FAMOUS TREES 



39 



Fort Hunter Button wood (Platanus occidentalis L.), a huge tree 

 of its kind standing by the edge of Fishing Creek in the Fort Hunter 

 tract of land, is of great age and is among the historic trees of Penn- 

 sylvania (68). Fort Hunter, 6 miles north of the State capital, on 

 the east side of the Susquehanna, was one of a chain of forts between 

 the Susquehanna and the Delaware Rivers. Situated on a bluff jut- 

 ting out into the stream "where the Blue Hills cross the Susquehanna," 

 this fort commanded an extensive view up and down that river and 

 overlooked as well the tortuous course and outlet of Fishing Creek. 

 The banks of this stream, judging by the relics found there, were a 

 favorite camping site of the marauding red men. Hunter's Fort 

 served as a refuge for the pioneers in those unsettled times, and many 

 a thrilling tale is told of alarm and of escape (fig. 21) . 



F-323017 



Figure 21 . — Fort Hunter Buttonwood by the Edge of Fishing Creek, Fort 

 hunter Tract, 6 Miles North of Harrisburg, Pa. (Courtesy of Mrs. 

 Margaret Wister Meigs.) 



