Every Root an Anchor: Wisconsin's Famous and Historic Trees
by R. Bruce Allison foreword by Paul DeLong
Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2005 Paper: 978-0-87020-370-1 | eISBN: 978-0-87020-528-6 Library of Congress Classification SD383.3.U6A45 2005 Dewey Decimal Classification 635.97709775
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK
In Every Root an Anchor, writer and arborist R. Bruce Allison celebrates Wisconsin's most significant, unusual, and historic trees. More than one hundred tales introduce us to trees across the state, some remarkable for their size or age, others for their intriguing histories. From magnificent elms to beloved pines to Frank Lloyd Wright's oaks, these trees are woven into our history, contributing to our sense of place. They are anchors for time-honored customs, manifestations of our ideals, and reminders of our lives' most significant events.
For this updated edition, Allison revisits the trees' histories and tells us which of these unique landmarks are still standing. He sets forth an environmental message as well, reminding us to recognize our connectedness to trees and to manage our tree resources wisely. As early Wisconsin conservationist Increase Lapham said, "Tree histories increase our love of home and improve our hearts. They deserve to be told and remembered."
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
R. Bruce Allison has been a professional arborist in Madison, Wisconsin, since 1974. He has earned degrees from Brown University and from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He served as president of the Wisconsin Arborist Association and as chairman of the Dane County Tree Board and the Wisconsin Urban Forestry Council. He is the author of several books and many articles dealing with trees and nature.
REVIEWS
2005 First in the Nature Category from Midwest Independent Publishers Association Book Awards 2005 Merit Award in the Gardening Category from Midwest Independent Publishers Association Book Awards
"One of my very first childhood poems was an ode to a tree. After reading Allison's book I predict many more odes to Wisconsin trees. Not only a history of Wisconsin's famous trees, Allison's book is also a wonderful travel guide highlighting special trees and special places in every corner of the state. This book was written for all of us who have ever appreciated the beauty, shade and memories that trees provide." (Shelley Ryan, Master Gardener and host of Wisconsin Public Television's The Wisconsin Gardener)
"What a marvelous gift Bruce Allison gives us in Every Root an Anchor. His storytelling approach entertains even as he is educating. He reminds us that trees represent more than just the flow of history. Trees also become characters in the lives of people. We interact with them just as we do with human characters, be it a hanging tree, a treaty-signing tree, or my own Big Maple. Included here is a legend of the Black Hawk Tree. An icon of my childhood, it stood in the middle of a street in Prairie du Chien, auto traffic threading past on either side. Did Black Hawk really hide in the tree? That is less important than the fact that the story told is the sad ending of a dying people. Allison knows that trees can speak, and he translates for them and helps them tell their stories." (Ben Logan, author of The Land Remembers)
"Every Root an Anchor is a book rich in history. It exposes the long history of humans interacting with nature. A sense of history should be the most precious gift of science and art. A single tree, if read closely, can become the biography of a family, an area, or a generation of people. For all of its simplicity, a tree can reveal a fundamental message, a world of nuance and significance. Aldo Leopold expressed his feeling and understanding in planting a tree: 'Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets, but humbler folk may circumvent this restriction if they know how. To plant a pine, for example, one need be neither god nor poet; one need only own a shovel. By virtue of this curious loophole in the rules, any clodhopper may say: Let there be a tree — and there will be one.'" (Nina Leopold Bradley, founder and director, Aldo Leopold Foundation)
"This is an important book for Trees! Great stories! I hope that every state has one some day." (Jeffrey Meyer, author of America's Famous and Historic Trees and The Tree Book)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Foreword ix
Preface xi
Chapter I: Wisconsin's Magnificent Elms 1
Remembered Elms 2
Sawyer County Elms, Gotham Elm, Ripon Elm,
UW-Madison Elms, Capitol Park Elms, Lake Mills Elm, Neillsville Elm, Mount Mary College
Elms,
Wellers Elm, Taliesin Elm, General Grant Giant Elm
The Stelter Elm, Marquette County 5
The Fort Howard Elm, Green Bay 5
The Neenah Treaty Elm 6
The Grignon Elms, Kaukauna 7
Indian Agency House and Portage Elms 8
Milwaukee's Menomonee River Parkway Elm 8
