Warning: ’20 Dead Cows’ Area in Pasco is Off Limits

I've lived in the Tri-Cites for almost 9 years and have never heard of the 20 Dead Cows area. My wife has lived here nearly 40 years and never heard of it either.

But the folks at the airport in Pasco want you to stay out of that area at the end of a runway, shown on their Facebook post below. It has been posted off-limits for a few years now. No more target shooting or off-roading will be tolerated as people have been ignoring the signs and gates.

The 20 Dead Cows area was named such by early settlers to the Mid-Columbia. It used to belong to rancher Robert Dillman and his wife Lilly. Robert was always married more to his cattle business than to Lilly, and she always felt second best. Lilly was a doting wife and did everything she could to please Robert, but the cows always came first. Robert even insisted that their son be named Bovine Angus Dillman, though she only called him Bo. The years went by and Lilly became depressed and some say even a little crazy. One day when Robert took the ferry across the river to buy feed in what is now Kennewick, Lilly snapped. She herded as many cows as could fit into their ranch home and set the place on fire. Lilly was never seen again but it was rumored that she and her son boarded an eastbound train. When the smoke settled, they counted the remains of 20 cows. To this day, people say the area still smells like a freshly cooked steak when the wind blows just right.

Okay, I just made that story up because my Google search for '20 Dead Cows Area' came up empty. But that's probably what happened.