Trail Marker Tree?

[Charmin]

Here's a neat tree we found today and we are wondering if maybe its a trail tree? It is a burr oak tree, and measures about 64" around/circumference. I've tried to estimate the age of the tree and think maybe its about 100 years old? I know most Indian trail trees were used to point the way to a water supply or maybe a cave, but this tree actually sits next to the creek, right along the creek bank. We did a little metal detecting near the base of the tree and I found a cool old pocket knife from Tulsa Rig and Reel Mfg. Co. The knife has celluloid handles. I need help in dating the knife....I found some information on the Tulsa Rig/Reel company that said it started business in the early 1900's. Here's info. from the Oklahoma Historical Society's Website:
TULSA RIG, REEL AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY (FLINTCO)
The Tulsa Rig, Reel and Manufacturing Company (TRR) was established in 1908 in Tulsa as a supplier of oil-field equipment, rig timbers, and lumber for oil field construction. In 1911 Charles W. Flint (1884-1950) became associated with the company, and by 1919 he and Roy Lundy (1877-1956) assumed its ownership. They expanded its operation, which at peak operated thirty-one oil-field lumber yards in Oklahoma. In 1938 the partners established a general construction division. With the advent of World War II TRR became deeply involved in military construction, building a training camp at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and air bases at both Dodge City and Garden City, Kansas. In 1944 Flint became sole owner of the company, and by the time of his death on August 5, 1950, the company was disposing of its oil-field lumberyards and opening home builder supply centers in both Denver, Colorado, and Tulsa, as well as continuing in the general construction business. In 1972 when the company name was changed to Flintco, Inc., as one of the Flint Industries' group of companies, they disposed of their building supply operation and focused on general construction. At the beginning of the twenty-first century Flintco continued to be owned by the Flint family and was the second largest construction company in Oklahoma, behind Manhattan. Flintco had offices in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Memphis, Tennessee, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Sacramento, California, and Springfield, Missouri
When were celluloid handles used on pocket knives? 1920's or 30's?
When following a trail tree, do you follow the elbow of the tree or the knot? or both? The tree and main trunk points northeast. And another thing, next to this trail tree is a smaller tree with a blaze mark on the bottom--it almost looks like somebody tried to carve something into the blaze. I'm going to post some pictures and look forward to any opinions you guys and gals might have!

[Charmin]

More pics:

[Charmin]

Another view of trail tree:

[Charmin]

Tree with "blaze" mark:

[dog, the treasure hunter]

wow, thanks for sharing sandcreek4, great photos. iam sure it has some type of meaning.nice stuff.
dogtth

[savant365]

Cool pics I would love to see one of these treasure sign posts lead to an actual treasure! Best of luck to you and happy hunting.

Charlie

[desertmoons]

What a lovely example of a trail tree. It is a knock out. Thank you for sharing. Simply spectacular.. the best example of a modified tree I have ever seen. What a treasure!

[Charmin]

wow, thanks for sharing sandcreek4, great photos. iam sure it has some type of meaning.nice stuff.
dogtth

Thanks dogtth....I'm sure it has some kind of meaning too, but we're going to have to wait until the grass dies back a little this winter to "follow" the direction of the tree. The poison ivy/oak is really bad all along the creek where this tree is growing.

Cool pics I would love to see one of these treasure sign posts lead to an actual treasure! Best of luck to you and happy hunting.

Charlie

Me too, Charlie!!
That little knife was something of a 'treasure' find for me. I also found one of the blades (from it) a few feet away. They must have broke their knife and then threw it down. I told my sister, "well this proves that someone was really here"!

What a lovely example of a trail tree. It is a knock out. Thank you for sharing. Simply spectacular.. the best example of a modified tree I have ever seen. What a treasure!

It is a pretty cool looking tree, huh, desertmoons? And really been manipulated by something other than nature. If its about 100yrs old, it will fit right in the timeframe of when we think there were people at or near this site.
Thanks everyone!!

[Charmin]

Nice find. I too found a very similar knife like that in Arkansas. At first I didn't think it had anything to do with the KGC, but it was underneath a sizable rock, not just in the ground so I'm pretty sure it was placed there.

Not all trees point at anything. Some are just giving a bearing. If it is pointing at anything, I have found that you follow the way it points most of the time. I've also found something going the opposite way it points before as well. I have not found anything following the direction of the blaze. From my experience, the blaze is either giving another bearing, or it is used to identify the tree in the carvings associated with the layout.
Good luck,
Big Hoss

Oh, good, Hoss, I was hoping you would give me an opinion on this tree !
This tree may tie in with some of the other marks we've found.


Thank you so much, Hoss!!

[Pala Y Pico]

Hi Sandcreek and Hoss,

In relation to the bend of the tree, where was the knife found, how far away.

If you found another similar tree where would you look for a clue.

May you find what your heart desires. Thank you.

[Charmin]

Hi Sandcreek and Hoss,

In relation to the bend of the tree, where was the knife found, how far away.

If you found another similar tree where would you look for a clue.

May you find what your heart desires. Thank you.

