The Fallen Witness Tree

• Other Authors: Washington State University Vancouver Library; http://library.vancouver.wsu.edu/
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Sprouse & Son, Tacoma, Wash., Publishers
• Subjects: Trees; Horticulture; Arbors (Bowers); Landmarks; Bicycles; Bowers; Esther; Hudson; Hudson Bay
• Online Access: http://content.libraries.wsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/cchm_photo/id/11437

Historic Old Witness Tree at Foot of Main Street, Vancouver, Washington. Vancouver's Witness Tree is believed to have been used by Lewis and Clark to tie up their boat in 1805. In 1846, first settlers Amos and Esther Short established the cottonwood at the foot of Main Street as Vancouver's Witness Tree when they recorded their land claim in which the description read, "Begin at the Balm of the Gilead tree."". Previously the tree had been used by the Hudson Bay Company and military surveyors to establish landing points and survey lines. The tree's trunk grew to be five feet in diameter and stood 75 feet tall. In 1909 major portions of the river bank washed away and the tree could not support itself. On June 29, 1911 the tree tore loose of the bank and washed away in the river. 3.5 x 5.5 in.