This is the Seventh issue of the Quarterly Trail Tree Project Newsletter. In between times that the newsletter is published, you can log onto the Trail Tree Blog site on the Mountain Stewards web site, to stay abreast of the latest happenings, although we haven't been very active in submitting Blog articles. We hope the number of topics in this newsletter will be of interest toy ou. If you want us to report on other things, just let us know and we will be happy to do that.

Trail Tree (TT) Database

In March 2009, we had passed the 2,100 Trail Tree threshold. In three short months, we passed the2,200 threshold and are on our way to 2,300 at a rapid clip. Because the web site is getting picked upon most browser searches for Trail Trees (over 9,000 hits per month), we are getting Trail Trees submitted almost daily now to the point I'm getting overwhelmed with database management.

Earlier this year we had added out 35th state with Trail Trees. Now we are at #38 and we just got information from a gent who grew up in Minnesota who told us he played on these type trees as a young boy. Unfortunately he no longer lives there so he can't go back to find the trees he is talking about.

Here are some of the more interesting trees recently submitted.

The tree to the right is in GA. Its another one that seems to have a tree spliced into the main tree body. Also, on the top of the appurtenance on the left side of the tree are two ears the right side seems to have a face with an eye.

The tree on the below on the next page is one of the more interesting trees we have seen. It is AR on top of a mountain. It also appears to have a tree growing within a tree. This tree defies logic as to how it was created.

The tree on the right is in AL and is one of the more classical Trail Trees we have seen.

This last example tree was found in Red Clay State Park, TN by Bob Wells where the Cherokees had their last Principal Council site before being removed on the Trail of Tears. It is also one of the more interesting trees.There are two trees located in Red Clay both of which have to be GPS when I get a chance to go to Red Clay.

Red Clay State Park was the site for the joint meeting of the Western and Eastern Band of the Cherokees in May 2009.

This was the first meeting of the two Bands since 1984.

Indian Trails Mapping Program

Wild south and its partners Mountain Stewards and Southeastern Anthropological Institute were awarded a contract by the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians (EBCI) in mid April of this year to locate old Indian trails on the Cherokee reservation and in the Great Smokey Mts. National Park. The team members met in early May to go over our planned schedule and to begin the work.

Below is a graphic showing some of the trails that we will be working on. The first trail that is being worked is Indian Gap Trail which is #6 on the map. This trail went from a point east of Cherokee to Sevierville, TN where is joined with the north-south Great Warrior Trail.

Oconee County SC Trail Trail Trees and Indian Trails

We are always searching for more data on Indian Trails and Trees, particularly where Indian Towns were know to exist. Oconee County is one of the richest resources of data we have found lately. The Oconee Arts and Historical Commission has done some remarkable work in documenting the location of the Cherokee Lower Towns and interconnecting trails. They have developed maps of their effort and continue to improve on the quality of their data.

The Indian Trails Mapping Team met with members of the Historical Commission on the last week ending May and have since returned on the weekend of 19 June to do filming and search for trees and trails.

We were privileged to work with members for the Cherokee Bear Clan of SC on out last visit. They guided us to the location of numerous Trail Trees and associated trails.

Oconee County outlined in blue-green on the map image below is located in the most westernmost partof SC where SC, NC and GA join. GA and SC are separated by the Chattooga River. As you can see from the image, this area is not far from where we are working with the EBCI mapping effort. Our hope is to connect this two area with our mapping programs.

The above Google image shows the location of some of the Cherokee Lower Towns as of about 1750 along with the known trails shown in yellow and red. The two upper right red trails are the major Cherokee trading trails. The red trail in the middle of the image is the Unicoi Trail which went from Old Tugaloo Indian Town to Fort Loudon in TN, site of the farthest British outpost in the 1750's. In the 1830's the Unicoi trail became the Unicoi Turnpike and was traveled by wagons and stagecoaches.

