Benscoter at Colfax library: Steptoe Butte orchards yield lost apple varieties

David Benscoter is getting to the core of Whitman County extinct apples.

“I collected lots and lots of apples last fall,” Benscoter said who lives in Chatteroy.

Benscoter will be at the Colfax Library March 7 to give a presentation about his apple research. The class is part of the Spokane Community College sponsored series.

For the past seven years, Benscoter has researched apple varieties that were thought to be extinct in Whitman County in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Last fall Benscoter sent between 60 to 70 types of apples to experts in Oregon to determine their varieties.

“They identified one lost apple and are positive about two other varieties that might have been extinct,” he said.

He added that eight more varieties could be identified as “lost.”

“Last year I submitted three apples to apple identification experts Shaun Shepherd and Joanie Cooper of the Home Orchard Society,” Benscoter said.

“This year I was not so easy on Shaun and Joanie. Knowing that orchards in Whitman County were growing 11 more lost apples in the early 1900s, I hit the old abandoned orchards hard this past October.”

Benscoter said he collected apples from more than 100 apple trees in the county.

“I then photographed and gave identifying codes to each apple,” Benscoter said. “Each code was then written on a map of the orchard where the apple came from so the apple tree could be identified and located later. By the end of October, I had sent approximately 60 sets of apple samples, usually five apples in each set, to Shaun and Joanie. I then waited for their analysis.”

By late November, Benscoter said the identification work had been done.

“The results were beyond my expectations,” Benscoter said. “Of the 11 lost varieties, seven apples were given grades of ‘possible or probable’ matches. One other apple convinced Shaun and Joanie a lost apple had definitely been found.”

“Shaun explained that samples were compared to a description and watercolor paintings of the lost ‘Nero’ apple and the ‘sample fits the description almost perfectly.’”

Benscoter said he concentrated his research in the Steptoe Butte area.

“Today Steptoe Butte has more than 200 ancient apple trees growing on it and at its base,” Benscoter said. “The majority of the trees are on the north side of the butte. I spoke with many residents of Whitman County but no one was able to tell me anything about who planted the trees. It was time for me to do some detective work.”

Benscoter said according to “Virgil T. McCroskey Giver of Mountains,” by Mary E. Reed and Keith Petersen, “one of Virgil’s favorite spots was the little-used picnic area in the apple orchard at the butte’s base.”

“Today that orchard, as well as other apple trees just outside the picnic area, still exist just as they have for probably more than 100 years,” Benscoter said. “The quote from the book about McCroskey’s life is the only mention in the book of orchards existing on the butte. This would seem to indicate that the orchards were planted before McCroskey purchased the property. History would also favor the theory that these orchards were planted prior to 1912. As the early settlers were dependent on apples for subsistence, it is more likely that the first homesteaders planted the apple orchards around Steptoe Butte.”

Benscoter said that according to “The Family Maps of Whitman County Washington,” 2008, by Gregory A. Boyd, Mecie Burns was an original homesteader on the north side of Steptoe Butte. Burns received her homestead in 1893 after first applying for it in 1888.

“Today the land that was once her property currently has the most old apple trees on the butte,” Benscoter said. “The fruit trees are mainly planted on hills and in ravines too steep to farm.”

Benscoter found evidence that supports the theory that Burns and her husband, Robert, planted most of the fruit trees as well as cleared the land of trees in areas flat enough to grow wheat.

Benscoter also found that the Burns did not have very good luck at farming. Wheat was the main crop until a crop failure in 1893 and then prune trees were planted. Dried fruit became a main produce for the area.

Nearby Elberton boasted that it had America’s largest fruit dryer. At more than 100 feet long, the furnaces dried 66,000 pounds of fruit a day.

Successive crop failures lead to the loss of the farm and the Burns family moved to Elberton.

Benscoter examined the orchards on the north side of the park, the land originally owned by Robert Burns, last October.

