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Thank you so much for this history lesson about the American Chestnut Trees extinction. People don't realize just how easy it is to wipe out our delicate ecosystems. This is also true about our Apex Predators Wolves & Grizzly Bears etc. You should check out this documentary 'How Wolves Change Rivers' on UA-cam. It's about the near extinction of our Wolves & Grizzly Bears etc & how it almost destroyed the ecosystems of Yellowstone & how the reintroduction & the additional gene pool of Wolves to Yellowstone saved their ecosystems. It's a must see for those who care about our planet. I read something about their trying to raise more American Chestnut Trees that they were trying to engineer their resistance to the Asian blight. I hope someday they'll succeed. Again Thank You for this video.
Scientists are working to establish a blight resistant American Species, they are having Success! *"Watch: "American Chestnut Returning to the Forests"* Here on UA-cam I urge support for this desire. 🌎🌳💖 The lesson demonstrates our very important it is for us to Respect Nature and Care for this Earth. Always believe in a Most Positive Outcome ... 💥
I’m a woodsman. I work with oak, cedar, elm, pecan, hickory, etc. Each tree species is different. Some have nuts, some cut well, some burn well….it seems that the chestnut tree had it all. Such a shame.
I have a half of dozen Black Walnut Trees on my property. Most are 75 feet tall(+ -). I have offered them to several woodworkers and even a sawmill if they want them. No takers anywhere unless I cut them down myself or hire it done and bring the trees to them in 8' 6" logs. I am almost 70 years old now and my tree cutting days are over now. I will just let them keep growing...
Google the subject, Scientists that specialize in Forestry and Botany have long been working towards resolving the blight/fungus, and there are several Scientists that have been working on a blight resistant tree. Scientists are working to establish a blight resistant American Species, they are having Success! *"Watch: "American Chestnut Returning to the Forests"* Here on UA-cam I urge support for this desire. 🌎🌳💖 The lesson demonstrates our very important it is for us to Respect Nature and Care for this Earth.
I can't help but think how mindless and careless greed for profit has doomed so much over decades and centuries. The extinction of a good way of life, wildlife, natural forestry specific to and necessary for a particular region, are exposed in this brilliant documentary. So sad, yet the greed to deplete essential natural resources doesn't stop. 😥😥😥😥😥
I agree 💯 , I actually made sure as I was researching this that I found the man who was responsible for this, I wanted the world to see his face. Absolute greed was responsible for this tragedy.
So exactly right… greed of one destroys many. I’ve always believed each plant on earth grew where it was supposed to, also birds. It’s only man moving them around for selfish reasons brings problems. The English sparrow brought to America because an Englishman missed the bird. It took over many other birds. What did losing the American Chestnut do for the “music in the treetops”.
This story makes me cry everyday. My family has many pieces of furniture from 100s of years back made of chestnut. I seen young ones seeming to try to come back and I pray that God will bring them back to us. I may not live long enough to see it fully but I plan to go back every year to watch over the growth I've seen
So it sounds like God had made a literal mountain paradise and man wrecked it. What God gives as a blessing, can be taken away if it's taken for granted. Those trees and their story is amazing.
I didn’t say it in the story- but I found it very interesting that as soon as the keeper of these forests- the native Americans- that the grandfather of the forest died within a few decades
@@TheAppalachianStoryteller that was one of a few questions I had to the timeline for the destruction of the trees. Because in order for the Asian trees to be planted in the area(right? Unless it was airborne fungus? Or contaminated objects?), It had to be greedy white men looking for moneymakers. While Indians were much more in tune with nature and disparaged greed amongst themselves. Also, I'd say that it was likely after the real Christianity of high morals and respect for the gift that God has given them, had died. I don't see them being reckless with nature, but as their generations went on, it seems that the disrespect of nature grew. As more and more chestnut was chopped down, likely unnecessarily.
Since this is now 2022, listening to this story I noticed a few parallel items that indicated to me that the more things change,......well, you get the idea. Man is bound to repeat his errors, whether he knows better or not. And, always at the expense of others. A sad story beautifully told. ❤️
I am sad about what happened to our beautiful chestnut trees but I can say that I was hiking in the Cherokee National forest in union County GA and seen young chestnut trees and I pray that God will bring them back
Hi JD! I remember my great grandfather telling us about the chestnut trees dying. I know we used to hunt chestnuts when I was a youngster. I found a chestnut that had a pinhole in it and a little worm was in it. My great grandfather told me not to take it back home. I threw it back down on the forest floor and left it. My grandmother had a side table made from chestnut that was her great grandmother’s, I don’t know whatever happened to it. She also had a Hoosier cabinet in her kitchen. I have a picture of her sifting flour from that cabinet. History doesn’t teach about these things in schools and history has a way of repeating itself. I do believe that they are trying to propagate a bred that is resistant to this fungus. Have a blessed day!!
Makes me feel like crying...how do I remember picking them up when I was a kid 🤔 and I do remember hearing that they were all dying then... this was in the mid '60s. I won't even talk about all the things that come from China 😡 Wonderful story and lesson! Thanks JD🤗❤️
I grew up in Appalachia, in the Unaka ridge close to Roan Mountain. The chestnut was long gone yet there were still some logs in the forest. There was one tree that somehow survived yet was extremely stunted close to our house. The tree would grow about 10 feet and then die back and resprout from the stump. Occasionally it would bloom and produce some burrs with small nuts that were malformed. It breaks my heart to remember this small tree trying to survive.
What you witnessed is the fate of many of the trees... the blight can not penetrate the soil because of the PH level. thus the root systems are still alive and they sprout up and as soon as they get a few feet high, the blight kills it again and again and again..
