Dealey Plaza is a city park in the West End Historic District of downtown Dallas. The park was designed and built in the late 1930s with the finishing touch being the planting of the trees outlining the park. Six Live Oaks, Quercus fusiformis were aligned along two fountains paralleling Houston Street. Live Oaks and Cedar …Read More
The house at 703 North College Street in McKinney, Collin County, Texas was built in 1905 by Mary Jane and W.D. Smith (1858-1938). As lovers of landscape architecture planning and design, the Smiths were meticulous as they picked out the plants and trees. As it happens, the three Eastern Red Cedars and the Deodar Cedar …Read More
There is a grand old Pecan tree in Limestone County, that sits on the outskirts of Groesbeck, Texas. It is enormous in size with a circumference of 225.8 inches or 18.82 feet, a height of 94 feet, and a crown spread of 130 feet by 97 feet for an average crown spread of 113.5 feet. …Read More
The Story by Ann Bagley A huge Cottonwood tree stands near the entrance to Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch in the Texas Panhandle. This tree stands as a tribute to a colorful lady who played a part in the history of the Old West. The story of the tree is also Frenchie McCormick’s story. With her …Read More
The Bur Oak grows beside the historic Big Spring on the edge of the Great Trinity Forest in southern Dallas County. The spring has been an important source of clean water for humans for thousands of years. For more than 200 years this tree has stood near the spring offering its shade and shelter. The …Read More
Comanche cultures and traditions are passed down from generation to generation through oral instruction and visual aids. Comanche storytellers would tell stories of Earth’s creation, and of how the wild animals or buffalo were released on earth. They told legends of mythological characters, often animals with human traits or character flaws, whose story supported the …Read More
Eastern Red Cedars were used by the Comanche for a number of important reasons, but this is the only tree of this species recognized as a Comanche Marker Tree. Small for a tree of its age, it proved it was old enough to qualify as a marker tree when tree cookies from its wounds provided …Read More
The Cross Timbers ecosystem in Irving was an area of great significance to the Comanche in the mid-eighteen hundreds. This particular area featured scenic views of Red Oaks, Post Oaks, prairie grass, wildflowers, acorns the women ground into a paste for food, native medicinal plants the healers used to make medicines, as well as a …Read More
While it was surprising to many historians to find Comanche Marker Trees as far east as the Trinity River, the Comanche were not surprised. The “Lords of the Plains” had not forgotten the importance of “Pih-heet Pah-e-hoona”, the Comanche name for the Trinity River; the term translates as “Three Rivers.” Gateway Park and the Trinity …Read More
Bird’s Fort Trail is an early Texas trail that was used by settlers in the mid-eighteen hundreds. The Peter’s Colony map below (courtesy of the Irving Heritage Society) shows this historic site as it was known by early travelers, including American Indians. The Comanche Indians and other tribes heavily occupied this land prior to settlement. …Read More