The History of Arbor Day

J. Sterling Morton,
founder of Arbor Day.

It all started with a vision that there could be trees on the barren Great Plains. When I wrote about The Timber Culture Act of 1873 last month I told how free land was offered to western settlers who who agreed to grow trees for lumber, fuel, and windbreaks on the open prairies. 

But as early as the 1850's pioneering proved difficult for settlers in the midst of the treeless prairie. In 1854, a young couple, Julius Sterling Morton and his new bride, Carrie, left Michigan for the unsettled Great Plains of Nebraska. J. Sterling Morton was took a job as a journalist at the territory's first newspaper, the Nebraska City News. It was a promising beginning for the young couple and within a few years planted over 1,000 trees on their property. Morton was soon named Editor of the paper and used his position to advocate the planting of trees in his editorials, urging civic organizations to join him in the effort. Morton held several political positions including the acting Governor of Nebraska for a few months before Nebraska's statehood in 1867. He then put his focus into agriculture and conservation, taking a position on the State Board of Agriculture, and in 1892 he was appointed the National Secretary of Agriculture.

But it was in 1872 that J. Sterling Morton proposed that a day“be set apart and consecrated for tree planting in the State of Nebraska and that the State Board of Agriculture hereby name it Arbor Day.”  On April 12, 1872, the first Arbor Day celebration was held in Nebraska City, Nebraska. Prizes were offered to organizations, local communities, and counties for planting the most trees. Over the next year over one million trees were planted throughout the state. By 1875 Arbor Day was established as a national holiday on April 22nd, Morton's birthday. This first Arbor Day was instrumental in motivating Congress to pass The Timber Culture Act, which offered free land to western settlers who agreed to plant trees on their land claims. Today, it is estimated that 18 million trees are planted each year on Arbor Day, celebrated in most states in the month of April.

An Arbor Day celebration in 1887.

"The cultivation of trees is the cultivation of the good, the beautiful, and the ennobling in man, and for one, I wish to see it become universal." — J. Sterling Morton

Cass School students in Omaha, Nebraska plant trees
as part of an Arbor Day program in 1901.

"Each generation of humanity takes the earth as trustees… We ought to bequeath to posterity as many forests and orchards as we have exhausted and consumed." — J. Sterling Morton,
from an address on Arbor Day 1885

19th Century Arbor Day Celebration

"Arbor Day is not like other holidays. Each of those reposes on the past, while Arbor Day proposes for the future."— J. Sterling Morton

Have you ever planted a tree on Arbor Day?

Available Here

The Homestead Brides Collection (Barbour, February 2015, #5 March ECPA Bestseller List)
Through nine historical romance adventures, readers will journey along with individuals who are ready to stake a claim and plant their dreams on a piece of the great American plains. While fighting land disputes, helping neighbors, and tackling the challenges of nature the homesteaders are placed in the path of other dreamers with whom romance sparks. And God has His hand in orchestrating each unique meeting.

Proving Up novella by Carla Olson Gade

Elsa Lindquist applies her scientific theories to growing trees on the Nebraska plains, intruding on a handsome homesteader’s hard work and experience. Will their dreams come to ruin, or will love prove their success?

New Englander Carla Olson Gade writes from her home amidst the rustic landscapes of Maine. With seven books in print, she enjoys bringing her tales to life with historically authentic settings and characters. An avid reader, amateur genealogist, photographer, and house plan hobbyist, Carla's great love (next to her family) is historical research. Though you might find her tromping around an abandoned homestead, an old fort, or interviewing a docent at an historical museum, it's easier to connect with her on her blog, Adventures of the Heart.

Going Out on a Limb - Arbor Day Around the Globe

Trees.

Life-giving, majestic, sentinels of time. We line driveways, create memorials, use as privacy buffers, climb on, hang from, and depend upon them for resources. They flourish in our books, movies, and Art of many mediums. Yet our thoughts and attention go deeper than the day-to-day applications. 

What is our fascination?

AI answered my question with the hypothesis that this “stems from a deep, multi-faceted connection, blending physical, emotional, and biological factors. Trees offer essential life-giving benefits (oxygen, shade, resources), possess calming aesthetic beauty, and foster a sense of grounding and permanence.” Additionally, AI surmised we benefit from reduced stress in their calming presence. I agree with the point that older trees “evoke a sense of history, wisdom, and stability.” The realization that trees communicate, share nutrients, and support one another adds to the wonder.

