5/16/2008:
Did you know that by the 1950's, there was a little bit of North Dakota growing in Washington, D.C.?
On this day in 1953, the Minot Daily News proudly published a photo it had received of several residents of North Dakota standing in front of North Dakota's state tree, the American elm, in front of the capitol building in Washington.
This tree was planted by residents of the state. It was dedicated the year before, in 1952, in order to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the reclamation act by Theodore Roosevelt.
Roosevelt was a conservationist. He was known for his hunting, his love of the outdoors. In his political career, among other agenda, he established the National Wildlife Refuge program, and had some responsibility for establishing federal control and regulation over public lands of the west. He created many national parks and monuments, including, of course, the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Montezuma's Castle and Petrified Forest.
The National Reclamation Act of 1902 gave authorization to western irrigation projects which were to be paid for by the sale of land in 16 semiarid states. Under this Act, he was able to initiate construction of western dams, and was able to start to reclaim the desert southwest. So a tree was a suitable memorial.
Also, in another aspect, this tree honored George Washington. The Minot Daily News reported that this little American elm was planted in the same place that George Washington himself once planted a tree. North Dakota sought and received permission to plant that North Dakota tree on the same site after the tree's old age caught up with it and it died.
This spot, by the way, did not nourish the cherry tree Washington purportedly chopped down—though George himself couldn't tell a lie, that story is more myth than fact. It is right to connect him with trees, however, as he was a tree-lover, and planted many trees all over his property on Mount Vernon. Thirteen of those still survive today, though the rest have died off. In fact, there is a Sequoia dedicated to him, known as the Washington tree, in the Giant Forest Grove.
So a tree was fitting for both of these two past presidents, so honored and admired for their touch of green amidst the red tape of politics.
And we can remember: A North Dakota tree was able to flourish in Washington, D.C.
By Sarah Walker
Sources:
<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/04/0427_040427_arborday.html>
<http://www.desertusa.com/mag98/july/papr/du_troosev.html>
Minot Daily News, May 16, 1953