“Most of the apple trees in the picnic area at Steptoe Butte Park appear to be fall apples,” he said. “They ripen earlier than winter varieties and many trees had lost their apples by mid-October. There are approximately 20 fall apples in this area. Just outside the picnic area many winter apple trees are still growing.”

Benscoter also said he estimates about 200 apple trees are growing on the north side of Steptoe Butte.

“The north side of a butte is a better growing environment for apple trees as they are out of the direct exposure from the southern sun,” he said. “There is one main ravine that comes down the north side of the butte. This ravine is full of apple trees. Ravines are beneficial as growing areas for apple trees. First, ravines serve as natural gutters for water to flow off the butte. As a result, more water soaks into the soil in a ravine. In addition, the ravine often shades the roots of apple trees so less moisture is lost.”

Benscoter found that according to the Burns family history written by Judy Kelley, the cause of the failure of the farm was basically disasters caused by nature. However, Benscoter believed that the explanation did not seem reasonable.

“It was possible that there were isolated early frosts that affected Burns’ orchards and wheat,” he said. “However, there was no information found that indicated widespread crop failures in the 1800s due to frosts.”

Benscoter also found there was a nationwide financial crisis in 1893 that led to lost markets and low prices for wheat.

“It is possible that Burns suffered what amounted to a total loss if he was unable to sell his wheat crop in 1893,” Benscoter said. “In addition, if the orchards, including many prune and apple trees, were planted after 1893 as it appears to indicate in the family history, these standard size fruit trees would not even produce much fruit for the first five or six years. Unfortunately, in 1899, six years after planting the trees, the Burns appear forced into a sale.”

“After examining many of the apple trees on the north side of Steptoe Butte, I believe there was an additional, and more likely the main reason that Robert Burns failed as a farmer, is that he did not select the right varieties when he invested in apple trees,” Benscoter said.

In his research, Benscoter found that biographical information states that Burns sold his fruit commercially. In the 1890s, an orchardist needed to grow apples the customer wanted and also apples that would travel well to markets in the east.

Benscoter believes that Burns appears to have planted too many early fall apples which are not considered “keeper” apples because they usually don’t keep for more than a few weeks. That meant Burns would have had to sell his early apples locally.

The other weakness in Robert Burns’ orchard plan was the winter varieties of apples he chose to sell. In the 1890s, apple buyers wanted to purchase only a few popular varieties. Popular varieties at that time were Yellow Bellflower, Rome Beauty, Yellow Newtown Pippin and Jonathan.

“A walk through the old Burns orchard is more like a walk through an orchard for personal use,” Benscoter said. “Although there are more than 200 apple trees, rarely is the same variety found side by side. It seems Burns was trying to acquire as many varieties as possible rather than concentrate on a few commercial varieties.”

“The result of this is that while Burns’ choice of apple trees may have aided in his failure as a farmer, his orchard may end up being a pot of gold when it comes to yielding extinct apple varieties,” Benscoter said. “Already one formerly lost apple tree, the Nero, has been found on the land once owned by Robert Burns. Two other lost apples may have been found on Burns’ land. The Pyle’s Red Winter and the Isham Sweet are both undergoing testing to determine if they are, in fact, lost apples.”

“Even though these apple trees are believed to be more than 100 years old, the trees are, in general, in excellent shape,” Benscoter said. “These orchards are particularly important as they are close to the Hanford Nursery, eight miles away in Oakesdale. The only other known nurseries operating in the county were at Colfax, 12 miles away.

“Although that may not seem significant, in the 1890s when the only local transportation was by horseback, wagon or on foot, four miles was reason enough to make most purchases in Oakesdale. As eight of the lost apples, including the Nero and Pyle’s Red Winter, were sold by the Hanford Nursery, these Steptoe Butte orchards could have more lost apples.”

Benscoter said next fall more work will be done.

“I need to verify how many of these lost apples have actually been rediscovered,” he said. “Apple identification expert Dave Vernon of Century Farms Orchards in North Carolina has agreed to be part of this effort.”