“Cherry Trees by Otto Hackenberg”

The following undated article was submitted for this family project by Eleanor Abraham, Rainier historian and member of the garden club, who had asked Otto to write about trees.  It is an interesting insight into the “multi-tasking” cherry tree in the family orchard that always mystified Josef’s grandchildren.*

“Cherry Trees by Otto Hackenberg”

“. . . On the farm where I was born dad had homesteaded in 1886, and government rules required a house to be built, a certain amount of land to be cleared, and a certain amount of fruit trees to be planted each year in order to hold on to the homestead.  The size of dad’s orchard that I can remember as far back as 1911, I am convinced that he planted, and in some cases grafted fruit trees on wild ones.

He had a larger orchard than the government required him to have.  By 1911 some of the cherry trees had grown quite large, the trunks were at least a foot or more in diameter and the trees over 20 feet high.

There were three large Black Republicans, one large May Duke.  The May Duke tree was usually loaded with cherries, but it was an early variety and the birds would start in on them as soon as they started to turn red, and the birds usually won out.  Those we got to eat were far from being ripe.  The same for Governor Wood, also an early cherry.  *Perhaps about in the year of 1900 two native wild choke cherries came up and dad had a Bing graft from somewhere, and he grafted one of the trees to Bing and the other to Royal Ann, both grew, and nearly always they both had a good crop of cherries.  Perhaps the two varieties were good for pollination for each other.  The trees were pruned so that they resembled one tree.

About 1912 a seedling cherry came up in the yard.  Dad told my older brother Bill to get a Bing graft, and graft the tree.  He did.  But some years later when the tree started to bear, it had Royal Anns on it.  Dad wrote him about it, and my brother wrote back, “If you want Bing cherries from that tree, pick them in a milk pan, and they will go Bing!”

1900

The year began with much the same homestead routine, and pruning trees at Nelson’s, W.G. Kyser’s, Winchester’s, Franz Olson’s along with working in his own orchard.  There is a notation in April “boys went to Rainier alone” [Rudy was 8 and Willie 4].  Josef worked for Star Logging Company from May 1 to June 2, coming home each week on Saturday and on Sunday “rested”.  During June there were visits from the “Assessor” and “Enumerator” and he made three trips to Petersen camp but they evidently weren’t hiring.

In the fall Josef spent time clearing his land, and making “corderoy” to plank cowpath by the barn, and barnlot.  On Thanksgiving he noted “having a  toothache” and a few days later “Had a tooth ground to hell in Portland.”

“Sendoff for the year 1900.  The year 1900 has been everything concerned good, extreme in rain.  Good crops were raised.  Fell about 30 trees, corderoyed and fenced cowtrail and barnlot, fenced west of house, made ½ mile cowtrails.  Cleared 1/3  acre, grubbed ¼ acre new ground, grubbed ¼ acre meadow.”

Carol’s observations from Josef’s journal of the 1890’s

It appears the children, one at a time, commonly stayed in Rainier, often weeks at a time, with their Winchester grandparents.  Josef was very industrious and within the first five years after his marriage, had put finishing touches on his house and outbuildings.  With the growing family, he must have needed more income so started working more at neighboring homesteads.  1899 marked the beginning of Josef’s extended work at the various lumber camps where he would carry his blankets and stay to work the week.  He continually went around looking for outside work and there are many notations of “went to. . . for nothing”.  Whether he was paid is not mentioned, but he spent considerable time building his father-in-law’s new house and walk in Rainier, and is continually “cutting wood for Dad”. 

Josef no longer is obtaining flour at various neighbors, but purchasing it in Portland on his Iralda trips.  There was a severe shortage of household water nearly every summer, lasting until November; and as Josef never mentions carrying water, it is likely Dora and the children were assigned that task.  Dora had a sewing machine, and there is a good supply of fruit jars.  Perhaps some of the kitchen fires so often mentioned were caused by having to keep a roaring hot fire in the wood stove during the canning season.

The young orchard which is poled, pruned, and grafted on schedule is just starting to produce, and they also have strawberries for a change of diet from the many blackberries that are available.