Historical Research
The most favored district in Colorado is what was once said about our area's fruit growing
potential. At elevations fruit production was believed impossible, our Montezuma Valley grew
some of the tastiest fruit imaginable. Over one hundred years ago pioneers came from across
the country with knowledge of fruit and orchards planting thousands of small and mid-sized
orchards in Weber Canyon, McElmo Canyon, Lewis, Lakeview, Arriola, and Lebanon.
Their trees came from bareroot from California, or from scion wood collected back home in Tennessee. They were aware of the numerous varieties that existed at the time, and experimented aggressively. There was a premium on quality. They could breed their own genetics, graft, plant, harvest, and market their fruit. Indeed, much of the early history of the Montezuma Valley is about fruit production and orchard development. The reputation for quality spread far and wide.
In 1904 Montezuma County won three of the four Gold Medals awarded to Colorado at the St. Louis World Fair. Two years later, establishing a record “that has never been approached, much less equaled” Montezuma County fruits took 101 out of the 104 ribbons at the State Fair, 97 of them first place.
We are actively searching historic records in Montezuma County, Ft. Collins Denver, and in those dusty attics and cellars, to discover long lost records, photographs and information about historic orchardists, and the techniques that they utilized. Please contact us if you have any to add to our historical record!
In addition, we are recording oral history interviews (at KSJD's McAfee Story Vault, when possible) with many local residents to document some of the knowledge of this previous orchard era.