Centuries old "Castle" on Bayou Chemin-A-Haut

Bastrop Daily Enterprise

Local cypress tree a state treasure 

by Wes Hebling March 14, 2012

 BASTROP — A Morehouse Parish cypress tree is older than the state of Louisiana. In fact, it may be older than civilization as we know it. Harvey Stern, coordinator of the Louisiana Purchase Cypress Legacy Program in New Orleans, came to examine a particularly large cypress tree in Chemin-A-Haut Creek earlier this month. “The Castle,” as the tree has been nicknamed by local outdoorsmen, measures approximately 20 feet in diameter and has a hollow cavern large enough to paddle a canoe inside. Although high water made it difficult to determine the Castle’s circumference, Stern was able to take core samples to help estimate the tree’s age. He has since
counted approximately 100 rings within one of the core samples, which measures only a little over one inch. “This is an extremely old tree,” he said. “I feel pretty confident it’s at least 1,000 years old, based on how tightly packed the rings are. And that’s a conservative estimate.” Placed in context, the Castle was living and growing in Chemin-A-Haut Creek around the time when the bow and arrow was introduced in Louisiana. The tree was already several centuries old when Europe discovered America and the first explorers ventured into this area. Further analysis, and attempts to measure the circumference of the tree so that the number of rings can be compared to the radius, may determine the Castle is even older than a millennium. A tributary of Bayou Bartholomew, Chemin-A-Haut Creek was overlooked by the 19th century timber industry and today boasts some of the oldest and largest cypress trees in Louisiana. The Castle stands in the middle of the creek and is only accessible by boat, which has likely helped protect it through the centuries. Stern said the extreme old age of a tree does not guarantee it legal protections. “Unfortunately, old growth [trees] are not given the same protection as, say, endangered animals,” he said. “Protecting trees like this is one of the reasons we want to bring attention to them.” The Castle’s proximity to Chemin-A-Haut State Park may also aid in its preservation. Based on the Castle’s size, Stern was previously able to designate it as one of six trees in Louisiana that was “Alive in 1812,” the year of Louisiana’s statehood. However, he said, the conservative 1,000-year estimate makes it special even compared to the other Bicentennial trees, the most recent of which only turned out to be “just over 200 years old.” “I would feel pretty confident this is the oldest [of the Bicentennial trees],” he said. Information about the Castle will soon be posted to the Legacy blog at lapurchasecypresslegacy.blogspot.com. “That’s definitely a landmark. It’s a state, and maybe a national, treasure.”

Location of  "Castle Tree"  in Chemin a Haut State Park, Morehouse Parish

Louisiana Purchase Cypress Legacy coordinator Harvey Stern

Right took core samples from the largest cypress tree in Chem-A-Haut

Creek with assistance from Chem-A-Haut State Park Manager

Russ Brantlay

Largest cypress in parish gets recognition

By Wes Helbling

Bastrop Daily Enterprise

Posted Mar 06, 2012 @ 11:30 AM

Last update Mar 13, 2012 @ 01:37 PM

BASTROP — Harvey Stern came to Morehouse Parish over the weekend to see a castle that predates the state of Louisiana, possibly by centuries.

 Stern, who is the coordinator of the Louisiana Purchase Cypress Legacy program, said he became interested in visiting Chemin-A-Haut Creek after finding a description of its “large, old-growth cypress” trees in a topographical map of Louisiana. “The Castle” he came to document is an approximately 20-foot-diameter cypress tree in the middle of the creek, with a hollow cavern large enough to paddle canoes and kayaks inside.

“It’s such a unique tree,” said Stern. “It’s exactly the kind we’re looking for – the kind that shows there’s still some old growth worth preserving in Louisiana.”

On Saturday, Chemin-A-Haut State Park Manager Russ Brantley and paddler Joe Rolfe of Oak Ridge took Stern to the Castle to measure its circumference and took core samples. He said it may take a few days for the samples to dry out so that a “guesstimate” can be made as to the tree’s age by comparing the number of rings to the Castle’s radius.

A tributary of Bayou Bartholomew, Chemin-A-Haut Creek was overlooked by the 19th timber industry and today boasts some of the oldest and largest cypress trees in Louisiana. Some of the most impressive trees have gained nicknames from local paddlers, such as twin-trunked “Jester” and the storm-felled “Blowdown.”