My grandfather told this story for years and years later he still carried a shiny chestnut in his bib coveralls for good luck. Stay safe out there my friends 🙏
I'd never heard the details you provided here but knew quite a bit about it. Being in southern WV from a family that's been here at least 170 years of farming, hunting, and moonshining I'd heard so many stories. I'm 64 and remember a lot of these stumps and even a few deadfalls. Actually shot a squirrel off one of the deadfalls a long time ago. I pray that science one day will bring this wonderful tree back from the dead. I've heard some good things. Thanks so much.
I to have never heard this story in such detail but I found it fascinating and I've read everything I can on them, I to have family here in the northwest corner of NC and have chestnut trees on my land now and my grand paw told me of what a Great tree they were, BUT the ones I have will grow about 16 to 20 feet tall and die out usually with a big blite ugly place on the trunk, and I hear about some good news and would love to see them back in our mountains, I to am 65 1 more than you, to the story teller Great story
Wow that was some history lesson, and a sad one at that.The Great American Chestnut Tree gone forever. The love of money is the root of all evil, that scripture says a lot. Thanks JD appreciate your work,Have a Good Weekend Friend 🙂.
My Papaw Babb had shared a stripped down account of this story with me when I was a youngun, but without the stats that you've provided. It's shocking just how much all of God's creatures were dependent upon its bounty, only to disappear along with those forest giants. I've also helped dismantle a few structures that were framed with the beautiful wood of the American Chestnut tree. There really ain't nothing no purtier than the wood from those majestic trees. Thanky much Mr. Phillips for another educational nugget about our tumultuous, but glorious homeland.
Thank you Slim, it really is shocking to see what happens when humans destroy a part of nature at the expense of making a dollar and the destruction it does to the planet.
This made my Saturday morning. Great story on these trees that once shared our land. One man's greed destroyed these great trees. I did look into this and did find that the American Chestnut trees are still around, about 430 million in there native area that are only about an inch in diameter.
A farmer here in Kentucky recently planted close to 10,000 blight resistant hybrid chestnut trees, and he did it in such a way that he can grow and harvest hay from between the rows. Once the trees reach a certain size, livestock can graze beneath the trees. Agroforestry is reportedly the next big thing.
Gun stocks were also made from the Chestnut tree. The wood was usually removed from the Great Walking Wheels-spinning wheels. The wheel's base had already become seasoned wood, and was long enough to be made into a gun stock. New bases were then built for the wheel, for future stock replacement. (Also so the women folk could keep spinning). Also, that fencing shown, where the wood was "layered", was usually taller and was a bear detergent. When one started climbing over the railing, the uneven wood would flip the bear-breaking it's leg. I know these facts because one of my Granny's was a "Kaintuck" woman born in the 1800's. And, they eventually had to substitute other hard woods when the Chestnut trees had all died. Excellent video. Thank you for making history come alive.
@@TheAppalachianStoryteller -You're very welcome! My Grandparents moved from KY and AR to OK in the 40's. So most of my growing up years of learning - 1950's and on-was taught to me by my beloved KY Granny. It's like "coming home again" when I read your stories.
I read Daniel Boone books which told of the massive abundance of America. It's a huge contrast with Australia with it's mostly old sandy, rocky soils interspersed in my area with small patches of remnant soil and forest which were much sought after for orchards and small farm plots. Those Chestnut trees truly were massive, in girth really mind blowing. Thanks for making this video.
@@TheAppalachianStoryteller I've only been to America in pictures. I'm an open spaces kind of guy, I think I'd like Appalachia. New York?, Chicago?, Detroit?, L.A? , no thanks. I don't even like Sydney nowadays.
Oh my gosh, are you ever bringing back memories this morning! I lived with my grandparents in southwest West Virginia until I was 13. I’m an ancestor of Devil Anse Hatfield. My grandparents owned and ran an old general store in the 1960’s. We lived right next to it. In our front yard and right next to the store was one of those trees. One thing for sure….once those started falling to the ground during certain times of the year, you did not want to walk out there barefoot as stepping on a chestnut burr was not a pleasant experience! 😂
I live in “The Gateway to the Shenandoah”, Front Royal, Va. A friend has an American Chestnut in his yard. A little baby at 40’ +- tall and 4’ diameter.
They aren't all dead my friend. I know where 9 huge trees are standing in Southern West Virginia. As a kid mack in the 50's we gathered for our own use. If those trees could talk now it would compare to to the Jews of WWII. When I go home in the autumn I always gather a basket full. Sometimes when I get them here to Florida they start producing those dang little white worms because the trees are never sprayed. But as a natural born Hillbilly I look at it as extra protein. It ain't never killed me yet. I wasn't able to get up there this year though. It left more for the Deer... Good Video my friend, thanks
I’ve been binge “listening” to your wonderful stories. Wow you have some good ones! I live in Iowa and we are experiencing the devastation of the emerald ash bore in our ash trees. We had no idea such a creature existed. Every single ash tree on our small homestead is dead. That amounts to 8 ash trees. Now we need to cut each one down as they are dangerous during storms. Quite an expense for us. One thing I noticed with these resilient trees, they keep trying to sprout new life at the trunk. Amazing! I hope the American chestnut can somehow make a come back. Such a tragedy. Mary
Hi Mary! That same devastation is happening with Appalachias Ash trees as well. I too hope the Chestnut can return, but it would take 10,000 years of no human interference for it to ever return to its natural glory as the king of all trees in Appalachia.
This sad story reminds me of the elms of my hometown dying from the Dutch Elm beetle. Of course the elms were just aesthetic and a source of shade, not a source of food, fuel and medicine. Such a crying shame, though. Heartbreaking, but you do a great job here, and the other videos I've seen. A small consolation!!
