Bush butternut
SpeciesButternut (Juglans cinerea)
LocationTumwater, Washington, United States
Coordinates46°58′05″N 122°52′55″W / 46.96806°N 122.88194°W / 46.96806; -122.88194
Date seeded1845 (1845) (planted)
CustodianRay Gleason (arborist)[1]
Websitebushprairiefarm.com

The Bush butternut tree was a butternut tree in Tumwater, Washington, planted in 1845 by George Washington Bush, an African-American veteran of the War of 1812 who became a pioneer of the Puget Sound region and founder of the city of Tumwater.[2] The tree was thought to be the oldest butternut in the United States and possibly the oldest in the world.[3][4][5] Historians are divided on whether Bush brought a seed or seedling with him from Missouri in the United States to the Puget Sound area, then in Oregon Country.[6]

The original tree stood on Bush's homestead, now Bush Prairie Farm[4] and a land trust, near Olympia Airport. It was seriously damaged in a windstorm in 2015, and collapsed on May 1, 2021 at the age of 176 years.[7]

In 2009, a tree grown from a seed of the original tree was planted on the Washington State Capitol campus in Olympia, Washington.[8][2] Another was planted at Washington State University in Eastern Washington in 2014.[5] Another was planted in Centralia, Washington, in 2017, commemorating its founder George Washington, another African-American settler, and his namesake President George Washington.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Brian Mittge (November 17, 2017), "History Takes Root: Tree Sapling From Pioneer George Bush Planted at Fort Borst Park", The Chronicle, Centralia, Washington
  2. 1 2 Historic campus tree to be treated for pest, Washington State Department of Enterprise Services, March 21, 2016
  3. ↑ "Historic Bush butternut tree damaged by weekend windstorm", The Olympian, Olympia, Washington, September 1, 2015
  4. 1 2 Bush Prairie Farm – now protected forever, Capitol Land Trust, August 23, 2017
  5. 1 2 "Tree planting at WSU will end with a bang", WSU News (blog), Pullman, Washington: Washington State University, April 17, 2014
  6. ↑ "Sapling or seed - how did the Butternut tree arrive in Tumwater?", George Washington Bush - Washington State Pioneer (Online document), Washington Secretary of State
  7. ↑ "When a Tree Falls in the Forest of Time". www.chronline.com. 2021-05-07.
  8. ↑ John Dodge (April 2, 2009), "Sapling of historic tree joins Capitol landscape", Bend Bulletin, Bend, Oregon
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