Books

Dusting Off the Old Ones

Aesculus Hippocastanium in Miles City

This is the botanical name of a tree which has caused many folks to wonder as to its species and now that we have the tree clearly identified, we will proceed with our story. In fact, there are two stories as to how this tree came to be where it is. One story is to the effect that the owner of the property planted a nut and from that nut came the tree. The other story is that a roomer in the building where the tree stands brought a sapling from Missouri and planted it there just to see if it would grow. The tree is there--proof that it was either grown from the nut or from the seedling. During the latter part of May in each year, this tree is one of the prettiest specimens, of flowering trees in the community. It is not the only local specimin, however; there are two or three others. The tree we have mentioned stands right in front of the Gilmore hotel at the corner of Sixth and Pleasant Streets. The front portion of the Gilmore Hotel was built along about 1907 or '08 by Harry and Lina Swank. For a long time it was called the Swank Hotel. The name was changed when it was purchased by the Gilmore Brothers from Olive. Mrs. Swank was the person who planted the nut as one of the stories go. The tree is nearly half a century old. We wonder how many present day Miles City residents have watched the tree through the various seasons--all winter its upturned twigs are tipped with great brown buds that glisten as if they were varnished--these buds unfolding in the spring into bright, shiny leaves, followed by the broad showy spires of white blossoms tinged with red and yellow stamens that curve outward. How the leafy twigs and the dull dark brown increase its rugged look--how through the summer following its blossoms the nuts form until in the fall it's heavily laden with a crop of dark colored horse chestnuts or "buckeyes" for that is what the tree is--a horse chestnut or "buckeye". Mrs. Genevieve Chitwood, one of the owners of the Gilmore is justly proud to own one or the showiest trees in the city today. It is her pride and joy.