USA > Alabama > History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume I > Part 117
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The Indians made practically no use of for-
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est trees, except for occasional trunks of larger trees, from which rude dugouts were made. They had small patches for corn and melons, but these were usually open spaces, on which the tree growth had not yet come.
In the early years of the settlement of the country, old pioneers relate that the coun- try presented an open appearance, trees clus- tering along the streams, on marshy places and sometimes on hill tops. It was the prac- tice of the Indians to fire the forests, and this contributed to the condition just de- scribed.
The early settlers had little thought of conservation. They were interested in open- ing the lands for agricultural purposes, and timber was used for the erection of houses, the building of fences, for fence posts, and for fuel.
In recent years an aid to conservation has developed, known as tree surgery. Agricul- tural colleges and schools, as well as farmers' organizations have encouraged the scientific treatment of tree diseases. However, the practice is limited largely to cities and to private estates, and then practically only to ornamental trees.
The Legislature, February 17, 1919, de- clared that all lands belonging to the State, whether held in fee or in trust, should be forest reserves and game refuges. It is made unlawful to cut trees or timber on such re- serves, or to set fire to any inflammable sub- stance growing thereon, or to kill, hunt, trap, or otherwise take, or to have in possession, any of the wild animals or resident birds, pro- tected by the laws of the State, upon such preserve or refuge.
Alabama National Forest .- The Weeks law of March 1, 1911, authorizes the acquisition of forest lands on the watersheds of navigable streams for the purpose of promoting and protecting the navigability by preserving the forests in the upland portions of such water- sheds. The act affords a means of extending the National Forest system to regions where the Government has hitherto possessed no forest lands, and has had no direct share in forest preservation. The Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture has been designated as the bureau to which proposals for the sale of lands shall be made, with the duty of examining and valuing the lands for purchase. One of the designated areas is located in Lawrence and Winston Counties, on the headwaters of the Black Warrior River, and it is known as "the Ala- bama purchase area." It comprises 152,960 acres, of which about 90 per cent is timbered, and the remaining 10 per cent has been cleared for cultivation. Of the acreage in the area, 9,320 acres are public lands. The privately owned remainder is being consid- ered for purchase. As soon as acquired the whole will be placed under administration, the forest area protected and all of the for- est resources developed to their highest use.
Historical .- The earliest references to the forests of this section are found in the record made by William Bartram in his travels through the South Atlantic and Gulf States
from 1773 to 1778. He gives very interesting accounts of all plant life noted on a journey which began in the southern part of the present Russell County, and crossed the State to the mouth of the Tallapoosa River, thence southwest to Mobile, some distance up the Tensaw River, and a return over practically the same route. Other early students were Samuel Botsford Buckley, Philip H. Gosse, Hezekiah Gates, Judge Thomas Minot Peters, John F. Beaumont and Rev. R. D. Nevius.
Dr. Charles Mohr of Mobile did perhaps more intensive work on the State's flora than any other student, and his contributions to the literature of the subject are extensive and important. Of his work Dr. Harper says: "Dr. Mohr was the author of about 100 sci- entific papers, but the above, especially the last one, contain the essence of practically all that are of importance to the student of Alabama forestry. His magnum opus, the Plant Life of Alabama, is doubtless the best description yet published of the vegetation of any whole state or similar area. Unfortu- nately it was not published until after his death, and it seems to have undergone con- siderable editing in Washington, so that it may not represent his views exactly."
Dr. Eugene A. Smith, state geologist, did considerable botanical work in the 70's and later, and in 1874; and discovered in Bibb County a peculiar shrub found in no other state, namely, Croton Alabamensis. At about the same period he collected a plant in Chambers County which was described in 1901 by Greene and Mohr, as a new species, Eupatorium Smithu.
Dr. Roland M. Harper, whose tribute to Dr. Mohr has just been quoted, is at present the most distinguished student in the field of Alabama botany. However, his investigations and studies have not been limited wholly to this State. Some of his more important titles are cited below. His work in Alabama under the auspices of the State Geological Survey has been chiefly in the years 1905-6, 1908 and 1911-13, and has extended to every county.