I am not alone in my fondness for trees. As a collective, the United States celebrates trees on Arbor Day. What I did not realize is that states declare this on different months and days. It makes sense as the seasons switch by region, and therefore planting parameters as trees burst forth in flower and unfurl their leaves at varying times.

On April 12, 1872, Nebraska City, Nebraska established roots of the very first Arbor Day. You can read the history in Carla Olson Gade’s post. After this historic event, other states joined the revelry. Now over 50 countries participate as well. Impressive that the efforts and initiative of one man in 1872 who addressed a need for trees in the barren plains of America spread across the globe. To date, over 500 million trees have been planted! (I read posts of an earlier celebration by Spain in 1594 but couldn't find a solid source or agreement of the location.)

From humble beginnings of shovels and hands, this day now monitored by The Arbor Day Foundation has scientific support and detailed planning. According to their website, they "use GIS mapping, environmental, socio-economic, and location data paired with local guidance to identify areas of greatest need." Combined efforts worldwide aid in replenishing this natural resource.

In honor of the upcoming Arbor Day on April 24th in Georgia, I would like to share some stellar trees we visited recently across the country. Join me at our first stop Point Defiance, Washington with its monumental trees. 

I'm not sure which specimen you see at left in all its stately glory. Below, left and right, say a hearty hello to Giant Sequoia ‘70437’ at 8.36m/27.43’ in girth and 39.02m/128.01’ tall. Goodness that is a lovely tree. Despite a document providing statistics on 22 of the resident trees, I could not find an estimated age. I queried and found it is probably relatively young at anywhere from 50-150 years. Sequoias can reach full height of nearly 250-300 feet. Can you imagine? I took the second photo at bottom right sheltered beneath its lacy limbs. Snuggled under the canopy, childhood stories danced in my thoughts. What a special spot.

  

There are many other old growth and interesting trees at Point Defiance. With each encounter, I wondered what they witnessed over the years. The people passing. Technology changing. From horses to horse and buggy, to cars, and eventually planes flying overhead. All the while the steadfast tree extends roots deep below and branches wide. Embracing our exhales and releasing a gift we often take for granted.

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Our next stop is John's Island near Charleston, South Carolina. Wait until you see this Low Country Treasure. Estimated at over 400 years, this Live Oak Tree is 65 feet tall and about 28 feet around. It shades roughly 17,000 square feet of area. The longest branch is 187 feet! The caretakers of the Angel Oak supported some of its limbs and repaired others. Visitors flock to this mammoth tree each year in droves. The parcel now housing Angel Oak Park was part of a 1717 land grant to Abraham Waight. Later, in the mid-1800s, Justis and Martha Angel acquired the land. Hence the name Angel.

Do we even need words?


   

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Take a walk around the Angel Oak with me...

And another view...

Look at those limbs...

Our last stop is with the Patriot Tree at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. To be honest, this was a bonus. I had no idea we would cross paths with this sentinel. We visited our son last week and stopped to appreciate this 175 year old Live Oak. Imagine, this tree existed in this very spot before the Civil War changed the landscape. How's that for perspective?

That concludes our current tour. Which was your favorite? 

If you would like to read some prior posts featuring trees:

Liberty Trees
Trail Trees
Trail Trees II
Stave Churches, fashioned from trees and an old lilac tree to boot.

Rebecca and her husband share a townhouse with their rescued dog named Ranger, who is not spoiled in the least. They are enjoying a new season nestled in a quaint southeastern US city. She is a proud mom of an American soldier and an Aerospace grad student. If it were up to Rebecca, she would be traveling - right now. First up, trips to see their two grown sons. As a member of ACFW and FHLCW, she tackles the craft of fiction while learning from a host of generous writers.

Connect with Rebecca: Facebook Goodreads Instagram Pinterest X/Twitte

THE SUN DANCE

                                                       

Laurie Kingery here. For my blog post this month, I thought it might be interesting to discuss a religious ritual that used to be practiced by several Plains Indian tribes such as the Sioux, Arapaho, and Cheyenne, the Sun Dance. This is a ceremony in which young men dance around a pole which they are attached to by rawhide thongs attached to pegs that pierce the skin of the chest as a sacrifice for the good of the tribe.

