Pointer Tree ?

[mountainborn]

I dunno' ! I wonder just how old this thing may be ? Should I maybe cut it down and count the rings ? Someone told me that you could tell a tree's age that way. This tree is beside an old settler's trail that went into Oklahoma Territory. Here is the photo:

[Korban]

Thats a cool old tree, dont cut it down. You can take a core sample i think and get the age from that.

[arkobnrs]

Nice pic!! LOL well I was gonna post you a thing about determining a trees age by taking measurements but my puter won't let me have it. I will keep trying and post as soon as I can get it to open.

[arkobnrs]

Okay had to restart but finally got it to open:


First, determine tree diameter in inches measured at 4 1/2 feet above ground level. Remember that diameter equals circumference divided by 3.14. The following table assigns a factor number to various species. Multiply the diameter in inches by the appropriate factor to determine the estimated tree age.

Determining Tree Age
( Factor x Diameter = Tree Age )

Tree Species Factor
Acer rubrum Red Maple 3.0
Acer saccharinum Silver Maple 2.0
Betula nigra River Birch 3.0
Carya ovata Shagbark Hickory 7.0
Fagus grandifolia American Beech 6.0
Fraxinus americana White Ash 4.0
Fraxinus pennsylvanica Green Ash 3.5
Juglans nigra Black Walnut 3.5
Liquidambar styraciflua Sweetgum 4.0
Liriodendron tulipifera Tulip Poplar 2.5
Pinus strobus White Pine 4.5
Platanus occidentalis Sycamore 3.5
Prunus serotina Black Cherry 4.0
Quercus alba White Oak 5.0
Quercus coccinea Scarlet Oak 4.0
Quercus palustris Pin Oak 3.5
Quercus rubra Northern Red Oak 3.5
Ulmus americana American Elm 3.0


Example

White oak is the overstory dominant species in a hypothetical stand, with a mean average diameter of 18" d.b.h.
white oak factor 5.0 x 18"d.b.h. = 90 yrs. old

The forest stand is estimated to be 90 years old. Everything growing beneath the overstory is performing in response to the dominance of the oaks, in that, the overstory often drives, directs and dictates forest community structure below it¹s canopy.

[cavers5]

Good grief! Don't cut it down! Take pictures all the way around, get a GPS reading, compass reading of the pointing branch, and do the size/age estimates!

Puh-leese!!!!!!!!!!!

Cavers5

[debistogs]

Beautiful tree!!!

[mountainborn]

Ok, thanks. I am going to hike back in there again and measure the tree. It is a white oak. Should I carry a shovel and dig where the tree points to ?

[stevesno]

Here in Missouri it is well known that the Cherokee Indians used these trees called "thong" trees, to point the way to a trail, shelter, or water. I have never seen one as magnificent as the one that you have shown. That tree needs to be preserved!
Steve

[dowser501]

Hi mountain born, We have a lot of these thong trees on the coastline in Australia.
Where the branch dips down to the ground and then rises again, a lot of these trees , especially jesuit thong trees have a parson nose on the downwards bend. Digging down a few inches will often find a message such as a piece of quartz indicating a hint of cached gold in the area. Max

[mountainborn]

So, maybe I should carry a camera with me and carefully photograph the tree? I have a borrowed detector. It seems like it may be of unknown quality. It has the name "Fortune Hunter", on it. I have never used it before. But then I have never used any detector before.
Edit:
Oh, yeh, I have borrowed a GPS thingy also.
geeze !
There is a lot to this kind of stuff !

[bytheriver]

Ouch! Dont cut!
Save it...this is the miraculous find of the century!

I found one almost that big. We call it Mr. Majestic. Located in Tunas MO a little Amish town next to Lebanon MO.

There are Garden Clubs in the Ozark area wanting to name and mark the tree for historical purposes.

Look up a Naturalist in Arkansas! Go to the University and they will assist you obtaining a core for the age and marking this beautiful giant. .

I have been on the net all day looking up sites for these trees and just logged in to TN and found it under my nose.

Thanks
River

[bytheriver]

Mountain

Follow the nose and you will find another tree within about 50 yards. These trees point to water, game, medicine, herbs, and other camps.

The trees were used to point to a direction and only the native Americans knew the language. This was about this the one thing the white man could not take from them.

They are also used as message trees, treasure trees as Dowser has described.

Look around the ground see if there are any changes in the dirt, such as a circle indented deeper then the surrounding terrain. This could also be a used as a summer or winter camp.

River

[bytheriver]

Mountain

You worry me...This is a stick up "drop that saw"!

River

[dowser501]

River, I was worried when I saw that saw. Then I realised it was only a joke.
That Indian thong tree on post #10 is not a thong tree, it is a Jesuit tree.
It is a treasure marker which is always high up and denotes approx. where to dig for treasure. Have encountered 3 or 4 locally here in Australia. max

[EDDE]

they sell a simple coring tool that is used to pull a sample of the trees rings
its in a essence a long handled hollow cork screw look into it

[CACHEHNTR]

That is one heck of an awesome find! It looks to be an ancient indian trail tree. BUT being next to a settlers trail it could be marking a buried cache of some sort. Perhaps a family had wagon troubles and HAD to bury their valuables and made the marker so they could return and scoop them up? You never know. It needs more research done on it and the area FOR SURE! Good luck Mountainborn and PLEASE keep us updated on what happens.

[bytheriver]

Dowser

How do you distinguish a Jesuit Pointer tree from an Indian Trail, Thong Tree?

How do the marking differ?

I have been searching for information Indian Thong Trees for 20 years. 15 of those years are without the benefit of WWW technology.

Do you think that maybe a new section on trees on the forum would help?

Are there some websites that can help us Jesuit Tree novices to learn more about this ancient history rite.

I was practically raised by a Jesuit priest and his family..he never told me any of this stuff...LOL

River

[dowser501]

The Jesuit trees have a parsons nose on the dip of the pointer branch and quite often a marker is buried under the grass below. Bottom pic is another variation. stunted tree is twisted from left to righr and has twin branches not unlike photo further up in this thread.

It is a Jesuit treasure related marker copied off the indians.

[arkobnrs]

Ok so what is the difference between jesuit and KGC trees? Is there anything else we should be looking for?

[dowser501]

Isnt that enough??