Thank you good sir you remind me of my childhood and listening to the stories of the old timers Saturday evenings at the country store I walked down after my chores to get a sodie pop and a brine pickle Listening to your stories I'm that child with wonder again
@@TheAppalachianStoryteller I was 7 and walked a mile or so dad got mad at me for bothering the men they told pops they enjoyed my interest and was no trouble after that I was taken home so I wouldn't get in trouble How I long for those days I have a little again thanks to you and I can't show my appreciation enough
The chestnut was considered a cradle to grave tree for the people of Appalachia. It provided food not only for the people. But the wildlife the people would hunt and their livestock (hogs). Thank you for the story of the chestnut. I usually try to watch everything that comes out about the chestnut and the ecological disaster that hurt the people of Appalachia.
This is the finest in eloquent storytelling and as good, if not better, than some clinical documentary - though informative - lacking heart with a warm pulse. Exceptionally well done!
Wow! I never knew anything about this! Such a horrible devastating thing…..all because one man just saw dollar signs!! He ruined so much by his greed! When the “ domino affect” happens, it’s like a runaway train filled with dynamite! No stopping it once it starts and in the end….all is destroyed. Thank you so very much JD for telling us this story. So very sad. Blessings always my dear friend! ❤️✝️😪
Where I live in Virginia they're trying to make a comeback. Where they've logged 30 Acres in front of me as the growth of the old trees come back I've noticed that there are Chestnut trees growing there's probably five or six along the side of the dirt road not immediately against dirt road but 5 10 ft off the dirt road and I pick some of their seeds and their nuts and I'll try to spread them around my property to see if I can get them to grow on while I am as well.
Another amazing yet very tragic story JD. Your composition was a perfect blend of beauty, melancholy and reverence. You are truly gifted my friend. But words can not even begin to express the sadness and heaviness my heart feels learning about this. Keep up the great work you do. Thank You. jj
@@TheAppalachianStoryteller And how I so wish all the followers of celebs and “influencers” would invest just a small minute of their lives to enrich themselves. What a waste! I myself feel robbed by the shortness of time to learn all I can about the greatness of God and man. Many, many thanks for what you do. I would truly feel blessed to merely have the opportunity to shake your hand! Thanks, jj
When I was young, we moved from a close suburb to a small, turn of the last century, town outside Washington DC. I remember being impressed with lots of trees not just in yards, but along sidewalks. There were several small parks and trails thru groves of mix trees. Some as tall as 50-60 feet. Elm, Oak, Maple and Chestnut. In the summer different trees with winged seeds would give us helicopter fun times and in the fall we'd play with the chestnuts spiky coverings that hadn't opened yet. Thanks for your story, I didn't know all that.
This is the saddest thing ever, barring loss of human life. I LOVE big trees. My daddy was a logger and we used to ride around looking at trees, I remember seeing big trees just riding around country roads. I don’t see BIG trees anymore. I would have loved the huge regal chestnut, but I can’t imagine knowing them and then having to watch them die. It’s hard enough imagining what I missed. I was born in 1958, so they were all gone by then. So very sad.😢
Once again in the history of mankind, greed changed our world for the worse. Thanks for A sad story well told. I learned something today. Blessings and Happy Thanksgiving.
So much evil, though unintentional, has been done in the name of progress. For my wife's ancestors it was the loss of the buffalo. Thank you for the education.
My Granny Hungate was born in 1909 In Patrick County Virginia (both sides of my family have been here since the 1780s). She remembered as a little girl when the chestnut trees died here in the Southern Blue Ridge of Virginia........She called it THE GREAT BLIGHT. It did forever change the Blue Ridge Mountains and all of Appalachia forever. What a shame
Was gonna say similar, my great granny called it THE BLITHE (or "the blite" as my child brain heard it). I heard many more stories when I moved to rural W. NC (Appalachia) n the full deviation it continued to cause.....n saw some of them Chestnut houses still standing..just heart breaking.
One of the saddest tragedies I had watched this episode before when I was binging so I came back and has a little more focus. They didn't teach us about this disaster in school seems that they had all of the things that they did that were so damaging to the planet. And are still harming the planet and continuously stay and denial. Recently joined the arbor Day foundation and they'll be sending me 10 saplings of white pine three Forest the land I live that burned in 2011 near the Bastrop State Park which just devastated the area I have skeleton trees here and there in my yard brought down a giant oak which bacame frighteningly dangerous and finally got it burned last weekend after it laid there for 2 years waiting for the burn ban to be lifted. Thank you for the lesson always enjoy your videos.
Yes ma'am, I mentioned the Chestnut tragedy in an earlier video "The First Appalachians" and a lot of people reacted to the topic, so I thought I would do a complete in depth story on it. This is the result, hope you enjoyed it.
Years ago I bought a book case and two benches that had been made using left over chestnut wood from an 1840's barn that had been dismantled and relocated.
This is so tragic. I grew up on Chestnut Road in South Charleston, West Virginia, where my parents still live, but I have never seen a Chestnut tree with my own eyes.
There is are interesting study results just published in the journal "Nature", about how the Depression affected epigenetics in people born at that time. Some conclusions are that poverty, stress, poor diet at that time has led to a generation with poorer health, which ages faster. I would think the loss of the chestnuts as part of the Appalachian diet would have had similar consequences. Please forgive me for a lack of knowledge of the region, but we have heard for decades about poverty and hunger in that area. The chestnuts, while they thrived, would have been a tremendous source of extremely healthy nutrients. My point is, the ecological disaster likely had severe, long lasting effects on the genetics of the people. Thank you for this excellent video!
There is still hope for the grandfather of the forest, groups like The American Chestnut Foundation and many others are working to breed in a natural resistance to the blight.
I remember as a kid hunting on a family farm in Grayson Co. VA, I ran across a tree where all that was left was bark that would have made a tree that was at least 4' in diameter. I asked my dad what it would have been and he told me it was an American Chestnut. Come to find out the old farm had quite a few American chestnuts on it. I'd absolutely love to know if some scientists or whatnot have recreated them, because I'd love to plant a few dozen.
@@TheAppalachianStoryteller I wasn't aware of that until I looked it up after watching your video. I'm definitely considering buying some to plant on our property and my parent's place in Va.