This was not a ceremony that was done casually, or open to nontribal members to witness. The words used are in the tribal language and not translated. Those who know about the ceremony generally do not speak of it out of a desire not to have the ritual corrupted. Out of respect for native Americans, I am not including pictures of the dance, though it is certainly possible to Google them if you are interested. The famous artist of the west, George Catlin, sketched it in the nineteenth century.

                                              

The name Sun dance comes from the Sioux identification of it as the Wi wanyang wacipi, or "Sun-Gazing Dance." The Indians made a hocoka, or ritual circle, with the sacred cottonwood tree erected in the center and an arbor around the perimeter of the circle, except for an entrance at the east where the dancers entered. The cottonwood was felt to be sacred because its leaves are shaped in the conical pattern of the tipi, and if one cuts an upper limb crosswise, inside will be a five-pointed star. The cottonwood tree selected for the ritual is found by a scout, and at evening, those involved in the ceremony go to the tree and pray. Those who will cut down the tree stand at points north, south, east and west of the tree. The tree is never allowed to touch the ground on the way to the site. Bundles of sage and tobacco are tied to the top of the tree to represent the prayers of the people, and the tree is brought into the circle from the west. The setting was a ritual way of making a local place sacred to renew the people's relationship with the land and with all the beings in their lives, human and otherwise.

The dancers fasted before and during the ceremony, and a camp was set up around the cottonwood tree that had been erected in the center of the circle. The ceremony was held in the summer during a full moon. Elders of the tribe conducted the ceremony, which usually took place over three days. On the third day the skin of the dancers is pierced by the tribe's medicine man. The dancers lie down together to have their chests pierced. Not all tribes pierce the skin for the sun dance; one source I read said that only the Sioux do, but that they do it for the entire native American population. Heyoka, or sacred clowns, come out to join the dance on the third day and raise the dancers' spirits. The clowns dance counter-clockwise instead of clockwise as the dancers do, and wear black and white.

Traditionally, the dancers dance toward and away from the tree three times, then yank back as hard as they can, breaking the skin where the pegs are. The skin is then cut off and placed at the base of the tree, symbolizing the dancer's sacrifice. At dusk on the third day, there is a great feast.

The sun dance was once outlawed by the governments of the U.S. and Canada, but was once again made legal in 1951 in Canada and in the U.S. in 1978 by the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. It still takes place, though how often is not known. A writer I have met who is married to a native American had a son who took part in it.

Next month on my blog date of 4/19, I will be giving away a copy of my latest book, THE PREACHER'S BRIDE CLAIM, the first book in the Love Inspired Historical's Bridegroom Brothers continuity series, so I hope you will join me again then.

                                                       

                       Blessings, Laurie Kingery

All pictures courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Butchart Gardens

by Anita Mae Draper

circa 1921, The Sunken Garden, Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC 

Back in March 1992, I had a job opportunity to spend a week in Victoria on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. With my workday ending at 4:30 pm, I had time to explore the sights. One of my forays was to the renowned Butchart Gardens, a National Historic site of Canada located in nearby Brentwood Bay. The site of the Butchart Gardens is a depleted limestone quarry originally owned and run by Robert Butchart who, in 1904, had moved with his wife from Ontario to start a cement business on the island. By 1909, the limestone was exhausted and Robert abandoned the scarred pit, but not Benventuo, the home which he and Jennie had built on the site. 

Jennie Butchart at Benvenuto, Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC

Jeannette Foster Kennedy was an adventurer who had flown in hot air balloons. She had graduated from Brantford Young Ladies' College and held a certificate in chemistry. She had won a scholarship to study art in Paris. Yet Jennie married for love and settled down with her cement manufacturer with an ugly pit for a view. Jennie was not a gardener, but it is said that one day as she stared at the ruined landscape of the scarred quarry, she envisioned it filled with a glorious array of color. 

March 1992, The Sunken Garden, Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC

As someone who's lived in a Zone 1 or 2 gardening region most of my life, and an enriching five years in Zone 5, I was excited to see what was happening in Zone 8 in March, which was when I took my trip in 1992. This will explain why my photos show greenery, but not the glorious color that appears in many brochures and advertising ephemera that represents the Butchart Gardens. Regardless, the image above shows the fabulous Sunken Garden with two of the iconic Pyramidal Arborvitae, originally planted over 100 years ago. If you compare this image with the 1921 photograph at the top of this post, you will see how the conical trees were set on either side of the main path, exactly where they are today. (My image doesn't show the tree on the left of the path.)

