Historic Tumwater tree to live on through offspring designated ‘heritage’ tree
Last May, the region said goodbye to a historical landmark older than the city it stood in.
When pioneer George Bush and his wife, Isabella, traveled from Missouri to the Northwest along the Oregon Trail in the 1840s, they brought along with them their whole lives, including seeds of a butternut tree.
When the Bushes settled in what is now Tumwater, they planted a tree with an unpredictable future. Most butternut trees don’t live more than 75 to 100 years. But this tree battled an ever-changing climate in unfamiliar territory for more than 170 years before meeting its demise earlier this year.
The historic tree — argued to be the oldest butternut in America and maybe even the world — will have an ongoing legacy through offspring that have been planted throughout the region, including one that was just planted this year.
The Tumwater Tree Board met Nov. 8 to hear the recommendation for the newest offspring of the tree to be designated as a heritage tree, and the recommendation passed unanimously. The recommendation will not go before the Tumwater City Council.
A heritage tree is usually defined as a large, individual tree considered irreplaceable for one reason or another, such as its age, rarity, size or historical value.
Tumwater council member Charlie Schneider nominated the tree to the board this summer. He said the tree had been growing on the original Bush property, known as Bush Prairie Farm and now owned by Mark and Kathleen Clark. He asked the Clarks if they’d be willing to donate the tree to be planted in Isabella Bush Park, and they agreed.
“We’ll enjoy watching this tree mature for generations to come,” Schneider said.
The tree is about 9 years old and about 5 feet tall. There are three more that are a little older that are planted around the region, including two in Olympia, at the Capitol Campus and The Evergreen State College. There are two more butternut trees on the Bush property that are planned to be moved to George Washington Bush Middle School.
The newest was planted in Isabella Bush Park in February in a closed off area to keep it safe, and there’s a sign indicating the tree’s significance.
Schneider said his responsibility to this tree is to make sure it gets watered every two to three days, either by rain or himself, for the next two years.
“I’ll go beyond that, because I want to make sure this tree stays healthy,” he said. “Of course, the original tree died in May, and so this is carrying on that heritage.”
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