We’re Paige and Mason. The Bend Banner is our way of keeping tabs on this wild, beautiful place we call home. To the mornings that start with coffee and mountain air, the trails that somehow always lead to a brewery, and the kind of small-town stories that remind you why you chose to live here in the first place.

Bend’s full of explorers. Some chase trailheads, some chase powder, some just chase a good IPA. But two hundred years ago this December, before the Subaru caravans and brewery maps, one man rode through this country when it was still truly wild, Peter Skene Ogden.

Ogden wasn’t your friendly, notebook-carrying naturalist type. He was a fur trapper for the Hudson’s Bay Company. Sharp, stubborn, and probably not someone you’d want to cross. In 1825, he led a crew of trappers on horseback from Walla Walla down through the Deschutes and Crooked Rivers, making him the first non-Native explorer to set foot in what we now call Central Oregon.

The mission wasn’t about discovery or glory. It was about beavers. Seriously. Britain’s Hudson’s Bay Company wanted to trap the region dry to make it less appealing for American settlers. A strategy they called creating a “fur desert.” Ogden was their guy.

His journals aren’t romantic. No grand speeches about mountains or sunsets. Just endless notes about frozen rivers, stolen horses, empty bellies, and miles of snow. But those scribbles mark the first recorded trek through the land that would one day hold Bend, Sisters, and Prineville.

If you’ve ever stopped at the Peter Skene Ogden Viewpoint or crossed the Crooked River Bridge, picture him and his exhausted crew right there, hungry, frostbitten, and still pushing forward. Long before coffee shops and roundabouts, Ogden was the first to wander through here and live to tell the story.

Bend runs on beer and burgers. On any given night, half the town is sitting under string lights somewhere, sipping an IPA and debating whether fries count as a vegetable. It’s what we do.

But then the weather turns. The air gets sharp, your hands stay in your pockets, and suddenly a cold pint doesn’t sound so comforting. You want warmth. Steam. A bowl of something that actually fixes your day.

That’s when you go to Pho Viet.

It’s tucked off 3rd Street(and at The Grove), in one of those unassuming Bend strip malls where the best food always seems to hide. No big sign, no trendy decor, just the smell of broth and the sound of someone’s chopsticks hitting the side of their bowl.

The rare beef pho is what brings people back. The broth is deep and rich, the kind that clearly took its time. You drop in the thin slices of beef, watch them cook in the heat, then pile on basil, bean sprouts, and a squeeze of lime. It’s simple, perfect, and exactly what winter calls for.

Add an order of spring rolls. Fresh, tight, and crispy, and don’t skip the Vietnamese coffee. Very addictive. If you’re tired of brewery food (and let’s be real, we all hit that point often), this place is a reset button.

It’s the kind of spot that doesn’t ask much of you. You show up cold and tired, and you leave warm and happy.

🐶 Shae – 3 months, Shepherd Mix
Energetic young pup that is as sweet as can be. Shae is ready for a family full of play.

🐱 Horace – 12 years, Australian Shepherd Mix
Handsome one-eyed house pup is ready to snuggle up. Enjoys lazy house days and some short walks.

Want more event tips every week? Follow The Bend Banner on Instagram

Herbal Medicine Making @ The People’s Apothecary | 4:30 PM |

Community Art Night Meetup @ Hanai | 5:30 PM |

What the Tech Meetup @ Crux Fermentation Project | 5:30 PM |

Business Energetics 101 @ The Haven | 5:30 PM |

Refilling Your Cup @ The Pantry | 6 PM |

Silent Disco Run @ COCC Track | 6 PM |

History Pub – Oregon Search & Rescue @ McMenamins Old St. Francis School | 7 PM |

NUTCRACKER! Magical Christmas Ballet @ Tower Theatre | 7 PM |

Summit Express Jazz Band @ The Commonwealth Pub | 7 PM |

City of Bend Core Area Advisory Board Meeting @ City Hall | 12 PM |

Kids Art with a Splash of Science @ Tower Theatre | 1 PM |

Ultimate Scavenger: Citywide @ Various Locations | 10 AM |

Paint & Sip @ Bevel Craft Brewing | 6:30 PM |

Thursday Night Live: Dirk Benson @ Mountain Burger | 6 PM |

Harry Potter Movies Trivia @ The Abbey at Monkless Belgian Ales | 6 PM |

Badass Sound Bath @ Continuum Yoga | 7 PM |

Holly Bowling w/ Paula Dreyer @ Tower Theatre | 7 PM |

Joshua Radin w/ Emily James @ Volcanic Theatre Pub | 8 PM |

Vintage Rendezvous @ UPP Liquids | 4 PM |

Dirty Minds Trivia: Thanksgiving Edition @ Craft Kitchen & Brewery | 7 PM |

John Craigie & The Coffis Brothers @ Tower Theatre | 7 PM |

Live Music Fridays: Joe & Paul Duo @ Currents at the Riverhouse | 7 PM |

Holiday Food & Gift Festival @ Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center (Redmond) | 10 AM

Ceramic Seconds on 2nd Sale @ Camp Clay | 10 AM |

Central Oregon Wineries Tasting Event @ Maragas Winery (Culver) | 12 PM |

Bend Pops Orchestra Fall Concert @ Mountain View High School | 2 PM |

Comedy Contest @ Craft Kitchen & Brewery | 7 PM |

Naturally 7 @ Tower Theatre | 7:30 PM |

WonkyWilla w/ Furtha, LiamLantern, Romz & Dalllea @ Volcanic Theatre Pub | 8 PM |

Plant & Planet: Herbal Astrology Consult @ (Venue TBA) | 11 AM |

We Are Somni @ Somni Studios (61419 S Hwy 97, Suite N) | 1 PM |

Christmas with C.S. Lewis @ Tower Theatre | 2 PM |

Bend Pops Orchestra Fall Concert @ Mountain View High School | 2 PM |

Decorate a Christmas Wreath @ Bridge 99 Brewery | 4 PM |

Lefse & Holiday Bake Sale @ Grace First Lutheran Church | 5 PM |

Until Next Week,

Paige & Mason