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Mesa Orchards Company

(Click Image for Enlargement)

For more than half a century, an apple orchard of nearly 1400 acres, thought to be the largest in the United States under one management, covered this area.

Starting in 1910, investors, mostly from the eastern U.S., bought 10 acre shares to finance the project. An eight mile wooden flume carried water for irrigation from the Middle Fork of the Weiser River, and in 1920 a unique gravity tramway was built to carry fruit 3 1/2 miles north to a rail siding.

Production lasted until about 1960 when frozen crops and production problems led to its demise.

From Waymarking

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Mesa Orchards, once a thriving orchard located near a railroad line about three miles south of Council, had a fascinating history. Initially, the orchard’s operations were slow until the Van Hogsens took over and implemented significant improvements.

One notable improvement was the installation of a tramway between the orchards and the railroad line, which greatly enhanced efficiency. The tramway, managed by a skilled surveyor, could transport a ton of apples, packed in eight boxes, every two or three hours, regardless of weather conditions. This system revolutionized transportation, allowing for easy access to transport apples directly to the railroad car door. However, the tramway was eventually abandoned around 1940 due to the construction of an oiled highway and the availability of larger trucks for transporting apples.

In the early 1920s, the main flume connecting the dam to the orchards required rebuilding. This project, costing $63,000, was funded through various sources, including a grant of $40,000 from the Public Works Administration, the sale of 1,000 acre-feet of surplus water to ranchers in Middle Valley at Midvale, and $25,000 from the Mesa Orchards’ owner, the Production Credit Association.

The successful operation of Mesa Orchards was a testament to innovation and adaptability, showcasing the evolution of agricultural practices in the region.

From Weiser Signal – Thur, February 25, 1965

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When you think of big apple operations today, you probably think of Washington State. It’s the top apple producing state in the country. But over the years, Southwestern Idaho had some impressive orchards, from the one where Julia Davis Park is today to the orchards in Kuna, Emmett, and Sunnyslope. For a while, one of the largest operations in the world was located about 13 miles north of Cambridge at a place called Mesa.

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Mesa Orchards General Store

The Mesa Orchards Company began as a cooperative in 1911. Investors, often from the East, purchased ten-acre plots for $500 an acre. The early money went into an essential project. Before you can become one of the largest apple suppliers in the world, you need to have a lot of apple trees, which require a lot of water, which, in the case of Mesa Orchards, required the building of six miles of flume from a new reservoir constructed for the operation.

Maintenance of the flume, care of the trees, and the harvest of fruit — including some peaches and pears — took a lot of people. Some 50 families lived in the little community of Mesa. It had its own post office, a company store, and a two-room school.

The Mesa Orchards Company had some million-dollar years, but the downs were more frequent than the ups. One year jackrabbits killed a lot of fruit trees when winter conditions had the critters chewing the bark from around their base. In 1920 a packinghouse fire burned through 50,000 boxes of apples.

There were early freezes, and poor markets. Managers came and went.

What remained of the trees were uprooted in 1967. The tramway that had become a tourist attraction was purchased by a mining company. They took down the towers and moved the whole contraption out of state. At its peak the Mesa Orchards Company boasted some 1500 acres of orchards, planted 80 trees to the acre. The operation was so big they built a 3 ½-mile aerial tramway to transport boxes of apples to the Mesa railroad siding. It was a tourist attraction. One 1922 story in the Idaho Statesman started with the comment that “like most travelers along the highway, we halted at Mesa, where a model community has been erected for the benefit of workers.” The year before, more than 120 train cars full of apples and peaches had been shipped to different parts of the country “commanding fancy prices in New York State.”

A few abandoned sections of the flume are today about the only signs that one of the world’s biggest apple operations once thrived at Mesa. Finally, in 1954, the property was sold to a ranching family from Montana. By the time Brian and Emma Ball purchased the property the operation was down to about 700 acres of fruit trees. They were planning to make a go of it in the fruit business. A late frost put the kibosh on that, ruining 40,000 boxes of freshly picked apples that were sitting under the trees, along with some 100,000 boxes still to be picked.

From Idaho Press

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Mesa is an unincorporated community in Adams County, Idaho, United States. Mesa is located near U.S. Route 95, 7 miles (11 km) south of Council.

Mesa Orchards, Milepost 128. For more than half a century after 1910, an exceptionally large apple orchard covered these hills around Mesa. An eight-mile wooden flume brought water to these slopes. Chicago and other distant investors bought ten-acre shares in an orchard company to pay for this expensive 1,500-acre project. A town for 50 orchard workers was built here, and a 3 1/2-mile gravity tram hauled apples to the railroad siding below Mesa. This ambitious operation lasted until 1967. Sign number: 374.

From Idaho Highway Historical Marker Guide

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My mother Ruth Brown McFadden and her sister Marie Brown Bridge wrote some of the things they remembered about growing up in Mesa.

From Ruth Brown McFadden: The Mesa School was rather a large building with two large rooms and a big hall and full basement underneath, all eight grades went to school there, the first, second, third and fourth grades were in one room and the fifth, sixth, seventh and eight in the other room. Downstairs there was a two room apartment where the teachers could live.. The coal and wood was also kept downstairs. There were two outside toilets, one for the boys and one for the girls.

In the fall during apple harvest there would be a lot of extra kids in each room.

From Marie Brown Bridge: There was a well that supplied all the water for Mesa and sometimes they would haul drinking water from there to where her parents lived, there was a big shower house if you wanted to go and have a shower. When they lived in one of the bungalows, we just had the sink and cold water. the three big houses had bathrooms and down from them was another big house where Grandma Rush used to live.