The Tuesday Club's Slippery Elm, River Falls 10
The Rockton Grove 10
Disease Resistant Elms 11
Chapter II: Historic Trees 13
The Frank Lloyd Wright Tea Circle Oaks, Spring Green 14
The Dunbar Oak, Waukesha 16
Trading Post Oak, Lake Mendota 17
The Peck Bur Oak, Madison 18
The Plough Inn Maple, Madison 19
The Spring Tavern/Hotel Walnut, Madison 20
The La Follette Hickory, Madison 22
The Coffin Tree, Rusk County 23
The Knut Juve Trees, Dane County 24
Boscobel's Dean Oak 24
The Cooksville Scots Pine 25
The Military Road Sycamore, Fond du Lac 26
Fort Atkinson's Crooked Oak 26
The Sherwood Beech 26
Famous Apple Trees 28
The Wyalusing Maple 29
Two Civil War Sign-Up Trees,
Richland and Walworth Counties 30
The Randall Wilcox Buckeye, DePere 31
The Delavan Founder's Oak 32
The Lone Tree Prairie Oak, St. Croix County 32
Ripon's Signal Oak 33
The Pleasant Company Oak, Middleton 34
Chapter III: Hanging Trees 35
Durand Lynch Tree, Pepin County 36
The Parade Day Hanging Tree, La Crosse 37
The Accidental Hanging Tree, Trempealeau County 37
The Souvenir Hanging Tree, Vernon County 38
The Janesville Hanging Tree 38
Chapter IV: Homeplace Trees 39
The Jones Maples, Fort Atkinson 40
The Magnus Swenson Trees, Madison 41
The Lodi Oak 42
The Poet's Larch, Iowa County 42
Meier's Oak, Price County 44
The Rufus Dodge Maples, Fort Atkinson 44
The Grant County Sycamore 46
The Damuth Civil War Maples, Jefferson County 46
The Rhodes Bald Cypress, Kenosha County 47
The Walking Staff Tree, Sauk County 47
The Kohler Boxelder 48
The Hoard Museum Pine, Fort Atkinson 48
Trees That Stood in the Way 50
Chapter V: Indian Trees 51
The Indian Half-Way Tree, Green County 52
The Cameron Council Oak, Oshkosh 53
The Indian Game Trees, Winnebago County 53
Blackhawk Country Club's Spirit Oak, Madison 54
The Blackhawk Hickory, Madison 54
Trail Marker Trees 56
The Chief Tokaunee Oak, Dane County 58
Chapter VI: Surveyor's Trees 59
The Territorial Oak, Whitewater 60
The Cram/Houghton Blaze Tree, Vilas County 60
Witness Trees 61
The Hanerville Oak 62
Chapter VII: Ancient, Huge and Unusual Trees 63
Washington Island Pine 64
The Phelps Oak, Dodge County 64
The Pine Street Oak, Madison 65
The Champion White Ash, Maple Bluff 66
The Montello Cottonwood 66
The Columbus Cottonwood, Dodge County 68
Two-Leader Pine, Eau Claire County 69
The Stockbridge Cottonwoods, Calumet County 69
The Black Tupelo Tree, Kenosha County 69
The Scary Oak, Kettle Moraine State Park 70
The General MacArthur White Pine, Forest County 70
Brule River White Pine, Douglas County 72
The Lunde Chestnut Trees, Trempealeau County 72
The Upside-Down Trees, Wilmot 73
The Buried Forest, Kenosha 74
Chapter VIII: Arboretums, Campus Trees and Forests 75
The Muir Locust, Madison 77
The Harvey Oak, Madison 78
The President's Tree, Madison 79
The Bascom Hill Elms, Madison 80
The Willow Drive Willows, Madison 81
The Geotropic Goff Larch, Madison 82
The Autumn Purple White Ash, Madison 82
The Euthenics Oak, Madison 83
The American Yellowwood, Madison 83
The Edgewood Oaks, Madison 83
University of Wisconsin Arboretum, Madison 84
Whitnall Park and Boerner Gardens, Milwaukee 86
The Shorewood Tree Collection 87
The Whitewater College Arboretum 88
The Trees at Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay 88
The Mount Vernon Forest of Fame, Dane County 89
The MacKenzie Environmental Education Center,
Poynette 90
Star Lake Forest, Vilas County 91
Trees for Tomorrow, Vilas County 92
The Paine Arboretum, Oshkosh 93
Green Gables Estate, Lake Geneva 94
Chapter IX: Trees in Literature, Art and Folklore 95
Ben Logan's Big Maple Tree, Crawford County 96
Aldo Leopold's Good Oak, Sauk County 97
The Most Painted Tree in Wisconsin,
Milwaukee County 98
Caddie Woodlawn and the Old Elm, Dunn County 99
The Durward's Glen Spruce, Sauk County 99
The Father Hennepin Blaze Tree, Racine County 100
Prairie du Chien's Black Hawk Tree 100
The Haunted Mansion and Pines, Merrill 102
Chapter X: Arborphiles 103
Walter Scott's Hickory Hill, Madison 104
Walter Ware Pines, Waushara County 105
Donald Redman: Ripon's Tree Man 106
Joyce Kilmer: The Man Who Wrote "Trees" 107
Rudy Lange: Delavan Tree Surgeon 108
H. D. Thoreau: Wisconsin Tourist 109
About the Author 110
Index 111
Every Root an Anchor: Wisconsin's Famous and Historic Trees
by R. Bruce Allison foreword by Paul DeLong
Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2005 Paper: 978-0-87020-370-1 eISBN: 978-0-87020-528-6
In Every Root an Anchor, writer and arborist R. Bruce Allison celebrates Wisconsin's most significant, unusual, and historic trees. More than one hundred tales introduce us to trees across the state, some remarkable for their size or age, others for their intriguing histories. From magnificent elms to beloved pines to Frank Lloyd Wright's oaks, these trees are woven into our history, contributing to our sense of place. They are anchors for time-honored customs, manifestations of our ideals, and reminders of our lives' most significant events.
