Gigi meyer kraken3/29/2023 ![]() Railroad wars were common in the west where competition to lay rails often became wildly violent. Rails would have to come across complex and mountainous territory from Hood River to Bend. Thus Bend’s mills were local businesses operating with water power and small numbers of workers.ĭrake Lodge Site Marker, Deschutes History MuseumĬentral Oregon could not grow significantly, in population or prosperity, without an operating railroad capable of supporting a major logging industry. Drake wanted to name his new city Farewell Bend, but the Post Office already had a Farewell Bend so shortened Drake’s city to “Bend”.Ī River bend beside Drake’s Lodge site, flow from west turns north, author’s photoĬentral Oregon’s early mills, lacking a railroad, couldn’t ship lumber products over distances. Travelers approaching Farewell Bend from different directions identified it as a meeting place. “Farewell Bend” was a distinctive spot along the Deschutes River, where traveling convoys often separated and took leave to continue in different directions. Historical Marker at original Drake Lodge Site He then surveyed and platted the city-to-be, locating it near the River and his Lodge. The Drake Lodge, Deschutes History Museum Photoĭrake also built a lumber mill, powered by water, south of his anticipated township. The Drakes loved the area, and selected a beautiful spot near one of the River’s bends, where they built a roomy “Lodge”. ![]() Drake purchased farmlands to acquire property on both sides of the River. Drake Lodge Site Marker by Deschutes History MuseumĪround 1900, Farewell Bend had few residents. At Central Oregon’s Deschutes River, he found a remote place called “Farewell Bend”, and a huge expanse of undeveloped land loaded with giant ponderosa trees. An investor himself, he could see the financial potential in a large expanse of land with mature pines. Drake, an entrepreneur who understood the lumber business and the value of publicity, knew that eastern investors would appreciate the west’s massive forest lands. The Drakes joined Central Oregon’s tiny pioneering population, after leaving the eastern states and its lumber mill industry and reaching the west in a horse-drawn wagon. Alexander Drake, Deschutes History Museum Photo His creative vision, talent, and affluence initiated a brand new city. Often, in Drake Park I pause to study plaques that immortalize Bend’s almost-earliest settler, the iconic Alexander Drake. Throughout history, movers and shakers have left us solid evidence of their dreams, creativity, and powerful personalities. Homesteaders who found the challenges too difficult and unrewarding, and tossed in the towel, often gravitated to Bend, Portland, or Seattle. Central Oregon’s complex environment and demanding soils required diligent physical labor. Others had been beckoned by the 1862 Homestead Act which encouraged adventurers, including single women, to go west and earn “160 acres of public land”. ![]() Some recent Oregonians had chosen independently to move west. ![]() Little “Farewell Bend” was semi-isolated east of the Cascade Mountains. Portland’s engaged population comprised the state’s most powerful voice. ![]() Many early-Oregon citizens were educated. I look around and imagine how I might have felt living here early in the 20th Century, as this speck of a place became a city, and through its following years as home to huge lumber mills that brought prosperity. Strolling here fuels my fantasies about the city’s early history and its growing pains. I’m carrying a camera and entering Bend’s historic Drake Park, which is adjacent to companion landmarks that represent the city’s frontier era. ![]()
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