North Cascades

MARKETING THE WILDERNESS: DEVELOPMENT OF COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISES

AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISES

Farming

Diversion ditch from Rainbow Creek forming the main
irrigation channel watering the entire orchard.
(Photo by C. Gilbert, NPS, 1985)

Agricultural activity in the North Cascades began shortly after the arrival of settlers into the area. A prerequisite for living off the land included at minimum, the cultivation of a garden and raising a few head of beef or dairy cattle. For the permanent settler it was of vital importance to work the land and produce crops. With the extreme and unpredictable mountain weather there was no guarantee crops would grow from one season to the next. As a result, settlers depended heavily on each other and often exchanged foodstuffs and goods for the equivalent in similar goods or services. Both cash and the barter system were an acceptable means of obtaining needed items.

With successive plantings the orchard at the Buckner Homestead
grew to cover about 50 acres and include 700 trees.
(Photo by C. Gilbert, NPS, 1985)

The exchange of produce never developed commercially beyond the local market. The only commercial agricultural venture of any size that operated in the area of today's park was an apple orchard on the eastern slope of the North Cascades, in the remote community of Stehekin. Continuing where the original owner left off, the Buckner family of California moved to the head of the lake in 1910 and developed 149 acres into a sizable and profitable enterprise. Over several decades the Buckners cleared their land, cutting timber and pulling stumps, increasing the size of the orchard. A large network of hand-dug irrigation ditches throughout the orchard brought water from nearby Rainbow Creek to the trees in the dry summer season. The near absence of harmful insects coupled with good soil and climatic conditions resulted in a prolific orchard of approximately 50 acres. Several Stehekin valley residents were employed seasonally by the Buckners to help harvest the crop each year. Initially packed in crates by hand, and later by machine, the apples were sent downlake via barge to Chelan valley markets.

For nearly half a century the Buckner Orchard remained a profitable commercial operation. A number of circumstances however, caused the family to retire from the business. It was difficult to secure pickers and packers for the apples, transportation costs were high, and the labor required to maintain the tree stock proved burdensome for the family. By the 1960s the agricultural enterprise which had allowed the Buckner family to reside comfortably in the remote Stehekin valley for so many years was no longer functioning as a profitable business. [31]