Indian Trail Marker Tree Controversy

Introduction

It is theorized that native Americans manipulated tree saplings in order to create a land based navigation system through the dense forests of North America.  According to this theory, a sapling such as White Oak (which lives for hundreds of years) would be bent and tied into place. The direction of the bend would point tribe members to hunting grounds, fishing grounds, medicine fields, shallow river crossings, the way back to camp and for a variety of other purposes.

These saplings would be left to grow for a year or two in the fastened bent condition, after which time the fastener would be removed. The tree would then be incapable of undoing the bend and provide for a permanent trail marker.  On the "nose" of the trail marker tree, in their tribe symbols, the purpose of the marker tree was inscribed.

Since trees live for hundreds of years, people are still discovering these living museums of native American activity and culture.  Below is a suspected trail marker tree which I recently discovered in the North Quabbin region of Massachusetts.

My discovery bears a perfect resemblance to the classic trail marker tree, having a hip, a horizontal section, a nose and a vertical section.  Compare it to the samples shown on this web site and the similarities become obvious.  The web site also provides additional information on these curious formations.  Indian Trail Trees 

  

The Controversy

To the nature explorer, these tree forms are exciting discoveries.  One becomes filled with a sense of wonder and reverence as your eyes behold the living legacy of ancient native culture and activity. They represent above-ground fossils; important archaeologic discoveries.

The scientific community refuses to accept the concept of trail marker trees on the basis that there is no written (or verbally passed down) historic record of such activity by the surviving native American tribes.  There is likewise no historic record about these trees by early settlers interacting with the natives.

The scientific community further claims that these formations are simply the result of naturally occurring events ( fallen tree limbs landing upon saplings etc).

Settling the Controversy

While my own observations and common sense lead me to believe that these forms are indeed the work of native Americans, the scientific objections should and can be addressed.  To me, the consistency of the forms can not possibly be the result of random natural processes, but this kind of logic doesn't represent evidence passing scientific muster.  Every scientist accepts that in order for a theory to be proven true, it must either be duplicable in the lab or observable in nature.

There is already a group involved in duplicating the theorized process in the lab.  Various individuals are creating their own marker trees and their results will be documented and compared over the course of the next 20 years or so.  This will tend to the aspect of scientific confirmation relative to lab duplication.

My contribution will be discovering whether or not these forms can be observed in nature.  Mature specimens of trail marker trees are common and abundant despite the nation having been effectively deforested by lumbering, farming and development.  The Mountain Stewards have thus far confirmed 1,800 trail marker trees.

We can therefore logically conclude that if natural forces are responsible for these unusually similar deformations, then our new growth forests should be replete with examples of young trees which bear those form similarities.

I am seeking volunteers to join me in this research.  I will be exploring the forests of North Central Massachusetts and would like partners from all parts of the United States and Canada which are forested.  If you are interested in participating in this research, contact me at: davidwrunyanjr@aol.com