A Look Back At Wenatchee’s Agricultural Challenges And Successes

The earliest settlers of the Wenatchee Valley had to find a profitable crop for their small land allotments.

Philip Miller was a 37-year-old German who moved to the Wenatchee Valley in 1872. He was the first person to successfully plant apple trees in the area, benefiting from the strong sunshine.

In 1893, rail travel across Stevens Pass opened up. This allowed apples, wheat, and other crops to be shipped by the Great Northern Railway. Merchants in Seattle and Minneapolis could now receive harvests from our region.

By 1902, thirty years after Philip Miller arrived and with many fruit orchards now in place, Wenatchee earned the name “Apple Capital of the World.”

The Arrival of Rufus Woods

In 1904, Rufus Woods moved to Wenatchee from Nebraska. He started as an editor at the Wenatchee Republic and then worked at the Wenatchee Advance. In 1907, he became the editor and publisher of the Wenatchee Daily World.

Irrigation canals changed the game for young Wenatchee

A lively band filled the air with energy as a large crowd gathered for the opening of the new black pipeline bridge. This bridge allows irrigation water to flow from Dryden to Rock Island. Now, farms on both sides of the Columbia River will have steady access to essential water. Because of this, fruit production has greatly increased—it's a fantastic boost for our community!

The newfound economic boom needed sanitary solutions.

Wenatchee's early unpaved streets had significant issues with horse manure, and garbage and sewage created problems for businesses and homes in the downtown area. From 1907 to 1909, Rufus Woods worked hard to address these issues and urged town planners to find solutions.EDIT: Wenatchee Daily World

‘Putrid Premises are the provinces of Pig Styes and Slaughter Houses’ was one of his well-served rants. In another, ‘filth accumulated in backyards and alleys' and their attendant 'putrefaction’ -Rufus Woods, Wenatchee Daily World

The initial solution to the deplorable conditions was for men to clean the sewage each spring, when the town thawed after a long winter.

Rufus Woods successfully encouraged our planners to clean up the town.

A rudimentary sewer system was installed in 1909, diverting raw sewage into the Columbia River. This was how our valley handled it until 1955.

There was some initial kickback from downtown merchants and homeowners who didn’t like the new “taxation.”  

Sanitation problems remained

Refrigerators first appeared in homes and restaurants in Wenatchee in the early 1920s. Before pasteurization became common, many children died from milk-borne diseases, such as bovine tuberculosis and typhoid.

The harshest moment in this terrible era was the summer of 1913.

Many Wenatchee Valley families lost their young children. Rufus and Mary Woods also experienced the unthinkable - losing their first two children. 

‘Later, two more children were born. One of them, Wilfred, followed by his son, Rufus II, who would carry on with the Wenatchee Daily World.’ - Historylink.org