Alabama Trees .- The list below is con- tributed by Dr. Harper. It does not aim to include every kind of tree that has ever been reported from Alabama, but only indigenous species which are easily recognized and whose distribution in the State is so well known that they can be located at any time. Some of the hickories, haws, lindens and ashes are still imperfectly understood, and therefore omitted, as are a few species counted as trees in the books which are usually nothing but shrubs, and some rare trees that have not been seen in the State by botanists in recent years.
For each species first the technical name is given and next the common name if it has one. Then its distribution within the State is summed up in a few words, this informa- tion being derived from personal observations in every county and examination of nearly all the important literature on the subject. The sequence of species is practically the same as in Mohr's Plant Life of Alabama and other
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modern systematic works, but a few of the names have been changed since Dr. Mohr's time.
Pinus palustris. Long-leaf pine. Very abun- dant in the southern third of the state, and ex- tending inland on siliceous soils to Walker and Cherokee Counties.
Pinus elliottii. Slash pine. In shallow ponds, branches, etc., in the southern tier of counties. Used like the preceding for lumber and naval stores.
Pinus taeda. Short-leaf (or loblolly) pine. Common throughout the state, probably in every county. Most abundant in the central portions.
Pinus serotina. Black pine. In sandy bogs, from Chilton County southeastward.
Pinus echinata. Short-leaf pine. In dry soils, nearly throughout, except near the coast. Com- monest in the coal region.
Pinus glabra. Spruce pine. Hammocks and second bottoms in the southern half of the state.
Pinus virginiana. Spruce or cliff pine. Rocky places in the northern balf, especially in the coal region.
Pinus clausa. (Florida) spruce pine. Sta- tionary dunes along the coast, Baldwin County.
Tsuga canadensis. Hemlock, or spruce pine. Ravines, etc., in northern part of the coal region.
Tarodium distichum. Cypress. River and creek swamps, nearly throughout the coastal plain, and inland to Lauderdale County.
Taxodium imbricarium. (Pond) cypress. . Shallow ponds and savannas, from Washington County southward and eastward.
Chamaecyparis thyoides. Juniper. ( White cedar.) Sandy swamps with purest water, in a few of the southwestern counties.
Juniperus virginiana. (Red) cedar. Scat- tered over the state: most abundant on lime- stone rocks in the Tennessee Valley.
Juglans nigra. (Black) walnut. Rich soils; rather scarce as a wild tree outside of the Ten- nessee Valley.
Hicoria aquatica. Swamp hickory. Muddy swamps in the coastal plain.
Hicoria ovata. Scaly-bark hickory: Rich soils; not common outside of the Tennessee Val- ley.
Hicoria alba. Hickory. Dry woods; com- mon, especially northward.
Hicoria glabra. (Pignut) hickory. Distribu- tion similar to that of the preceding; but ap- parently preferring poorer soils.
There are a few other hlckories in Alabama, mostly in the northern half of the state, but they are either rare, or so similar to some of those listed that few persons other than botanists would distinguish them.
Salix nigra. Willow. Along streams of all sizes, in all but the poorest soils.
Populus deltoides. Cottonwood. River and creek banks; mostly in and near the black belt. Populus heterophylla. Cottonwood. Swamps of the Mobile delta.
Carpinus caroliniana. Ironwood. Bottom lands, etc .; nearly throughout.
Ostrya virginiana. Hop hornbeam. Rich woods and hluffs, mostly northward.
Betula nigra. Birch. Along creeks and rivers; common except in the southernmost counties.
Betula lenta. (Cherry) birch. Chiefly on ex- posed sandstone cliffs in the mountains.
Fagus grandifolia. Beech. Ravines, bluffs, hammocks, etc .; widely distributed, but com- monest northward.
Castanea dentata. Chestnut. Dry woods; not abundant in Alabama, and chiefly confined to the northern half of the state.
Quercus alba. White oak. Moderately rich soils; common, especially northward.
