Mountain Roots Orchard was created on the remnants of an old homestead. It’s one of the many that dot the mountains in Central Idaho but one of the few that has enough left to salvage. With the limited history available, we have only been able to date it back to the early 1920’s during the time when the Little Salmon River Road was getting constructed. To survive in this region settlers needed to be fairly self-reliant. Even though the road was made for cars it was better traveled by horse or wagon due to high water flooding and rock slides. You can read more on Little Salmon River Road history here. Long before the road was built it was Native American’s who forged the trails through the rugged mountains followed by settlers who used those trails and created new ones to try and make a straight connection from Riggins to New Meadows. After discovering some old stagecoach wheels, we wondered if a stagecoach route eventually traveled through this property. It’s possible they could have stopped here to change over from wheels to sleds during the winter since we are located on the snowline. It’s certain that the first homesteaders prepared well to live here by clearing the forest back enough to plant numerous apple, cherry, pear, and plum trees to fill up the orchard. It’s sad that just a few remain now. The original house and outbuildings have since deteriorated from existence. New homes and sheds were added over the decades as owners settled here and moved on. During YaVonna’s childhood, her parents took care of the property for one of these owners. At that time, some of the original property layout was still evident and more trees were living. Unfortunately, over time the property became even more neglected.