Historical Name: Navajo-Apache
Common Name: Cottonwood
Latin Name: Populus deltoides
Troops under command of Kit Carson invaded the Mescalero Apache and Navajo homelands in the New Mexico Territory in 1862. The captives were forced to march to Fort Sumner, in some cases a distance of over 400 miles. The Navajo have since referred to this removal as “The Long Walk.” A desperate need for fuel at the Fort and Bosque Redondo Reservation caused General James H. Carleton to begin a reforestation effort. In October, 1863 the General ordered five thousand cottonwood trees to be planted to strengthen the ditches around the Fort. Between December, 1863 and April 1864 over 12,000 trees were planted, and approximately 30 of the original cottonwoods planted by the Navajo and Mescalero remain today. This tree grew from a seed taken from one of the remaining Navajo-Apache Cottonwoods, and was planted into UCNJ’s Historic Tree Grove in 1997.
(text adapted from American Forests)