After the Indians were removed from area around Tugaloo Town after the Revolutionary War, it became a major junction site for travel in the Colonial times. James Wyly built an Inn, called Travelers Rest, at the location across the Tugaloo River from the Indian Town in 1815 and it was taken over by Devereaux Jarrett in 1833. The Jarret family owned the Inn until 1955 when it was sold to the State of GA.

A picture of the Travelers Rest Inn today shows it as it was in the 1800's is shown below.

Travelers RestOn 20 June, 2009, we had members of the Historical Commission and the Cherokee Bear Clan guide usto the location of several Trail Trees and trails in Oconee County. One site in particular was the most interesting which is the location of a known Indian Trail that crossed over the Chattooga River at Burrells Ford. At this site are two Trail Trees pointing to the crossing.

^{Tree at Chattooga River     Crossing Trail on GA Side of River}

On Sunday 21 June, I briefed the membership of the Cherokee Bear Clan of SC on the Mystery of theTrees. From that presentation, we learned of numerous additional trees in SC and we will be returning to Oconee County many time in the near future to document more trees and to interview on film other members of the Bear Clan who have part of the story to tell.

Mystery of the Trees Documentary

I began in February showing the presentation of the Mystery of the Trees to people in GA. Since we donot have the movie finished yet, we felt the next best thing was to get the information out to the public as soon as possible. The response has been overwhelming and the demand for more showing isincreasing.

To date, I have done four major (one hour long) showings and two scaled down showings (45 minutes)to over 330 people. In the next few months, I have three shortened showings (30 minutes) and one major showing before heading to AR, OK, and KY to do four more major showings.

• 14 Sept. Harrison AR
• 15 Sept. Osage Nation
• 16 Sept. Shiloh Museum Springdale, AR.
• 19 Sept Kentucky

We will add others as time permits. Since we will be very close to the Osage Nation from AR, we are working to schedule a presentation to them. At some future date, we hopefully can swing further westt o brief the other Indian Nations. Between the 16th and 19th of Sept, we will head to MO to try and locate some of the Trail Trees that Laura Hubler found years ago but did not get them located with GPS since it didn't exist at that time.

My hope is to continue to make presentations across the country to educate as many people as we can about the Mystery of the Trees and about how government policy has destroyed Indian culture.

Our long term effort is to develop as much information as we can supported by interviews with Native American Elders to show the US Government that the Indian Trees do truly exist and that they need to be preserved as “Living Artifacts.”To do that we have to get the national preservation laws changed.We are continuing to pursue other avenues to raise monies from Foundations and other grants to complete the documentary.

We have over 70 hours of film in the can with about 1/3 of it edited. We hope to have the chance in the near future to complete this very important project, but in the meantime,we are continuing to find people who have part of the story that needs to be told and so the interviews go on.

Mountain Stewards Note Cards

Starting in 2008, the Mountain Stewards began selling Note Cards contain the photography of Don Wells. These cards include some of the many wildflowers in the Southern Appalachian mountains as well as mountain scenes including pictures of bears, butterflies, scenic views, and more. The web site has a link to the printer for buying the cards on line.

NOTE: The sites listed in this post are NOT part of the Mountain Stewards website, but are independently owned and operated. They are provided free of charge to all who are interested. Registration IS required, but is free. Requiring registration helps keep the spammers out.

—

The Bent Tree forum has been in place for almost 2 years now. One of the latest trees in the Mountain Stewards' database, from California, was brought to our attention through a new Bent Tree forum member. You can access The Bent Tree forum here:

http://www.ahgweb.com/trailtrees

There was some activity at the beginning, but that has trailed off to almost nothing. I would like to keep it going, but if there is no interest, I will be shutting it down at the end of April. I have kept it in place this long because the trees are a subject of great interest to me, and there is absolutely no cost to host this forum as I already own the webspace. So, I'm going to be trying something new to generate some interest . . .

I have installed a Photo Gallery application on my site which you can access here:

http://www.ahgweb.com/treegallery

You will be able to post your favorite trees, your recent finds, and even ask others to comment on trees which you are not sure about. You will also be able to tell a little about the trees you find.

