Praying for Oregon Counties: Deschutes

Bend, Oregon

He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Luke 1:17

 

 Deschutes County was created in 1916 out of part of Crook County, and was the last of the Oregon counties to be formed. Now the fastest growing county in the state, it is the hub of central Oregon. Bend is the county seat.

 

After the Native Americans, fur traders and mountain men were the first to explore the area. There is a stone carved in 1813 with the names of two men from the American Fur Trading Company that is housed by the Deschutes County Historical Society. In 1825-26 explorer and fur trader Peter Skene Ogden was in the area. Later, Nathaniel Wyeth led a party of beaver trappers through the region in 1834. 

 

The gold strikes around John Day in the 1860’s brought prospectors to the area, then came the cattle ranchers and farmers. Cattle, sheep, wheat and potatoes were the main products raised during that period, and the region grew slowly until the turn of the century.

 

In 1900 Alexander Drake, an astute midwestern businessman, platted the town of Bend and the town began to grow. Alexander and his wife were also responsible for establishing the first Presbyterian church in Bend. In 1900 the first sermon was preached by Presbyterian Sunday School Missionary, Rev. B.F. Harper. They started with an interdenominational Sunday School and by 1903 had built the first Presbyterian Church in Bend, called Old Stone Church (now a bike shop). The congregation outgrew that building and is now located on a larger property.

 

Bend was incorporated in 1905 with 500 citizens. In 1911 the railroad connected Deschutes County and Bend to the rest of the world. Two large lumber mills began operation near Bend in 1915 – the Shevlin-Hixon company, and Brooks-Scanlon. Their harvesting of the pine forests created a building boom and expanded the county’s population, which nearly doubled in the four years after the county was created. 

 

In 1910 two Irish priests arrived to establish the first Catholic Church in Bend, St. Francis of Assisi. They also persuaded the Sisters of St. Joseph to come and establish the first hospital in 1918, St. Charles, which still provides medical service for the region. 

Old Mill District, Bend, Oregon

By the 1980’s the lumber mills were closing, and the economy switched to tourism and outdoor recreation. While the Prineville area in Crook County, less than an hour from Bend, got an economic boost from companies building data storage facilities, Deschutes County has benefited from the tech industry in another way. Many employees of tech companies in Silicon Valley, a ten-hour drive away in California, are making Bend their home and either telecommuting or commuting by plane (or even car). Housing prices are lower in the Bend area than in northern California, and the sunny climate and outdoor activities available are very appealing to families.

How do we pray for Deschutes County? 

The County is governed by a three-person Board of Commissioners who are elected for four-year terms. Currently those serving are Patti Adair, Phil Chang and Anthony DeBone.

 

 Pray that Bend and the area continues to be a place of strong communities and a good place to raise families. 

Margaret