The witness tree
Woman's work helps save McHenry County tree
that could be 200 years old
by Sandy Kaczmarski
Daily Herald Correspondent
Date: April 24, 2005
The prairie grasses are engulfed in fire. It burns hot, as it is meant to, so that nature can renew the soil for new growth.
The Indians learned to harness the fire and use it as a tool for the same reason; to rid the Earth of last year's growth cycle and prepare for a new one. But the fire isn't as destructive as it might seem. Many plants and seeds survive and grow stronger than ever.
A tall burr oak estimated to be nearly 190 years old towers over southwestern McHenry County in Coral Township and is thought to have survived a fire such as this. Its age isn't the only astounding thing about it; this tree has been verified as an original "witness" tree used to identify property boundaries by geodetic surveyors in 1837. And it was given historic preservation status by the McHenry County Board in 1999.
"This tree has ordinance protection of 50 feet around it where no development can occur," said Gail Drabant, a member of the McHenry Historical Preservation Commission. Drabant said most likely there are other witness trees still standing, but few people are willing to put in the time to locate them as Carol Lockwood did.
Lockwood, whose family has lived in Coral Township for generations, was a history professor and commission member when she wondered if there were nonstructural features in the county that could be worthy of preservation.
"Most people look at what is built and restored to be recognized for preservation," Lockwood said. "Eventually a tree is going to die, but it seemed to be worthy of recognition and as much protection as can be afforded to that type of feature."
Working from handwritten copies of surveyors' notes taken during the massive geodetic survey, and with permission from neighbors, she set out "tramping across fields" and eventually located the tree. To verify the tree's link to the notations, Lockwood contacted surveyors and McHenry County Natural Resource Manager Ed Collins.
"Carol kept asking, 'Can you plaque a vista or prairie, and how would you go about doing this?' " Collins said. "One criteria was some type of written documentation, but most of the prairie remnants had nothing written."
Collins said Lockwood "grabbed the bull by the horns," took the survey notes and started walking section lines to find the tree. Collins speculates the tree may even be closer to 220 years old. He said McHenry County was a very fired-dominated ecosystem then, with hot and destructive fires across the prairie. The oak's diameter in 1837 was 10 inches, according to documents, leading to speculation, he said, that it was a root sprout burned back in time. Without a core sampling, the tree's age can only be estimated.
The geodetic survey is significant because of its magnitude and detail. The handwritten notes, jotted down by early surveyors as they walked the prairie, provide the most intimate look at what prize was won following the Revolutionary War. As the new land was being settled, land patterns that for centuries had worked well in Europe were found to be insufficient here.
"I own from this big rock, over to the creek so many paces to where the neighbor of Joseph killed a bear and so forth," explained Collins. "When you're talking about a society where there's not a lot of change, that 'metes and bounds' description works fine. But when you get to open land that is being settled, it's a different story."
The Northwest Territory had to be surveyed and boundaries drawn to allow for the quick sale of land to the new settlers. Step back to 1787 when that territory included land east of the Mississippi River between the Ohio River and the Great Lakes. The Northwest Territory of 1787 eventually became the states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois.
CHRISTOPHER HANKINS/DAILY HERALD
A beacon to history, this burr oak has stood in this Marengo field for as many as 200 years or more. It is one of the "witness" trees, marked by surveyors of the Geodetic Survey done in 1837 when this area was charted for settlement.
Thomas Jefferson created the National Geodetic Survey office in 1807 and is responsible for some of the first rules used for surveying. Collins said that some of the criteria required for the surveyors to get paid for their work was to follow instructions, mark witness trees for boundaries, record soil rankings and determine its ability to be farmed. It was also required that they describe the landscape every half mile through the wilderness west of Ohio.
In a memo to the Historic Preservation Committee in 1999, Collins explained that trees were selected based on whether or not they fell within a reasonable distance to the corner of the property being surveyed.
"Once selected, the tree's distance in links from the corner was measured, and its girth estimated. The species was identified and it was 'scribed' with a timber scribe, noting the section, township, and range the tree was in.
"In section corners, four trees (one in each of the four sections meeting at the corner) were scribed if available," he wrote. Collins said McHenry's witness tree most likely survived since it is close enough to the corner and not out in the field where trees were cut down to make way for farmland.
Today, the tree stands tall on private property as a silent, majestic guardian of the landscape. Only a plaque at its base identifies its uniqueness.
It had endured at least 50 prairie winters before the first Arbor Day was celebrated in this country in Nebraska in 1872. Humans present the greatest threat to its continued existence. Perhaps its anonymity and laws of man will protect it until the laws of nature prevail.
Lockwood's passion for preservation continues today.
"You can't just recognize things that are old or pretty," she said. "People were literally whacking through the land for settlement, and the link to human endeavor and achievement can be related to this witness tree."
