Apple father's son

my father grew up on an apple farm in Yakima Washington

Apple Farmer’s Son

September 2025 prompt: Apples


Short stories, Poems, and essays will be accepted in this round.



My father
Grew up on an apple farm
In Yakima, Washington
The self-proclaimed
Apple capital of the US

His father was one
Of the first apple farmers
In the Yakima Area

During the Downes Act period
Indians were given plots of land
Rather than reservation land

They were allowed to sell
Their plots of land.

And many unscrupulous people
Rushed into the Valley
stole land from the Indians.

After getting them drunk
And promising them a fortune.
They lied to the Indians,
Refusing to honor
These dishonorable contracts.

The Washington State Supreme Court
Ruled that these contracts
Were valid contracts
And the Indians had to
Vacate their lands.

With the damming of the Columbia River
Yakima Valley became the apple center
Of the US in the 30s.

And my grandfather
And his cronies.

Had the best riverfront land
Stolen fair and square
From the Yakima Indians.

By the late 30’s
The Downes Act
was repealed.

the reservations
re-stablished

the Yakima tribe
had lost 50 percent
of their land

but were never able
to get it back

my grandfather
became wealthy
from his fruit ranch
his Indian “friends”
not so much

that is part
of the secrets
of the Yakima Valley’s
transformaton

My father left Yakima
in the late 40s
returning every so often
over the years

I grew up visiting the farm
And picking apples
In the hot desert sun

To this day
I can’t eat a whole apple!

When my Uncle died
Around 2000
The family farm
Was sold off

None of his kids
Wanted to run it
Any more.

Thus ending a chapter
In the Aller family history.