Land RusH of 40 Year Ann I
Brought to Central Oregon
People From Distant States
region now known as
is referred to
farm land in
Innrl raany:0A uVlLr::'" """"'nKwn. .me rush for
of hnff...i. ,K." Li" "? lail.of 1911, when the
tVi. vv,:,i.n ; "; bicoi nuKienes
of homesteads was increased
from 160 to 820 acres.
- Earlier in the century, there
had been a rush of settlers
fpr lands in Central Oregon,
especially in the Fort Rock
basin, but it did not compare
with that following the com
ing of the railroads,' and the
predictions that a new agri
culture empire was being
opened up in the region be
tween Bend and Burns an
area some 150 miles in width
and about 70 miles "deep." :
'. Homes Take Shape
Wilhin a period of two years,
homesteaders' residences and farm
buildings look shape from the Bear
' oreek hills soullj past the Christ
mas lake valley., .
From one spot near Rolyat, about
half way between Bend and Burns,
34 different groups of farm build
ings were counted. Towns and
postoffices now vanished from, the
map, such as Imperial, Stauffer
and Rolyat, like some on the "high
desert." There was talk of ex
tension of the Oregon Trunk east
from Bend, with the town of
"Hampton Butte" to be a division
point.
The vanguard of the home seek
ers was generally the heads of
families, who, with locators as their
guides, moved into the plateau .to
make a choice of lands. Then,
from points as distant as Boston,
Mass., moved families and house
hold equipment.
; Goods Shipped Here
In one week, early in November,
1911, 51 carloads of household
goods arrived here by train from
distant places. Most of the home
seekers were still without stock,
and they hired freighters to move
their goods' to their new homes,
generally cabin-like structures.
The town of Hampton experi
enced a boom. In 1910, there were
only two houses in the town. Two
years later, 24 buildings, most of
them residences, were counted.
Fences appeared on the high pla
teau. Sagebrush was removed, and
crops Were planted. New arrivals
had been cautioned by old timers
that for a safe crop for their anU
mals they should plant rye. The
new arrivals were also told to
plant maize. Even field peas were
recommended. Rye planted in Sep
tember, 1911, was up before the
first snow of November came.
New arrivals faced rather stark
conditions that fall. It was a dry
fall, following a damp September.
The settlers soon found the need
of water. It was presumed that
water would be found a short dis
tance under the surface, but in
most areas it was not located until
deep wells had been drilled, some
of them around 300 feet. From
Tulsa, Okla., came the Murphy
Bros., professional drillers, and
they said they liked the area.
Factors Reviewed
The rush to the high plateau was
due to several factors principally
the attention directed to Central
Oregon by the arrival of the rail
roads, and predictions that the
area would develop into a second
prairie wheat bowl. There was also
a period of heavy precipitation, and
lush vecotation.
Then came difficult times for the
hundreds who planned to carve
their homes from the high desert
wilderness. As early as 1911, Alvin
Thompson, for instance, found it
difficult to raise potatoes in the
highlands. Three times that spring
he planted potatoes. Twice they
froze. His third crop matured, but
the potatoes were only the size of
eggs.
Agriculturists, state college men,
! Size
railway agents and others joined
in an effort to. recommend crops
that might flourish on the hlRh
desert, but a period of aridity off
set all these efforts. Soon, the
homesteaders started leaving, and
by the early 'twenties, only a hand
ful was left. In this year of 1953,
only a few leaning cabins remain
to mark on- of the most ill-fated
adventures in the history of Ore
gon agriculture. -
In recent decades, the land has
been put to grazing use, and .native
grass, much of which was uprooted
by tho early-day homasteaders, is
coming back. Stock seasonally
graze in the lands where ambitious
home seekers once set aside for
wheat acreage, gardens and, in a
few cases, even orchards. . 1
Hardships Recalled
In Bend at present are many
families who recall the hardships
on the high desert. They or their
parents were the homesteaders of
1911-1917. . :
A fast, modern highway, U. S.
20, now paved over its entire dis
tance from Bend to the Idaho ljne,
and beyond, now slashes through
the region where once marked the
boundaries of homesteads. Few of
the motorists who drive that sur
faced highway of 1953 know the
story of the pioneers who attempted
to establish a new agriculture fron
tierand lost.
Bend's Growth
(Continued from Page 1)
dictions were made that the popu
lation would level off around 8,000.
But prophets failed to see develop
ments of the ensuing 20 years.
They were developments of import
ance equal to the coming of the
big pine mills and the arrival of
trains from the north.
Highways Important
One of the major developments
of more recent years was the es
tablishment of major highways that
gave Bend one ot the most import
ant spots on the Oregon map.
