By Ken Brafman, Image from ROWHS Collection
TITLE: APPLES HELPED GROW THE MOUNTAIN: Mountain pioneers that settled in the San Bernardino Mountains planted an estimated 100,000 apple trees between the years 1875-1925. Apples were an important part of mountain living because they were the only fresh fruit that would keep through the winter, and they were extremely versatile. They were used for eating and in cooking and baking. Apples were made into cider, and vinegar, and could be dried for longer-term storage and use. Families would typically have apples with every meal. When a homestead was established, it was usual for apple trees to be the first crops planted. Trees can still be seen from the street in Dart Canyon. Larger orchards supplied fresh fruit to the mining and logging camps, to ranches and resorts as well as to fruit markets down the hill. Those orchards were located at resorts such as Pinecrest, which still has apples today. Squint’s Ranch in upper Lake Arrowhead had apples, as did present-day Blue Jay, Twin Peaks, Kuffel Meadows and east to Forest Home, Barton Flats and Angelus Oaks. Workers building the Little Bear Dam, which produced the lake that became Lake Arrowhead, planted apple trees which led to the naming of Orchard Bay. Young trees needed a lot of attention and hand watering but could live to 100 years or more. Varieties that were grown are too numerous to list but some are still popular today such as Rome, Red and Golden Delicious, Winesap and Gravenstein. The apple industry on the mountain declined after World War II with the advent of refrigerated trucks and railcars as well as the huge supply that came from Washington State. This week’s image is a photo of a very old apple tree sitting in a meadow near Squint’s Ranch, one of approximately 1,000 trees that are said to survive today.