The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 523 WILLIAM L. WRIGHT. The productivity of the Yakima valley in regard to fruit raising has been one of the marvels of the northwest. The early visitors to this region found a wild and undeveloped land largely covered with sagebrush. The rainfall was so slight that nothing but the sage would grow and the most farsighted could scarcely have dreamed that in time the sunny slopes would be covered with fine orchards, producing fruit equal if not superior to that raised in any other part of the country. William L. Wright is numbered today among the successful orchardists, for science and man have wrought what was seemingly an impossibility. He has resided in the Yakima valley since 1894. His birth occurred in Stephenson county, Illinois, November 29, 1850, his parents being Pascal and Jane (Lawson) Wright, both of whom were born in Pennsylvania. They went to Illinois by team in 1838 and settled near Freeport, where the father took up government land. That, too, was a wild and undeveloped tract upon which not a furrow had been turned nor an improvement made. Only six years had passed after the Black Hawk war was fought, which determined the right of the white race to rule in that region, and pioneer conditions everywhere existed. Mr. Wright, however, braved the trials and privations of settlement on the frontier and gave his attention to general agricultural pursuits, continuing to there engage in farming until his death. His wife also passed away in Illinois. William L. Wright acquired his public school education in Stephenson county, Illinois, and following the death of his father he purchased the old homestead farm, which he continued to further develop and improve until 1894, when, attracted by the opportunities of the northwest, he came to Yakima. Looking over the district, he soon invested in twenty acres lying a half mile west of Yakima. It was just as it came from the hand of nature, being all covered with sagebrush, but Mr. Wright recognized the possibilities of the country and began its development. Later he and his son purchased a ten-acre fruit ranch on the Naches and subsequently Mrs. Wright bought an eighteen acre ranch on the Naches. Upon his place Mr. Wright erected a fine home and around it he planted cottonwoods for shade trees that in 1918 had reached a height of about ninety feet. He planted his orchard according to the most progressive and scientific methods and his care and cultivation of his trees have resulted in the attainment of notable success in fruit raising. In the year 1917 his sales of fruit from twenty acres of land amounted to twelve thousand dollars. His orchards are also all seeded to alfalfa and thus he is manifesting the spirit of intensive farming that takes into consideration the possibilities of the full development and utilization of the soil. There is no man in the community who is better informed concerning horticultural problems or the opportunities of the state in this direction. His prominence in this field is indicated in the fact that he was chosen to serve as horticultural commissioner at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, held in St. Louis, and also at the exposition held at Portland, Oregon, and the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific exposition. He was likewise state fair commissioner of Washington for three years. He became one of the organizers of the Yakima County Horticultural Union, of which he is still a member and of which he served as president during the first three years of its existence. In 1910 he organized the Wright Fruit Company, which was incorporated in 1914. This company now has a large warehouse ninety by ninety feet and two stories in height with basement. It is frost-proof and there is a side track running up to the door, thus greatly promoting the shipping facilities. The company buys and sells fruit and handles from one hundred and fifty to two hundred carloads annually. The officers of the company are: Howard Wright, president and manager; and William L. Wright, secretary and treasurer. On the 11th of March, 1874, Mr. Wright was united in marriage to Miss Lura Buckley, who was born in Mount Carroll, Illinois, but was reared in Freeport, that state. She is a daughter of Thomas and Esther (Foster) Buckley, the former a native of Williamsport, and the latter of Union county, Pennsylvania. On leaving the Keystone state they cast in their lot with the pioneer settlers of Illinois. To Mr. and Mrs. Wright have been born four children. J. Howard, a ranchman living near Yakima, is married and has one child. He is a veteran of the Spanish-American war and participated in eleven engagements. William Clifford follows ranching near Yakima. Helen is the wife of Samuel Hawkes, a jeweler of Yakima, and they have one child. Grace Esther, the youngest of the family, died at the age of three years, in 1894. Mr. Wright gives his political endorsement to the republican party and while a stanch supported of its principles he has never been an aspirant for ogee. He and his family are members of the Presbyterian church and are widely and favorably known, the hospitality of the best homes of this section of the state being freely accorded them. Mr. Wright has made for himself a most creditable position in business circles of the valley and the sterling worth of his character, as well as his business enterprise, has placed him in a most enviable position in public regard. ******************************** Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.