Beautiful bear face Indian Trail Tree in North GA
Comments(8)
Wow, this one looks like an old bear. I’ve seen similar ones in pictures but have never encountered one this impressive “live”. If you haven’t heard of trail trees, they were basically used as road signs/markers (and sometimes secret message drop boxes, hence the bear’s mouth?) by Native Americans. From what I’ve read, the white man had no clue about this early stealth communications & trails network until many decades after the Native Americans had been removed. Now that’s stealth!
Cherokee and many other mostly eastern tribes, bent and tied saplings that are now of course twisted and curved, very mature trees. To think that a warrior could have made one of these over a hundred years ago, to lead his comrades and their horses to water or to leave them some tree mail, and that it has survived and grown to a gnarly behemoth, is simply amazing. Some you hardly notice; some are overpowering. I spotted this one on a lot that’s for sale (you can see the black silt fence on the 1st picture). I hope it doesn’t meet the fate that so many have.
If you have one of these on a property you’re developing, please do your best to preserve this irreplaceable piece of history. Furthermore, they are a great selling point (mountain cabin curb appeal if you will) and in my opinion increase the value of a property. And keep your eyes open for them. They’re all around this area, and you might have one in your backyard that you haven’t even noticed.
The author of the book Indian Trail Trees
