 I love having the Sandia Mountains right out my back door. There are lots of trails: some challenging, some of them a leisurely walk in the woods. Like all forested areas, we have beautiful trees and wildflowers, lots of birds and deer and the occasional bear. But one of the things that makes the Sandias unique are the Medallion trees. Medallion trees are trees that are marked with silver dollar-sized metal disks. Some are coppery or brassy, while others look to be made from stainless steel or aluminum. Each carries a historical event that took place the same year that the tree was likely germinated. Many also number the tree. I’ve seen numbers as high  as #123, indicating that there are well over 100 trees, although the only list I’ve ever found tops out in the 80s. The trees are not numbered in chronological order. Tree #1, which germinated sometime around 1652, marks the invention of the frankfurter. The oldest tree is #19, which commemorates the crowning of Robert II of Scotland in1371. The youngest, marking Alaska becoming the 49th state, sprouted in 1959. #47, the George Washington Birthday Tree, has fallen and the medal is on the lower side, making it difficult to see. No one knows who began marking the Medallion trees. Sources suggest that the effort began in the last 1920s, and that perhaps Civilian Conservation Corps workers might have started it. Whoever it was drilled core samples into some of the largest trees in the Sandias and counted the rings before they fabricated the medallions, then hiked back to install the disks over the core sample holes. It was definitely a labor of love.  Jennifer Bohnhoff is a writer and former educator who loves getting lost in the mountains on long rambles. To learn more about her and her books, go to her website. |
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