FAMOUS TREES 27 



Cottonwood in capitol grounds, Topeka. Mustering place for 

 the Twentieth Regiment of Kansas Volunteers which made such a 

 fine record in the Philippines. 



Lone Cottonwood, a well-known landmark 6 miles southwest of 

 Meade. Scene of massacre of United States surveyors under Captain 

 Short, by Cheyenne Indians under Chief Medicine Water, August 

 24, 1874. 



Delaware and Wyandotte Maple, at Olathe, under which these 

 Indian tribes made a treaty of peace. (See Trees that have had 

 special protection, p. 56.) 



Council Oak, at Council Grove, marks the place of the treaty signed 

 August 10, 1825, between the United States commissioners and the 

 Indians for unmolested use of the Santa Fe Trail across the Great 

 Plains. 



Post Office Oak, facing the old Santa Fe Trail at Council Grove. 

 A cache of stone at the base of this tree served as a post office for 

 hunters, trappers, scouts, and overland travelers until 1847. 



KENTUCKY 



Famous elm at Boonesborough. Under this elm delegates gathered 

 in May 1775, in response to a message sent out to the scattered settlers 

 regarding the desirability of establishing some form of local gov- 

 ernment and of devising measures to protect the handful of people 

 living west of the Alleghenies and south of the Ohio. The fort 

 was not yet completed so the meeting was held under this giant elm, 

 and here the articles were agreed to for a local government, Under 

 this elm, the first agreement as to the purchase of land in Kentucky 

 was ratified by the House of Delegates on May 27. On May 28 the 

 first recorded church service in the locality was held there, attended 

 by the members of the House of Delegates and perhaps a number 

 of other persons from nearby localities. This must have been an 

 impressive service because all were armed against possible Indian 

 attack. 



Naturalization Tree, at Camp Zachary Taylor, under whose 

 branches thousands of aliens took the oath of allegiance upon being 

 mustered into the ranks of the United States Army during the World 

 War. 



LOUISIANA 



LaFitte Live Oak, Jefferson Parish. Named for LaFitte, the buc- 

 caneer, with whom it was associated (fig. 16). 



De la Eonde Oaks, sometimes called "Pakenham Oaks," forming a 

 lovely avenue at Chalmette, some 4 miles below the city of New Or- 

 leans, are associated with the Battle of New Orleans. The heaviest 

 fighting occurred on parts of the Chalmette plantation. There are 

 two rows — 37 on one side, 38 on the other — and 1 tree out of line, a 

 total of 76 trees. The rows are 100 feet apart, with a space 40 feet 

 wide between the trees, for a total length of 1,800 feet. Eight of the 

 trees were measured, the first two being each nearly 20 feet in circum- 

 ference. 