For this updated edition, Allison revisits the trees' histories and tells us which of these unique landmarks are still standing. He sets forth an environmental message as well, reminding us to recognize our connectedness to trees and to manage our tree resources wisely. As early Wisconsin conservationist Increase Lapham said, "Tree histories increase our love of home and improve our hearts. They deserve to be told and remembered."
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
R. Bruce Allison has been a professional arborist in Madison, Wisconsin, since 1974. He has earned degrees from Brown University and from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He served as president of the Wisconsin Arborist Association and as chairman of the Dane County Tree Board and the Wisconsin Urban Forestry Council. He is the author of several books and many articles dealing with trees and nature.
REVIEWS
2005 First in the Nature Category from Midwest Independent Publishers Association Book Awards 2005 Merit Award in the Gardening Category from Midwest Independent Publishers Association Book Awards
"One of my very first childhood poems was an ode to a tree. After reading Allison's book I predict many more odes to Wisconsin trees. Not only a history of Wisconsin's famous trees, Allison's book is also a wonderful travel guide highlighting special trees and special places in every corner of the state. This book was written for all of us who have ever appreciated the beauty, shade and memories that trees provide." (Shelley Ryan, Master Gardener and host of Wisconsin Public Television's The Wisconsin Gardener)
"What a marvelous gift Bruce Allison gives us in Every Root an Anchor. His storytelling approach entertains even as he is educating. He reminds us that trees represent more than just the flow of history. Trees also become characters in the lives of people. We interact with them just as we do with human characters, be it a hanging tree, a treaty-signing tree, or my own Big Maple. Included here is a legend of the Black Hawk Tree. An icon of my childhood, it stood in the middle of a street in Prairie du Chien, auto traffic threading past on either side. Did Black Hawk really hide in the tree? That is less important than the fact that the story told is the sad ending of a dying people. Allison knows that trees can speak, and he translates for them and helps them tell their stories." (Ben Logan, author of The Land Remembers)
"Every Root an Anchor is a book rich in history. It exposes the long history of humans interacting with nature. A sense of history should be the most precious gift of science and art. A single tree, if read closely, can become the biography of a family, an area, or a generation of people. For all of its simplicity, a tree can reveal a fundamental message, a world of nuance and significance. Aldo Leopold expressed his feeling and understanding in planting a tree: 'Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets, but humbler folk may circumvent this restriction if they know how. To plant a pine, for example, one need be neither god nor poet; one need only own a shovel. By virtue of this curious loophole in the rules, any clodhopper may say: Let there be a tree — and there will be one.'" (Nina Leopold Bradley, founder and director, Aldo Leopold Foundation)
"This is an important book for Trees! Great stories! I hope that every state has one some day." (Jeffrey Meyer, author of America's Famous and Historic Trees and The Tree Book)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Foreword ix
Preface xi
Chapter I: Wisconsin's Magnificent Elms 1
Remembered Elms 2
Sawyer County Elms, Gotham Elm, Ripon Elm,
UW-Madison Elms, Capitol Park Elms, Lake Mills Elm, Neillsville Elm, Mount Mary College
Elms,
Wellers Elm, Taliesin Elm, General Grant Giant Elm
The Stelter Elm, Marquette County 5
The Fort Howard Elm, Green Bay 5
The Neenah Treaty Elm 6
The Grignon Elms, Kaukauna 7
Indian Agency House and Portage Elms 8
Milwaukee's Menomonee River Parkway Elm 8
The Tuesday Club's Slippery Elm, River Falls 10
The Rockton Grove 10
Disease Resistant Elms 11
Chapter II: Historic Trees 13
