Louis Vieux Elm
Louis Vieux Elm
Location: From Wamego, take Hwy K-99 North 3 miles to Louisville, then take Oregon Trail Road East 3 1/2 miles to the elm and historic cemetery.
Nearest Towns: Louisville, Wamego
This
is what remains of a once huge and beautiful American Elm located
on the west bank of the Vermilion River and beside the Oregon Trail at a point
where Louis Vieux operated a toll ferry . Really old and large trees like
this one put the human time scale in perspective. A seedling in 1715,
it was already a large tree when the Declaration of Independence was signed in
1776. Only in the spring of 1988 did the huge tree lose it's first branch
to a wind storm. It is believed to be the largest tree of it's species as
determined by the American Forestry Association. American Elm trees have
almost been wiped out because of the introduced Dutch Elm Disease. It's
thought that this tree was spared because of it's remote location, and
separation from other elm trees.
Many
travelers died along the Oregon/California Trail. A few were buried
in the area of the huge elm tree. There are two historic
cemeteries across the creek to the east of the tree. The tombstone at
right reads, "T.S. Prather May 27, 1849". The grave markers at the tree
mark the final resting place of seven soldiers whose identify has been lost to
history.
In
an unbelievably stupid and selfish act of vandalism, two
individuals detonated a pipe bomb in the crotch of this priceless natural and
historic treasure in the summer of 1998. The explosion and resulting fire
caused severe damage to the grand old tree.
The
Louis Vieux Elm has survived storms, drought, insects and disease, but it would
appear that a truly deplorable act by a couple of thoughtless individuals may be
the end of the line for this once magnificent landmark .