Twelve Master Gardeners gathered on a perfect fall day in early October, meeting near Skull Hollow Campground before carpooling along bumpy gravel roads in search of old apple trees that have been around since the homesteading days.
Our guide was Peter LoVerso, current project leader of Heritage Apple Corps, a volunteer-driven organization dedicated to finding, identifying and preserving Central Oregon’s heritage fruit trees. The group searches for old homestead sites and public lands to document, map and hopefully restore surviving trees. Working with the U.S. Forest Service, they use DNA testing to determine what varieties the early homesteaders actually planted. According to their website, so far they have documented 382 trees, DNA tested 296 and identified 57 historic varieties.
LoVerso knows his apples and his local history. During our trip he came prepared for the hard-to-reach fruits, using a fruit picker to pluck them from branches that were just a bit too high for the rest of us. Yes, we got plenty of samples, some tasty, others not so much.
On our first stop he explained how to spot clues from once existing homesteads. A few apple trees standing in the distance were a clue, but we also learned to look for Lombardy poplars. Because these trees are fast growing, they were commonly planted around homesteads to block the wind and to prove to the government that homesteaders were developing their land. Enacted before Oregon even became a state, the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850 offered free land to eligible white settlers. Later iterations, like the Homestead Act of 1862, expanded opportunities for families who were willing to make improvements on their plots.
Our next stop took us to the McCoin Orchard, where we were the first to see the brand-new historical marker that had just been installed. Some of the trees at McCoin have been standing for more than 140 years, long after the people who planted them were gone. In fact, in some locations, the trees are the only thing left to show that a family ever lived there.
The often rough gravel then led us to two different sites of the Cyrus Orchard, where we learned more about the area’s history. In the 1880s, Enoch and Mary Cyrus established a productive homestead where they introduced winter wheat, raised sheep, grew vegetables, and of course, planted fruit trees, many varieties of them, in fact. The homestead had once encompassed 500 acres and still offers some amazing views.
At the second Cyrus site, LoVerso demonstrated how to graft an apple tree, a skill that Heritage Apple Corps teaches in depth through its workshops and orchard workdays. Grafting is a technique that joins a cutting or branch from one plant (the scion) to the root system (rootstock) of another. This was definitely one of the most interesting and informative parts of the day. Did you know that most apple trees are grown from grafting rather than from seed?
Heritage Apple Corps is working hard to care for the old orchards, with more than 80 trees restored since 2024. Cuttings from some of the rarest trees are grafted and preserved at a Forest Service arboretum in Clarno, Oregon. An additional preservation is planned in Tumalo. The work is made possible through grants, donations and partnerships. This funding is especially important when it comes to another threat to these historic orchards: wildfire.
Junipers and other vegetation can encroach on the old orchards, competing with the fruit trees for water while also providing fuel for a fire. Recent grants are funding wildfire resilience work which allows volunteers to remove brush and juniper inside the orchards and outside within 10 feet, though a larger buffer around them would be ideal.
I think it’s pretty cool to discover these old trees scattered across Central Oregon. They aren’t just remnants of abandoned orchards but living pieces of history, many of them more than a century old and still producing fruit. I often think about the families and homesteaders who came before us and how difficult survival must have been. It’s nice to see a group like the Heritage Apple Corps making sure those connections aren’t lost.
By the end of the day, I had learned far more than I expected about apples. I left wanting to help out. Whether you’re an apple enthusiast or a history buff like me, Heritage Apple Corps offers many ways to get involved. Volunteers can learn to prune old trees, remove encroaching vegetation, repair fences, donate funds, and help to preserve history. Find more information on their website: heritageapplecorps.org/.
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