When visiting my parents in Loveland Colorado my mom mentioned the tidbit that an elm outside of a Walgreens was a seedling from a George Washington Elm. It is named the George Washington Elm because this is the Elm that George Washington took command of the American Army in Cambridge Mass on July 3, 1775. A scion is a seedling of the same tree.
So in the interest of curiosity and history we later make a stop at the tree and Walgreens. The tree is literally part of the Walgreens parking lot.
The Washington Elm Scion and Marker is a bronze plaque mounted on a built-up wooden shaft inside an octagonal bench surrounding a huge elm tree located in a micro-park on the northwest corner of the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Eisenhower Boulevard in Loveland.
The inscription reads:
Scion of the Washington Elm at Cambridge, Mass. Namaqua Chapter, 1931 NASDAR
On July 3, 1775, General George Washington took command of the Continental Army at a ceremonial review in Cambridge, Massachusetts, under an elm tree which has become known as the Washington Elm.
In April 1931, Namaqua Chapter received a shoot from an elm tree grown from seeds of the Washington Elm. The shoot was planted in the yard of then Lincoln School. The tree had excellent care from the custodian, but soon died to the ground. Then, a green shoot came through but it, too, died and all hope was given up. However, the following spring a green shoot again appeared which kept growing. The tree did well, but after a few years the yard was converted into a gravel playground. Somehow the tree survived.
In 1948, when the tree was dedicated and presented to the city of Loveland and to the school board, it was tall, beautifully shaped and 15 inches in diameter. A marker was placed on a band around the tree but was later removed and stored. In 1965, the tree was again in trouble. The school land was sold to a company which did not intend to save the tree but changed its mind in the face of concerted opposition to the tree’s destruction. An underground watering system was installed in addition to a concrete wall to protect it from parking lot traffic. The tree lived and is now the only known survivor of three Washington Elm scions planted in Colorado.
Early in this century it became apparent that the Washington Elm at Cambridge was doomed. In October 1922, what was left of the tree fell over with a crash as workmen were trying to bolster some live branches. A plaque now marks the site of the tree which was estimated to be over 300 years old at its death. At its prime it measured 18 feet in circumference, 100 feet in height, and 90 feet in the spread of its branches.
Namaqua Chapter of DAR (above information from DAR website)
We also realized that we have visited here in the past. There is a virtual geocache at this location.
Thousands of Washington Elm scions were sent all over the United States when the original Washington Elm fell over on October 25,1923 and the tree was divided into 1,000 pieces and distributed among each of the states and their legislatures.
Washington has a scion on the campus of UW
So, I am calling my first side quest and now you know a lot about Washington Elm Scions. It is unknown scions that are still living.
