Encounter with Native American trail markers

In our modern world, we are always moving from one place to another. We use road signs, maps, and even GPS devices to help us get to our destinations. Many times, older travelers don’t use such sophisticated ways to get directions. Old school students like me still use paper maps or ask someone for directions.

But how do you navigate from A to B in the forest? It’s very easy to get lost, especially since there are far fewer sophisticated technologies available to navigate through them. Even a basic compass can be difficult to use. Unless you’re walking designated, well-worn park trails that can easily guide you to and from where you started, you’ll need to have an exceptionally good memory for remembering distances and directions. But, if you are blindfolded and dropped into a dense forest, it might be impossible to get back to civilization.

Centuries ago, Native Americans created a basic system using trees to navigate the forests. Have you ever taken a long walk in the woods in the United States and seen old trees that are strangely bent? Native Americans bent saplings to directions to help other Native American tribes find important landmarks. These “Indian trail signs”, also known as “Indian trail markers”, pointed other natives to “rest stops”. However, the traveling natives probably did not know specifically what these bent trees pointed to, except that they meant important places such as acquiring water, food, rocks for making tools, as well as locating cemeteries and areas where other native tribes lived.

Early natives took young trees made of oak, maple, and elm, and bent them over until the tops were low to the ground. Over time, as these trees grew much larger, they morphed into strange, crooked shapes. Instead of growing straight up from five feet high, they bent sharply at right angles, parallel to the ground. They then turned sharply upwards. This form of such a tree appears to zigzag. The folded area between the angle and the straight part that grew upwards “pointed” to important destinations.

Over the past hundred years, networks of special trees have been found in forests, parks, and private properties across the country. As of 2013, more than 2,000 trees have been located in 40 states. More the search for more continues. However, they are being cut down as more forests are cleared for modern development, but nature historians and conservationists are fighting to preserve these trees as historic natural landmarks. With continued exploration, there is no doubt that many more trail trees can be found.

You may also like...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *