First People

Orondo was first home to the Entiat People, šnt̕iyátkʷəxʷ, meaning "grass in the water" in the Interior Salish language. Orondo and the surrounding area are the traditional lands where the Entiat People and their neighbors have fished along the rivers, hunted in the hills, and gathered plants since time immemorial.

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By the 1880s, the Entiat People had been forced from their traditional homelands, and many lived on the Colville Reservation. Some of the Entiat People refused to move to reservations and took allotments along the rivers, including Chief Silicosaket, who had a homestead just a few miles upriver from Orondo at Entiat.

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Today, many of the Entiat People are members of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation.​​

 

Early Explorers

In 1804, Presidents Thomas Jefferson sent the American Corps of Discovery, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, to explore America's new lands west of the Rocky Mountains. The Expedition passed just 100 miles south of Orondo on its way to the Pacific Ocean. In 1811, Canadian explorer and fur-trader David Thompson journeyed the Columbia River past present-day Orondo, becoming the first know non-Native to reach the area.​​

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The Thompson expedition camped along the banks of the Columbia River, trading with the Native People, and studying the local animals and plants. The same year, Fort Okanogan, a fur-trading post, was built 100 miles upriver from Orondo, bringing new explorers and traders to the region. A small population of Chinese miners also populated spots along the Columbia and Entiat Rivers throughout the mid-to-late 1800's.

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Oregon Trail

The Oregon Trail stretched more than 2,000 miles from Independence, Missouri, to the Oregon Territory, which included Orondo. Hoping for new opportunities in the West, settlers traveled the Oregon Trail. The journey was hard and took up to six months by wagon.

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The wagons were often so full of belongings and food for the long trek that the people walked much of the way. Between 1840 and 1860, somewhere between 300,000 and 400,000 settlers traveled the Oregon Trail.

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Some of the earliest settlers in Orondo included Dr. John Brown Smith, Eli and Charlotte Fisher, Winfield Gehr, Fred Carpenter, John McMillan, Francis Williams, Calvin French, Richard Purcell, and Mary and Robert Cannon. ​​

 

Dr. John Brown Smith & Orondo Origins

Dr. John Brown Smith arrived in Orondo on the 4th of July in 1884, at the age of 47, and established a town. By 1887, he had opened the first store, served as its first postmaster, and engaged in mercantile and milling businesses.

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Over time, Dr. Smith donated land in Orondo for schools, public buildings, wharves, steamboat landings, and a park. In 1889, he started a newspaper, The Orondo News, to promote the town, which lasted just one year. Dr. Smith served in the Washington State legislature twice in the 1890s. In 1895, he married schoolteacher Valeria A. Haynes, with whom he had a son, John H.D. Smith.

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Other early families in Orondo included the Kunkles, Vaughns, Sparks, and Koehlers. Several farmers had begun farming in Waterville, but moved to Orondo after seeing its potential, including Matt Miles, M.B. Howe, and Adam Thompson.​​

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Orondo's First Orchards

Eli and Charlotte Fisher arrived in 1886, becoming the area's first orchardists. Charlotte planted peaches that grew into thriving trees within a few years. Soon after, Eli Fisher, Dr. Smith, and other community members planted 600 more peach trees, creating productive orchards and establishing the Orondo area as a major fruit-growing region.

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The earliest fruit orchards were small and almost exclusively planted with soft fruits – peaches, apricots, plums, prunes, and pears. The Fisher family opened the first large-scale orchard development in Orondo by 1910, known as the 120-acre Fisher Orchard Tracts, operated by the family's Orondo Development Company.​​

 

Shipping & Transportation

As Orondo grew, the Orondo and Entiat ferries began operating along the Columbia River, transporting wheat to Wenatchee. The Great Northern Railroad arrived in Spokane and Wenatchee in 1892, connecting eastern Washington to St. Paul, Minnesota.

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In 1893, the railroad was built on the Entiat side of the Columbia River, to the great disappointment of those in Orondo. As a result, residents organized the Orondo Shipping Company, which offered several stagecoach rides a day to and from Waterville. Thanks to the railroads, by 1906, apples grown in Washington were sold all around the world. A second railroad arrived through the Okanogan Valley in 1914.

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The last grain shipment on steamboats on the Columbia River was in 1910, but the Orondo ferry ran until December 31, 1959, shortly before the completion of the Rocky Reach Dam and reservoir in 1961.