Those Chestnut trees were here in the highland rim of middle TN, too. These chestnut trees suffered the same fate. My parents generation has talked about it many times.
The American Chestnut tree is not completely gone. There is a sizable grove of them that can be found at an undisclosed location along The Appalachian Trail in GSMNP.
Terrible tragedy, but thanks for a most excellent report. Do we still have American Chestnut trees anywhere in the country? Did the Chinese variety thrive? Is there any chance of CRISPR renewing the American variety?
Scientist are working on cross breeding the American and Chinese trees to create a 96% American Chestnut tree that is resistant to the blight. However, even if it were released today, it would take 10,000 years for them to reclaim their original glory, but hopefully they will make it happen
I blame selfish city dwellers! New york made a lumber mill in North Carolina off of 64 past manteo and housed a lot of workers. The NY company then up and left. The people were left with no way to survive until they mastered making moonshine and lived for ten more years running it to Virginia and up the east coast.
There's actually still one American Chestnut left where I live in Bedford VA. It's owned by and older couple and theres something about it that's made it resistant to the blight. But every year all the nuts get taken to VA Tech to get studied
I has never even heard of this tree never mind the fact that it used to dominate the land I walk on. Ever since I've heard the story, I cannot stop thinking about what it must have been to live with the chestnut tree.
@TheAppalachianStoryteller if ever. Is it even possible for the American chestnut to develop a resistance naturally? So few trees reach sexual maturity, and the few that manage to do so before they succumb to the blight aren't near another tree to breed with, and even though it is self compatible the different flowers bloom at different times. All of the saplings that come up are just clones of the susceptible trees from before the blight, right? Nature is crazy. And all of the hybrids, despite having over 90% american genes seem to lack all the qualities that made the American so special. And the darling 58 gene has failed as of right now. A sad story that I pray one day had a happy ending.
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Thank you so much for this history lesson about the American Chestnut Trees extinction.
People don't realize just how easy it is to wipe out our delicate ecosystems.
This is also true about our Apex Predators Wolves & Grizzly Bears etc.
You should check out this documentary 'How Wolves Change Rivers' on UA-cam.
It's about the near extinction of our Wolves & Grizzly Bears etc & how it almost destroyed the ecosystems of Yellowstone & how the reintroduction & the additional gene pool of Wolves to Yellowstone saved their ecosystems.
It's a must see for those who care about our planet.
I read something about their trying to raise more American Chestnut Trees that they were trying to engineer their resistance to the Asian blight. I hope someday they'll succeed.
Again Thank You for this video.
Scientists are working to establish a blight resistant American Species, they are having Success!
*"Watch: "American Chestnut Returning to the Forests"*
Here on UA-cam
I urge support for this desire.
🌎🌳💖
The lesson demonstrates our very important it is for us to Respect Nature and Care for this Earth.
Always believe in a Most Positive Outcome ... 💥
@@bethbartlett5692 Thank you Beth!
Proof of how dangerous the 'love of money' really is & the harm it can cause from just one man being infected with it.
💯 agreed
Yep, just look at Walmart. How many small hometown businesses have closed due to Walmarts opening...
Yes. Capitalism.
@@cassthesmelly6006
Best way is mixing capitalism and socialism together
@@b.m.t.h.3961 exactly
I’m a woodsman. I work with oak, cedar, elm, pecan, hickory, etc. Each tree species is different. Some have nuts, some cut well, some burn well….it seems that the chestnut tree had it all. Such a shame.
Yes Sir, one day I hope to be able to afford some reclaimed chestnut from some old forgotten barn and breathe new life into it.
I have a half of dozen Black Walnut Trees on my property. Most are 75 feet tall(+ -). I have offered them to several woodworkers and even a sawmill if they want them. No takers anywhere unless I cut them down myself or hire it done and bring the trees to them in 8' 6" logs. I am almost 70 years old now and my tree cutting days are over now.
I will just let them keep growing...
@@bryanbennett972 let them grow, the right person will come along one day. Ive bought that wood before, its expensive
Can we get seeds and retransplant it?
Google the subject, Scientists that specialize in Forestry and Botany have long been working towards resolving the blight/fungus, and there are several Scientists that have been working on a blight resistant tree.
Scientists are working to establish a blight resistant American Species, they are having Success!
*"Watch: "American Chestnut Returning to the Forests"*
Here on UA-cam
I urge support for this desire.
🌎🌳💖
The lesson demonstrates our very important it is for us to Respect Nature and Care for this Earth.
I can't help but think how mindless and careless greed for profit has doomed so much over decades and centuries. The extinction of a good way of life, wildlife, natural forestry specific to and necessary for a particular region, are exposed in this brilliant documentary. So sad, yet the greed to deplete essential natural resources doesn't stop. 😥😥😥😥😥
I agree 💯 , I actually made sure as I was researching this that I found the man who was responsible for this, I wanted the world to see his face. Absolute greed was responsible for this tragedy.
So exactly right… greed of one destroys many. I’ve always believed each plant on earth grew where it was supposed to, also birds. It’s only man moving them around for selfish reasons brings problems. The English sparrow brought to America because an Englishman missed the bird. It took over many other birds. What did losing the American Chestnut do for the “music in the treetops”.
This story makes me cry everyday. My family has many pieces of furniture from 100s of years back made of chestnut. I seen young ones seeming to try to come back and I pray that God will bring them back to us. I may not live long enough to see it fully but I plan to go back every year to watch over the growth I've seen
Its a powerful story
So it sounds like God had made a literal mountain paradise and man wrecked it. What God gives as a blessing, can be taken away if it's taken for granted. Those trees and their story is amazing.
