Ami's SOA Witness Trees at Gettysburg

Awhile back, I mentioned the two trees between Spangler Spring and Pardee Field, one with an enormous burl and the other with 4 ring scars around it.
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The one with the Burl Greets you when you make the curve near the restroom...
yes, I remember, the smaller one is just past the restroom on Geary Ave. It is not a witness tree, the other with the rings is also due to stress on the tree, I will have to check that one out thanks
 
yes, I remember, the smaller one is just past the restroom on Geary Ave. It is not a witness tree, the other with the rings is also due to stress on the tree, I will have to check that one out thanks
The one with the rings is about 100 yards past the burl. I just thought it looks odd.
 
Well the park service did a better job this time on their two prescribed controlled burn last month on Little Round top, and Pardee field. They did not kill any witness trees, and very few smaller but 100 year plus trees were damaged. I'm posting this large white oak photo along Sedgwick Ave near the parking pull out for the NJ monument. I found that there is a broken support cable that was installed by the earlier park service, and is a beautiful witness tree. It was not harmed like others in the area during the Munshower hill and Weikert woods fire last year.
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This is a roadside witness white oak tree just west of Marsh creek on Route 30 Chambersburg Pike. This area west of Marsh creek was the bivouac site for the 26th NC of Pettigrew's brigade assigned the picket duty location closest to Gettysburg on the night of June 30 the day before the beginning of the battle.
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Fellow blog members, the park needs some help. The emerald ash borer has infested and will infest many if not all white ash trees in the park. The bug digs inside the bark of the tree and injects its larvae in the cell live tissue of the tree and burrows throughout the tree cutting off the trees life line and eventually in a few years kills it. Currently insecticide is the only way to kill the bugs and their larvae and I intend on trying to either do this myself or with the help of others as I do not think the park service is planning on anything this year. There are approximately 12-15 witness white ash trees, here are a few shown in the posted pictures. If anyone is intersted in donating a few dollars to help defray some of the cost please let me know and that would be a way to volunteer and combat this deadly plague hitting our battlefield and its witness trees.
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Enjoy these 3 witness white ash trees while they are still salvageable. This time next year, they may look like this if nothing is done.
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My wife had a doctor’s appointment yesterday in Chambersburg and while walking to lunch at the Big Oak Café, I came across this big fellow between the café and a bank. I wonder why they named the café “Big Oak?”

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The tree is not in Gettysburg proper, but is near the Confederate advance route. About 1/3 mile from the Chambersburg Pike (now Route 30) and about a mile or so from the Valley Turnpike (now US Route 11).

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9267207,-77.6401677,100m/data=!3m1!1e3

It has the same braided copper cable that the Pender wounding tree and Farnsworth witness trees have.

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It’s worth a short trip from the battlefield to see it (and the Café and Butcher Shop are really good, too!)


Charlie
 

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There is a rather large tree in the parking lot at Artillery Ridge Campground. It is right against the one wall of the camp store. Is that a witness tree?
 
I went over to the parking l0t at the campground. I have a hunch the oak is a witness tree-it's pretty big. I didn't get a chance to check for lightning arrestor cables, support cables, or War Department tags. Maybe @goberg4 is familiar with it or can measure it.

awesome. every time i walk past that tree I touch it. Its like a little window to the past.
 
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yes it is amazing how they match up! Well it is a done deal you were right they are ashes with the opposing branches on the main limbs and they certaintly are small compared to the ones ive seen. Again hoping they were hickory. Sure check them out see if there are any scars or tags but pam is right they are probably not but very intetesting and would easily be my fav. Just a thought, can it be determined that the widow Thompson house is in the gardner photo, if it could would that not remove all debate?