Quercus stellata. (Q. minor.) Post oak. Dry woods; common except in the southernmost counties.
Quercus durandii. Mostly in soils derived from shale or limestone, from Tuscaloosa County to Choctaw.
Quercus lyrata. Overcup oak, or swamp post oak. Bottom lands, especially in and near the black belt.
Quercus montana (formerly erroneously called Q. Prinus). Chestnut oak. Rocky woods and bluffs; mostly in the coal region and on the Blue Ridge.
Quercus muhlenbergii. Chinquapin oak. In calcareous soils in the Tennessee. Valley, and sparingly southward.
Quercus michauxii. Cow oak or swamp chest- nut oak. Bottom lands; widely distributed.
Quercus virginiana. Live oak. Along the coast and in a few limy places in the southern tier of counties.
Quercus falcata. (Q. digitata.) Red oak. (Spanish oak of the books.) Dry woods; com- mon, especially in the Tennessee Valley.
Quercus velutina. Black oak. Dry woods; common in the mountains, scattered elsewhere. Quercus coccinea. Spanish oak. (Scarlet oak of the books.) Dry woods, mostly in the plateau and Piedmont regions.
Quercus catesbaei. (Forked-leaf) Black-
jack (or turkey) oak. Dry sand, mostly in southern third of the state.
Quercus marylandica. (Round-leaf) Black- jack oak. Dry, especially reddish soils, nearly throughout.
Quercus cinerea. Turkey oak, or upland wil- low oak. With Q. Catesbaei, but less abundant.
Quercus nigra. Water oak. Mostly near creeks and rivers; nearly throughout.
Quercus laurifolia. (Sometimes confused with live, water, or willow oak.) Sandy banks, etc., from Walker County southward.
Quercus phellos. Willow oak. Bottom lands, etc .; not common south of the black belt. There are also several rarer or less distinct oaks besides those here listed.
Ulmus americana. (American or white) elm. Bottoms, etc .; not common outside of the Ten- nessee Valley.
Ulmus alata. Elm. Bottoms, etc .; widely dis- tributed in the northern two-thirds of the state.
Ulmus fulva. Slippery elm. Richest soils, mostly in limestone regions.
Planera aquatica. River-banks in the coastal plain, and extending up the Tennessee River to the neighborhood of Florence.
Celtis occidentalis (and perhaps one or two others). Hackberry. Bottom lands, mostly in the Tennessee Valley and black belt.
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Morus rubra. (Red) mulberry. Rich woods; commonest in the black belt.
Magnolia grandiflora. Magnolla. Hammocks, etc., In southern half of the state.
Magnolia glauca. (White) bay. Non-alluvlal swamps, from Marshall and Marlon Countles southward. Most abundant in central pine belt. Magnolia acuminata. Cucumber tree. Ra- vines and bluffs, mostly In central portion, but nowhere abundant.
Magnolia macrophylla. Cucumber tree. Ra- vines and bluffs; pretty widely distributed over Alabama, scarce elsewhere.
Liriodendron tulipifera. (Yellow) poplar. Rich or damp woods, in every county; com- monest in central and northern portions.
Persea borbonia. Red bay. Bottom lands In the coastal plain.
Sassafras varifolium. Sassafras. Rich woods and bluffs northward, and common as a shrub in neglected fields. (Grows only in places pretty well protected from fire.)
Liquidambar styraciflua. Sweet gum. (Red gum of the lumber trade.) Common in every county, mostly in the richer solls.
Platanus occidentalis. Sycamore. Banks of streams; decreasing In abundance southward.
Malus angustifolia (and perhaps one or two others). Crab-apple. In dry or clayey soils, mostly north ward.
Crataegus. (Red) haw. Besides a dozen or so easily recognized representatives of this genus, a great many alleged new species have been described from Alabama and neighboring states in recent years, particularly from the limestone regions. But most of them are very difficult to identify, and all are too small to be of any interest to lumbermen.