I didn’t say it in the story- but I found it very interesting that as soon as the keeper of these forests- the native Americans- that the grandfather of the forest died within a few decades
@@TheAppalachianStoryteller that was one of a few questions I had to the timeline for the destruction of the trees. Because in order for the Asian trees to be planted in the area(right? Unless it was airborne fungus? Or contaminated objects?), It had to be greedy white men looking for moneymakers. While Indians were much more in tune with nature and disparaged greed amongst themselves. Also, I'd say that it was likely after the real Christianity of high morals and respect for the gift that God has given them, had died. I don't see them being reckless with nature, but as their generations went on, it seems that the disrespect of nature grew. As more and more chestnut was chopped down, likely unnecessarily.
@@sackettfamily4685 yes the blight was on the bark and under the bark of each tree and was easily carried by the wind.
Since this is now 2022, listening to this story I noticed a few parallel items that indicated to me that the more things change,......well, you get the idea. Man is bound to repeat his errors, whether he knows better or not. And, always at the expense of others. A sad story beautifully told. ❤️
Thank you Robert
Our number one fighter against evil in the World right now is Prisonplanet.
History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of men.
@@AndrewVelonis well said
I am sad about what happened to our beautiful chestnut trees but I can say that I was hiking in the Cherokee National forest in union County GA and seen young chestnut trees and I pray that God will bring them back
well said James
Thank you Appalachian storyteller, I learned from you today. 🙋♂️🐈🐈
❤️
I shared this with my science teacher for her students. She shared and i want to thank you JD.
Thank you for that!!!
Hi JD! I remember my great grandfather telling us about the chestnut trees dying. I know we used to hunt chestnuts when I was a youngster. I found a chestnut that had a pinhole in it and a little worm was in it. My great grandfather told me not to take it back home. I threw it back down on the forest floor and left it.
My grandmother had a side table made from chestnut that was her great grandmother’s, I don’t know whatever happened to it. She also had a Hoosier cabinet in her kitchen. I have a picture of her sifting flour from that cabinet. History doesn’t teach about these things in schools and history has a way of repeating itself.
I do believe that they are trying to propagate a bred that is resistant to this fungus.
Have a blessed day!!
Thanks for sharing your story ❤️
Makes me feel like crying...how do I remember picking them up when I was a kid 🤔 and I do remember hearing that they were all dying then... this was in the mid '60s.
I won't even talk about all the things that come from China 😡
Wonderful story and lesson! Thanks JD🤗❤️
Thank you Kathy, and thank you for sharing your memories with us ❤️
Seems alot of things started in China and they haven't been all good 😕
@@janleslie7163 Exactly my point 😐👍
I grew up in Appalachia, in the Unaka ridge close to Roan Mountain. The chestnut was long gone yet there were still some logs in the forest. There was one tree that somehow survived yet was extremely stunted close to our house. The tree would grow about 10 feet and then die back and resprout from the stump. Occasionally it would bloom and produce some burrs with small nuts that were malformed. It breaks my heart to remember this small tree trying to survive.
What you witnessed is the fate of many of the trees... the blight can not penetrate the soil because of the PH level. thus the root systems are still alive and they sprout up and as soon as they get a few feet high, the blight kills it again and again and again..
My grandfather told this story for years and years later he still carried a shiny chestnut in his bib coveralls for good luck. Stay safe out there my friends 🙏
That’s awesome
I'd never heard the details you provided here but knew quite a bit about it. Being in southern WV from a family that's been here at least 170 years of farming, hunting, and moonshining I'd heard so many stories. I'm 64 and remember a lot of these stumps and even a few deadfalls. Actually shot a squirrel off one of the deadfalls a long time ago. I pray that science one day will bring this wonderful tree back from the dead. I've heard some good things. Thanks so much.
Thank you sir, and yes, science is still working to crossbreed the American and Chinese chestnut trees
I to have never heard this story in such detail but I found it fascinating and I've read everything I can on them, I to have family here in the northwest corner of NC and have chestnut trees on my land now and my grand paw told me of what a Great tree they were, BUT the ones I have will grow about 16 to 20 feet tall and die out usually with a big blite ugly place on the trunk, and I hear about some good news and would love to see them back in our mountains, I to am 65 1 more than you, to the story teller Great story
Wow that was some history lesson, and a sad one at that.The Great American Chestnut Tree gone forever.
The love of money is the root of all evil, that scripture says a lot.
Thanks JD appreciate your work,Have a Good Weekend Friend 🙂.
ThNk you Donald!
Thank you so much for the history and knowledge that you shared. Beautifully told.
Thank you!
This is some of the finest entertainment in modern times, thanks!
Thats mighty kind of you to say, I appreciate you Tim.
My Papaw Babb had shared a stripped down account of this story with me when I was a youngun, but without the stats that you've provided. It's shocking just how much all of God's creatures were dependent upon its bounty, only to disappear along with those forest giants. I've also helped dismantle a few structures that were framed with the beautiful wood of the American Chestnut tree. There really ain't nothing no purtier than the wood from those majestic trees. Thanky much Mr. Phillips for another educational nugget about our tumultuous, but glorious homeland.
Thank you Slim, it really is shocking to see what happens when humans destroy a part of nature at the expense of making a dollar and the destruction it does to the planet.
My Mother shared it with me, but not as complete as you. She was from Pennsylvania.
You shared some great history here. Thank you
What a story, the ripple effect on every living thing and being.
There's a powerful lesson in this story for all of mankind
This made my Saturday morning. Great story on these trees that once shared our land. One man's greed destroyed these great trees. I did look into this and did find that the American Chestnut trees are still around, about 430 million in there native area that are only about an inch in diameter.
yes, as soon as the get big enough, the blight kills them about... but not the roots because the soil is too acidic for the blight to penetrate it
@The Appalachian Storyteller I did read when they get about 15 feet tall. I hope they can figure out a way to combat this disease.
@@edwardkellogg1284 me too my friend
A farmer here in Kentucky recently planted close to 10,000 blight resistant hybrid chestnut trees, and he did it in such a way that he can grow and harvest hay from between the rows. Once the trees reach a certain size, livestock can graze beneath the trees. Agroforestry is reportedly the next big thing.