The Frank Lloyd Wright Tea Circle Oaks, Spring Green 14
The Dunbar Oak, Waukesha 16
Trading Post Oak, Lake Mendota 17
The Peck Bur Oak, Madison 18
The Plough Inn Maple, Madison 19
The Spring Tavern/Hotel Walnut, Madison 20
The La Follette Hickory, Madison 22
The Coffin Tree, Rusk County 23
The Knut Juve Trees, Dane County 24
Boscobel's Dean Oak 24
The Cooksville Scots Pine 25
The Military Road Sycamore, Fond du Lac 26
Fort Atkinson's Crooked Oak 26
The Sherwood Beech 26
Famous Apple Trees 28
The Wyalusing Maple 29
Two Civil War Sign-Up Trees,
Richland and Walworth Counties 30
The Randall Wilcox Buckeye, DePere 31
The Delavan Founder's Oak 32
The Lone Tree Prairie Oak, St. Croix County 32
Ripon's Signal Oak 33
The Pleasant Company Oak, Middleton 34
Chapter III: Hanging Trees 35
Durand Lynch Tree, Pepin County 36
The Parade Day Hanging Tree, La Crosse 37
The Accidental Hanging Tree, Trempealeau County 37
The Souvenir Hanging Tree, Vernon County 38
The Janesville Hanging Tree 38
Chapter IV: Homeplace Trees 39
The Jones Maples, Fort Atkinson 40
The Magnus Swenson Trees, Madison 41
The Lodi Oak 42
The Poet's Larch, Iowa County 42
Meier's Oak, Price County 44
The Rufus Dodge Maples, Fort Atkinson 44
The Grant County Sycamore 46
The Damuth Civil War Maples, Jefferson County 46
The Rhodes Bald Cypress, Kenosha County 47
The Walking Staff Tree, Sauk County 47
The Kohler Boxelder 48
The Hoard Museum Pine, Fort Atkinson 48
Trees That Stood in the Way 50
Chapter V: Indian Trees 51
The Indian Half-Way Tree, Green County 52
The Cameron Council Oak, Oshkosh 53
The Indian Game Trees, Winnebago County 53
Blackhawk Country Club's Spirit Oak, Madison 54
The Blackhawk Hickory, Madison 54
Trail Marker Trees 56
The Chief Tokaunee Oak, Dane County 58
Chapter VI: Surveyor's Trees 59
The Territorial Oak, Whitewater 60
The Cram/Houghton Blaze Tree, Vilas County 60
Witness Trees 61
The Hanerville Oak 62
Chapter VII: Ancient, Huge and Unusual Trees 63
Washington Island Pine 64
The Phelps Oak, Dodge County 64
The Pine Street Oak, Madison 65
The Champion White Ash, Maple Bluff 66
The Montello Cottonwood 66
The Columbus Cottonwood, Dodge County 68
Two-Leader Pine, Eau Claire County 69
The Stockbridge Cottonwoods, Calumet County 69
The Black Tupelo Tree, Kenosha County 69
The Scary Oak, Kettle Moraine State Park 70
The General MacArthur White Pine, Forest County 70
Brule River White Pine, Douglas County 72
The Lunde Chestnut Trees, Trempealeau County 72
The Upside-Down Trees, Wilmot 73
The Buried Forest, Kenosha 74
Chapter VIII: Arboretums, Campus Trees and Forests 75
The Muir Locust, Madison 77
The Harvey Oak, Madison 78
The President's Tree, Madison 79
The Bascom Hill Elms, Madison 80
The Willow Drive Willows, Madison 81
The Geotropic Goff Larch, Madison 82
The Autumn Purple White Ash, Madison 82
The Euthenics Oak, Madison 83
The American Yellowwood, Madison 83
The Edgewood Oaks, Madison 83
University of Wisconsin Arboretum, Madison 84
Whitnall Park and Boerner Gardens, Milwaukee 86
The Shorewood Tree Collection 87
The Whitewater College Arboretum 88
The Trees at Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay 88
The Mount Vernon Forest of Fame, Dane County 89
The MacKenzie Environmental Education Center,
Poynette 90
Star Lake Forest, Vilas County 91
Trees for Tomorrow, Vilas County 92
The Paine Arboretum, Oshkosh 93
Green Gables Estate, Lake Geneva 94
Chapter IX: Trees in Literature, Art and Folklore 95
Ben Logan's Big Maple Tree, Crawford County 96
Aldo Leopold's Good Oak, Sauk County 97
The Most Painted Tree in Wisconsin,
Milwaukee County 98
Caddie Woodlawn and the Old Elm, Dunn County 99
The Durward's Glen Spruce, Sauk County 99
The Father Hennepin Blaze Tree, Racine County 100
Prairie du Chien's Black Hawk Tree 100
The Haunted Mansion and Pines, Merrill 102
Chapter X: Arborphiles 103
Walter Scott's Hickory Hill, Madison 104
Walter Ware Pines, Waushara County 105
Donald Redman: Ripon's Tree Man 106
Joyce Kilmer: The Man Who Wrote "Trees" 107
Rudy Lange: Delavan Tree Surgeon 108
H. D. Thoreau: Wisconsin Tourist 109
About the Author 110
Index 111
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC
