CHAPTER XI. 
THE HALL OF FAME FOR TREES 
I T is fitting that trees should have their own Hall of 
Fame to give permanent record to their participation 
in history. 
Through all the ages the trees have had important 
share in human progress. Under all conditions and in 
all climes they have proved themselves the best of good 
citizens. Their story is closely interwoven with the 
fabric of time. They have been a part of statecraft, war, 
art and literature, and they have stood as silent witnesses 
to man’s achievements and solemn participants in his 
councils of destiny. To carry their message of the past 
to the generations of the future is an enterprise of vivid 
appeal to the imagination. 
Since the creation of the idea of a Hall of Fame for Trees 
the spirit of recognition has spread to all parts of the United 
States. The study of the trees presented as candidates for 
admission to the Hall of Fame has been a study of American 
development. Trees now living and offered as nominees 
have been sentries of history written and unwritten. Re¬ 
search into the individual records of the candidates has 
been an intimate education in the progress of the New 
World of Columbus, Washington and Lincoln. 
To cover the life span of the nominees the imagination 
must go back 4000 years and more. In the Redwood 
forests of California stands a tree whose claims rest 
on the simple statement of age. The General Sherman 
Sequoia is declared to be the oldest thing now liv¬ 
ing. It was of giant growth at the time of the birth of 
Christ, almost 2000 years ago. To-day, at an age of 
120 