Spring 1923, The Sunken Garden Quarry Walls, Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC

With the help of professional gardeners, Jennie tucked plants and seedlings in every opening and crevice along quarry walls so that what looked like the above photograph in the spring of 1923, appeared in March 1992 like this...

March 1992, The Sunken Garden Quarry Walls, Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC

Jennie left a rocky mound in the middle of the pit area and added a stunning curved stone staircase which led up to a fabulous lookout of the Sunken Garden. 

1911-1912, The Sunken Garden Staircase, Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC

Although there are images that show the mound in full splendor, I was pleased to see the staircase surrounded in muted foliage rising from a sea of green when I took this image in March 1992...

Spring 1992, The Sunken Garden Staircase, Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC

The Sunken Garden is only one of 5 gardens which make up the Butchart Gardens, the others being the Italian Garden, the Mediterranean Garden, the Japanese Garden, and the Rose Garden. I loved the Japanese Garden and the peace I felt as I toured that part, but it was the Rose Garden which made me pause.

1923, Rose Garden, Benventuo, Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC

The Rose Garden was the only time I wished I had been able to tour the Gardens later in the year. Although I could visualize the trellises laden with heavy-scented boughs of roses, I missed the beauty of having them in my memory. Even yet, I dawdled as I walked beneath the arches, promising myself I'd return some day to face their emblazoned bloom. 

Spring 1992, Rose Arbor, Benventuo, Butchart Gardens Rose Garden, Victoria, BC

With fear and lock downs filling our current world, we need to think about how we will use our time when we finally have the liberty to walk free outside. I've started making a list of places I really want to see or revisit...not if I get a chance, but when I make the time. First on that list is to revisit the Butchart Gardens, this time with my husband and plant-loving daughter, unlike my solitary visit years ago. Beauty after the ugliness. That's how to brighten our world.  

Have you made a list for when you regain your liberty?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anita Mae Draper lives on the Canadian prairies where she uses her experience and love of history to enhance her stories of yesteryear's romance with realism and faith. Readers can enrich their story experience with visual references by checking Anita's Pinterest boards. All links available on her website at www.anitamaedraper.com

COLD SNAPS, WEATHER HISTORY, AND THE JANUARY THAW

Hi, this is Darlene Franklin here. On January 12th, only a short time after Nelson Mandela's death, I could talk about the 1907 recognition of Transvaal's government by Britain. I might ask if we could imagine the football playoffs without the forward pass, approved in 1906.

Winter in Iowa

Instead I read that Washta, Iowa, had a temperature of 47 degrees zero on January 12, 1912. Of course, this year, we have experienced extremely cold weather. So I thought I would write of a more pleasant January weather phenomenon.

I grew up in Maine. We had the coldest weather of the season in January. At a time when schools required dresses and the style called for short skirts, my legs turned bright right from top of my boots to the bottom of my skirt. My nose ran, and it froze on my face. Taking in breaths of the frigid air hurt my lungs.

But every January also brought the relief of the January thaw, about a ten degree rise in temperatures for a few days around the last week of January. Snow would thaw, icicles would melt, and I would enjoy a few days of relief.

In 1950, temperatures by twenty-five to thirty percent instead of ten. Cotton bloomed in South Carolina, five months ahead of schedule. On January 25, 1950, Ann Arbor, Michigan, enjoyed seventy-two degree weather.

Flooding after thaw

Minneapolis, Minnesota, enjoyed fifty-eight degree weather in 1944. A few citizens were brave enough to take a dip in the lake. The Thaw has brought about temperatures above fifty degrees eleven times since 1891.

Other January thaws of note:

• 1900 One day thaw in Minnesota saw temperatures into the forties and fifties.
• 1890: The reigning "January thaw" high was set on January 11.
• 1884: An early February thaw saw massive flooding throughout Pennsylvania's Ohio Valley.

While we are experiencing extreme cold, let's look forward to a few days of warmer weather, when we hope the thermometer will rise above the freezing mark.