Membership is free in both the forum and gallery, as well as support for both. You can contact me through the forum and I will be glad to assist you. You can ask questions, share knowledge, pose theories, even post "Creative Writing" if you have a story related to the trees.

Don

        ^{Home Is the Sailor}

^{Home is the sailor, home from sea:}

    ^{Her far-borne canvas furled}

^{The ship pours shining on the quay}

    ^{The plunder of the world.}

^{Home is the hunter from the hill:}

    ^{Fast in the boundless snare}

^{All flesh lies taken at his will}

    ^{And every fowl of air.}

^{'Tis evening on the moorland free,}

    ^{The starlit wave is still:}

^{Home is the sailor from the sea,}

    ^{The hunter from the hill.}

        ^{A.E. Housman}

Final Day Report

Our final day began roaming the back roads of the SE Missouri just south of Cape Girardeau. Bob’s friend, Lester Goodin, guided us through this breadbasket part of Missouri.

This land area has large farms that go on for miles along the west side of the Mississippi River. Only two groups of people have lived here in the past. The Indians occupied this area until 1825 (Woodland, Osage, Shawnee, Delaware) and the farmers from about 1830 onward. These farms are now owned by the original settler families who were given these lands from Land Grants issued by President Andrew Jackson in the early 1830’s. Thus, information about the land, trees, and Indian artifacts is known by the family members.

Lester took us to see a Bur Oak Tree located on one of the old home sites where some of the original trees are still standing (much of the land has been cleared for farming). The Bur Oak is 15 ft in circumference, the largest tree we have seen yet. The tree has been bent in the direction of 045 degrees but its main pointer arm broke off years ago and is no longer available for inspection.

 

The location of the Bur Oak tree and its possible relationship to the occupation of this land by the Indians and their migration through the area you may find interesting.

Two miles northeast of the tree is the probable crossing point on the Mississippi River for the Benge Trail of Tears. The route, as currently understood, goes very nearby this location heading in a north westerly direction. To the southwest of the tree is the Towosahgy Woodland Indian site and to the northeast is the Wickliffe Woodland Indian site. These three sites can be seen in the image. The tree is in the middle with Wickliffe to the north and Towosahgy to the south. There is only 20 miles distance between the two Woodland Indian sites, both dating to the same time frame, and the tree is located almost on a bearing line between them.

 

 

To the north where the Wickliffe site is located, is the place where the Ohio River joins the Mississipi River. At this junction point, the Trail of Tears Water Route came down the Ohio and then followed the Mississppi for a distance. Just north of this river junction, the Northern and Hindebrand Trail of Tears Routes which crossed the Mississippi near the Trail of Tears State Park.

The image shows the junction of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. At this place, you drive from MO across a bridge to land in Illinois briefly, then turn right and crossover the Ohio River to land in Kentucky - three states in a matter of minutes.

 

After leaving this very interesting part of the country, we headed SE for the barn which made for a long 14 hours day. On the way home we passed through Chattanooga, TN along the Tennessee River where the Trail of Tears Water Route began.

Thirteen days on the road is a long time, but the people we met, the sites we saw and the things we learned made for an exciting time that we will never forget nor tire of repeating.

Don

Mickey,

Attached is the 12th report with pictures. I'll file the last report when we hopefully get home tomorrow.

Don

We shall not cease from exploration,

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.

                   T.S. Eliot Little Gidding 

Twelfth Day Report

We begin our day crossing the last of the tall grass prairie of the central US ending in St Louis, MO about noon. In St Louis we began filming again.

In 2004, the Lewis and Clark Bi-Centennial Celebration was held at Forest Park in SE St. Louis. As part of that celebration, the Osage Nation was invited to participate to honor their heritage since this area was part of their nation then when Lewis and Clark left on their expedition.

During that celebration, Eddy Red Eagle of the Osage Nation, with assistance from members of the tribe, planted an Osage Orange Tree inside the trunk of a dead Red Oak Tree and bent a limb of the tree through the Red Oak pointing east to signify the Osage had returned to their homeland. Today, we visited that site and filmed it and took pictures that are attached. A sign about the event and the significance of the site is also attached.

