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| Trees
in Texas have historically had a tough time of it. Take East Texas for example.
Texans traditionally think of trees as fence posts in-the-rough. Who needs trees
when you've got a big hat for shade? The best way to survive as a tree in Texas
is to arrange to have some historic event occur under (or hanging from) your branches.
| |
| | Bandera
Tragedy Tree
Announcement:
The
owner of the Hanging Tree Ranch is inviting descendants of the eight hanged men
to a ceremony on July 20 so everyone can share their stories and knowledge. Historians
from all around will also be there and we wish to make the 150th anniversary of
that sad event a fitting and memorable day. Anyone wishing to attend may contact
me at irenebvw@Yahoo.com.
Irene Van Winkle, May 20, 2013 | |
Texas
Famous Trees
Big and Historic Trees in East TexasHistoric
Tree ListThe
Auction Oaks, KyleThe
Bandera Tragedy Tree, Camp Verde The
Baptist Oak, Goliad The
Ben Milam CypressThe
Brazos County Courthouse Cedar, BryanThe
Original (Grafted) Burkett Pecan Tree, Putman -
The source of the Burkett
Papershell PecanThe
Charter Oak of Live Oak County 4-13-11The
Columbus Court Oak 9-1-12The
Columbus Oak - Texas' Second Largest Live Oak 9-1-12The
Cowboy Tree, PleasantonThe
County Line Magnolia, East Texas (No photos)The
Dueling OakEl
Encino del Poso (The Oak in the Hole), EncinoThe
Evergreen Oak, Evergreen The
Fleming Oak of Comanche by Margaret WaringFlora’s
Tree - Giant Pecan in Fort Davis (No Photos)
by Mike Cox 9-29-11
General
Sam Houston Cypress, East Texas (No photos)The
Goose Island Oak aka The Big Tree
aka The Bishop's Tree aka The Lamar Oak
6-13-11 The
Hanging Tree, ClarksvilleThe
Hanging Tree, Coldspring 8-29-12The
Hanging Tree, Columbus 9-1-12The
Hanging Tree (The Cart War Oak), Goliad The
Hanging Tree, HallettsvilleThe
Hanging Tree, Kyle
The Hanging Tree of Orange
Texas by W. T. BlockThe
Hanging Tree, SeguinThe
"Heart of Texas Oak", Center CityThe
Hopewell Magnolia, Hopewell - Texas largest magnoliaThe
"Indian Scout Tree", Bee County
8-1-11The
Kyle Auction OaksThe
Masonic Oak, Brazoria CountyThe
Matrimonial Oak of San Saba CountyThe
Montezuma Bald Cypress, AbramThe
Muster Oak, La Grange The
Panna Maria Oaks, Panna Maria The
Ranger Oaks, SeguinThe
Rio Frio Landmark Oak, Rio FrioThe
Sam Houston Oak, Gonzales by Mike Cox
In the vicinity of the tree on March
14, 1836, Sam Houston and several hundred Texas citizen-soldiers spent one of
the worst nights of their livesThe
San Saba Mother Pecan (no photos) Thergood's
Pine, Point Blank (No photos) Thomas
Cree's Little Tree (No photos)The
Treaty Oak in AustinThe
Urrea Oaks, Refugio CountyThe
Wedding Oak, San Saba |
About
Texas Trees & More Tree Stories The
Cottonwood Tree by David Knape 3-8-13In
Quercus Veritas by Mike Cox
Not many people know it, but Ward County does
indeed have the U.S.’s largest concentration of a species called the Havard oak....
“This Lilliputian Jungle,” naturalist Roy Bedichek wrote of the Ward County Havard
oak stand in his classic book Adventures with a Texas Naturalist, “is as much
a natural curiosity as the Painted Desert or the wonder areas of Yellowstone.”
While Bedichek’s observation is true enough, the Painted Desert and Yellowstone
are a bit better known. Some
fight mesquite, others find use for it by Delbert Trew
Once upon a time,
not so long ago, there was almost no mesquite in the Panhandle of Texas... El
Camino Olive Trail
Oliver
trees, growers and harvests
Reforesting
the Texas National Forests by Bob Bowman
President Theodore Roosevelt established
four Texas National Forests in 1936. By 1937, the federal government had acquired
more than 613,000 acres from private landowners at an average price of $4.62 an
acre... Ferdinand
Lindheimer by Clay Coppedge
About 50 species and sub-species of plants
are named for Ferdinand Lindheimer, a man born to the good life in Germany who
made his name – and the name of all those plants – on the Texas frontier.
Fruit Tree Ramsey by Clay
Coppedge 3-22-11
When Frank T. Ramsey was 16 years old,
he quit going to school and became a partner in his father’s nursery business
in Burnet County. His father, Alexander M. Ramsey, wrote down a list of fruit
tree varieties that he had for sale and put his son and business partner on a
horse. Frank traveled all over Texas, taking orders for trees and collecting native
flora along the way... Weather
Folklore - Psychic Persimmons by Dana Goolsby
Folklore
reveals that superstitions about cutting persimmon trees may help cure warts,
cancer and even predict weather, even Texas weather. Panhandle
“Backlash” Saves Trees by Brewster Hudspeth
or Love in the Time of Dendrophobia
According
to a recent article in the Amarillo Globe, it has been four years since “state
transportation officials” proposed cutting down both trees in the Texas Panhandle.
Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration. There are a few more than two. TxDOT managed
to count 1,185 trees – that were “encroaching” on Hemphill County highways and
proposed to cut every one of them down...
Random
Notes from East Texas by Bob Bowman
The Holy Oak - An image of Jesus in
the end of the limb. Chinkapins:
Country Kids Love'em by N. Ray Maxie
Does anyone know what a chinkapin
is? I’m sure a lot of people don’t know. The burley little nut actually resembles
a small chestnut, and rightly so, it is of the chestnut family...
Bodark
trees tough as nails by Delbert Trew
Few Great Plains trees have the mystique
and history of the "bois d'arc" tree. Some call it Osage Orange, hedge, hedge
apple, horse apple, mock orange or even Thorny Maclura Pomifera - its scientific
name. Cowboys just said bodark... Peaches
by Mike Cox
Most peach trees seldom make it past their first decade of existence.
That’s what made the peach tree outside the old stone structure in Burnet at the
site of Fort Croghan so unusual... Goodrich
Jones: The best friend Texas trees ever had by Clay Coppedge
Some people
might be tempted to refer to W. Goodrich Jones as the original tree hugger. While
there is no record of Jones in an arbor embrace, he was no doubt a pioneering
conservation and a profound and lasting impact on forestry in this country, especially
Texas. A state forest in East Texas is named in his honor... Love,
appreciation for trees go full circle by Delbert Trew
Recently, I realized
that in my 72 years of existence I have traveled a full circle on the subject
of trees. The area south of Perryton where I was raised had no trees. I was not
alone as before my time settlers had to burn buffalo chips because there was little
firewood... Fall
of the Largest Tree by Bob Bowman
"The passing of Arthur Temple --
the man some newspapers called the last of the East Texas timber barons -- ended
a link with a history reaching back more than a century."Tree
Murder in La Grange, and "... a bad haircut that can kill."
by John TroesserKiller
Trees of the Texas Panhandle
and The Noble Quest for a "Forgiving Roadside"
by John TroesserHanging
Tree - The Haunted Tree of Shelby County's Square, Center, Texas by James
L. ChoronThe
Fayette County Town Square Oak and Its Guardian
Cleve's concern for the
tree is reminiscent of Comanche County's Fleming Oak. Who knows? Perhaps in time
there will be a historical marker in Fayetteville as there is in Comanche, honoring
someone who took the time to call much-needed attention to a town's oldest resident.
The
now-solitary Live Oak of Double Live Oak Lane, Elm Grove |
Texas
Trees Forum I've
been looking for information on the largest Magnolia tree in the state
of Texas and ran across your article that spoke of a tree
that had fallen victim to a heartless individual that had harmed the tree in a
way that proved fatal. Your article said that the tree was near the Polk, Liberty,
and Hardin county divide. We live in this area, approximately halfway between
the towns of Segno and Votaw. On our property we have two Magnolias, both having
bases that come close to 9', ...yes nine feet. I would welcome you to come and
verify this. My mood dips everytime I see a large tree of any kind on the back
of a logging truck. I understand that these people are making a living, but there
has to be balance. Many groups such as Greenpeace, Sierra Club, etc., talk about
the South American rainforest, but we need to look no further than our own back
yard to see "Our Vanishing Wilderness". - A Lover of Natural Texas, Dan Pope,
February 28, 2004I've
been stuck on your website for hours. ... I live in Mansfield,Texas,
actually about six miles north of old downtown Mansfield. I've lived here since
1963 in an area that years ago was called the Bisbee Courts. There are Cottonwood
trees that are over 100 feet tall and have to be at least a couple hundred years
old, by far the largest trees in the whole Fort Worth, Dallas area. ..... The
Bisbee courts was actually a stage coach stop in the old days with rooms to rent.
This place has several water wells and an underground spring that has ran for
years. Rumor has it that Bonnie an Clyde even stayed here. ..... - David, May
20, 2002Here's
something for future consideration in your tree section. There's a big live
oak in Huffman (community west of Lake Houston, north of Crosby) that
has some interesting history. The tree is privately owned, but sits right on the
highway (FM 2100) just a few miles north of FM 1960. The elderly owner has an
attractive home and keeps a wonderful yard, especially his mature azaleas that
are a wonderful backdrop to the stately tree during the spring. There is some
apocraphal legend surrounding the tree. Being that it is actually on one of the
trails probably used from time to time by Jean Lafitte, legend has it that he
buried some gold under its branches. The tree has been dated at better than 325
years old. Huffman is a community of some historical significance, but is hard
to define as a town. There is an old town of Huffman, but it is really just a
collection of subdivisions build first for weekend homes, and later as suburbs.
Hence, the place kind of struggles for an identity. The big oak is the lasting,
living symbol of Huffman. The weight of ice during a storm in 1996 or 1997 caused
its huge trunk to split, but the owner had it repaired with some sort of plaster-like
substance. The Crosby-Huffman Chamber of Commerce 281-328-6984 has some information
on this, as does the Lake Houston Sun newspaper 281-452-0530. - J. Barnes,
Humble, December 29, 2001
Relevant
Link: Texas Forest Service - Texas
Big Tree Registry | |
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