Imperfect Trees Tease Inquisitive Minds

Last updated Thursday, March 15, 2007 4:30 PM CDT in Outdoors

By Flip Putthoff
The Morning News

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To the casual eye, these bent and often lumpy trees look like growth gone haywire. Trail tree enthusiasts see them as historic landmarks to be preserved, documented and studied.

Their theory is that American Indians bent hardwood saplings over a forked stick, chopped off the end and pointed it as a directional marker toward water, shelter or food.

The end of the tree was secured with a strap of animal hide, weight or another forked stick driven into the dirt to keep the tree bent and pointed toward the landmark.

That's not all. The theory continues that cuts were made in the wood and a bit of charcoal placed in the cut to create bumps as the sapling grew. Proponents say the bumps told American Indians and possibly settlers what the trail tree signified, like an early highway sign.

Indian trail trees, also called signal trees, language trees and thong trees, are all over the Ozarks. They've been documented on public and private land from Michigan to Florida. California has its share of trail trees.

Trail trees can be found in back yards and on golf courses. They are hidden deep in forests.

The Buffalo River country is rife with the unique trees. One at Withrow Springs State Park near Huntsville is along a popular hiking path and sports a white trail marker. Twenty to 30 stand among Hobbs State Park's 12,000 acres.

Trail Tree Teamwork

These park trees and the chance to share information about the landmarks drew a dozen trail tree enthusiasts from Kansas to Georgia to Hobbs on March 3 for an informal two-day get-together.

Most brought photographs of trail trees near their home that ranged from snapshots to professional still and video presentations.

Bob Wells traveled from Atlanta to be with the group. He is working on a documentary film about trail trees and gathered ample footage of the park's specimens.

Wells showed an impressive video of trail trees in his native Georgia.

A crackling fire in the wood-burning stove at the Hobbs park office warmed the 12 enthusiasts seated at a long table during the lively confab. After lunch they car-pooled around the park to see some of the mysterious trees.

First, there was much to discuss and share. Like, are these the real deal?

Everyone in the room bought into the possibility that Native Americans could have created the system of directional trees. Some seemed downright convinced. But the consensus was that not every tree with a weird bend or bump is a trail tree. They can grow naturally in a variety of ways, like when a tree or rock falls and bends a sapling.

A few of the participants even questioned the validity of some of the trees in their own photographs.

Mike Walker of Waynesville, Mo., showed an elaborate presentation of trail trees he has photographed in south-central Missouri.

Walker went over a list of his own standards for inclusion. First, a tree must be old -- 150 to 200 years old.

White oak trees are the most likely candidates. Walker said of the 50 to 60 trail trees he has found, all but two are white oaks. The other two are sycamores. A Kansas enthusiast showed cottonwood trail trees.

All have a "nose" proponents say comes from the end of the sapling being purposely cut off after it was bent.

Peggy Thompson of Harrison showed photos of trail trees she has photographed in the Buffalo River area. One of the largest is behind the old outhouse site at the Ponca low-water bridge. The bridge is a popular canoe launch site on the Buffalo. Hundreds have likely seen this tree and not realized its significance -- if there is one.

Walker agreed that the trail tree debate is like debating extraterrestrial life. There is no hard evidence for or against.

"We need scientific proof," one of the enthusiasts piped. "As it stands now, we don't have a leg to stand on."

"You go on the Internet and you get the same information," another added, that Native Americans are said to have created the trail trees. "But where did this information come from?" she asked.

Fact Or Fiction?

Clara Sue Kidwell, director of Native American studies at the University of Oklahoma, is skeptical.

For one thing, American Indians in the Southeast were fairly settled, she said. They were familiar with their territory so there was no need for markers that point to shelter or water.

Jim Northum, a forest health specialist with the Arkansas Forestry Commission in Little Rock doesn't totally discount the theory.

"There could be some truth to it," he said. "I don't think you could ever prove it unless it was passed down in their lore."