We were disappointed to find the site was not being maintained to honor the Osage. This will have to be corrected.

After leaving St Louis, we headed south to Cape Girardeau, MO and the Trail of Tears State Park. This park honoring the Trail of Tears is located on the Mississippi River near where the Ohio River joins the Mississippi. At this location, several of the Trail of Tears land routes crossed over the Mississippi to continue to the NW. A picture near the crossing site shows the width of the river they had to navigate.

We were told that there may be a Trail Tree at the park but none were found.

The area of Cape Girardeau was once homeland to the Shawnee and Delaware. Both of these tribes were invited by the Spanish Governor of this area to move here. The Shawnees occupied parts of this area from 1780-1825 and the Delaware from 1789-1825.

We have ended another long day on the road in Cape Girardeau, MO. Tomorrow we will begin our last day on the road going by a farm owned by a friend of Bob’s who has a Trail Tree near his farm.

Don

Based on these interviews, there are no more doubts about these trees being bent by Native Americans.

Eleventh Day Report

Today’s trip report does not compare to the previous ten days. No new people to meet, no interviews, no new learning experiences, no bent trees…just miles and miles of flat terrain with miles and miles and miles of corn and sunflowers. We started the morning at 8,500 ft of elevation and ended the day around 750 ft of elevation.

We are spending the night in Lawrence KS and head for St. Louis tomorrow to begin filming again.

Don

Tenth Day Report

We spend our day at Florissant Fossil Bed National Monument in Florissant CO today. It was another in a long line of incredible filming days. Each day seems to opens new understanding of the trees and adds to our learning experience. From what we learned today, we need to spend another 1-2 weeks out here to capture more of the story.

Our first interview today was with Toby Wells (yes, another Wells but not related that we know). Toby grew up on a farm in the area of the Florissant Fossil Bed National Monument before it was designated as such in 1969. As a young boy and an only child in the 1940’s, nature was his everyday companion. He scouted the area around their farm and found a lot of Indian artifacts.

One day while at home by himself, a Ute Indian lady walked down their road and asked him questions about the farm site. She asked if there was a major spring nearby. There was and it was the principal water source for the farm. She then asked if there was an oddly shaped tree nearby. There was as shown in the attached picture with Toby sitting on it. The Ute lady then showed him the trail that led by the tree heading for the spring. She told him this was a major campsite area for the Ute when they hunted buffalo in the Florissant area.

^{The Toby Wells Tree}

Above where the tree and spring are located is a knoll that was the campsite. As we walked the site, we found flint chips where the Ute’s had made arrowheads. Toby remarked that as a boy he picked up buckets full of the chirp pieces. Several thousand yards from the home site to the east is the flint site that the Ute’s gathered stones to trade with other Indian Tribes.

Our second interview of the day was with Marilyn Martorano, an archaeologist, who has spend 25 years studying the bent and culturally modified trees. The culturally modified trees, also called medicine trees, have been part of her life’s work and she is an authority on these trees. She told us about how the Indians used these trees and she demonstrated how the bark was peeled from the tree and the inter-layer scraped off to be eaten or used for medicine. She also showed us how the particular tree we were observing had been cut to extract a baby carrying board.

Our third interview of the day was with a Ranger from the National Monument who told us about how they are not only preserving the fossil remains at the site but also working to collect data on all the Ute Trees on the 6,000 acre site and preserving them for future generations. Thumbs up to these park rangers for setting a “gold standard” for tree preservation and giving the rest of us such a fine example to follow. 

The area of the Florissant Fossil Bed National Monument was once a lush valley 35 million years ago with large Sequoia Trees growing. Volcano eruptions covered the area with ash and mud and buried parts of the trees and other living creatures. These trees [and bees] died off but through chemical reactions with the soil, they petrified. Some of these trees are very large as seen in the pictures.

Tomorrow we start our trek back east heading for our next filming day in St. Louis with a stop on Tuesday night in Lawrence KS.

Don

[I knew they couldn't have a "rest day."  There's just too much to see.]