Prunus americana. Wild plum. Rich woods, mostly northward. (The common wild plum that forms thickets in old fields is P. angusti- folia, which is probably not native, and is hardly ever large enough to be called a tree.)
Prunus serotina. Wild cherry. In various places protected from fire, such as bluffs and roadsides. Commonest northward, but nowhere abundant.
Cercis canadensis. Redbud. Dry or rich woods; commonest in limestone regions.
Gleditschia triacanthos. (Honey) locust. Bottoms and rich woods in the Tennessee Val- ley, and along roadsides farther south.
Cladrastis lutea. Yellow-wood. Rich bluffs along the Tennessee and Warrior Rivers.
Robinia pseudacacia. ( Black) locust. On mountain slopes, and cultivated to some extent southward.
Cotinus americanus. Chittimwood. (Not re- lated to the Old World tree with the same com- mon name.) On limestone slopes, Madison County.
Iler opaca. Holly. Ravines, bluffs, ham- mocks, etc .; rather common, but not abundant. Acer leucoderme. Sugar-maple. Rich woods, mostly in the Pledmont reglon.
Acer floridanum. Sugar-maple. Bluffs, etc., mostly In calcareous regions southward.
Acer saccharinum (A. dasycarpum.) Silver maple. On river-banks, mostly in the north- ern two-thirds of the state.
Acer rubrum. Red maple. Damp woods, etc .; common throughout.
Acer negundo. Box elder. River-banks, etc., mostly northward.
Aesculus octandra. Buckeye. Rich woods In the Tennessee Valley.
Tilio heterophylla (and probably one or two others). Lin, or linden. (Basswood of the lumber trade.) Rich woods, in the northern two-thirds of the state.
Cornus florida. Dogwood. Dry woods; com- mon throughout, especially In the northern half.
Nyssa sylvatica. Black gum. Dry woods, mostly In the northern two-thirds.
Nyssa biflora. Black gum. Shallow ponds and swamps, mostly southward.
Nyssa unifloro. Tupelo gum. River-swamps and sloughs, outside of the mountainous re- gions.
Orydendrum arboreum. Sourwood. Bluffs and dry woods, mostly in the northern two- thirds.
Diospyros virginiana. Persimmon. Mostly in oll fields. Frequent throughout, but not as abundant in Alabama as in some other states.
Fraxinus americana. Ash. Rich woods; mostly in the black helt and northward. (There are two or three other ashes, of less Im- portance. )
This list includes only 83 species, but they probably make up 95 per cent of the forest wealth of Alabama. If it were padded by putting in all possible rare and doubtful and unimportant trees the number might be nearly doubled, for Alabama probably has as many kinds of trees as any other State except Flor- ida. The names and ranges of most of the omitted ones can be found in Mohr's Plant Life of Alabama.
See Plant Life; Timber Belt; Timber and Timber Products.
REFERENCES .- Dr. Charles Mohr, Plant Life of Alabama, issued both as a publication of the United States National Herbarium, and of the Geological Survey of Alabama, 1901 (8vo., pp. 921) ; Ibid. Notes on the Red Cedar (U. S. Dept. of Agr. Bureau of Forestry, Bulletin 31, 1901) ; Ibid, Timber Pines of the Southern United States (U. S. Dept. of Agr. Division of Fores- try, Bulletin No. 13, 1896, rev. ed., 1897) ; F. W. Reed, A working plan for forest lands in central Alabama (U. S. Dept. of Agr., Forest Service, Bulletin 68, 1905); W. R. Mattoon, Shortleof Pine (U. S. Dept. of Agr., professional papers, Bulletins Nos. 244 and 308, 1915); W. R. Mat- toon, The Southern Cypress (in U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bulletin No. 272, 1915); J. G. Peters, Forest conservation for states in the southern pine region (In U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bulletin No. 364, 1916); State commission of forestry, For- estry and forest preservation in Alabama, 1908, (Bulletin No. 1) ; Dr. Roland M. Harper, "Notes on the distribution of some Alabama plants," in Torrey Botanical Club, Bulletin, 1906, vol. 33, pp. 523-536; Harper, Economic botany of Ala- bama, pt. 1 (in Geol. Survey of Ala., Monograph 8, 1913, 8vo., pp. 228, ills.), contains bibliog- raphy; Harper, "Forest resources of Alabama,"
Mrs. Lewellen Hudson Ross Nee Eliza Jarrett, niece of Gov. William Wyatt Bibb
Vol. 1-39
Mrs. William Lycurgus Warnum Daughter of Mrs. Hudson and great-niece of Governor Bibb
ANTEBELLUM COSTUMES
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HISTORY OF ALABAMA
in American Forestry, Oct., 1913, vol. 19, pp. 657-670; (An abstract of the preceding) ; Har- per, "A forest census of Alabama by geographi- cal divisions," in Society American Foresters, Proceedings, 1917; Harris and Maxwell, "The wood-using industries of Alabama," in the Lum- ber Trade Journal, New Orleans, May 1, 1912; C. L. Hill, "Timber resources of Alabama," in Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1907, pp. 315-316; General Acts, 1919, p. 119; Wil- son, Presidential Proclamation, Jan. 15, 1918, with map; Gilbert, "Alabama's interest in forestry," in Forestry and Irrigation, Jan., 1906, Vol. 12, p. 44.
FORREST HIGHWAY. An improved high- way or road, proposed from Rome, Ga., to Pensacola, Fla., and to Mobile, Ala. It was named in compliment to Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. The Forrest Highway Association, to promote the building of the road, was or- ganized in Rome, Ga., July 5, 1915, and, in August following, a charter was granted in Floyd County, Ga. Richard W. Massey of Birmingham was made president and H. A. Wheeling of Rome, secretary. This road was projected to meet the natural demand of Cherokee, Etowah, St. Clair, and Jefferson Counties in Alabama, and Floyd County in Georgia for a thoroughfare to adequately con- nect these counties with the Dixie Overland Highway, the Jackson Highway and other proposed trunk lines, and in this way to af- ford direct travel to the Gulf. A convention was held in Montgomery in 1916 and much enthusiasm prevailed. Beginning at Rome, the road passes through Center, Gadsden, Ashville, Springville, Birmingham, Calera, Clanton, Montgomery, Luverne, Andalusia, Brewton and Flomaton to Pensacola. From Birmingham to Montgomery this road and the Jackson Highway are the same. From Flom- aton the road extends through Bay Minette to Mobile. For several months after the movement was launched it received much publicity, but for some time the leaders have been inactive.
REFERENCES .- Manuscript data in the Ala- bama Department of Archives and History.
FORT DEPOSIT. Post office and incor- porated town on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad in the southern part of Lowndes County, sec. 29, T. 12, R. 15, and SE. 14 of sec. 19, S. 12 of sec. 20, SW. 14 of sec. 31, N. 1/2 of sec. 32, NW. 14 of sec. 33, 17 miles south of Hayneville. Population: 1880- 350; 1888-500; 1890-518; 1900-1,078; 1910-893. Altitude: 445 feet. It was in- corporated by the legislature February 13, 1891, with mayor and five councilmen, and with corporate limits coextensive with sec. 29, T. 12, R. 15. It has the Citizen Bank (State), and the Fort Deposit Bank (State). Its industries are 3 cotton ginneries, a lum- ber mill, merchandising, and farming.
The town is on the site of a fort and place of deposit for supplies for his army estab- lished by Gen. Andrew Jackson in 1813. The Jackson Military Road passed through the post. The settlers of the neighboring coun-
try gathered there for protection from the Indians, and thus the post grew into the town. Among the earliest settlers were the Jas. Rencher, W. N. Clements, Wm. Geat, John Stubbs, J. Cheatham, Wm. Thomas, Patrick Little, Abram Jones, John Hairston, Wm. Andrews, Norwood, Carr and Rodgers fam- ilies.