From the north to the south through
JiBBOiii.EeacHes U. S. 97, an arterial
rouie - now ueing moaermzea into
one of the west's most important
highways. East and west through
Bend extends U. S. 20, eastern
terminus of which is in Boston and
western end of which is on the Ore
gon coast. Nearby are other rad
iating highways, including several
that span the Oregon Cascades and
extend over the Ochocos.
Railroad steel ended at Bend
for many years, after the Hill and
Harriman giants rested following
their $25,000,000 battle in the Des
chutes gorge. Then in the 'twenties,
the steel rapidly moved south, into
the Klamath country and on soutn
to a junction with the Western
Pacific at Bieber, California.
Threo Railroads Come
Visionaries of 50 years ago pre
dicted a railroad for Bend. None
dared predict that three different
lines, the Union Pacific, Oregon
Trunk and Great Northern, would
serve the area.
Nor did the prophets of 1903 pre
dict that within two decades the
era of long-line skinners would
pass,, and that freight would roll
through the Interior region not only
on trains, but on fleets of trucks.
Irrigation also stopped for several
decades, after Deschutes water
spread out over Tumalo lands,
reached east into the rich Powell
Butte land, swirled north through
big canals to- the Redmond coun
try and moved through laterals
to once-isolated basins. Then came
the development that resulted in
Pride of Service
Yes, indeed, we are proud that our customers
return again and again. It Is because of the
prompt, efficient and courteous service we
give to every driver.
Why Don't You Come in and
GET ASSOCIATED
TYDOL MOTOR OIL
"It Cleans As it Lubricates"
Park Service Station
On Hiway 97 North Phone 1193
Freighters Once Ruled Mid-Oregon Roads
The
A
OreLonSnTrV.ltl.f.Tl? 'W outfit, as these, were common on the frontier roads of Central
uregon in early days. This picture was taken ut Paulina i.ralrle In mot. it In ih .,iiit f ih. w. v .,
BgTeturff "C"'"" "Johnnie... l.,uuy
A Familiar Bend Corner
Here Is a building well remembered by old-timers the Lara
building1 at the corner of Wall and Oregon. It was razed years ago
to make way for the J, C. Penney Co. building. There was a hall
on the second floor of this building that was used extensively for
public meetings In pioneer days. The picture was taken in 1010.
the reclamation of 50,000 acres of
land in the Madras country at a
cost of some $12,000,000.'' Hundreds
of new homes took shape in the
Culver and Metolius basins, and
on the Agency plains and north in
tne sheltered Mud springs region.
Ochoco Pine Harvested
Even the "once quiet rangeland
town of Prineville felt the stir of
the times as big mills moved Into
the area; to harvest Ochoco Dines.
and the year 1953 finds the Crook
county city busy and bustling as
the population increases ' from
month to month. ,
Like Bend, Redmond has also felt
the stimulus of the phenomenal
growth of the interior country as
the community generally known as
the tri-county area welded its ef
forts and joined in a three-county
chamber of commerce to further
the interests of the region.
Tourist Drop Important
Not forseen bv the Dioneers is a
"crop" that now ranks second to
timber, and agriculture in the tri
county area and brings in an es
timated 9,uuo,uou annually. This is
the tourist crop, a by-product of
modern highways in a scenic re
gion. Included in this crop are not
only the tourists from distant
states, but Oregonians who seek
recreation in an area far-famed
for its fiBhing and hunting.
Some ro3y predictions about the
Central Oregon country were made
in pioneer days, but none ap
proached the achievements attained
at the end of the half century.
AIR SERVICE
HOUSTON, Tex. ui An enter
prising service station operator
here is adding a service he be
lieves will draw customers during
the summer. He has a mobile,
three-ton air-conditioning ,unlt
that he Dlans to wheel hpKirln snch
customer's car. It will shoot cool
air Into the vehicle while his at-
lenuants service It. . . ,
Bend Bulletin. Bend. QregoilTueidnv. Win.' hkJ
bpeedy Ship .
Slowed for Tourists
ROCKLAND, Me. HB Once the
speedy pride of the Chesapeake
fleet, the Lady Margaret Is now
the slowest sailing vessel in the
Penobscot Bay vacation flotilla. -
The 90-foot ship once set a rec-
Ord Of 14 dflV. faun Ul.. :
Havana and back, carrying cargo
"'" ner Topmasts nve
been discarded and 30 feet clipped
from her main boom so she can
navigate narrow harbor passages
with a cargo of tourists, . '
:V . . .' i. . ... in.,,' j,:
, At Jet engine operating tempera- -turcB,
ordinary steel burns like :
paper. , .- . . . . ,,. ,
Bandsaw blades used by lumber
mills are capable of speeds of
nearly 125 miles an hour, or 11,
000 feet a second. -
The nnmft T.niriau - i.nnnnt tn
found on the 1953 man of Oi ecnn
but once upon time it vied with
the village of Bend to grow into the
area's metropolis. '. ,
It was just short of half a cen
tury ago that. Laidlaw- made its
bid for fame through a -weekly
paper, the Laidlaw Chronicle. In
the March 23, 190G, issue of that
pioneer paper appeared the follow
ing advertisement, in bold letters
covering nearly one-fourth -of a
page: vV , j . ... , , . . , .
