Much of the Optimus Fruit Ranch property is now part of the Yakima airport. John E. Shannon is one of the earliest fruit growers of the Yakima Valley, and he came to the Pacific Northwest with life experiences similar to so many others that followed him. He was born in Ohio in 1860 to a family whose forefathers had arrived in this country from Ireland prior to the Revolutionary War. His grandfather had been born on the Shannon River in Ireland, and one of the members of the family was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He received his […]