There was a small pear orchard on the east side of the highway, there was a wonderful peach orchard , some pie cherry trees, a bing cherry tree, lots of grape and other berries, plus all the different kinds of apples.

The packing house and dryer used to run all winter, so people had work. After they built the cannery they used to run the bus to Council, and Indian Valley to bring the people to work. Once a week the bus used to take the men who lived in the bunk house to Council to see a movie and get their hair cut.

From Patty Gross – Weiser Museum Facebook Group

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Highway 95 passes through Indian Valley and climbs Mesa Hill thirteen miles north of Cambridge. The road cuts through what was once among a half a dozen largest fruit farms under single management in the world: Mesa Orchards Company.

From Cort Conley. Idaho for the Curious/A Guide. Backeddy Books, Cambridge, Idaho. 1982

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Mesa Orchards

By Ron Marlow

Imagine a fruit enterprise so large that it had its own post office, general store, school and a repair shop. This business covered approximately 1400 acres and was managed by J.P. Gray. It started as a land promotion scheme in 1908 by the Weiser Land and Water Company and was headed by a three-man team. It was called “Mesa Orchards.” Small tracts of hillside land were sold for apple growing. The 10 acre lots sold for $500 an acre. Getting water to the land was the problem, as the nearest water supply was the Weiser River – miles away. Engineers constructed a small dam on the Middle Fork of the Weiser River for the Mesa Company water needs. Each buyer had 10 shares of stock in the Orchards Water Company.

Downstream, the farmers demanded protection for their water needs. A reservoir was constructed, miles away, in Lost Valley, west of Tamarack. Whenever water was drawn from the Weiser River, an offsetting amount was released from the Lost Valley Reservoir so an adequate water supply was guaranteed for the farmers. The problem was getting water to the hillside lots. Six miles of flume was constructed, four feet deep and six feet wide with two inverted siphons. Some 36 inch pipes were used. The venture was costly and kept a maintenance crew constantly cleaning trash and debris from the water system.

The Company agreed to care for the trees for ten years. Gray managed the orchards for seven years.

Investors became anxious for a return on their investment in the orchards, so when asked for more operating funds they sent a team to investigate. New managers were hired and bought out Gray’s interests.

(Click Image for Enlargement)
Mesa Tram loaded with apples headed down the hill

They began improving the operation with some new buildings, domestic water supply and enlargement of the packing sheds. An aerial tramway, 3 1/2 miles in length, was constructed to transport boxes of apples to the railroad siding at Mesa. In winter weather, boxes of apples from the winter storage sleds, were covered with canvas for protection against frost on their route down the tramway to storage warehouses on the railroad siding. This unique system was a tourist attraction.

One winter hungry jackrabbits destroyed fruit trees by eating the bark exposed above the snow line. In December 1920, a packinghouse fire destroyed 50,000 boxes of apples. It had only been in operation for a year.

To utilize small unmarketable apples, an evaporator was constructed and the furnace fired by imported coke. Underground storage facilities were built to hold fruit longer for improved prices. There were shipments to European countries, small apples for Christmas tree decoration.

Fruit growing began to decline caused by early freezes and market demand. In the 1930s depression, financial problems, caused in part by the severe hailstorm which wiped out much of the crop of Mesa Orchards, forced the business operations to be assumed by the Western Idaho Production Credit Association.

F. H. Hogue operated the orchards for two years. He had numerous orchards in the Emmett area.

In 1937, J. R. Field, Jr. managed the business for several years as part owner along with A.H. Burroughs and Wm. Langroise of Boise.

Harry Spence was hired as manager in the mid-1940s. The orchard produced a record crop one year and had an income of over $1 million. The crop was good, as was the demand.

In 1954, Brian and Emma Ball, Montana cattle ranchers, became owners of the remaining 700 acres of Mesa Orchards. A late frost froze 40,000 boxes of freshly picked apples, still under the trees. This was the last year of production. Ball was killed in an accident, so Mrs. Ball decided to keep enough trees for the family and turn the rest of the land into a cattle ranch.

Gone are the orchards and the residence. The buildings have fallen down or burned. No more can you smell the fragrant fruit tree blossoms. Mother Nature took back the hillsides. An era has ended.

From The Independent-Enterprise Newspaper, Payette, Idaho, Wednesday, October 17, 2001

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Mesa

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Mesa is located on Highway 95 south of Council. In 1908 the area had a post office known as “Middle Fork.” In 1912 the name was changed to “Mesa.” (Although there is no longer a Mesa post office, it continues with its very own zip code). Also in 1912 a school was built which included an assembly room for public gatherings.

In 1908 the idea for apple orchards in the Mesa area was born. It is a dry area and the water problem had to be dealt with. The solution ended up being the building of a seven-mile-long wooden flume to convey water from the Middle Fork of the Weiser River as well as the digging of several miles of ditches.

In 1909 the Mesa Orchards Company ordered 80,000 trees, built a sawmill on the Middle Fork for lumber for the flume, and hired 100 men to dig the ditches. Unfortunately the initial irrigation solution was inadequate and most of the trees died. Water had to be hauled in by wagon until the irrigation was finally completed in 1911.

A $45,000 tramway was built in 1920 and was used to carry fruit three and a half miles north to the railroad. It ceased operation about 1934.

Five hundred workers were harvesting apples in 1933 but by 1936 the company was ordered to sell its property because of its huge debts. The apple enterprise continued under new owners. In 1947 the apple harvest was said to be 500,000 boxes. The winter of 1949 brought 63 straight days of zero and below temperatures. Many trees never produced well again. Eventually many of the trees were felled to increase pasture.

The area is now comprised of private homes and range and pasture lands.

From Adams County

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Images from Don Doph – Facebook Museum Group

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