"Opportunity, business. Drocress:
Buy lots in town of Laidlaw, the
coming metropolis of the vast Ir
rigated district in Crook county,
Oregon." The advertisement added:
. Town Described
'The town of Laidlaw is located
on the west bank of the Deschutes
river and is very near the geo
graphical center of some 300,000
acres of Oregon's choicest irrigated
lands. Laidlaw is also located at
the intersection of the Corvallis &
Eastern Railway's survey and the
Deschutes river which will add to
the prosperity of the town. It is
also the headquarters of the Colum
bia Southern- Irrigation Company.
uome .to L,aiaiaw ana enjoy life,
neaun ana prosperity."
Pioneer Laidlaw now appears on
the' Oregon map as Tumalo. a
name that was transferred from a
temporary village, center of Tuma
lo project construction. The town
was named in 1904 for A. W. Laid
law, one of the promoters of the
early-day town.
Scientists who collect butterflies
and moths are entomologists who
specialize In lepidoptera. '
r :
i i
1 i
i
II
-II I X
4
WHO THREW THOSE
SOUR GRAPES?
"Bend't future ! behind lt."Who laid that , '
. . . who threw those lour' grapes? '
Probably a person who thinks his own future
actually is behind him. for as a man thinks ?
in his own heart, so is he. And so is he prone'"
to apply negative thinking to his surround- V
Ings. , (
The future of any city, any state, or even '
our entire United Mates is no better than'
the vision of. Its leaders,, its merchants, its' '
citizens. i
Many years ago on the banks of a restless '
river, a restless pioneering spirit drove a. .
group of people with vision to lay the -foundation
for a restless town ... -. our town, :
now grown into Central Oregon's leading ';
city. . (
- Only through restless striving, through vision
: and positive thinking can dangerous com-v.
placency and stunting self satisfaction be
' combatted ... and fortunate it. Is that this
powerful antidotal combination .prevails
among the citixens and business leaders of
Bend today. For this guarantees progress
tomorrow. '
Portland Loan Co.
Serving Central Oregon Constructively for Nearly
Twenty Vear. .
85 Oregon Ave '
Bend
Phone 173
M-321
Welcome, Traveler
to the Pilot Butte Inn, one of Oregon's finest and
most famous hostelries.
"Who e'er has traveled life's dull round
Where e'er his stages may have been
May sigh to think he still has found ,
The warmest welcome at an Inn." ,"
OLDER THAN BEND herself, the Inn is steeped in the history of a growing
city, yet offers its guests every modern appointment for comfort and gracious
living . . . justly famed and pleasurably discussed wrierever travelers meet to
reminisce of pleasant stops.
TOURISTS love the Inn . . . many say they count their stay among
the most pleasant of summer memories.
CONVENTIONS held in the Inn . . . and there are many ... are
always well attended, happily remembered.
BUSINESS TRAVELERS return again and again to the pleasant
atmosphere of the Inn, often making long evening drives to reach
. its restful quiet.
CASUAL ONE-NIGHTERS express their keen appreciation of the
Inn's service and appointments and often, with a glance at the ma
jestic skyline, express regret at the brevity of their stay.
Half a Century of Progress
BEFORE our friendly city was even a town before "Farewell Bend" was
shortened to Bend The Pilot Butte Inn was the hub of the bustling activ
ity attending the early planning of the city. Floors of the Inn resounded
to the bootheels of cattlemen, lumbermen, engineers, freighters, business- :
men and travelers; her walls echo history making decisions and the happy
laughter of eager and busy people.
Yes, the Inn has always played an important part in the life of the people
of and the travelers to Bend. And it has always kept pace with growing
needs of the community, adding to its size, its comforts and conveniences
to maintain the highest standards of hospitality to travelers.
We are justly proud of the reputation Bend enjoys as a friendly city, as a
vacation spot of unsurpassed beauty, as a pleasant place in which to make
a week-end or overnight stop. Proud, too, that the Inn adds to, rather
than detracts from, that enviable reputation. .
With due appreciation for all that has gone on before, all the friendships
we have enjoyed and all the effort that has gone into making Bend the
loveable city it is today, we look forward to a beckoning future with con
fidence that the Inn will continue to do its part in keeping Bend known as
the Friendly City. .
It is our wish that the
50th Anniversary of Bend
mark only a beginning in its history of
friendship and hospitality. .
PILOT BUTTE INN