Walter E. Dodge
Walter E. Dodge was a pioneer horticulturist during the establishment of settlements in Utah Territory.
In the October 1861 conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 309 families were called to found St. George and reinforce the settlements. Church president Brigham Young created a wine mission in the St. George area, known as the Dixie Wine Mission, as part of his self-sufficiency plan for the territory.
In October 1862, President Brigham Young “stated that the southern colonies should supply the territory with wine ‘for the Holy Sacrament, for medicine, and for sale to outsiders.’”[1] “Wine eventually became an important cash commodity for residents of Southern Utah and a key commodity used in trading with residents in Salt Lake City for flour and potatoes.” However,“cultivating wine grapes probably caused more problems than the early church leaders expected" and the effort was abandoned by the Church around the turn of the century.[2][3]
The first wine grapes were planted in Utah in 1857 when Walter Dodge and John Harris brought wagon loads of grape vines to Washington County from California.[4]
The mission was strengthened by a group of expert horticulturists called by Brigham Young, including 30 Swiss families who were church converts, many of whom were winemakers. Walter E. Dodge, known as "the father of the grape in southern Utah," planted his seeds and cuttings at Dodge Springs, which became a principal source for starts and information.”
In 1862, Dodge went to California and returned in February 1863 with many varieties of fruit trees (including citrus which failed to survive the relatively mild Dixie winters) and sweet potatoes. He developed a beautiful resort at Dodge Spring near St. George which was famous for its flowers, shrubs, and trees. He also brought back five stands of bees.
He also taught the settlers “how to make living fences. Short lengths of green cottonwood and black willow were set in the ground and then irrigated. Soon they grew into good fences that could be trimmed to provide firewood.[5]
Dodge was part of the formation of the Gardeners’ Club in St. George sometime in 1865.
“Dodge had many fine bearing pear, apple, peach, and fig trees, 4000 grape vines, from which he gathered 30 tons of grapes in 1870.”[6]
Joseph E. Johnson (himself a powerful force in the development of horticulture and floriculture in Dixie) called Dodge “The Father of the Vine” in Dixie.[7]
