’s interest in Mark. Every time I wrote a story based on my interviewing him it became a front page item.  Mark was then viewed as a leader of the liberal wing of the Republican Party and often it was speculated that he would be New York’s Governor Rockefeller’s ideal running mate in the 1964 Presidential race.

In late 1966 the National Governor’s Conference met, and I was assigned to cover it for CBS News. When the governor’s voted 49-1 to back Pres. Johnson’s leadership on the war in Vietnam, I was secretly pleased to see that Mark was the one governor who had cast the “no” vote.

Over the years that he was in the U.S. Senate I was delighted to see how he had voted for health and human services related projects for Oregon instead of the Pentagon pork barrel projects the rest of his fellow Senators did.  His efforts led to an incredibly important legacy.

I’ve often regretted that I did not continue to keep in touch with Mark, although I often thought about him as an old friend.  I will miss him.

Robert Richter

I was one of the founding members of the Oregon Lincoln Bicentennial Commission (2007-2009) when I first discovered that Senator Hatfield (naturally) had already laid the groundwork for our volunteer organization with his earlier personal outreach campaigns on Lincoln and his legacy to Oregon, his “Hatfield Hangings” collection and lectures on topics like “Lincoln the Scholar” and especially “The Oregon Connection of Abraham Lincoln” delivered at various Lincoln Associations around the country.

At the time that the OLBC was first established, Chairman Burton had hoped that Senator Hatfield would be able to record a few “Lincoln Minutes” for future radio broadcasts, but, alas, his health would not permit it. What I would have given to have heard Senator Hatfield intone the immortal words of our 16th President as he had addressed the guests at the Annual Banquet of the Abraham Lincoln Association in Springfield, Illinois on the 175th Anniversary of Lincoln’s birth back in February of 1984!

Earlier this year and guided by the words of Senator Hatfield, I also testified in support of Senate Bill 809 to have February 24th of each year designated as Edward Dickinson Baker Day, to honor the life and achievements of a martyred U.S. Senator so dear to Senator Hatfield’s heart. Following the Senator’s template for outreach, I am currently working with a band of dedicated Oregon volunteers to “carry the colors” and to continue to spread the message that Senator Hatfield carried so many years ago about the Oregon Connection to Lincoln and Oregon’s links to the American Civil War.

This time we’re taking the Senator’s message to a broader audience during the four years of the national Civil War Sesquicentennial. Over 15,000 Civil War veterans moved to Oregon after the war, contributed to the economy and raised families here. They are buried in Oregon’s pioneer cemeteries and we are hard at work restoring the forgotten gravesights and researching their histories to present to all Oregonians.

It will be hard work, but if we follow the path taken by Senator Hatfield, a “Lincoln Enthusiast” of the first rank, Oregon will rightfully take its place in the Civil War Sesquicentennial and a new generation of Oregonians will feel pride and empowerment as they learn some of the hidden history of Oregon. Thank you Senator Hatfield for lighting the way for us. You are our inspiration!

K.C. Piccard

by Doug Pahl, Former Hatfield Staffer

My story relates to the Senator’s efforts to preserve Opal Creek, an area in the forests east of Salem that had been “Ground Zero” for the old growth timber debates for many years. The scene is Majority Leader Trent Lott’s office in the Capitol with Lott, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta and Senator Hatfield, the Senate Appropriations Chairman.

It was 1:30 am in Sept. 1996 and the small group was working to pare back a massive omnibus appropriations bill, a bill that was desperately needed to prevent another government shutdown. The bill contained a large parks package, including Senator Hatfield’s Opal Creek bill. Panetta said the White House wanted the parks package deleted and Gingrich concurred. Lott moved to delete it. House Majority Leader Dick Army, who had announced his specific opposition to Opal Creek, had left the room.

Senator Hatfield related what happened next: “And I felt that timing in politics is everything. And I had waited. I’d been there for about three hours going through the rest of the bill. And I felt this was a propitious moment. And I said, ‘May I speak to that motion?’ I said, ‘If that motion passes I can assure you that I’ll bring the entire bill down.’ [A]s we sat there, they saw that I was serious… [Finally,] the Speaker said ‘I think that we have your message, and it [Opal Creek] stays.’” I wish I had been there to see it, but I was two floors below anxiously waiting in the Appropriations Chairman’s office (now named for Mark Hatfield).

The Senator finally came down and I sprang from my seat. He turned a dejected look in my direction and said, “Sorry Doug, the group decided to delete the entire parks package . . . [painfully long pause, now I'm hanging my head]. . . except Opal Creek!” He always had a great sense of humor, not to mention an extraordinary sense of timing.

When I was in high school, Mr. Hatfield came to speak to us. This was a journalism class, no politics involved. But I was so impressed that a politician would speak to high school kids, that from then on he was my hero. I thought it was so great of him to talk to us. I will really miss him.

- Mary Wallis