Earth Day 2019

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By Barbara Boye Mattoon
Trees
The longer I live on this planet we call Earth, the more concerned I become about how we are treating it.  I have always been aware of Earth Day but have never participated in activities surrounding it.  This year I began to think about how Earth Day relates to genealogy, and that train of thought led me to trees.

Why are trees important to the inhabitants of planet Earth?  Here are just a few of the reasons:

  • Trees take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen for us to breathe.
  • Trees take in dust and other pollutants.
  • Wood was the first fuel and is still used by about half the world’s population for heat and cooking.2
  • Trees provide wood for building, furniture, sports equipment, and wood pulp for making paper.
  • Quinine, aspirin and other drugs are derived from tree bark.
  • Oranges, apples, nuts and a myriad of other foods are provided by trees.
  • The USDA, Forest Service states that trees properly placed around a building can reduce air conditioning costs by up to 30% and save 20-50% of the energy used for heating.3
  • Trees provide shade to cool and clean waters in Washington streams for Chinook, Coho, and Sockeye salmon during their migration to and from the ocean.

What is the significance of trees in genealogy?
“Tree” is a term frequently used in genealogy to describe a depiction of pedigree or ancestry. Think of a pedigree chart turned on its side with the current generation at the bottom.  Ascending from the current individual are two parents, four grandparents above them, eight great-grandparents above them, sixteen great-grandparents above them and so on, forming a canopy, not unlike a tree.

4


The image probably originated with one in medieval art of the Tree of Jesse, used to illustrate the Genealogy of Christ in terms of a prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 11:1).5

Why are trees important to my genealogy?

My maternal grandfather, Charles F. Howell, was employed by the U.S. Forest Service from about 1909 until 1920. He attended a short course for Foresters at the University of Montana starting January 1, 1909, but was only allowed to stay for three weeks because the Secretary of the Treasury withdrew funding for the participants at the order of President Taft.  President Taft did not share President Teddy Roosevelt’s love for the west and the out of doors.  For part of the time that he was in the Forest Service, he was Forest Supervisor in the Selway National Forest in Idaho. It no longer exists, having been divided into the Nez Perce, Bitterroot, Lolo, and Clearwater National Forests.6  His duties included issuing grazing and timber harvesting permits,  supervising trail building, and fire-fighting.

7
Margueritte and Charles Howell  Kooskia ca 1913

During the winter the family lived in the tiny town of Kooskia on the Clearwater River.  In summer they traveled by pack train to the high country and lived in a forest camp.  Somewhere, I read that my Grandmother cooked for the forest crew.  I cannot imagine that they ate very well, although I am sure she did the best she could with what she had.  Certainly, there was plenty of fish and game available, but I am sure they were short of green vegetables.  I remember her cooking all kinds of root vegetables when I was a child, so perhaps they were among the supplies that they packed in for the summer.  There were berries aplenty in late summer.  My mother had a lifelong interest in wild plants used for food and medicine by the Native Americans.  She loved collecting wild berries to make jams and jellies.

What can you do to ensure that future generations will have trees?

Join an Earth Day Tree Planting project!  Help plant 1,000 trees along the Sammamish River.  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/earth-day-in-sammamish-river-kenmore-volunteer-with-one-tree-planted-tickets-59490746424
Barbara Boye Mattoon
                       
1 ©Barbara Mattoon 2013
2 https://www.savatree.com/whytrees.html.  Accessed 1 April 2019.
3 Ibid.
4 This image is licensed under Public Domain.  Released to the public domain by author. Chrisdesign.
5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_tree.  Accessed 1 April 2019.
6 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selway_National_Forest. Accessed 2 April 2019.
7 Howell, Margueritte and Charles.  Photograph, ca 1913. Digital image. Privately held by Barbara Boye Mattoon, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Kent, Washington 98042

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