English 112   Ms. Maggie Romigh

Thong Trees: Messengers from Long Ago

by Terry K. JacobsDavis

Today when we need commodities, we get in the car and drive to the grocery store, easily located by the sign on the façade of the building.As we travel, we navigate the journey using a map and we look for signs along the road to lead us to meals and shelter for the night.Billboards tell us how far we must continue to travel to reach the amenities we seek. Someone has gone before us to make these sign markers.All of these signs are written in a code we can understand, the English language, or another language, depending on where we travel.Even in a foreign country, we can use an interpreter or translation dictionary to locate the places and things we wish to find.

Native Americans living long ago in the United States also needed food, clothing, shelter, medicinal herbs, salt and, most importantly, a source of fresh water.Woodlands tribes had signs to indicate sources for these commodities that were created from the materials they had at their disposal–trees.

Thong trees, bent by Native Americans long ago, provided such messages among Native American woodlands tribes as the location of fresh water, medicinal herbs, good hunting, or safe passage.These ancient living messengers are in danger of extinction and, even worse, being forgotten.Natural causes, which include tornadoes and high winds, lightning, forest fires, heart rot, disease, and age are not the only hazards they face.Greed and ignorance are also enemies.Logging, commercial development, highways, and individuals looking for a unique mailbox post threaten to destroy these grand sentinels of the past.

Thong trees, also called marker trees or trail trees, are mostly white oak saplings, easy to bend and sturdy enough to resist splitting.Thong refers to a “sturdy forked green stick in the shape of a Y” (Maddux 6).The thongs were used to support and hold down the bent tree.One thong was driven into the ground near the base of the sapling to support the first bend called the “hip,” sometimes notched to facilitate bending.The sapling was then arched through the “Y” and a second thong, inverted and placed several feet closer to the crown, anchored the sapling in a horizontal position.Thus, the horizontal part of the tree was about three feet off the ground.When the tree resumed growth toward the sunlight, the second bend became the “nose.” While this was the main method used to create thong trees, saplings were occasionally held down with a leather strap, sinew, or wild grape vines tied near the crown and anchored to the ground.Usually one or two branches along the horizontal bend were left to grow vertically.“High Ones” were bent so that the horizontal line was about four to eight feet off the ground and were meant to be seen while traveling on horseback and at night (Amerson 54).Over time, the thongs would rot away, leaving the bent shape and scars where thongs once were.Large animals sometimes broke the thongs by rubbing too hard on them, often causing the trees to grow in an awkward manner. Trail trees were not used to mark trails but rather used to mark direction from the trails.

Miami and Osage Indians inhabited the Ozark Highlands of Missouri from about 1785 through 1803.Other tribes later joined the Miami to hunt, fish, and “try the patience of the early settlers in St. Louis and other villages” (Hubler 19). Water in the Ozark Highlands is abundant when there is rain and when the snow melts.The hot dry summer, then, is when they would need sources of “living water,” the fresh water supply from a spring.Certain trees, mostly the strong and flexible white oak, were then bent in a particular fashion to indicate sources of this much needed commodity.

Many tribes depended on thong trees and the sacred and secret timber language associated with them.Some of the timber language is known to us.We can apply logic or guess at some markings, but most of the language will ever remain a mystery.Markings found on trees throughout the woodlands areas of at least eleven states in the United States and Canada have been attributed to the Hopi, Apache, Iroquois, Cherokee, Navaho, Comanche, Fox, Osage, Miami, and Sioux peoples. Each tribe had a unique timber language but some general markings were known to all and guided travelers who came from far away. More detailed messages were encoded into the trees once they grew larger. Bits of charred bark were inserted into slits in the tree’s hide and sealed with pitch or pine rosin to keep insects out. Blazes and carvings on the hip or nose provided detailed messages. Most of these marks were made to assure survival in the dense woodlands. Slashes located on the back of the tree sent a clear message: “Don’t go any further this way” (Ralls 16B).

In 1838, during the “Trail of Tears,” many Native Americans, especially the Cherokee people, refused to participate in the United States government’s efforts to forcibly relocate them to Oklahoma.Soldiers hunted the woodlands for people unwilling to leave their beloved homeland. Warnings of such dangers, as well as escape routes and the location of caves for hiding, were also encoded into thong trees for those who could decipher the messages. Other indications included good hunting, medicinal herbs, and salt supplies.The location of living water, the essence of life, was perhaps the most important of the messages of the thong tree.Often a series of trees pointed out the easiest way to get to a water supply or other necessity. Trees pointing in the opposite direction were hard to understand unless one knew the cryptography.White men were unable to understand the sacred timber language (Maddux 5). Trappers and settlers eventually were able to decode some of the more common messages.

“Message trees” were shaped in a fashion similar to thong trees but the hip bend was less severe so that, to the untrained eye, it looked like a natural bend. The nose was hollowed out to make space for items to be left there for those who knew where to find them (Amerson 54). “Treasure trees” were bent severely. Many Cherokee people reportedly hid their gold and other treasures while on the “Trail of Tears” and used these severely bent trees to point to where they left their treasure. The ground around many of these trees has been disturbed but few treasures have been reported.

