A THOUSAND-YEAR PINE 



venerable yellow pine which I dis- 

 covered one autumn day several years 

 ago while exploring the southern 

 Rockies. It grew within sight of the 

 Cliff-Dwellers' Mesa Verde, which 

 stands at the corner of four States, 

 and as I came upon it one evening 

 just as the sun was setting over that 

 mysterious tableland, its character 

 and heroic proportions made an im- 

 pression upon me that I shall never 

 forget, and which familiar acquaint- 

 ance only served to deepen while it yet 

 lived and before the axeman came. 

 Many a time I returned to build my 

 camp-fire by it and have a day or a 

 night in its solitary and noble com- 

 pany. I learned afterwards that it had 

 been given the name "Old Pine," and 

 it certainly had an impressiveness 



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