IJJiti Bife on t^t (BocRieg 



the explorers hacked him with an axe. The old 

 pine had distinct records of axe and fire mark- 

 ings during the year 1540. It was not common 

 for the Indians of the West to burn or mutilate 

 trees, and as it was common for the Spaniards 

 to do so, and as these hackings in the tree seemed 

 to have been made with some edged tool sharper 

 than any possessed by the Indians, it at least 

 seems probable that they were done by the Span- 

 iards, At any rate, from the year 1540 until the 

 day of his death, Old Pine carried these scars 

 on his instep. 



As the average yearly growth of the old pine 

 was about the same as in trees similarly situ- 

 ated at the present time, I suppose that climatic 

 conditions in his early days must have been 

 similar to the climatic conditions of to-day. His 

 records indicate periods of even tenor of cli- 

 mate, a year of extremely poor conditions, occa- 

 sionally a year crowned with a bountiful wood 

 harvest. From 1540 to 1762 I found little of 

 special interest. In 1762, however, the season 

 was not regular. After the ring was well started, 

 something, perhaps a cold wave, for a time 



44 



