Bitterroot Apple Trees

Even before the 1909 Enlarged Homestead Act was underway, the Bitterroot Valley apples drew a large population to Ravalli County. The valley’s especially long growing season was realized very early. The first apple orchards in the Bitterroot Valley were planted in the 1860s. Thomas Harris in the Three Mile area planted fruit trees in 1866. The Bass brothers planted the first commercial orchard, obtaining their trees by mail order from Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1870. Removal of the Salish to...