REFERENCES .- Acts, 1890-91, pp. 594-605; Brewer, Alabama (1872), pp. 327-336; Polk's Alabama gazetteer, 1888-9, p. 364; Northern Ala- bama (1888), pp. 202-203; Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1915; Pickett, History of Alabama (Owen's ed., 1900), p. 574.
FORT MIMS MASSACRE. An attack by the Creek Indians on a small fort August 30, 1813, in the northern part of Baldwin County, followed by the most brutal massacre in Amer- ican annals. In July, 1813, because of the hostile attitude of a large part of the Creek Nation, the whites and the wealthy half breed Creeks living on the Tensaw and along Little River began the erection of a stockade fort around the residence of Samuel Mims, a well- known pioneer. This stockade, erected upon a slight elevation, was named Fort Mims. It was situated about 400 yards east of Lake Tensaw and 2 miles below the Cut-off. When it was only partly finished the settlers moved in with their provisions and effects. From their number, 70 men were enrolled as a gar- rison company, which a little later elected Dixon Bailey, a half-breed Creek, as their captain.
At successive intervals small bodies of sol- diers were sent by Col. James Carson and Gen. F. L. Claiborne as reenforcements. The soldiers and militia were all placed under the command of Maj. Daniel Beasely, who enlarged the fort by extending the picketing on the east 60 feet deep, thus forming a sep- arate apartment for the accommodation of the officers and their baggage. Maj. Bease- ly, in the meantime, weakened his command by sending small detachments to garrison other places. His last official report, August 30, 1813, shows 105 soldiers in the fort, which did not include the 70 militiamen com- manded by Capt. Dixon Bailey.
After the engagement at Burnt Corn (q. v.) July 27, 1813, the Creeks were again liberally supplied with arms and ammunition by Gov- ernor Manriqu in Pensacola. It was now to be an open war, and the Creeks were deter- mined on taking vengeance for the unexpected attack upon them at Burnt Corn by the Amer- ican settlers. Fort Mims was selected as a special object of attack, because it contained many of their half-breed countrymen, against whom they entertained a special animosity. About 1,000 warriors, collected from 13 hos- tile towns and commanded by Hopiee Tus- tunuggee, Peter McQueen and Jim Boy, took up their march southward for the attack. Associated with them was the noted William Weatherford. To conceal this movement, an- other force of warriors formed a front of ob- servation towards Coweta.
According to Pickett, the entire population of Fort Mims, consisting of whites, officers,
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soldiers, Indians and negroes, numbered 553 souls. The negligence with which the fort was guarded almost surpasses belief. Its inmates, civil and military, from the com- manding officer down, were attacked with a strange fatuity in supposing that the Creeks would not assault, but would direct their war- fare upon the Georgia frontier. Hence the inmates of the fort passed nearly all their time, day and night, in revelry and pleas- ure. Despite several warnings, some even on the morning of the assault, Maj. Beasely persisted in his carelessness, and even re- fused to keep the gate of the fort closed. The Creeks meanwhile had quietly advanced and secreted themselves in a thick ravine 400 yards from the east gate. They were well aware of the carelessness of the people and had selected their own time of attack.
The hour of noon came, August 30, 1813, the drum beat the officers and soldiers of the garrison to dinner, when with one simul- taneous bound the Creeks leaped forth from the ravine in a swift charge upon the fort, and were within 30 steps before they were seen. They rushed through the open gate into the eastern part of the picketing and began their work of slaughter.
Unprepared as they were and unexpected as was the attack, the garrison made a des- perate resistance. Maj. Beasely was among the first slain. The gate, clogged with sand, could not be closed, and the Indians had full possession of the eastern part of the fort. From this vantage ground, and from port-holes on other sides of the fort, which the Creeks had gained, they poured a mur- derous fire upon the inmates. The superior force of the Creeks enabled them to bring fresh warriors constantly into the action. The soldiers and citizens, and even the wom- en and boys, fought with the utmost des- peration. After five hours of terrible fight- ing, the Creeks, with blazing arrows, finally succeeded in setting fire to the houses, then cutting their way through the pickets, they rushed in, and with gun, knife and war club finished their bloody work.
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