Eighth & Ninth Day Addendum

On Saturday night with the temperature hovering around 58 degrees, we headed off to the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument to watch our Ute friends perform some of their native dances. This was a great learning experience for us about their culture. In the 1.5-hour program, the Ute dancers demonstrated many of their native dances, explained about each dance and also the outfits they wore for each dance. We ended the evening program with the Friendship Dance were we all joined the Ute dancers dancing in a circle to the beat of the drum.

On Sunday, we headed to the outskirts of Colorado Springs for lunch with family and friends. We dropped Bob off in the Garden of the Gods to visit his daughter and Diane and I went to the Broadmoor for lunch with relatives. The Broadmoor is a very up-scale resort place which has a Sunday Brunch to die for.

After lunch, we rejoined forces and headed for the Manitou Cliff Dwellings to do more filming. These multi-story cliff dwellings date back to the Pueblo’s and the Anasazi’s. The Ute’s belief they come from the Anasazi heritage.

In the late afternoon, we drove to the South Platte River west of where we are staying and filmed some scenic coverage along the river.

Tomorrow, we begin work in the Florissant Fossil Bed National Monument.

Don

Eighth & Ninth Day Reports

We began our day filming scenic footage of Pikes Pike and then headed to one of the Colorado State Parks to locate a Prayer Tree. It turned out to be a great one on a slope pointing directing toward Pike Peak. It undoubtedly will plot out on the Ute Trail to Pikes Peak.

After finishing up filming the tree, we headed to Cripple Creek and Victor CO which are two on the main mining areas south of Woodland Park. Gold was discovered in the area in the late 1800’s and is one of the reasons the Ute’s were forced to move off of the Pikes Peak area. Like GA with the Cherokees, gold was a factor in the demise of the Indians.

Although a fire destroyed much of the old buildings in Cripple Creek and Victor, the still have something of an 1800’s appearance, Cripple Creek today is still mining gold from large commercial mines and from the tourists in a multitude of Casino’s.

Tonight, we will be at the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument to watch the Ute’s perform some of the native dances.

Tomorrow, Sunday, is our ninth day on the road and working hard each day. We will take a break on Sunday from filming. Bob will visit with his daughter at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs and Diane and I will meet one of her relatives for lunch in Colorado Springs. We begin again on Monday.

Don

Seventh Day Report

There are no words to describe the honor and privilege we have had this past week in being in the presence of Native Americans from many different tribes. Each meeting, each interview, each learning experience has been a blessing and an unforgettable experience. Tomorrow will be our last time with Native Americans for a while and it saddens us that our days will be less exciting and memorable.

Today, we met with members of the Ute Tribe outside of Woodland Park, CO near Pikes Peak. Our host, Celinda Kaelin, had arranged a full day with the Ute adults and children who visit their homelands every year. We filmed interviews all over the area and learned a lot about Prayer Trees and Medicine Trees altered by the Ute ancestors.

The Ute’s, who lived in the area for probably hundreds of years, were never conquered. They don’t have a migration story because this is where they lived and remained throughout their history. I wasn’t until the late 1800’s they agreed to move onto a reservation in Utah.

During their time in and around Pikes Peak, the Ute’s made pilgrimages to the top of Pikes Peak, a sacred mountain. As they trekked across the valley and up the mountain, they bent Ponderosa Pines which are called Prayer Trees. Their name comes from the fact that the Ute’s bent the trees and then offered prayers for their people and for themselves at each tree they bent. The Ute’s also carved sections of bark off of the Ponderosa Trees for use in medicine and when they were starving, they ate the inner layer of the bark. We found many Prayer and Medicine Trees today and will be searching for more tomorrow.

One special treat today was learning how to offer a prayer for the bent trees using tobacco. At one particular tree, all the Ute’s and all of our team made a tobacco offering for the tree. This tree is not in good health and any prayer, I’m sure, would be welcomed by the tree.

Celinda reports that over 400 of the Ute trees have been discovered in the area in the past ten years.

Tomorrow, we will be working in another area where the trees are located and again on Monday.

Don