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...