Several of the trail trees at Hobbs are on hillsides and point downhill -- some say, toward water. Northum noted that if a tree on a slope is bent by a rolling rock or falling tree, it usually points downhill.

"So the tree would point to water because water is at the bottom of the hill," he said.

Jace Weaver, director of the Institute for Native American Studies at the University of Georgia, said he isn't aware of any oral or written information American Indians passed down through generations that says Indians fashioned trail trees.

"I'm skeptical for three reasons," Weaver said.

First, Indians did trade with each other, but not to the extent they would need an elaborate trail marking system. Second, most of the alleged trail trees he has seen appear too young to be made by American Indians. Third, trees with bent trunks occur naturally in the forest.

"Anything that has a strange bend in it, they think it's an Indian trail tree," Weaver continued.

Two phone calls to the Cherokee Heritage Center in Tahlequah, Okla., weren't returned and an e-mail wasn't answered.

First-Hand Look

The fact or fiction debate only added to the enthusiasm at the gathering of trail tree enthusiasts. Their video and photography presentations were impressive, but not as much as the trail trees the group saw for themselves at Hobbs State Park.

Steve Chyrchel, the park's interpretive naturalist, started the car-pool caravan off with a stop at the Pigeon Roost Trail to view one of the park's most accessible trail trees.

The group marched down the trail about 50 yards. There on the right, about 20 yards off the path, is an unmistakable trail tree. It's bent trunk makes it easy to see.

Bob Wells set his video camera on its tripod to gather footage for his documentary and interview Chyrchel about these unique trees scattered about the park.

Chyrchel wowed the caravan at the next stop. He led a short bushwhack through the woods to the largest trail tree found in the park to date.

"We call this one 'Big Boy,'" Chyrchel said after a short walk south from the junction of Arkansas 12 and War Eagle Road.

The bent white oak is the largest tree on the hillside. Its trunk is three or more times thicker than the surrounding trees. It has the characteristic trail-tree nose and shape.

Nadean Houghton of Harrison sized up the tree. The bend in the trunk was higher than her head.

"This is the biggest one I've seen. It's bigger than 'Chief'," she said, referring to a trail tree near the low-water bridge over the Buffalo River at Ponca.

Other trees the caravan examined were within a rock's toss of the car.

One is across the road from the entrance to the Hidden Diversity Multi-Use Trail on Townsend Ridge Road. Another trail tree is across the highway and a bit south of the Shaddox Hollow Trail parking area on Arkansas 303.

One distinctive tree is on private property. This bent oak looks like a reindeer and is located near Hobbs State Park on Railroad Cut Road. The tree is about 3 miles south of the intersection of Piney Road and Railroad Cut Road on the right side of the pavement.

Most of the trees in the park point downhill. Not this one. It's on level ground. The nose points south.

One quirk to this tree is that the bend in the trunk appears to be half buried in the ground.

It's just another piece of the puzzle, another part of the mystery of these trees that are among the most unique in the forest, no matter who or what created them.

SEE HOBBS TRAIL TREES

Here are four trail trees that are easy to find and close to the road at Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area. The park is 10 miles east of Rogers on Arkansas 12.

Pigeon Roost Trail: A trail tree is located near the start of the hiking trail in the heart of the park. The trail parking lot is on Arkansas 12 about 4 miles east of the Arkansas 12 and 303 intersection.

Walk 50 yards down the trail and look for the tree on the right.

Hidden Diversity Multi-Use Trail: Look for a trail tree across the road and just north of the entrance to the trail parking lot. the entrance is 2 miles down Townsend Ridge Road south of Arkansas 12.

Shaddox Hollow Trail: A trail tree is across the highway and a few yards south of the Shaddox Hollow Trail parking lot. The trail is located on Arkansas 303 less than a mile north of the Arkansas 12 and 303 intersection.

Railroad Cut Road: Look for this tree near the park, but on private property on the west side of Railroad Cut Road 3 to 4 miles south of the interction of Piney Road and Railroad Cut Road.

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