History of Bend

Oregon was a new state when the first homesteaders arrived in the area now known as Deschutes County. In 1860 the first settler, John Young Todd, arrived and built a bridge across the Deschutes River at Sherar’s Falls. Development was slower in those days; it was seventeen years later that Mr. Todd finally returned to the area with his herd of one thousand cattle to start the Farewell Bend Ranch. It wasn’t long before others discovered the beauty of Central Oregon; during the next twenty years homesteads and ranches sprouted throughout the region. The settlers had such names as O.B. Riley, Billy Staats and Marshall Clay Awbrey, familiar today as local street names and landmarks.

Bend incorporated in 1904 by a general vote of the community’s 300 residents. January 4, 1905 the City held its first official meeting as an incorporated municipality, appointing A.H. Goodwillie as the first mayor. Twelve years later, Deschutes County was formed from the western half of Crook County and Bend was designated as the County Seat.

By the turn of the century, Bend had become home to a population of 250 when Mr. A.M. Drake arrived from Michigan in his upscale covered wagon. The Drakes made a permanent camp on the banks of the Deschutes River where Drake Park is now located. Motivated by the Federal Carey Act of 1894, Drake conceived and spearheaded the building of irrigation systems in the area. He bought lots of land and set about designing a modern city. Between 1902 and 1904 Drake’s Bend Townsite Company platted the townsite. Drake’s efforts attracted settlers, many of whom went to work for him in his various ventures.

Clyde McKay and his father, Wisconsin residents, made numerous trips to the area to buy timber for the Mueller Lumber Company of Davenport, Iowa. Their annual trips for wood eventually led the younger McKay to settle here and form the area’s first significant logging operation. He was a key player in forming The Bend Company, which purchased Drake’s holdings in 1911. He encouraged Brooks-Scanlon and other lumber interests to expand to the region, becoming a major force to local economic development between 1911 and the mid-1920s.