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BEND, OREGON
(Last updated 2/8/08)

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Bend was incorporated in 1904; it began to grow - and timber production became its mainstay - with the arrival of the Oregon Trunk Railroad in 1911. Tourism, catalyzed by the development of the nearby Mt. Bachelor ski area, and high tech industries have been more recent additions to the economy. Pilot Butte (left), a 511-ft high, almost perfectly symmetrical, volcanic cinder cone in northwest Bend, was formed about 11,000 years ago; it is one of about 400 such cones associated with the Newberry Volcano (including 7,000 year old, 500-ft high Lava Butte), located south of Bend. On a clear day, a good view of the Cascades to the west of Bend shows nine snowcapped peaks, including the Three Sisters (right; Middle is just visible between South, the tallest, and North)

Mirror Pond, on a wide turn of the Deschutes River (left), is the centerpiece of 11 acre Drake Park, in the heart of downtown Bend - note the swan at lower right, one of a pair from the English royal swannery; the downtown business district occupies one end of the Pond, while elegant houses line the rest of the shore.

The Pine Tavern Restaurant (1936; left), complete with Ponderosa pine growing thru the ceiling in the dining room, is one of the downtown businesses that overlooks the Pond; the Bend Brewing Company and brewpub (1995; right) is another

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