HomeMy WebLinkAbout1971 Beautiful Texas TreesBoobs in the Nei .:
Beautiful Texas. I rees
By WALTER B. MOORE
Editor, Texas Almanac
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL book about
Texas published during 1971 may prove to
have come out during the first ,month of
the year. It also may be about the big-
gest bargain in t
books this year, as it
sells for only $3,
postpaid from Texas
Forest Service, Col- .
lege Station.
"Famous Trees of
Texas" is the title. r,
Short, - interesting de- n
scriptions are on
pages facing an at-
tractive color phow
graph of each tree.
There are instruc-
tions telling how to
locate each tree. MooRE
The book has long been a dream of
leaders of Texas Forest Service. The
dream (and the bargain price) became a
reality because the Moody Foundation of
Galveston provided a $40,000 grant. This
will enable the publishers to put a free
copy of the book bn each public college,
university and public school library of
this state.
JOHN A. HAISLET of the Texas For -
est Service assembled and edited the ma-
terial, assisted by David A. Anderson and
Loyd Keel. The excellent color photogra-
phy is by Hal Harris.
Much Texas history, more than most
of us realize, was made beneath the trees
which attracted our pioneer settlers. Here
are a few examples pictured and de-
scribed in this new volume;
Beileiatih the Hanging Oak, near Bandera,
eight men seeking to escape conscription
into the Confederate Army were hanged
on July 25, 1803.
The Panna Maria Oaks in Karnes
County stand where the first Polish set-
tlers in the New World celebrated their
first Christmas Eve Mass in 1854.
The Whipping Oak in Seguin has an
iron ring in it. Here runaway slaves,
thieves and wife - beaters were tied and
thrashed.
Austin's Treaty Oak is where Stephen
F. Austin is said to have signed the first
boundary agreement with Indians; it also
has been cited as the perfect specimen of
a North American tree.
Also in Austin is Gov. Jim Hogg's Pe-
can, the tree planted over his grave at the
governor's request —an act which inspired
the texas Legislature to ,make the pecan
the state tree.
LaGRANGE'S Muster Oak has been
the traditional gathering plaice for soldiers
who fought in the War With Mexico, the
Civil War, Spanish- American War and two
World Wars.
Many other trees, historic or notewor-
thy because they are national champions
of their species, are pictured in the book:
Dallas isn't represented., though editors
might well consider for a future edition
Highland Park's "Million- Dollar Pecan"
which each Christmas is decorated to be-
come one of the city's memorable sights.
This book is a noteworthy contribution
to the lore of this state, and the publish-
ers and Moody Foundation deserve high
praise for placing it in libraries through-
out Texas.