Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-12-08
TREES AS COURT WITNESSES.
BY FREDERIC j. HASKN.

TREES AS COURT WITNESSES.
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKN..
Especial Correspondence Of The August.
Warrington. D. C.. Dec. 6.-The ownership
down along the Red river where 1t forms the
boundary line between Texas and Oklahoma, |
nay depend upon the testimony Of the elms
and cottonwoods which grow near the banks
lot the river.
The testimony Of the trees is thus impor-
tant because the river Is the culprit. The river
II suspected Of stealing land from one state
and giving 1t to another. And only the trees
have been watching the river all the time
Only the forest knows, in this strange case.
what the river has done. Men have forgotten.
In the sandy Red river fQod PLAIN. which,
10 several miles wide between high bluns, the
river and the forest have fought battle Tor
centuries. The silt Of the muddy river has
formed islands; on the islands trees have
grown: the silt has filled one Of the channels
that encircle some island, and the forested is
land has become . part OF the mainland, and
seemingly permanent part
Then the river. wrestling with Its loads OF
silt like 4 serpent with its prey. has rolled
over against the mainland. and slowly worn
II down Or bitten way through 1t, uprooting
trees and burying them In bottomless quick
sands.
This process has been going on for cons.
perhaps, and has been repeated innumerable
times. Men knew that it was going on. but
they attached no importance to 1t. When q
treaty Was made between Spain and the United
States In 1919. the Red river was made part
| OF tho boundary between what was then Span
ish Texas and Oklahoma. and the Red river
has been the boundary between the two states
ever siAce. It was generally considered thai
the south or Texas bank Of the Red river was
he Rrff
| worried as to which bank it was. or where the.
hank was. Texas owned the prairie south OF
the river and Oklahoma owped that 70 the
| north. No one wanted the sterile, food-swept
| sand plain between.
Then q few years ago oil was discovered in
that sandy plain, and especially ON the part Of
lit which was covered with forest, and which
1utted out from the Texas bluffs, pushing the
river back against the Oklahoma bluffs. On
| this bit Of forest land, containing perhaps two
thousand acres, there are oil wells which pro-
duce wealth by millions, and which have just
begun to produce. New wells are being opened
every month. Pipes are being sunk even III
| the bed Of the river.
/ Now certain Oklahoma citizens have sud-
denly recalled to mind the pranks of that
river. They perceive that quite probably at
one time the river ran south of that precious
bit of forest land, instead Of north Of it, They
perceive that by shifting its course, the river
may have deprived the state of Oklahoma Of q
very valuable bit of taxable property and an
important natural resource
The old Spanish-American treaty by which
the boundary line was fixed merely named the
river as the boundary. 1t said nothing about
I, where the river was. 1t mentioned no other or
more stable natural features 1t did not fix the
boundary by latitude or longitude as modern
boundaries are fixed.
| Taking all these facts into account, the
Oklahomans fled suit against Texas. claim
ing the Red river oil lands for Oklahoma on
the ground that when the treaty was made,
100 years ago, the river ran south Of the oil
lands. The United States government also Inn
mediately fled suit against Texas, because il
these oil lands are really in Oklahoma they
probably are United States public lands, and
the oil wells by law belong to the people Of
the United States ais whole. Some Kowa
river may also be the rightful owners Of all
or part Of the oil lands, and as they are
charges OF the government, their interests Id
the matter also make it necessary for the de-
lpartment of justice to enter the case.
The hrst thing to be determined is where
the Red river ran in 1919. Needless to say
no man remembers. Nor is there any written
record Of the matter. Only the trees know.
And the trees, It appears, will tell. For the
United States government has sent to the spot
several of the best biologists in the country.
! and they have made exhaustive reports, which
tend to prove by the trees just where the river
was In 1919.
An ecologist is q student Of tree growth.
The growth Of tree is registered in the rings
LOT wood which anyone may see In a stump.
By using certain peculiar sort Of boring tool,
an ecologist can get cross section Of tree
and count the number of rings therein with
tout cutting the tree down.
In word, the ecologists can learn the age
LOT every tree on that bit Of sandy flood plain
The flood plain has the same soil everywhere
and all of it has been equally exposed to the
seeds OF the forest. II a tree q hundred years
old Is found it Is certain that the river has not
run in that spot for hundred years. And IT,
ion another strip Of the land, all trees are about
lthirty-hve years old, 1t is practically certain
that the river did run through that strip about
thirty-ive years ago.
By this process Of tree study, the ecologists
have traced all the wanderings Of the river fol
the past hundred years. They have very clear.
lily marked out about half dozen of its chan.
.nels, and have determined with an accuracy
which 1t Is hard to question Just about the
date at which It abandoned each of those chan.
Inels for . new one.
And this testimony Of the biologists doe.
tend to establish the claim OF Oklahoma tha
In the year 1919. when the old treaty wal
made. the Red river ran several miles soutf
Of its present course at the point where tht
loil wells are.