The Original Juan Valdez: Orlando & Eva Flye

Imagine discovering that one of your ancestors had left the United States in the late 1800s for a largely undeveloped corner of South America, eventually carved a coffee plantation out of the mountains, raised a family there, and became a successful and respected member of his adopted community.

That is the remarkable story of my great-grandparents, Orlando and Eva Flye.

Orlando, a young electrical engineer from Maine, came to Colombia in 1890 seeking opportunity. Eva and their young family soon joined him, beginning an adventure that would take them from the hot Caribbean lowlands around Santa Marta into the remote foothills of the Sierra Nevada. There, Orlando and Eva eventually built Hacienda Cincinnati, one of the region's largest coffee plantations, and raised the family from which my grandmother, Alva Flye Hatch, descended.

It is a story of adventure, ingenuity, hard work, family, and extraordinary success—and one that has been part of my family for more than a century.

Read the complete illustrated story: Orlando & Eva Flye and the Santa Marta Coffee Company [PDF]

Orlando and Eva Flye pictured with their children and governess at Hacienda Cincinnati, circa 1902.