Gun stocks were also made from the Chestnut tree. The wood was usually removed from the Great Walking Wheels-spinning wheels. The wheel's base had already become seasoned wood, and was long enough to be made into a gun stock. New bases were then built for the wheel, for future stock replacement. (Also so the women folk could keep spinning).
Also, that fencing shown, where the wood was "layered", was usually taller and was a bear detergent. When one started climbing over the railing, the uneven wood would flip the bear-breaking it's leg.
I know these facts because one of my Granny's was a "Kaintuck" woman born in the 1800's. And, they eventually had to substitute other hard woods when the Chestnut trees had all died.
Excellent video. Thank you for making history come alive.
Loved reading your story, thanks for sharing
@@TheAppalachianStoryteller -You're very welcome! My Grandparents moved from KY and AR to OK in the 40's. So most of my growing up years of learning - 1950's and on-was taught to me by my beloved KY Granny. It's like "coming home again" when I read your stories.
@@vickiparrish3235 thank you Vicki
I really love these stories of the Appalachian of Georgia hills
Thank you my friend
What an incredible resource and story, yet so sad at the same time.
yes ma'am. I spent so much time reflecting on what these mountains would be like today had this not happened while I was making this story.
I read Daniel Boone books which told of the massive abundance of America. It's a huge contrast with Australia with it's mostly old sandy, rocky soils interspersed in my area with small patches of remnant soil and forest which were much sought after for orchards and small farm plots. Those Chestnut trees truly were massive, in girth really mind blowing. Thanks for making this video.
Thanks for sharing that about Australia, I’ve never been there
@@TheAppalachianStoryteller I've only been to America in pictures. I'm an open spaces kind of guy, I think I'd like Appalachia. New York?, Chicago?, Detroit?, L.A? , no thanks. I don't even like Sydney nowadays.
My Gosh, This is so sad. Thank You, though for this information. I've never heard this before.
Its so tragic, I felt the story needed to be told. Heartbreaking
@@TheAppalachianStoryteller Oh Yes.........the Truth should be opened....Thank You.
Thanks again JD, for sharing the history
Yes sir, stay safe out there
Thank you for sharing.
I had never heard this story.
I remember chestnut trees growing up.
Thank you Patsy
Oh my gosh, are you ever bringing back memories this morning! I lived with my grandparents in southwest West Virginia until I was 13. I’m an ancestor of Devil Anse Hatfield. My grandparents owned and ran an old general store in the 1960’s. We lived right next to it. In our front yard and right next to the store was one of those trees. One thing for sure….once those started falling to the ground during certain times of the year, you did not want to walk out there barefoot as stepping on a chestnut burr was not a pleasant experience! 😂
yes ma'am, thanks so much for sharing your memories, I enjoyed reading them very much
Very powerful video. Made me realize we are all connected to the source
Yes indeed, that is the message of this story. Thanks for watching my friend
Such a beautiful country , thankyou for this unique and beautiful clip into the past.
Thank you Simon!
Oh gosh! A good story to start my day!!
Thank you Rhonda 😊
I live in “The Gateway to the Shenandoah”, Front Royal, Va. A friend has an American Chestnut in his yard. A little baby at 40’ +- tall and 4’ diameter.
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Love your storytelling.
Heartbreaking. What a vitally important and beautiful tree this was.
yes ma'am ms Lily, a truly heartbreaking story that we should never forget.
They aren't all dead my friend. I know where 9 huge trees are standing in Southern West Virginia. As a kid mack in the 50's we gathered for our own use. If those trees could talk now it would compare to to the Jews of WWII. When I go home in the autumn I always gather a basket full. Sometimes when I get them here to Florida they start producing those dang little white worms because the trees are never sprayed. But as a natural born Hillbilly I look at it as extra protein. It ain't never killed me yet. I wasn't able to get up there this year though. It left more for the Deer... Good Video my friend, thanks
There’s about 1000 that still remain, most are in California and Oregon that were planted my pioneers when they arrived in the 1800s
I’ve been binge “listening” to your wonderful stories. Wow you have some good ones! I live in Iowa and we are experiencing the devastation of the emerald ash bore in our ash trees. We had no idea such a creature existed. Every single ash tree on our small homestead is dead. That amounts to 8 ash trees. Now we need to cut each one down as they are dangerous during storms. Quite an expense for us. One thing I noticed with these resilient trees, they keep trying to sprout new life at the trunk. Amazing! I hope the American chestnut can somehow make a come back. Such a tragedy. Mary
Hi Mary! That same devastation is happening with Appalachias Ash trees as well. I too hope the Chestnut can return, but it would take 10,000 years of no human interference for it to ever return to its natural glory as the king of all trees in Appalachia.
" MAN WILL DESTROY HIMSELF ! " What a sad, sad story... 😞😞😞
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This sad story reminds me of the elms of my hometown dying from the Dutch Elm beetle. Of course the elms were just aesthetic and a source of shade, not a source of food, fuel and medicine. Such a crying shame, though. Heartbreaking, but you do a great job here, and the other videos I've seen. A small consolation!!
Thank you my friend
Thank you good sir you remind me of my childhood and listening to the stories of the old timers Saturday evenings at the country store
I walked down after my chores to get a sodie pop and a brine pickle
Listening to your stories I'm that child with wonder again
Thank you my friend, bless you
@@TheAppalachianStoryteller I was 7 and walked a mile or so dad got mad at me for bothering the men they told pops they enjoyed my interest and was no trouble after that I was taken home so I wouldn't get in trouble
How I long for those days
I have a little again thanks to you and I can't show my appreciation enough
You do a great job at these videos and your voice is just absolutely perfect for Appalachian stories, it really fits the subject matter.
Thank you my friend
Tragic part of our history, well told.