Between 1905 and 1915, and "apple craze" swept across eastern Washington. The rich and fertile soil, combined with the dry climate, sunny days, and the healthy supply of water, made the Orondo area a superior location for apple farming.

 

Farmers planted orchards all over the state, including in Orondo, and Washington soon became the top apple-producing state in the country.

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Most orchards were small and family-owned, but some bigger commercial orchards also began to appear during this time. The Orondo Community Packing Company was established in 1917, where thousands of boxes were packed every year, helping Orondo's farmers ship fruit around the world.

 

National Apple Day started in 1905, which became National Apple Week in 1920.​​

 

Orondo Grange No. 514

The Grange is a national farmers' group that started in 1867 to give rural communities a place to meet and work together. Unlike many groups at the time, women could join as equal members. The Orondo Grange No. 514 was organized on March 30, 1912.

 

Members met every two weeks at the Orondo schoolhouse while they built the first grange building. In 1913, the new grange building was completed, and the Orondo Grange held a grand opening dance. In 1933, the Orondo community organized Grange No. 1015, which was active for nearly 75 years before merging with the East Wenatchee chapter in 2008.​​

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Orondo Schools

One of the most impactful events for Orondo was the formation of Orondo School District No. 13 on November 12, 1888. Miss Cora Brown was its first schoolteacher, Dr. John Brown Smith served as it's first clerk, and Jim L. Sparks and Eli C. Fisher served as its first directors.

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Classes were first held in the Gehrs Store building and Orondo Hotel while locals built the first schoolhouse, a one-room wooden building. In 1912, the schoolhouse was moved one-quarter mile east and replaced with a new brick building in 1919 that overlooked the Columbia River.

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The brick schoolhouse served as the town's school, and the original wood building was used as housing for teachers and bus drivers until its demolition in the 1940s. The third and newest Orondo school building was constructed in 1990.

 

The Great Northern transcontinental railroad arrived in Spokane and Wenatchee in 1892, connecting Eastern Washington to St. Paul, Minnesota. A second railroad line arrived through the Okanogan Valley in 1914.

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The railroad meant more people could travel and live in Orondo, and that its delicious fruits could be shipped across the country and internationally. By 1906, apples grown in Washington were sold as far as Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Egypt, and Latin America.

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In 1927, the town of Yakima baked the world's largest apple pie to promote the region's apple industry.​​

 

Auvil Fruit Company

In 1928, Grady and Lillie Auvil, together with Grady's brothers Rober and David Auvil, purchased 22 acres of land in Orondo and launched the Auvil Fruit Company.

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Their work transformed the fruit industry, and they would go on to achieve industry recognition as the source of several new fruits, including Red Haven peaches, Red Gold nectarines, Rainier cherries, and many apple types, including Granny Smith, Fuji, Gala, and Honey Crisp. For Grady's contributions to the fruit industry, Washington Governor Gary Locke awarded him the Washington Medal of Merit in 1998.​​

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Times of Change

In the 1930s, the Dust Bowl and economic hardship drove families from states like Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas to towns like Orondo where they work in the orchards.

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During World War II, with much of the labor force occupied in wartime industries, the United States and Mexico launched the Bracero Program, bringing Mexican workers to fill critical agricultural and railroad jobs in the United States. Between 1943 and 1947, 220,640 Braceros were contracted nationwide – 13,809 worked in Washington State – laying the foundation for a lasting Latino presence in the state's agricultural industry.

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After the program ended, Braceros also become landowners in the area, contributing to Orondo's important Latino community that has lasted into the twenty-first century.

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In 1989, Washington designated the apple as an official state symbol to commemorate its centennial year.​​

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Modern Apple Industry

The 1950s marked a turning point in the modernization of the apple industry, introducing innovations that transformed the harvesting, processing, and distribution of apples.

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Cold storage warehouses, developed during this area, allowed apples to remain crisp for months, making them available in grocery stores year-round. In 1958, a simple yet impactful change occurred when wooden boxes were replaced with lightweight cardboard cartons, streamlining shipping and handling.

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These advancements not only revolutionized apple production but also cemented Washington's reputation as a global leader in apple growing – a legacy that endures today. Beyond apples, Orondo has become popular for its outdoor recreational opportunities and its offerings as a quieter country life for those who enjoy the small community feel.​​