Photograph of a squirrel nest in a black locust tree which was planted on a spoils bank in 1947. Volunteer plants include silver bluestem grass, weeds, cottonwood and willow trees. OK-189-9.

Photograph of an old elm tree growing on a side of a hill that was called the Land Mark Tree by Cherokees who settled the Cooweescoowee District after the Civil War. The tree was seemingly as large when the area was settled by whites in 1893 [i.e., the 1893 Land Run, the 4th of 5 between 1889 and 1895] as it is today. Tall prairie grasses that would hide a steer grew on the hill in the valley below in 1893. It was in an overgrazed pasture from about 1900 to about 1950. The old territorial road passed within 50 feet of the tree (in foreground). A generation of trees--elm, ash, hackberry, etc.--has grown to maturity along the creek and died, replaced now by another general [sic], but this Land Mark Tree lives on with many of its roots exposed. OK-109-9.