Spokane-area resident Dave Benscoter has searched for heritage apples for several years. The Lost Apple Project has rediscovered dozens of varieties. Benscoter has written about the group's work in his new book, “Lost Apples: The Search for Rare and Heritage Apples in the Pacific Northwest.”
Benscoter says some of the first white people in the Northwest operated nurseries and provided settlers with information about what would best grow on their land.
"What these early frontier nurserymen had was knowledge, and so they weren't selling cider or apples, they weren't selling seeds. People that came out on the Oregon Trail and then later by train wanted to plant apples that had a purpose, and so the nurseryman was their expert, and he could tell him exactly what they needed."
