History : Overturf Butte

Overturf Butte

Harley James “Jim” Overturf arrived in Bend, Oregon in 1904, a graduate of the University of Oregon. Hired by Alexander Drake, Jim worked as the office manager at Drake’s Pilot Butte Development Company. He was a founding member of the Bend Emblem Club, a precursor to the Bend’s chamber of commerce, and in 1910, married Ruth Reid. Ruth established Bend’s first high school and was the city’s first school principal.  Both Jim and Ruth are buried in the Pilot Butte Cemetery. 

In December 4, 1929, the city of Bend completed a one-half-mile toboggan sled slide down Overturf Butte. The Bend Bulletin reported, “The big slide on the butte will, it is predicted, prove to be one of the best in Central Oregon.” A smaller slide also opened on the north slope of the butte. 

A water reserve system, consisting of two steel water tanks with a total capacity of 3 million gallons of water, was erected on the Butte in 1926. 

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