Interesting trees

I have trees like these near rivers. They didn't need to mark water this way. They are along trails, some very old trails. Anybody can find water when it is flowing in the canyons a few hundred feet away. The water theory on markers has always been hilarious to me and my friends. The same type markers people have been posting here for years that claim water marker, we have seen within a few hundred feet of a river that is massive, like you would have trouble swimming across. Perhaps these old explorers were totally blind. Also I have heard the markers being for old livestock trails.... makes sense , yeah right lol . Move a 10 -80 ton boulder with horses so you can know where to funnel your livestock. The boulders were placed there long before...

BTW did you notice how clear the area is around those tree markers so they stand out so well? They stick out like a sore thumb.

Some you will find near rivers and streams, yes. Here's is one of those by the Ouachita River:

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The river is to the left side. The pointer on the right points at another tree that runs about 20 feet parallel to the ground before going skyward again. That tree marks a trail that runs from the Ouachita River to the Mississippi River. (Source: Me groundtruthing an 1838 map containing old Indian Trail). The place where the trail crosses the Mississippi River is a place bison were reported as crossing the Mississippi River in the 1800's.

The left side is marking water, but not where to find it. It "marks" (by pointing to it) a shallow crossing area on the river that was safe to pass. The crossing point leads to a path known to John Murrell (see the book "Ghosts of the Saline") and the trail may have been used by him to transit from the Sabine River in Louisiana (the westernmost point on the trail) to the Mississippi River near present day Eudora, AR.

John Murrell was known to have robbed at least one steam boat on the Mississippi River. No, he didn't mark this trail, but he did likely use it. You and I don't build highways, but we do use them to get from place to place. Those old trails were the highways of their day.

The trick is to know what you are being told by a tree, not whether the tree is bent or not. There are other reasons a trail tree might be near a present day stream ... perhaps the water run off has been redirected due to human activity sometime AFTER the tree was bent.

One more thing: Some trail trees definitely pointed to "living water" but I've seldom seen that type of tree posted in these forums, and never are those noted as being a water tree.
 

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Lol, no, same type of trees , in non forested areas. Open hillsides with a few scattered trees and large canyons. Water in the bottom of every canyon. None of them are marking water. It's like a tree on a lake shore that looks like it's pointing at the lake. No need for it.
 

I have a tree similar to one of the photos in this thread.. however; I can't imagine it being old enough to have that kind of history. I'm not saying that the Indian marker trees are false. I just believe that these trees trees will grow like this in nature..
 

This looks like a bear or something looking at the ground to me.20161022_083523.jpg
 

Lol, no, same type of trees , in non forested areas. Open hillsides with a few scattered trees and large canyons. Water in the bottom of every canyon. None of them are marking water. It's like a tree on a lake shore that looks like it's pointing at the lake. No need for it.

I understand what you're saying.

Trees on a lake shore are not telling you anything about water. I have seen instances where a man made lake had such trees which pointed to what is now an island. Here's a pic of one.

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BTW, trees on the island point back at the trees on shore. Elevated area appears to be man made.
 

There's alot of trail trees types that sit right on the side of trails/roads that are telling you of places just off the trail/road. They are pretty recognizable, and you will find "lead -out" trees (often younger trees) that align to places around the trail side trees on certain bearings like your 45's (225/45, 315/135) or other 15 degrees ones like (240/60, 330/150 etc). study your equinox bearings and a 15 degree increment compass. They are pretty common to start. You can make an argument that many are water markers, and that could be so in certain areas, but I have not seen one yet marking water and I have have lost count of those type of trees. I have to look thru pictures occasionally just to remember some of my spots. People really have no idea of the scope of what is out there.
 

Lol, no, same type of trees , in non forested areas. Open hillsides with a few scattered trees and large canyons. Water in the bottom of every canyon. None of them are marking water. It's like a tree on a lake shore that looks like it's pointing at the lake. No need for it.

I'm glad I re-read your post. As a general rule bent trees are not water trees (or at least not the classic bent tree), and water trees are not bent like directional pointers.

Water is often marked by an appurtenance on an upright tree ... hope that helps. There are exceptions but few and far between.
 

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I'm glad I re-read your post. As a general rule bent trees are not water trees (or at least not the classic bent tree), and water trees are not bent like directional pointers.

Water is often marked by an appurtenance on an upright tree ... hope that helps. There are exceptions but few and far between.
I've been having a problem in believing that native Americans needed to, or even would mark trees like this. I was "taught" by a native American that the native trail trees that mark a trail were five oaks coming out of the ground, looking grafted together, either actually grafted or naturally grafted, I'm not sure. But I did follow these trees through the woods here where I live in the Motherlode district, and found that I was on a deer trail. It made sense to me that deer would take the easiest way through the woods, and maybe that is also how the natives would have moved through the woods as well. There is a lot of "Indian trail marker trees" here only they are always among what I call "treasure trees", trees that I believe make up a map or pointer trees that lead to the "map tree or trees.
 

Good you are back-reading this stuff, trees can be a part of it all, although not really understood much. There's a lot of things that aren't fully understood yet. I would take notice to weird looking , possibly modified trees and what's around them. Mainly when the math and compass bearings to other things start to come out on them as something "probably not natural". I don't know the specific significance, but they are often used on these sites.

I always go off the older rock markers. The odd trees seem to more or less draw you in, or tell you where to leave a foot trail. Also , nobody speaks about the old outlaw caches that were put by some of these monuments that were dug up in the 60s and 70s.. Because they were good spots to cache stuff. We are not the only ones that saw the images in the monuments.
 

Good you are back-reading this stuff, trees can be a part of it all, although not really understood much. There's a lot of things that aren't fully understood yet. I would take notice to weird looking , possibly modified trees and what's around them. Mainly when the math and compass bearings to other things start to come out on them as something "probably not natural". I don't know the specific significance, but they are often used on these sites.

I always go off the older rock markers. The odd trees seem to more or less draw you in, or tell you where to leave a foot trail. Also , nobody speaks about the old outlaw caches that were put by some of these monuments that were dug up in the 60s and 70s.. Because they were good spots to cache stuff. We are not the only ones that saw the images in the monuments.
I've located a few cache sites through secondary markers before finding the original stone markers. So it is something that I give a lot of credit to. It works for me.
 

What do you think of these? Probably nothing but was just wondering. They've been screaming at me for awhile. The roads you see are just access roads that are not public. They are on private property. The trees are all within a quarter mile of each other and there are other odd trees very close by. View attachment 1373182View attachment 1373183View attachment 1373184View attachment 1373185View attachment 1373188
Natural deformations caused by wind or other trees that are no longer there.
 

Mac,it,s your site. Have fun with it and enjoy it to the max. That,s why woods are such excellent spots to play,no telling what you,ll find there. Pay attention to Chadeaux,he knows what he,s talking about. We live in the same general area of Arkansas,I,m no treasure hunter,but I do spend a lot of time in the woods and those kinds of trees intrigue me. The best of luck to you,may your enthusiasm never lag and the ticks avoid your nether regions!:icon_thumleft:
 

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