Alva Review-Courier -

Henderson Luelling left Iowa for Oregon in 1847 with a wagonload of fruit trees. During the six-month journey on the 2000-mile Oregon Trail, he watered and tended to his plants daily. Many died, but roughly 350 survived the trip.

The Luelling family settled in the Willamette River Valley near the present-day town of Milwaukie, Oregon. He and a friend established a nursery and began producing tens of thousands of new trees by the process of grafting.

Before 1847 had ended, Luelling’s brother John came to Oregon and joined Henderson’s business. A third brother, Seth, also migrated to the Pacific Northwest and opened up a separate nursery.

Henderson Luelling and his partners operated their business for several years. Eventually, however, he sold the nursery to his brother Seth and moved to California, where he also planted thousands of fruit trees.

Consequently, Henderson Luelling – more than any other person – is responsible for turning the Pacific Northwest into a major fruit-producing region of the United States.

Today, Washington is by far the leading apple-growing state in the nation with Oregon being in eighth place and Idaho in tenth.

Washington also ranks first nationally in the production of pears and cherries, with Oregon being in second place in both instances. Idaho is the fifth most-productive cherry state while Washington is seventh in peach output.

In short, the former “Oregon Country” today provides a large proportion of our country’s fruit. Remember that the next time you visit a grocery store’s produce aisle.

This story also has an interesting footnote. Seth Lewelling (as he spelled the family surname) also became, like his brother, an important nurseryman in Oregon. He hired several Chinese immigrants to work in his business.

One particular man was very attentive to Lewelling’s cherry trees. Eventually, Seth developed a new hybrid cherry on one of the trees attended by the Chinese worker.

The employee’s name was Ah Bing, so Lewelling named his new fruit the “Bing” cherry. Today it is the most popular cherry grown and sold in the United States.