Hi Pala Y Pico--here's a picture showing the area where the knife was found. It was in the ground next to the tree, and approx. 4 inches down....Like Hoss said about the knife he found, I wasn't really sure it had anything to do with the tree, but it was a neat find and proved to me that someone had definitely been there.
We're going to follow the direction the tree points to and see if we come across anything else.

[Pala Y Pico]

Sandcreek, I don`t know enough to advice you, but I`ll do it any way.

The knife has the same shape in my mind as the shape of the underside of the tree bend. A doorway.... who knows, but just something to checkout if you have the energy. LOL

Thank you.

[Chadeaux]

Looks like it might have been a great place to take a sweetheart for a picnic . . .

On the other hand, I used to hunt from some of those trees.

I can tell you that the tree probably marks a campsite. Two uprights mark a place, one upright a direction.

It could also mark an underwater spring in that body of water - one that flows even when the creek is dry.

[Charmin]

Looks like it might have been a great place to take a sweetheart for a picnic . . .

On the other hand, I used to hunt from some of those trees.

I can tell you that the tree probably marks a campsite. Two uprights mark a place, one upright a direction.

It could also mark an underwater spring in that body of water - one that flows even when the creek is dry.

There are actually 3 uprights on this tree....I don't know if you can tell that in the pictures or not.
Thanks Chadeaux.

My knife wasn't as nice as yours. Here are a few other things around it as well.
Big Hoss

Hoss--was your knife under the rock in the second picture?

[Chadeaux]

Should have said 2 or more marks a site. If memory serves, 3 is a water tree so, probably a spring.

What's funny is folks always get confused about the direction the tree is pointing because they don't grasp the simplicity.

BTW, I hope you can return the knife to the young man who lost it, because it isn't treasure related. Be careful digging around the roots. Probably pretty old. If in OK, still could be trail marker tree - lots of Indians there.

[Charmin]

Hoss--was your knife under the rock in the second picture?

Yes

Here's a tree with 3 vertical limbs. I doubt very much neither your nor my tree has anything to do with how to find water.

I doubt it too, Hoss.....especially because my tree sits almost on top of the creek . Its good to know all the meanings of such trees so we can understand when we come across one that does point to water, though.
As a matter of fact, I've even found a trail tree that points to a natural spring on the side of a hill.....this tree had lots of Indian signs around it too, so I know that's what it was for. Here's a picture of the "spring" tree.
Thanks Hoss~~

[Charmin]

Sorry for playing the "devils advocate" here... but, why can't a deformed tree just be a deformed tree?

No folks, the Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC) did not ride around the countryside in the 1860s creating bent-tree saplings that would point to a "treasure" in 2011.

Think about what you guys are saying/typing and apply a little bit of logic.

You can play the "devils advocate" if ya want, SWR---you even sound like my husband, he doesn't believe in this kind of stuff either.
Wouldn't it be neat though if this tree really did point to treasure? Isn't it kinda fun to think that maybe somebody was there at one time and made that tree "deformed" for a reason? To me, the enjoyment of all this treasure hunting is about looking for things that are out of place, like odd shaped trees------and if I hadn't noticed that odd shaped tree, I wouldn't have found that cool old knife.
You say "No, the KGC didn't create this tree to point to treasure"-----But how do you KNOW they didn't? You weren't there when this tree was formed. And they same goes for me--I don't KNOW that the KGC did this, but this is fun to me---its all about enjoying the hunt. Going out to the woods and looking for signs of people long gone--wondering what they might have lost or buried. Finding out the history of our land and researching the people who once lived here. Finding out if they were sympathetic to the South or loyal to the Union.
There was so much going on in Oklahoma during the late 1800's---this was a hotbed for outlaws. Not to mention the Indians. This tree could be a sign left by them. I won't ever know though if I don't follow it to see--and what does that hurt?

But you know, its cool if you don't believe, SWR, I don't think any less of you for it .

[Chadeaux]

But you know, its cool if you don't believe, SWR, I don't think any less of you for it .

I do think that's the nicest reply I've seen to any of SWR's posts.

[Charmin]

But you know, its cool if you don't believe, SWR, I don't think any less of you for it .

I do think that's the nicest reply I've seen to any of SWR's posts.

LMAO. Hey, Carmon, did you have to take a double dose of Pepto Bismal after writing that??
You DO KNOW that SWR is a sentinel don't you?

No Bill I didn't have to take any Pepto for that remark---I even smiled when I typed it .
And I've often wondered if SWR was a Sentinel, but that might be really HARD to PROVE !!
No sense in getting mad about other peoples opinions, that doesn't hurt anyone but you.

[beulahlandgirl]

But you know, its cool if you don't believe, SWR, I don't think any less of you for it .

I do think that's the nicest reply I've seen to any of SWR's posts.

LMAO. Hey, Carmon, did you have to take a double dose of Pepto Bismal after writing that??
You DO KNOW that SWR is a sentinel don't you?

No Bill I didn't have to take any Pepto for that remark---I even smiled when I typed it .
And I've often wondered if SWR was a Sentinel, but that might be really HARD to PROVE !!
No sense in getting mad about other peoples opinions, that doesn't hurt anyone but you.

Love it, Sis!