The May 30 field day at the Enoch Cyrus orchard on Grey Butte brought volunteers, family members, the Ochoco National Forest workers and the media together for the occasion.

Madelinn Schriver, district botanist for the US Forest Service, is in charge of the project and found valuable partners in CJ Johnson and the School of Ranch to gather interested volunteers for the preservation of these historic orchards.  Renamed the Heritage Apple Corps., Johnson and the SOR plan to continue the mission of preserving the living treasures of pioneer-era orchards. Efforts from the School of Ranch and the Madras Pioneer brought attention to the planned work, which alerted the Cyrus family to the plan. Other regional media, namely Central Oregon Daily News and “Bend Magazine” came to document the historic event where four generations of the Cyrus family came to view and help with the restoration work.

One of the roles of the USDA Forest Service / Grassland is to preserve important cultural resources on federal land.  Their efforts have included mapping and tagging fruit trees in the nearby McCoin orchard as well as the Enoch Cyrus orchards.  DNA samples have been taken, and cuttings have been grafted for preservation.

Shriver’s goal for the day was to enhance resilience to wildfire through hazardous fuels reduction at the orchard.  In the last 100 years, the orchard in the grasslands has become overgrown with junipers, sagebrush, bitterbrush, rabbitbrush, and deadwood.  Without any firebreaks, the orchard is vulnerable to wildfire.  Removal of the other trees and shrubs will also provide improved access to the natural spring water on the slope.

The Forest Service employees and volunteers began work with chainsaws, reciprocating saws, and loppers to remove the brush around the orchard and pile it on large tarps to transport to the staging area at the bottom of the slope.  Bryan Cyrus brought a small track hoe to move the piles of brush into a compacted site for later pick up by the Forest Service, where it will be shredded. Tent caterpillars were abundant in the bitterbrush.  The apple trees looked relatively healthy; blossoms and new fruit were evident.

Work stopped with the arrival of the elder Cyrus family members to take photographs and break for lunch in the shade of a large apple tree. The temperature rose rapidly after lunch, and many of the volunteers called it a day.

Future restorative efforts

Shriver will coordinate with the Heritage Apple Corps. to plan another workday this fall to finish the fire mitigation work, followed by a restorative pruning by a trained group of volunteers.  More historic preservation efforts at the orchard are tentatively planned for early November.

Cyrus Family, homestead, and orchard

Enoch Cyrus married Mary Sutherlin and  homesteaded near a good spring at Grey Butte April 20, 1890. The landscape then was grassland with an aspen grove and no junipers in sight. The Cyrus family planted a large garden and orchard near the homestead.  The orchard included apple, pear, peaches and elder. ( Apple, pear and elder are still identifiable in the orchard today.) Their dry-land farming included oats, barley, rye, and hard wheat.  They had milk cows and grazed sheep.

Enoch’s son Omer Cyrus homesteaded nearby in 1904. After purchasing property in the Cloverdale area near Sisters in 1899, Omer later moved because irrigation water was available from what is now Wychus Creek.

Visiting the orchard on May 30 to witness the restoration work was grandson Omer Keith Cyrus and wife Connie. In their 80s, they watched while the volunteers, including their sons and grandsons, helped to clear the junipers and shrubs. Omer and Connie live on the Cloverdale farm near Sisters, so they were able to make the drive.

The subject of the May 30th restoration work was the largest of the three Cyrus orchards established by Omer Cyrus has approximately 25 live trees remaining.  The Cyrus properties are now part of the Crooked River National Grassland near the base of Grey Butte.  The Cyrus and McCoin homestead orchards were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. It is unknown exactly when the orchards were planted, however, the trees are estimated to be between 110 to 130 years old.

Preservation efforts include a gene bank

Botanists and geneticists had already visited the historic orchards and collected cuttings in spring 2024.  Those cuttings were grafted onto a basic M-111 apple tree rootstock, and the results were extremely successful.  Cameron Stauder, PhD, geneticist for the US Forest Service, Eastern Oregon Zone stated, “We have had nearly 100% grafting success with what we collected, thanks to the skill of retired USDA Forest Service employee, Chris Jensen.”  The grated trees were planted and were doing great during the winter.

Stauder explained, “We grafted a number of individuals from these orchards onto apple rootstock to be planted in a conservation arboretum of sorts.  Basically, a secondary location to help preserve the genetics present within these orchards (i.e., a gene bank).  The plan is to ensure all varieties are in our conservation arboretum.”  The nursery is in Clarno but does not have a full-time attendant to provide tours.

Chris Jensen, retired Forest Service employee, prepared an aerial map of the McCoin and Cyrus Orchards using Google Earth.  Surviving trees were literally tagged and some varieties identified thus far are listed on a legend included with the map.

Stauder stated “The varieties listed on the aerial orchard maps are based on fruit morphology.  Pending genetic test results will fill in the gaps and confirm those based off fruit (samples).”  More samples were taken recently and are being sent for DNA testing. Once varieties are confirmed, the maps will be updated.