Dr. Karl McCarty presents A Quest for Native American Trail Marker Trees.

Local historian Karl McCarty dives into the ancient practice of “trail-marking” trees and ponders how many can be spotted from Fond du Lac County and throughout the Horicon Marsh.

Trail trees, trail marker trees, crooked trees, prayer trees, thong trees, or culturally modified trees are hardwood trees throughout North America that Native Americans intentionally shaped with distinctive characteristics that convey that the tree was shaped by human activity rather than deformed by nature or disease. A massive network of constructed pre-Columbian roads and trails have been well documented across the Americas, and in many places remnants can still be found of trails used by hunters and gatherers. One unique characteristic of the trail marker tree is a horizontal bend several feet off the ground, which makes it visible at greater distances, even in snow.

Join Karl for this information-packed presentation.

Second Saturdays presentations are free and open to the public. Thanks to Oostburg State Bank and Sandy Mahloch, SCHRC Legacy member, for underwriting this series.