Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-12-16
The Haskin Letter = ' sRssaas
THE OLDEST APPLE TREES

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Washington, d. c., Dec. 13,-Ar
apple orchard that is more than .
century old. that has flourished under
three governments and fed men o.
three races and still bears apples, il
one of the latest discoveries in the
southwest, made recently by officers
OF the United States forest service.
That is, the orchard has beer
of the trees was only scientifically
determined last summer. Until ex'
perts had cut down one Of the trees
and counted the rings, no L who
knew anything about apple treei
would believe that the orchard ha(
stood for a century. Now they know
that some of the smallest trees have
lived that long. and it seems logical,
certain that Hine of the larger ones
must have lived a great deal longer
Furthermore, many of the trees now
standing in this venerable orchard
look as though they had grown from
the stumps or roots of a former gen
Grafton Of apple trees which had fall
len Or been cut down. The natives
living ~thereabouts say that tradition
gives the G of the orchard at from
700 to 400 years. 1t seems possible
sAe "a oSAoC IuCy dIc IiSHt. dCle
Is reason to believe that the ancestors
at least, of the present trees were
planted in the seventeenth century.
This historic orchard is located
near the little town Of Manzano or
the eastern slope of the Manzane
mountains in central New Mexico
Manzano is the Spanish word for ap-
pie. Both the mountain range anC
town have taken their names from the
ancient trees. The priest in the
church ut Manzano, who is a sort OF
custodian of the orchard, tells inquir-
ers that the, trees have been grow
ing there for $50 years, according te
the tradition which has been handed
down from padre to padre through
the generations. The oldest native
inhabitants of the little town believe
that the orchard has been there for
400 years. That date is improbable,
for the Spanish exploration Of the
southwest had scarcely begun so long
ago, and apple trees were certainly
brought to America by the Europeans
Relics Of Heroic Age
But the priest. when he claims that
the orchard is more than two cen
turtles old, has strong historical evil
dence on his side. For these trees
almost certainly are relics of that
heroic age in the history of the south
west when Spanish priests and sol
diers were there engaged in subduing
a great wilderness Of savages for the
king of Spain and the church of Rome.
At everyone of the pueblo villages
which dot this region the Spaniards
built great churches of stone and
left a few priests to teach those saw
ages the fear of God and also the
culture of crops and herds. The
corn and cotton and melons, but they
had no domestic animal except the
turkey and no fruit trees.
The padres, armed with nothing but
the cross, took their stand in q hos
ligion and civilization. In ONE in
stances they were murdered by the
indians Of their own flocks. More
often they succeeded in winning the
friendship of the Pueblos. only to be
overwhelmed by the wild tribes of the
Navajos and Apaches which waged an
tncessant warfare upon both the Pueb-
los and the Spaniards. In some in
stances these brave Franciscan friars
triumphed over all difficulties and
dangers. Some of the ancient mis-
sion churches still stand and are still
in use. Many of the greatest ones
ore III ruins.
Now one of these ancent ruined
churches stands not far from the
ancient Manzano orchard. and u good
deal IL known Of its history. in the
seventeenth century a large Indian
pueblo. known as Quarai. stood at this
spot, and il L. recorded that the
franciscan fathers built this mission
church of Quarai in the year 1920. 1t
is also known that in 1915 it was
abandoned for the reason that the
Nayajos had repeatedly raided it. killed
priests and friendly Indians and de
stroyed crops. 1t was an outpost of
civilization which could not stand
against the savages.
OF Quarai, both pueblos and church.
nothing now remains but IL heap of
stone. and a few massive walls show
how patiently and we'll those old
Spaniards built. Nothing was left alive
in the vicinity except the apple trees.
For it seems almost certain that the
original trees 81 the orchard were
planted by the Franciscan friars of the
Quarai mission. and If that is the case.
the original trees must have been
planted before the year 1875 which
would make them at least $50 wears
old. OF course, the original trees NAV
have died and others may have grown
up from seeds or roots. That this has
happened IN some cases is indicated
by the tact that many of the trees are