Certified Native American Trail Marker Tree Now Considered Historical Landmark

[NotJustAnotherSarah]

Hi there from Indiana. I'm pretty new to tnet but I feel like this is my jam! I wanted to share with you all a tree I have lived for years and I've always thought it was special. So special that I regularly hike up to it. So special that when we had the woods selectively treed for conservation I wrapped it in caution tape. Randomly searching the web I came across an article about the loss of these trail marker trees and sure enough the pictures looked like my tree. So I sent an email to a guy who wrote the book on them and did not get a response. I also shared it with my parents who know the tree. As usual they thought I was crazy. Well a week later an article came out in our once a week local paper that a local guy was documenting these trees in the area. Turns out my dad knew the guy and they happen to be in a meeting the next day together. So he then visits the tree and concludes that it is a trail marker tree and it is clearly pointing to a trail. A few months later the guy who wrote the book about them comes into town (who never wrote me back I mean I even sent a picture) and he says yes this is a trail marker tree you can see where the tree was strapped down and estimates it to be over 300 years old! Now who's crazy? Crazy awesome! Now for the only important thing pictures of the tree. Thank you

 

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[The Grim Reaper]

This should be interesting.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Sorry, but this forum is for North American Indian Artifacts. Tree is not an artifact, no way of knowing who bent tree or when tree was bent. Thread will be moved.

 

[Chadeaux]

I Sarah. I personally know two of the recent authors who wrote books on these trees. They are no longer in the game for conservation, it has become an money maker for both of them. One even made a movie about them that you can buy.

If you want to know more, I can put you in contact with a group of tree hunters (most of whom are like I and "watch" these trees and document them, but we don't try to "make a buck off of them.")

TH: If it is a real trail marker tree, it actually is an artifact --- a LIVING artifact, yakoke.

They are not treasure trees (although there are some hoot owl trees that closely resemble them are --- hiding their markers in plain sight).

If you want to know, PM me and be happy to assist you.

Be well.

 

[NotJustAnotherSarah]

Yeah I was going to post some close ups of where the straps were and how they had deformed the tree. Then I saw the this should be interesting so I searched on here the topic and didn't realize this was such a controversial one. Lol no worries though I didn't spot any unicorns while wearing my tin foil hat! Or did I? No I'm asking did I??!!
No offense to any one watching unicorns while wearing a tin foil hat.

 

[ToddsPoint]

What species of tree is it? Gary

 

[Chadeaux]

Usually they are white oak, but I've found Sycamore (not naturally deformed, but the binding marks still visible) as well. In Colorado, the Ute people used Ponderosa Pine because they can live to be 800 years old in that climate.

Because of its location, it's probably an Oak species.