Although most tribes had no official name for the bent trees, they have come to be known as Indian trail trees, marker trees, or thong trees. Other names include water trees, which pointed the way to water, and buffalo trees.Buffalo trees are also known as “thong and hide trees” and refer to trees either simply arched or with two upright supports.Native American women pulled cured buffalo hides across the rough bark then stretched the hide between the uprights, softening them to use for moccasins and clothing (Hubler 18).The Cherokee people referred to them as “Day Stars” (Jordan 96), presumably because they served to guide them during the day much as the stars did at night.

Trees bent by accident are called casualties. High winds either partially uprooted a tree or toppled one tree against another, leaving a bent sapling. Authentic thong trees were bent between 1785 and 1867, although some trail trees along Lake Michigan are verified as being 600-years-old.Trees bent more recently are too young to be considered thong trees.

Thong trees are easiest to spot in the late autumn. Once the trees have dropped leaves for the winter, the horizontal trunks are easier to spot. But, authenticating thong trees is no easy task. Consensus as to the methods used to authenticate thong trees are difficult to agree upon.Size is an unpredictable indicator.Trees growing in fertile soil flourish and some measure one hundred inches in girth. Rocky terrain and the trauma from the unusual bending tend to stunt growth. The distinctive bends, while compelling, are not always enough to make a positive identification of an authentic thong tree. Scars from the thongs are more compelling and age is also a determining factor. An increment bore, taking a sample of the tree without harming it, provides accurate age analysis. Trees younger than 150-years-old are likely not authentic thong trees.

Laura Hubler of Ironton, Missouri was in her seventies when she began studying thong trees around 1965. She was considered the authority for more than a decade and was designated by the Clark National Forest to research and authenticate Indian trail and thong trees. Hubler not only found, catalogued, and wrote about these ancient messengers, she also searched out Indians from various tribes who would share with her the secret and sacred language held within their hides. The Choctaw spoke with her first many years ago and sent her to the Pawnee, who in turn sent her to a Ponca chief. The Ponca chief guided her to a Blackfoot leader.She became known as “Three Feathers, the white squaw who saved the Indian trees.” Her enthusiasm affected others who helped her locate trees and educate people about these magnificent bearers of old stories.Taking this passion one step further, she and one of her willing assistants gave lectures and convinced garden clubs and historical societies to undertake the salvation of these trees as a worthwhile endeavor.Any members who hesitated to support this cause were convinced once they saw photographs or slides of the trees.In Missouri, where Hubler concentrated most of her work, many people had thong trees on their property and invited her to authenticate them. As of 1976, Hubler had authenticated at least four hundred thong trees from Oklahoma through most of Missouri and into northern Arkansas. More than one thousand trees were authenticated across the country at that time. (Ralls 16B)

Hubler named many of the trees she encountered.One especially interesting group of eight trees she calls “The Quilting Party” (Hubler 1). While searching for Native Americans to help her decode the messages in the thong trees, she met “Hannibal Pete,” a Blackfoot Indian, who at first was reluctant to share the messages of this group of trees with a white woman.Her tenacity and sincerity convinced him that she could be trusted with the information he had steadfastly guarded for so long.She was nearly eighty and insisted on climbing around in the woodlands and up steep hills in order to see the trees for herself.She was angry because Hannibal Pete had not identified himself when she met him earlier yet she continued to search for him. Possibly the most compelling reasons for Hannibal Pete to let Hubler in on the secret language of the thong trees was her authentic love for them and her genuine interest in preserving them. And so he told her: three trees point to danger and five trees point to the security of caves and living springs (Hubler 5).(See Illustration 1, page 10.)

One ofHubler’s trail excursions, now known as Karkaghne Scenic Drive, guides us to a series of thong trees which she has endowed with names such as “Temptation” (tempting one to walk on to discover more marker trees), “Old Saddle-Back,” and “Mr. Bottle-Cap” (named for the bottle cap imbedded in his hide.) The journey, a long one by today’s walking standards, is but a short trek for previous inhabitants of this fascinating part of Clark National Forest in the Missouri Ozarks.

Artists and authors have been inspired by the feelings that thong trees evoke. “Once you see an Indian Trail Tree, you will never forget it. There is something about its oddly bent, silent form that grabs your imagination”(Jordan 30). This inspiration, and twenty years of research, led Dennis Downes, an artist in Lake Forest, Illinois, to create a sixteen-foot-tall sculpture made from resin and stained to look like an old weathered trail marker tree. His sculpture, entitled “Indian Trail Tree,” was recently displayed at Wildlife Prairie State Park in Peoria, Illinois. Claire Howard, writer for the Peoria Journal Star, describes the trees as the “petroglyphs of the Midwest . . . a message from ancient people that still resonates faintly through the woodlands of central Illinois” (C6).Downes claims that research is integral to his art and that his goal is to educate. He focuses on encouraging children to explore the forests and woodlands.

