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TT: Significance of individual trees
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Connecticut has one mythic tree, the Charter Oak. The original no longer
exists, but its offspring do, and there are many pieces of the original stored
here and there. Sam Colt (as in 45) had a chair made of it.
The story is that back in colonial times the colonists in Connecticut were
getting uppity and so the king sent his minions to retrieve the colony's
charter, putting it back under direct control of the king. As this was about
to occur, somebody blew out the candles, grabbed the charter, jumped out the
window, and rode off into the night. The charter was hidden in a hollow oak
tree about a mile away until the king's people gave up and left. The tree
became the symbol of Connecticut ingenuity and independence. Now we have
streets, banks, colleges, businesses, and who knows what all else named after
the tree. There is a polished granite pillar on the location of the original
tree. There is some discussion of making the tree the official Connecticut
image when they come out with the new U.S. coins with state images on one
side.
Jack Hale
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