You'd think so. LOL
 
If only it was that simple. I have nothing against Garry or Tim and think very highly of their work, but I have to disagree with them on this one. I was able to dismantle their argument against this location point by point, very easily I might add. The fence posts, I found them exactly where they should have been. The Thompson house being white. Wow I'm a photographer, I can take some of my own photos (of the Thompson house), especially during the golden hour (just after dawn, just before dusk) and throw it out of focus and it appears white. As I recall, the most likely time Gardner took these photos is late afternoon or early morning. The terrain doesn't match for the FWRF photo. It has been well proven to me by my analysis of the other photos that Gardner and his crew had taken, they used a lower point of view (3 1/2 or 4 feet) and very likely used the 3 degree tilt that they so often employed. Not to mention that field may have been farmed after the battle. I can go on about my counterpoints, but I think you get the idea. When I sent Garry all of my research (at that time) on the subject, his reply was harsh. " No need to send me anything else, that site is impossible. My suggestion is you look somewhere else." I think you get the idea of his stance on the issue. In my mind yours is (possibly) the most significant discovery since John Cummings Thompson house one. I really never thought the mystery would be solved by one person. I think collectively ,YOU (most likely), Scott H, and John have done it.
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Scott F, You are being modest. At one point, someone was calling for surveys and topographical studies. But I always believed that the solution to the problem of the failure to line up present terrain with past photographs was to be found in the field of photography. Your work in this area has been insightful. Following your work has been a joy. I thank you. - K
 
View attachment 81805 I'm showing this view from Herbst woods and south Renolds ave to demonstrate that in the past 100 -115 years the Seminary woodlot has shrunk due to construction and demands for parking dramatically. Almost 3 years ago they took out the remaining mid section of the woods between Singmaster and the plant buildings that had turned into a nice meadow for relaxing just to the west of the campus. I understand their need for parking and the restrictions for disturbing the east side of the hill but other alternatives could have been considered. After all they reconstructed a portion of the breastworks where the iron brigade took position on the final attack on July 1 and allowed the preservation group Hallowed ground to finance the historic walkway and what they deem the planting of scattered trees in the parking lot to regenerate the woodlot. No mention was made of the half dozen or so of witness trees that were destroyed nor the asphalt that now covers the area where many lost their lives. View attachment 81804

@Scott F & @goberg4, what is the effect of the lone tree in the wide open field in Tipton #2731 (1900) in post #1814 (above) on our HOD theory? Is it in one or the other of the HOD photos? Should it be? Thanks!
 
Welcome to the HOD mystery my friend! It seems that everyone has their own opinion, especially the experts. None of which has the amount of evidence yourself, me and others have accumulated. The first part of any analysis is to remain unbiased. You follow the clues and when you come to a dead end, you start over! You do not try to stick a square peg into a round hole. That it was what I have strived to do. Above all else, you try to prove yourself wrong. I have not been able to do this nor has any opposition to the theory I believe in. To answer your question, yes you are correct sir. I believe the photo was taken on the afternoon of July 5th. After the ordeal in the morning of the 5th, out of concern for his son, Alex Gardner sent his team ahead while he traveled to Mt. Saint Mary's school to check on his son. He had good reason to worry because after Emmitsburg J.E.B and his Cav went to Thurmont MD. There he met a priest from MSM school. He escorted the priest back to school in order to gain supplies for the Confederate army. He threatened to burn down the school if his demands where not met. The good nature of the priest and the trip deterred him from such actions. Anyway A. Gardner set out for Gettysburg at 3pm in the company of a CC worker. He was not present when the HOD photos where taken. No photos from the six were credited to him also. That is why Keener referred to him in the singular. The man who was accidentally photographed in one of the HOD photos was Alex Gardner's brother James ( for whom he called Jim). I have evidence to back this up but I choose not to reveal this now. For those that are interested can read it in my upcoming book. I hope people are as excited to read it as I was and still am at writing it. I have devoted 10 hrs a day 5 days a week for the past 2 years in writing it. The things I have discovered are fascinating. I can't wait to share it with fellow CW enthusiasts. Anyway you sure as heck can see the Fairfield road in the photo. Also Alex Gardner had red hair and the man in photo appears to have dark hair and a slighter build. Here is a comp of James Gardner and the man in the photo. The photo for 64 looks like he is wearing the same hat and even the same suit.View attachment 85525

@Scott F, Absolutely fascinating! As you know, some experts who deny your theory say that there is no evidence that A Gardiner was ever on the Day One battlefield. If I understand you correctly, you are agreeing with them. Because (1) indeed, A Gardiner was not there, but (2) his team was there! I can't wait to study your evidence! - K
 
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