 Early land holders in the valley grazed cattle, but wheat, because of its drought resistance, became an important crop in the latter part of the 19th century.Orchards of dominantly pears and apricots began to replace wheat around the turn of the century and soon became the dominant crop.Although the first vineyards were planted about 1860 by John Votypke and the brothers Henry and Claus Schultz, the change over from fruit orchards to vineyards did not begin on a large scale for another hundred years.