Pilot Butte Park

In the beginning...there were old growth trees.
The small community, first called Farewell Bend from the nearby big bend in the Deschutes River, could have been called "Pilot Butte" if the 1901 recommendation of Postmaster William Statts had been approved by the U.S. Postal Service. Incorporation in 1905 made the name Bend official.

Bend was first settled as a farming and ranching community around the end of the 19th century. Grass for summer forage and native meadows provided hay for the winter feeding of livestock. Irrigation canals were dug, spreading water to surrounding crop lands.

A.M. Drake, founder of Bend, and his Pilot Butte Development Company were logging and sawing lumber from trees in and adjacent to Drake Park in 1902. By 1918 two of the largest pine sawmills in North America were operating in Bend, in time to help supply World War I lumber demands. Bend soon grew from a village to a major Oregon city. For the next 65 years, its economy relied mainly on lumber manufacturing.

In 1928, Pilot Butte was given to the State of Oregon as a memorial to Terrence H. Foley by three former business associates who purchased the Butte for that purpose. Mr. Foley had been a major force behind almost every community activity from 1910 to 1925. Today it is a popular scenic viewpoint and part of the Oregon State Park System.

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Show me all markers in:  Bend, OR  |  Deschutes County  |  97701  |  Oregon  |  United States of America

"The Westward Movement"
Oregon's Fabled "High Desert"
Bend Veterans Peace Memorial, a War Memorial
Old Post Office
Logs Finally Become Lumber
The Mill Transformed Trees into Highly Prized Lumber
Thank Goodness for Water and Gravity
Today's Old Mill District
Journey of the Log to Lumber
Location, Location & Location

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