Thank you Marilyn, appreciate your kind words ma'am
Thanks!
Thank you so much for your support my friend! ❤️ ❤️
Can't help but notice China has been the cause serious blight more than once. This is one of the most tragic events I have ever heard of.
a true tragedy
The chestnut was considered a cradle to grave tree for the people of Appalachia. It provided food not only for the people. But the wildlife the people would hunt and their livestock (hogs). Thank you for the story of the chestnut. I usually try to watch everything that comes out about the chestnut and the ecological disaster that hurt the people of Appalachia.
Yes sir, thank you my friend
Great story thanks for sharing it with us GOD BLESS
Thank you i
This is so devastating I don't even have words....😥
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Wow, that was extremely interesting! Thanks for sharing that!
Thank you!
This is the finest in eloquent storytelling and as good, if not better, than some clinical documentary - though informative - lacking heart with a warm pulse. Exceptionally well done!
Thank you my friend
Wow! I never knew anything about this! Such a horrible devastating thing…..all because one man just saw dollar signs!! He ruined so much by his greed! When the “ domino affect” happens, it’s like a runaway train filled with dynamite! No stopping it once it starts and in the end….all is destroyed. Thank you so very much JD for telling us this story. So very sad. Blessings always my dear friend! ❤️✝️😪
Thank you Betty
The best Channel I have ever subscribe to ...
Thank you my friend, appreciate you ❤️
Love your stories ❤
Thank you for sharing them .
It's a sad day when we lost these great trees and same thing is happening to the Ash trees they will all be gone soon
yes sir, you're exactly right
Heartbreaking. I love nature and animals so very much, and it hurts to have lost so many.
Yes ma’am 💜
Nov 24, 2022: FATHER, I send the miraculous into this region of the country. Forgive their failures and shower your mercy across the land. Amen
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Thank you😊
Thank you Lana 💜
Fascinating video, thank you so much!
Thank you 🙏
Where I live in Virginia they're trying to make a comeback. Where they've logged 30 Acres in front of me as the growth of the old trees come back I've noticed that there are Chestnut trees growing there's probably five or six along the side of the dirt road not immediately against dirt road but 5 10 ft off the dirt road and I pick some of their seeds and their nuts and I'll try to spread them around my property to see if I can get them to grow on while I am as well.
That’s awesome
What a sad yet interesting story🧐🥰😟 Great channel, subscribe and share.
Thank you so much my friend
Another amazing yet very tragic story JD. Your composition was a perfect blend of beauty, melancholy and reverence. You are truly gifted my friend. But words can not even begin to express the sadness and heaviness my heart feels learning about this. Keep up the great work you do. Thank You. jj
It hurt my heart to tell this story, but the world needs to know where we came from and how we got here.
@@TheAppalachianStoryteller And how I so wish all the followers of celebs and “influencers” would invest just a small minute of their lives to enrich themselves. What a waste! I myself feel robbed by the shortness of time to learn all I can about the greatness of God and man. Many, many thanks for what you do. I would truly feel blessed to merely have the opportunity to shake your hand! Thanks, jj
Hey buddy.... hope you are well.... every time I hear or read
About what happened to the American chestnut ...my blood
Boils ....
Dee 🏴✝️
It really does, I found myself angry while researching this all happened to make a few extra dollars
I always wondered what happened to the American chestnuts.
Thank you for telling this story.
yes ma'am, its a sad story
Man and Greed can ruin just about anything.Great story.
Yes sir, well said
When I was young, we moved from a close suburb to a small, turn of the last century, town outside Washington DC. I remember being impressed with lots of trees not just in yards, but along sidewalks. There were several small parks and trails thru groves of mix trees. Some as tall as 50-60 feet. Elm, Oak, Maple and Chestnut. In the summer different trees with winged seeds would give us helicopter fun times and in the fall we'd play with the chestnuts spiky coverings that hadn't opened yet. Thanks for your story, I didn't know all that.
I remember the helicopter seeds- great fun as a child
This is the saddest thing ever, barring loss of human life. I LOVE big trees. My daddy was a logger and we used to ride around looking at trees, I remember seeing big trees just riding around country roads. I don’t see BIG trees anymore. I would have loved the huge regal chestnut, but I can’t imagine knowing them and then having to watch them die. It’s hard enough imagining what I missed. I was born in 1958, so they were all gone by then. So very sad.😢
Yes ma’am, a real tragedy to the planet
Once again in the history of mankind, greed changed our world for the worse. Thanks for A sad story well told. I learned something today. Blessings and Happy Thanksgiving.
Happy thanksgiving 🍁
So much evil, though unintentional, has been done in the name of progress. For my wife's ancestors it was the loss of the buffalo. Thank you for the education.
Thank you Michael... progress is never without costs
That was very interesting...and sad. Thank you for sharing.
yes ma'am, its a part of our history that folks dont talk about and most dont know about
What a story, so nice to learn all this!
Thank you ❤️
My Granny Hungate was born in 1909 In Patrick County Virginia (both sides of my family have been here since the 1780s). She remembered as a little girl when the chestnut trees died here in the Southern Blue Ridge of Virginia........She called it THE GREAT BLIGHT. It did forever change the Blue Ridge Mountains and all of Appalachia forever. What a shame
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Was gonna say similar, my great granny called it THE BLITHE (or "the blite" as my child brain heard it). I heard many more stories when I moved to rural W. NC (Appalachia) n the full deviation it continued to cause.....n saw some of them Chestnut houses still standing..just heart breaking.
One of the saddest tragedies I had watched this episode before when I was binging so I came back and has a little more focus. They didn't teach us about this disaster in school seems that they had all of the things that they did that were so damaging to the planet. And are still harming the planet and continuously stay and denial. Recently joined the arbor Day foundation and they'll be sending me 10 saplings of white pine three Forest the land I live that burned in 2011 near the Bastrop State Park which just devastated the area I have skeleton trees here and there in my yard brought down a giant oak which bacame frighteningly dangerous and finally got it burned last weekend after it laid there for 2 years waiting for the burn ban to be lifted. Thank you for the lesson always enjoy your videos.
