OLD PINE NOW IN HALL OF FAME
The Old Pine, more generally known outside of Hanover as the Grand Old Pine of Dartmouth, and for more than a century the loftiest custodian of Dartmouth ideals and traditions, now rests its laurels in a booth of the Hall of Fame for Trees.
Final action was taken recently by the American Forestry Association at Washington on' the nomination, made by Allan B. Downs of Lebanon, N. H. The Old Pine is the first of a small group of famous trees thus to be honored, and its election is a worthy tribute to the role with which legend and reminiscence have associated it.
The known history of the Old Pine extends back over a period of about 90 years, though tradition carries it much further. From one account, we learn that "the tree undoubtedly dated back to a period earlier than the founding of Dartmouth in 1769, and was part of the pine forest which then covered the plain and adjacent heights. When the six acres of ground which now comprise the College campus were cleared, the wood covered the plain five feet deep, and one tree measured 270 feet in length as it lay on the ground.
"The 'Old Pine,' growing on a rocky place in thin soil, never reached such a height, but was a conspicuous and noble landmark on the. hill in the College Park."
Another sketch of the old tree, by Herbert D. Foster and Henry G. Jesup, would place the origin of the Old Pine at a somewhat later date. The sketch in part says:
' The Old Pine,' judged from its carefully and independently counted 112 rings, may be safely assigned, according to the best aboriculturists to within a year or two of 1783, for its origin."
The same article, which is based partly on the responses to letters and circulars sent to all classes before 1867, continues: "Jacob Gale '33, is the earliest alumnus to report as current in his college days, a vague legend of three Indians singing about a tree their farewell song, beginning. When Shall We Three Meet Again. Ex-President S. C. Bartlett remembers to have seen the story and poem, in print before he entered college in 1832.
"The earliest reminiscence of the Old Pine is from James F. Joy '33, who writes: The Old Pine was standing, of course, in my day, and there were stories current then about some class which graduated just before I entered college gathering about that tree and singing "Auld Land Syne" before parting.'
"Dr. John Ordroneaux '50 says: 'Under its shade I have sat and danced on Commencement day with my classmates as did others before my day and since. The class of '52 celebrated Gen. Scott's nomination by a cannon salute from under the pine, but were stopped by Prof. Hubbard, whose house had been struck by a stone put in the cannon by some rogue without the knowledge of the gunners'."
On July 29, 1887, the Old Pine was struck by lightning and on June 14, 1892, its main branch was broken by a whirlwind. "As if it were an old friend, the word passed around among the alumni, 'The Old Pine is dying.' Its friends tried to save it in 1894, but in spite of the greatest care, it failed to replace its brown needles with green ones in the following spring. After witnessing its last class day, it was cut down February 23 and 24, 1895. A shot was found in the 79th ring from the outside. The total height was 71 feet. The stump, four feet high, is left standing, and has been treated with a preservative."
Generations of Dartmouth men have echoed the sentiments of Dr. John Ordroneaux '50, who wrote: "I have known it since 1846 and never approached its hoary presence without a feeling of reverence, for I recognized in it a member of the ancient nobility of pines, the sentinel tribe of our Northern Forests."—Surely it could tell "of many pleasant unwritten chapters in the Epic of College Life."
Dartmouth men the world over will learn with genuine satisfaction of this the latest tribute to the Old Pine, the greatest honor to which a tree may attain.
