I had no idea that prunes/plums were produced in the Gorge.

Dale Nicol on 28th December 2022 @ 8:43am

Arthur: I faintly remember a post in which it was mentioned that folks tried to make a go of plums in the HR area. I've seen a small patch of Italian plums on Indian Creek Trail.

Will on 28th December 2022 @ 9:43am

Yes, the east side of Hood River had plum orchards. The newspapers regularly reported on prune prices and the packing houses accepted prunes. We even had a picture from a distance which showed a line of pickers cabins near E Eugene and E 2nd. I have some of the descendants of these trees in my yard. They grow really well in our climate-- I guess they just aren't commercially viable.

ArthurB on 28th December 2022 @ 10:40am

I think there were plum trees in quite a few yards in the Heights in the 40's and 50's. We had a couple in our yard on Taylor St. as did some neighbors but I hadn't known about orchards on the east side (were the orchards on east side of valley as well as east side of town?)

Cecelia on 28th December 2022 @ 1:49pm

We always called these prune plums--not sure if that was variety grown throughout the valley.

Cecelia on 28th December 2022 @ 2:06pm

We always called ours Prune trees, although I guess technically they are plum trees until the fruit is dried.
This photo might have a connection to Samuel and Eveline Evans who moved to Mosier in the late 1800's. Their daughter Effie, married Charles Graham. Charles and Effie are buried in Lebanon, OR. They had a daughter Dollie Coyle, who would have had a baby about this time frame.
I think Samuel and Eveline established Evans Orchards.

L.E. on 28th December 2022 @ 3:28pm

I think we had a plum on belmont in the 1950s

Arlen L Sheldrake on 28th December 2022 @ 5:27pm

There was a plum tree just over the fence behind our house. Was a vacant lot for years. This was on Montello Street.

Norma on 29th December 2022 @ 10:43am

There were documented prune orchards within the city limits, but I am sure they were grown elsewhere in the county. There are many varieties of prunes-- I have three in my yard which vary in size, shape and flavor.

ArthurB on 29th December 2022 @ 11:25am

First house we rented in HR, 2016, had a massive Italian Plum tree in the backyard, probably 30 feet high? I picked 15 pounds of them from the 2nd story deck, and that's just what I could reach. They were delicious. Tree is still there (2022), I can see it from Oak St.

Kyle on 29th December 2022 @ 12:29pm

I think Italian plums/prunes grow true from seed, so they could continue to make an appearance where there is an old tree to drop the pits.
Charles Graham also had a son Gordon who married Elsie Denny in Mosier in 1910.

L.E. on 29th December 2022 @ 3:47pm

From the October 02, 1919 Hood River Glacier p.1.
EXPENSIVE TO BE FULL OF PRUNES: "It costs a fellow something in these times to be 'full of prunes.' " says Mark A. Mayer, owner of 150 acres of orchards in the Mosier district.
Of Mr. Mayer's Mayerdale tract seven and a half acres are planted to prunes. He has just completed the harvest of a little better than 50 tons.
"I wish that my entire 150 acres were in prunes," continued Mr. Mayer, "for I know of no crop that will pay the orchardist of Mosier better."

This PDF on prune driers and prune growing in the Pacific Northwest contains a photo of Duckwall's label for Italian Prunes. Very attractive. It also mentions that being close to a railroad was important to the success of shipping the product.
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/323387231.pdf

L.E. on 2nd January 2023 @ 8:33am