Before the first explorers arrived in the early 19th century, the territory along the Deschutes River had been home to Native American tribes for nearly 12,000 years, serving as an important hunting and fishing area.
European exploration of the region that would later become Deschutes County began around 1813. Among the first to set foot in Central Oregon was a fur trading party in search of beaver. The rock on which the party carved their initials and the date can still be found at the Deschutes County Historical Society.
At that time, the United States was steadily expanding to and beyond the Mississippi River, nearly doubling in size between 1830 and 1860.
This expansion coincided with the arrival of European and Asian immigrants and the discovery of gold in 1849.
New opportunities led many settlers to relocate to the West, which was inhabited by Native American tribes, often under the U.S. government's military protection and assistance.
Oregon became a state in 1859. Central Oregon, however, remained largely unsettled. Only several years later, cattle ranchers Felix Scott Jr., Marion Scott, John Craig, and Robert Millican became the first Europeans to spend a winter there.
Overall, the first settlers were mostly farmers, ranchers, and shepherds. As time passed, however, businesspeople began arriving in the area, bringing investments and ideas for new ventures.
Bend began as a logging town at the start of the 20th century, with the first commercial sawmill established in 1901 and a second in 1903. The gradually growing community was incorporated as a city in 1905, with a population of approximately 500. The name “Bend” derives from “Farewell Bend,” a term used by early settlers to describe the area along the Deschutes River.
The Post Office Department in Washington, DC, determined that “Farewell Bend” was too long and approved the shortened version of the name.
Transportation remained a major challenge for Central Oregon, which at the dawn of the 20th century was the largest region in the United States without a railway.
The closest line, the Columbia Southern Railroad, ended in Shaniko, leaving the Central Oregon settlements, including Bend, relatively isolated.
The need for a rail line triggered a race between two railroad barons, James J. Hill and E. H. Harriman. They began laying parallel tracks along the banks of the Deschutes River, each aiming to reach Bend before the other. The competition was intense—both at construction sites, where workers reportedly sabotaged one another, and in courtrooms, where lawyers fought legal battles on behalf of their clients.
E. H. Harriman died in 1909, and James J. Hill ultimately completed the line, driving a golden spike in Bend in 1911 to mark its completion. Afterward, Bend began to boom, attracting increasing investment and development.
The city’s initial source of electricity was a dam on the Deschutes River constructed in 1910. It remains operational today and continues to provide limited hydroelectric power to local households. The dam created Mirror Pond, now part of scenic Drake Park, named after frontier developer Alexander M. Drake.
By 1915, two large companies, Shevlin-Hixon and Brooks-Scanlon, had begun building lumber mills south of downtown Bend. By the mid-1920s, their combined lumber capacity was among the largest in the world.
The logging era lasted until the 1980s. Shevlin-Hixon closed operations in 1950, while Brooks-Scanlon Lumber Company sold its timber interests in the 1980s. Tourism has since become the main industry in Bend and the surrounding areas.
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