# Indian Marker Tree



## quads (Aug 4, 2010)

Lived here all my life (5th generation) and had never heard about this before, until we went to Blue Mound State Park in Southwest Wisconsin on Saturday.  70 miles, first time we have been that far away from home in 10 years!











And here is a white oak out on the 80 acres where I have been cutting my firewood lately.


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## Troutchaser (Aug 4, 2010)

Love it.  Very cool.


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## smokinj (Aug 4, 2010)

What do they point to?


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## quads (Aug 4, 2010)

smokinjay said:
			
		

> What do they point to?


The sign said "the point on the horizon where the sun rises on the first day of summer."  But, the one in our woods points westerly?  There isn't much water around here, and years ago there used to be some ponds not too far in that direction.  Or maybe it points at the sunset on the first day of winter?  I'll have to try to pay more attention to it at sunset throughout the year and see.


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## begreen (Aug 4, 2010)

Probably points to a nice wigwam over the hill.


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## Delta-T (Aug 4, 2010)

that is really cool. we have some Native American megaliths around here. America's Stonehenge has markers (of giant stones) for the rise and set of the sun for both solstice and both equinox, walls indicating the cardinal directions and some markers for moon movements. Its very elaborate. Good guess on the sunset probability of the westerly pointer. Look around to see if there is a easterly pointer nearby. There may be a vantage point where both can be observed form a single location. Those primitives were pretty darn smart.


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## CJRages (Aug 4, 2010)

Would some Indian prankster point one in a random direction?


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## thewoodlands (Aug 5, 2010)

quads said:
			
		

> Lived here all my life (5th generation) and had never heard about this before, until we went to Blue Mound State Park in Southwest Wisconsin on Saturday.  70 miles, first time we have been that far away from home in 10 years!
> 
> And here is a white oak out on the 80 acres where I have been cutting my firewood lately.



Quads very cool and if you find that wigwam over that hill make sure you call BeGreen.

zap


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## Skier76 (Aug 5, 2010)

That's pretty cool! I'll have to be more observant of things like that when hiking in the woods in VT.


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## onion (Aug 5, 2010)

Wow!  I had never heard of these before.  That is very cool.  I immediately thought of a tree on my land that has a very similar bend to it...then I realized that tree is only a 60 year old Red Maple and decided the Natives probably didn't come by and do that after the farm was left to go wild .


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## quads (Aug 5, 2010)

onion said:
			
		

> Wow!  I had never heard of these before.  That is very cool.  I immediately thought of a tree on my land that has a very similar bend to it...then I realized that tree is only a 60 year old Red Maple and decided the Natives probably didn't come by and do that after the farm was left to go wild .


I was telling a friend about it and she said she had one similar on her property, with a trunk diameter of about 1 inch.  I told her as fresh as that Indian Marker tree is, she had better put her wagons in a circle tonight!


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## Flatbedford (Aug 5, 2010)

quads said:
			
		

> I was telling a friend about it and she said she had one similar on her property, with a trunk diameter of about 1 inch.  I told her as fresh as that Indian Marker tree is, she had better put her wagons in a circle tonight!



I hope she got the joke.


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## quads (Aug 5, 2010)

Flatbedford said:
			
		

> quads said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It's doubtful.  Blank stare...  I don't think she has watched many old Westerns!


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## Flatbedford (Aug 6, 2010)

How old do you think your tree is? Its hard to tell how big it is in the picture.


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## quads (Aug 6, 2010)

Flatbedford said:
			
		

> How old do you think your tree is? Its hard to tell how big it is in the picture.


It's not a real large tree, the base of the trunk is no more than 16".  Dad once told me it was already there when he was a kid and he would have been 80 now.  So, I'm guessing 100+.  The one at the park wasn't real large either, maybe 18".


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## maplewood (Aug 6, 2010)

I wonder if it points to the idea that we don't have a clue what really happened or why.
Do you think that the native Americans got lost without GPS and needed a tree to point the way?
I don't think so....
Sounds like the result of a Study Grant to me.....


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## Delta-T (Aug 6, 2010)

This has got me to wondering. If the pioneers and settlers brought with them the gregorian calendar some 300+ years ago, who would have still been reliant on the rising sun for date indication? Though I suppose if literacy was low then maybe more than I'd think. Certainly by the mid 1800's there would be few left with any knowledge of how to determine dates by sunrises. Maybe the settlers learned it from the natives and continued the practice?


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## quads (Aug 6, 2010)

maplewood said:
			
		

> I wonder if it points to the idea that we don't have a clue what really happened or why.
> Do you think that the native Americans got lost without GPS and needed a tree to point the way?
> I don't think so....
> Sounds like the result of a Study Grant to me.....


Quite possible.  Like I said, first I ever heard of it was Saturday!


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## gpcollen1 (Aug 6, 2010)

maplewood said:
			
		

> I wonder if it points to the idea that we don't have a clue what really happened or why.
> Do you think that the native Americans got lost without GPS and needed a tree to point the way?
> I don't think so....
> Sounds like the result of a Study Grant to me.....



I don't think they needed a tree to point the way at all.  It makes sense that this tree would serve as a type of compass during the other seasons when the sun is a bit lower and it is harder to tell due east from west.


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## quads (Aug 6, 2010)

CTwoodburner said:
			
		

> I don't think they needed a tree to point the way at all.  It makes sense that this tree would serve as a type of compass during the other seasons when the sun is a bit lower and it is harder to tell due east from west.


It's hard to tell with mine, because it's in the middle of the woods, but I think it points due west, unlike what the sign said at the park.  Also though, there isn't much water near here, and there used to be several spring-fed ponds in the direction the tree points.  (before they filled them and built an irrigated field where they used to be)


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## gzecc (Aug 6, 2010)

People will beleive what they want.  I don't think anyone was that willing to give away information by bending a young tree.  There are always natural landmarks, in a natural forest, before bulldozers.   Survival depends on knowing your surroundings not letting your enemies find your resources. I sure am a cynical @##$%!


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## ironpony (Aug 6, 2010)

my thought is,
it is a referance point dont really matter where it points
as long as the person pointing it knows which way its pointiing
get my point???


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## quads (Aug 6, 2010)

Or, like I always assumed before Saturday, the tree could have been damaged in a storm, had another tree laying on it, etc. and means nothing!  Haha!  Our tree is very close to (within a couple hundred feet) of the Pinery Road, an old stage coach road.


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## quads (Aug 6, 2010)

Indian Marker Tree article:  http://ilsteward.nres.uiuc.edu/issues/2006/Summer/mysteries_2.htm


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## billb3 (Aug 7, 2010)

quads said:
			
		

> Or, like I always assumed before Saturday, the tree could have been damaged in a storm, had another tree laying on it, etc. and means nothing!  Haha! .



We've got a few of that kind here.
Some are in the Swamp
One still has the tree that fell on it on it.
One was a cherry tree that finally died.

It is a quick easy way to mark a seldom used trail.
Although even bark carvings can  last 50 years.

I can still find a beech tree I carved " The long and winding road" into too many years ago.
Can still read most of it, too.


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## wood spliter (Aug 8, 2010)

I just think very cool


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