Richard T. Haynes authored and illustrated a children’s book called “The Thong Tree.”This story, about Grandpa and six-year-old Tyler, tells the story of a Cherokee scout who forms the thong trees so that his people may navigate their way as safely as possible through the dense woodland of hostile Osage territory.Two of these trees are on Grandpa’s farm. When Grandpa injures his ankle, Tyler has to make his way back to Grandma using the trees to guide him as the sky darkens. Tyler thinks about the scout who bent these trees and has a new respect for the trees as well as his Cherokee heritage.While designed to entertain, Haynes’ book offers a glimpse of history in a manner that appeals to the young (and old) reader (Haynes).

In Detroit, third-graders at Voyager Elementary School wrote letters to property owners and city officials to encourage them to protect a goalpost tree as a local landmark. Goalpost trees look like a goalpost with a stick in the middle. This particular type of trail tree is rare and, while the “arms” usually point to the four directions, the exact message has not been determined. The city officials requested an evaluation of the tree and were assured that the overall health of the tree was good.The box elder is around 170 years old and has four limbs, two at seven feet off the ground and the other two at about twenty-five feet from the ground, that extend out about fourteen to sixteen feet from the trunk then vertically making a ninety degree bend.Two limbs point north and south and the other two point east and west. Owners of the property insist that they “have no intention of cutting it down, ever” (Davis).

Rita Hadley and her husband own a logging business in Missouri. Many people Hadley talks with have seen the trees but know little about them (Forsythe). Hadley distributes a flier in her effort to preserve thong trees by educating people about them.(See Illustration 2, page 11.)“If people are not aware of what these trees are, who made them[,] and what they signify it will only be a short time till they are all gone forever” (McCarty 18).

Garden clubs have been the greatest champions of the preservation of thong trees. In the past thirty years, at least five different organizations in Missouri have made and installed plaques to commemorate thong trees.They have diligently applied efforts to educate people and presented the information they know to other organizations.The Big Canoe Garden Club in Pickens County, Georgia held a dedication ceremony in October 2003 to mark many historic trail trees inside Big Canoe. Members continue efforts to locate other trail trees in North Georgia.

Advocates for preserving thong trees enthusiastically support education as the best way to save these magnificent icons of cultures long vanished. Preserving these trees that link us to ancient inhabitants keeps us aware of our connection to the history of this land. We cannot prevent the natural causes that take the lives of thong trees, but we do have the opportunity to inform and persuade others to “Photograph them, talk about them, tell stories about them, and, most of all, preserve them for the future” (Elliott).

Works Cited

Amerson, Anne Dismukes.“The Cherokee Trail Trees: Signposts from the Past.” North Georgia Journal. Summer 1999: 52-57.

Davis Locker, Deborah. “Howell Pupils Rally Round Tree Marking Indian Trail.” Detroit News. 4 Jan. 2001.24 Oct. 2003 <http:/www.detnews.com/2001/Livingston/0101-05-d051-171542.htm>

Elliott, Dana R. “Thong Trees: Living Indian Relics.” Greater St. Louis Archeological Society. Jan. 1993 (no page numbers)

Forsythe, Roger.“Thong Trees; Woman, Club Work to Preserve Native Americans’ Signposts.” Daily Journal. circa 1992. (no date or page numbers)

Haynes, Richard T.The Thong Tree. Nashville: Voyageur. 1990.

Howard, Claire.“A Tree Marks the Spot.” Peoria Journal Star. 20 Jul. 2003, C6.

Hubler, Laura E.“Indian Trail and Thong Trees.” The Ozarks Mountaineer. December 1970.18-19.

— “Indian Trail and Thong Trees: Language of the Timbers.” 1975. Ozark Regional Library vertical file. Ironton, Missouri.

— “Data on the ‘Quilting Party.’” Rev. 29 Sept. 1975. Ozark Regional Library vertical file. Ironton, Missouri.

— “The Quilting Party.” Rev. 1976. Ozark Regional Library vertical file. Ironton, Missouri.

“Indian Trail and Thong Trees: The Language of the Timbers.” Illustration. “The Quilting Party” by Laura E. Hubler. Rev. ed. 1976. Ozark Regional Library vertical file.

Jordan, Elaine.Indian Trail Trees.Ellijay: Jordan Ink Publishing Co. 1997.

Maddux, Teresa.“Timber Talk.” Bittersweet. Winter 1978: 4-8. <http:/thelibrary.springfield.misssouri.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/wi78b.htm>

McCarty, Jim. “The First Roadmaps.” Rural Missouri. Dec. 1992: 18.

Ralls, Richard D.“Indian Path or Myth?: Thong Trees Point to History.” The Kansas City Times. 26 Nov. 1976, 16B.

“Thong Trees are Historic Treasures.” Flier created and distributed by Rita Hadley.(Used with permission.)(Sent by author in personal correspondence.)

Wedge, David.“Wild Things of the Night.” Copyright 1996. (no publication or page numbers.)24 Oct. 2003 http://www.efn.org/~redcloud/wedge.html.