OTE - Oregon Travel Experience

Owen Cherry Tree

Posted on: January 29th, 2025 in Heritage Tree Audio Tours, Heritage Tree Details |

Prunus avium – Black Tartarian or Republican

It is believed this tree was planted in the mid 1800s by Eugene Skinner, founder of the City of Eugene in 1853. The tree is within the boundaries of Skinner’s 1846 land claim. By 1850 the site of the tree was owned by George Owen, a former Eugene City Councilor, lumberman, and philanthropist. Mr. Owen donated the site to the city for use as …

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Orenco Elm Trees

Posted on: January 28th, 2025 in Heritage Tree Details |

Ulmus americana – American Elm

The American elms lining the streets of this community were planted by the Oregon Nursery Company (ORENCO) in 1912. The company was one of the largest nurseries in the US and was employee-owned. The nearby light-rail line follows the old Oregon Electric Railroad line that shipped nursery stock throughout the nation. Company towns such as Orenco, built to house workers, were common in Oregon and were …

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Octopus Tree

Posted on: January 28th, 2025 in Heritage Tree Details |

Picea sitchensis– Sitka spruce

The forces that shaped this unique Sitka Spruce have been debated for many years. Whether natural events of possibly Native Americans were the cause remains a mystery. The tree measures more than 14 feet across at its base and has no central trunk. Instead, limbs extend horizontally as much as 30 feet before turning upward. Its is 105 feet tall and is estimated to be around 250 …

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Nuu-k’wii-daa-naa~-ye’ Sitka Spruce

Posted on: January 28th, 2025 in Heritage Tree Details |

Picea sitchensis: Sitka spruce

This tree is a remnant of an ancient coastal forest cared for by indigenous peoples for millennia. Oregon industries logged most of these giants at the turn of 20th century, reserving this tree to seed a new forest and witness the development of Lincoln City. The community named the tree Nuu-k’wii-daa-naa~-ye’-“Our Ancestor” in the local Siletz Dee-ni language-to honor its importance to communities past and present.

Tree Facts

Date …

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Moyer House Linden / Wisteria

Posted on: January 17th, 2025 in Heritage Tree Details |

Tillia americana; Wisteria floribunda

This wisteria vine and its companion linden tree, whose “partnership” is a local landmark, were planted in approximately 1881 by Brownsville entrepreneurs John and Elizabeth Moyer. With its distinctive braided trunk, the wisteria relies on the linden tree for support and to vividly display its profuse spring blossoms. It is the success of this long-standing partnership that makes them a unique addition to the Oregon Heritage Tree …

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Moon Tree

Posted on: January 17th, 2025 in Heritage Tree Audio Tours, Heritage Tree Details |

Pseudotsuga menziesii– Douglas-fir

This Douglas Fir was raised from seed carried to the moon by astronaut Stuart Roosa of the Apollo 14 moon mission in 1971. It was the first “Moon Tree” to be planted in Oregon and was planted here by Governor Bob Straub on Arbor Day, April 30, 1976 for America’s bicentennial.

Tree Facts

Approx. height: 63′

Age: 31 years

Circumference: 19″

Dedicated on: April 11, 2003

Audio Tour:

Location: The Moon Tree is located in …

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Monterey Cypress

Posted on: January 17th, 2025 in Heritage Tree Audio Tours, Heritage Tree Details |

Cupressus macrocarpa

Harrison G. Blake planted this tree, now the largest Monterey Cypress found in Oregon, when he built his house here in the 1850s. Blake was the first member of the Oregon House of Representatives from Southern Curry County in 1874 and served as postmaster of the Chetco Post Office. The Blake house is the oldest in Chetco Valley and was once a stagecoach station and site of the post …

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Mitchell Monument Shrapnel Tree

Posted on: January 17th, 2025 in Heritage Tree Details |

Pinus ponderosa- Ponderosa pine

When a Japanese balloon bomb exploded at this site, Elsie Mitchell and her Sunday school class of five children, out on an early spring fishing outing, were killed. They were the only World War II casualties to occur on the North American continent as a result of enemy action. Standing as a silent witness to the tragedy, this Ponderosa pine still shows signs of shrapnel damage from …

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McCall Magnolia

Posted on: January 16th, 2025 in Heritage Tree Details |

Magnolia grandiflora– Southern magnolia

This Southern magnolia was planted in front of the home of Captain John M. and Mary Elizabeth “Lizzie” McCall in memory of their daughter, Elsie, who died in 1890. John McCall was a statesman and entrepreneur who opened many businesses including the first bank and local newspaper, The Ashland Daily Tidings. Theresa Applegate McCall, John’s first wife and Elsie’s mother, was a member of the pioneer family …

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Lonesome Hickory

Posted on: January 16th, 2025 in Heritage Tree Details |

Carya ovata- Hickory

Mary Louisa Black planted this shagbark hickory near her home in 1866 from nuts she carried from Missouri on the Oregon Trail in 1865. Of the nuts she planted, two grew into trees. This tree is the lone survivor of the snow, summer heat and Rogue River flooding and the only shagbark hickory in the area.

Tree Facts

Approx. height: 18′

Age: 131 years

Circumference: 4′

Dedicated on: April 6, 1998

Location: One mile …

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