Yes ma'am, I mentioned the Chestnut tragedy in an earlier video "The First Appalachians" and a lot of people reacted to the topic, so I thought I would do a complete in depth story on it. This is the result, hope you enjoyed it.
Amazing story and so sad
Yes sir, tragic
They have developed hybrid s good foresters would re plant these every where. ❤
Sad to say the least. Thank you for a very interesting and informative video.
Thank you my friend
Years ago I bought a book case and two benches that had been made using left over chestnut wood from an 1840's barn that had been dismantled and relocated.
wow, I hope to have something like that one day
Is there any effort to regrow the mighty chestnut tree?
Wonderful, heartbreaking, storytelling.
They are working to cross bread the Chinese and American chestnut to produce a blight resistant tree with the wood qualities of the American chestnut
I hope they manage to plant the hills soon. It was almost an Irish potato famine, except you had other food to eat.
@@druid139 yup
This is so tragic. I grew up on Chestnut Road in South Charleston, West Virginia, where my parents still live, but I have never seen a Chestnut tree with my own eyes.
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It's just heartbreaking.
It really is
There is are interesting study results just published in the journal "Nature", about how the Depression affected epigenetics in people born at that time. Some conclusions are that poverty, stress, poor diet at that time has led to a generation with poorer health, which ages faster.
I would think the loss of the chestnuts as part of the Appalachian diet would have had similar consequences.
Please forgive me for a lack of knowledge of the region, but we have heard for decades about poverty and hunger in that area. The chestnuts, while they thrived, would have been a tremendous source of extremely healthy nutrients.
My point is, the ecological disaster likely had severe, long lasting effects on the genetics of the people.
Thank you for this excellent video!
absolutely, it certainly had the effect you described
There is still hope for the grandfather of the forest, groups like The American Chestnut Foundation and many others are working to breed in a natural resistance to the blight.
Yes sir, lots of good people are still trying to solve this tragedy
Thanks buddy
Thank you Tommy
I remember as a kid hunting on a family farm in Grayson Co. VA, I ran across a tree where all that was left was bark that would have made a tree that was at least 4' in diameter. I asked my dad what it would have been and he told me it was an American Chestnut. Come to find out the old farm had quite a few American chestnuts on it. I'd absolutely love to know if some scientists or whatnot have recreated them, because I'd love to plant a few dozen.
They are working on it for 75 years
@@TheAppalachianStoryteller I wasn't aware of that until I looked it up after watching your video. I'm definitely considering buying some to plant on our property and my parent's place in Va.
I used to live in a cabin built from Chestnut in Ashe County, NC.
Yeah, ANOTHER great gift from China!
its true...
Those Chestnut trees were here in the highland rim of middle TN, too. These chestnut trees suffered the same fate. My parents generation has talked about it many times.
Sure a shame
I love your voice ❤
Thank you ma’am
Interesting. Same here in the UK. Back in the 1300's UK had 99% forest. Now it's about 10
wow, didnt know that!
Men can be so short sighted. The American chestnut. Such a tremendous loss. So sad.😢
It really is sad
Greed of one man started the fall of. Appalachian life and history long proud.
Yes ma'am, 💯 correct
Wonderful presentation. The awe of foolish greed. Otherwise unconquerable ppl. Even looks like a false flag attack
Thank you my friend, appreciate your support
Indeed, such a terrible tragedy... 😥
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Such a sad story
I may never look at the chestnut tree in my neighborehood again as what i now know what i know. Sigh. Made in China.
The American Chestnut tree is not completely gone. There is a sizable grove of them that can be found at an undisclosed location along The Appalachian Trail in GSMNP.
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Terrible tragedy, but thanks for a most excellent report. Do we still have American Chestnut trees anywhere in the country? Did the Chinese variety thrive? Is there any chance of CRISPR renewing the American variety?
Scientist are working on cross breeding the American and Chinese trees to create a 96% American Chestnut tree that is resistant to the blight. However, even if it were released today, it would take 10,000 years for them to reclaim their original glory, but hopefully they will make it happen
I feel so sad that we lost the mighty Chestnut Trees!
Me too Traci
I remember my daddy telling me about a blight that came through and wiped out the chestnut trees. So sad
Yes indeed
I see similarities to the Chestnut trees and the state of our country(US) now.
I do too
And it seems both can be traced to the same place of origin, combined with greed from a few Americans
I blame selfish city dwellers! New york made a lumber mill in North Carolina off of 64 past manteo and housed a lot of workers. The NY company then up and left. The people were left with no way to survive until they mastered making moonshine and lived for ten more years running it to Virginia and up the east coast.
yup, well said
There's actually still one American Chestnut left where I live in Bedford VA. It's owned by and older couple and theres something about it that's made it resistant to the blight. But every year all the nuts get taken to VA Tech to get studied
fascinating!
Devastating & heartbreaking
indeed it is
I has never even heard of this tree never mind the fact that it used to dominate the land I walk on. Ever since I've heard the story, I cannot stop thinking about what it must have been to live with the chestnut tree.
Humans destroyed it, it would take 10s of thousands of years without humans to recover.
@TheAppalachianStoryteller if ever. Is it even possible for the American chestnut to develop a resistance naturally? So few trees reach sexual maturity, and the few that manage to do so before they succumb to the blight aren't near another tree to breed with, and even though it is self compatible the different flowers bloom at different times. All of the saplings that come up are just clones of the susceptible trees from before the blight, right? Nature is crazy.
And all of the hybrids, despite having over 90% american genes seem to lack all the qualities that made the American so special. And the darling 58 gene has failed as of right now. A sad story that I pray one day had a happy ending.