Stern said high water in the creek, and the tree’s hollow buttress, posed special challenges for Saturday’s attempt to determine the Castle’s age. However, its enormous girth was enough for Stern to present Brantley with a plaque that will be affixed to the Castle, designating it as the sixth tree in Louisiana that was “Alive in 1812,” the year of Louisiana’s statehood.

“Based on other trees I’ve cored, I have a pretty good idea it’s several centuries old,” he said. “It’s old enough to be a [Louisiana] Bicentennial tree. The question is, how many centuries do you add to that?”

Other cypress trees that will be included in the Bicentennial project are located in Tickfaw State Park, Jean Lafitte National Park and sites in Plaquemines and Webster parishes.

A number of ancient cypress trees have already been designated throughout the state by the Legacy program, which marks trees that were living at the time of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Recently, a tree examined in Washington Parish was found to be roughly 800 years old. The largest bald cypress in the U.S., with a 53-foot circumference, is located in Louisiana’s Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Harvey Stern came to Morehouse Parish over the weekend to see a castle that predates the state of Louisiana, possibly by centuries.

Stern, who is the coordinator of the Louisiana Purchase Cypress Legacy program, said he became interested in visiting Chemin-A-Haut Creek after finding a description of its “large, old-growth cypress” trees in a topographical map of Louisiana. “The Castle” he came to document is an approximately 20-foot-diameter cypress tree in the middle of the creek, with a hollow cavern large enough to paddle canoes and kayaks inside.

“It’s such a unique tree,” said Stern. “It’s exactly the kind we’re looking for – the kind that shows there’s still some old growth worth preserving in Louisiana.”

On Saturday, Chemin-A-Haut State Park Manager Russ Brantley and paddler Joe Rolfe of Oak Ridge took Stern to the Castle to measure its circumference and took core samples. He said it may take a few days for the samples to dry out so that a “guesstimate” can be made as to the tree’s age by comparing the number of rings to the Castle’s radius.

A tributary of Bayou Bartholomew, Chemin-A-Haut Creek was overlooked by the 19th timber industry and today boasts some of the oldest and largest cypress trees in Louisiana. Some of the most impressive trees have gained nicknames from local paddlers, such as twin-trunked “Jester” and the storm-felled “Blowdown.”

Stern said high water in the creek, and the tree’s hollow buttress, posed special challenges for Saturday’s attempt to determine the Castle’s age. However, its enormous girth was enough for Stern to present Brantley with a plaque that will be affixed to the Castle, designating it as the sixth tree in Louisiana that was “Alive in 1812,” the year of Louisiana’s statehood.

“Based on other trees I’ve cored, I have a pretty good idea it’s several centuries old,” he said. “It’s old enough to be a [Louisiana] Bicentennial tree. The question is, how many centuries do you add to that?”

Other cypress trees that will be included in the Bicentennial project are located in Tickfaw State Park, Jean Lafitte National Park and sites in Plaquemines and Webster parishes.

A number of ancient cypress trees have already been designated throughout the state by the Legacy program, which marks trees that were living at the time of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Recently, a tree examined in Washington Parish was found to be roughly 800 years old. The largest bald cypress in the U.S., with a 53-foot circumference, is located in Louisiana’s Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Stern said he has previously designated a cypress tree in Morehouse Parish, closer to the Arkansas line, that is believed to be “well over 500 years old.” This tree is located in what “as beautiful a stand of old-growth cypress as I’ve seen anywhere in the state. You can’t get a bass boat through that part of the bayou because the trees are so thick.”

Stern said formal recognition of the Castle may also enhance state and local projects to establish and promote paddle trails in both Bartholomew and Chemin-A-Haut. Based on a visit to Morehouse Parish last fall, river guide John Ruskey notes the cypress trees “monolithically reaching to the sky” in his paddle guide to Chemin-A-Haut Creek.

Ruskey writes, “Trees this big are at least 1,000 years old … They saw Hernando de Soto, La Salle, the rise of the French Empire and the sale of the Louisiana Purchase. They lived through the birth of the American West, the Civil and the Industrial Age. If not logged or submerged they will outlive us all ...”

When Stern has determined an estimated age for the Castle based on the core samples, its location and data will be catalogued on the LPCL Web site (www.lapurchasecypresslegacy.net).

Plans are also in the works for a Web site dedicated to the “Alive in 1812” Bicentennial trees.

Next  »