“Other holidays repose upon the past; Arbor Day proposes for the future.”

J. Sterling Morton, 1872.

Arbor comes from the Latin word for “tree,” an appropriate name for the day that celebrates the planting of trees. The Yolo County Historical Museum at the Gibson Mansion will celebrate Arbor Day on March 15, 2008, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Events from bonsai demonstrations to tree quizzes to poetry reading make Arbor Day a popular springtime tradition for the entire family – and you are invited.  

Master gardeners will be on the grounds to answer questions. The tree foundations from Sacramento, Davis and Woodland will offer advice on tree-planting. Seeds will be dispensed, and plants will be offered for sale. Warren Roberts, director of the U.C. Davis Arboretum, will conduct hourly tours of the Gibson Mansion grounds. Music will be provided by the Crawdads, the Narrow Gate String Band, and a school bands from throughout the area. 

With the date just around the corner, here is a little background on the history of Arbor Day.

 It all started when one J. Sterling Morton (Julius was Morton’s first name, but he went by Sterling) decided to leave the wooded terrain of Michigan in 1854 for the treeless plains of Nebraska Territory. He and his wife, Caroline, settled near Nebraska City on 160 acres of free land under the Homestead Act. They built a four-room cabin on the property and planted a forest of trees.

Morton was a journalist and an aspiring politician. Within a year of his arrival he became editor of Nebraska’s first newspaper, the Nebraska City News, and was elected to the Nebraska Territory legislature. He wrote tirelessly about the importance of trees in that mostly treeless territory. He promoted their value as windbreaks to keep soil from blowing away, as shade protection from the hot sun, and their use as fuel and a source of building materials.

President James Buchanan appointed Morton secretary and acting governor of the Nebraska Territory from 1858 to 1861. Late in life he was appointed U.S. secretary of agriculture by President Grover Cleveland. He was a member of the state board of agriculture when he proposed the first Arbor Day in 1872.  

At an 1872 meeting of the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture, Sterling Morton offered a resolution to set aside a special day dedicated to the planting of trees.  The board agreed, and Nebraska proclaimed the first Arbor Day on April 10, 1872. It was an amazing success, as Nebraskans planted over a million trees on that first celebratory day.

The second Arbor Day occurred two years later, on April 8, 1874, after being officially proclaimed by Nebraska Governor Robert W. Furnas.  Arbor Day was named a legal holiday in Nebraska in 1885, and the date specified for its annual celebration was April 22^nd, Morton’s birthday.

Morton died in 1902. His four-room Nebraska home had grown into a fifty-two room mansion known as Arbor Lodge, surrounded by a multitude of trees planted mostly by him and his wife. The Morton family donated the house and property to the State of Nebraska in 1923, and today it is a state historical park.

Morton and his wife had four sons, one of whom founded the Morton’s Salt company.  On April 22, 1932, the United States postal service issued an Arbor Day commemorative stamp, coinciding with the 100^th birthday of J. Sterling Morton.

Morton deserves recognition for initiating the first Arbor Day in Nebraska, but it was Birdsley Northrup who succeeded in getting other states to celebrate an annual tree-planting day. He promoted the idea throughout the United States, and by 1885 16 states had adopted his plan to observe an Arbor Day. Dr. Northrup was a conservationist and became Secretary of the Connecticut Board of Education, where he encouraged the schools to incorporate Arbor Day as a part of their ongoing program. Schools started picking up the tradition in 1882. By 1894 every state in the nation celebrated an Arbor Day, and today all 50 states observe the occasion.

In 1970 President Nixon proclaimed the last Friday in April as National Arbor Day, but most states settle on a date that offers the best time for tree-planting in their state. Florida celebrates Arbor Day in January, while Alaska observes the occasion in May after the long, dark winter has faded away. Most states celebrate the day in April, with California observing it during the second week of March. 

Arbor Day is now recognized around the world, with observances in such diverse locales as New Zealand, Brazil, Germany, China, and Western Samoa. Other countries also set time aside, under many different names, to recognize the importance of planting trees. In Japan, it is known as Greening Week. In India, the people celebrate a National Festival of Tree Planting. It goes by the name of New Year’s Day of the Trees in Israel. Iceland has The Students’ Afforestation Day, and Korea celebrates The Tree-loving Week. 

The celebration of Arbor Day gives us all an opportunity to reflect on the importance of trees, and perhaps to plant a tree or two. The benefits from trees go on and on. They provide shade from the sun, which is a particularly important attribute during the hot valley summers. Trees help cool our homes and buildings and conserve energy.  They absorb carbon dioxide, catch dust particles and other pollutants, and give off oxygen for all of us to breathe. Trees provide protection from the wind, reduce noise pollution, reduce run-off and erosion, and enhance the value of homes and property. 

Trees also give us an abundance of products, such as chewing gum, syrup, crayons, soap, writing paper, pencils, firewood, and construction materials, not to mention bananas, apples, oranges, lemons, peaches, cherries, nuts, and many other edibles.

Trees provide homes for birds and other wildlife. They are beautiful to look at, fun to climb, interesting to explore, and comforting to sit under and contemplate. They change with the seasons and age with dignity. Go visit a tree. They are your friends.  And join us at the Gibson Mansion on March 15^th to enjoy Woodland’s Arbor Day celebration.

"The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit."

Nelson Henderson