Before1910theAmericanchestnutwasoneofthemostcommontreesintheeasternUnitedStates.AlthoughhistoricalevidencesuggeststhenaturaldistributionoftheAmericanchestnutextendedacrossmorethanfourhundredthousandsquaremilesofterritory--anareastretchingfromeasternMainetosoutheastLouisiana--standsofthetreescouldalsobefoundinpartsofWisconsin,Michigan,WashingtonState,andOregon.Animportantnaturalresource,chestnutwoodwaspreferredforwoodworking,fencing,andbuildingconstruction,asitwasrotresistantandstraightgrained.Theheartyanddeliciousnutsalsofedwildlife,people,andlivestock.Ironically,thetreethatmostpiquedtheemotionsofnineteenth-andearlytwentieth-centuryAmericanshasvirtuallydisappearedfromtheeasternUnitedStates.AfterablightfunguswasintroducedintotheUnitedStatesduringthelatenineteenthcentury,theAmericanchestnutbecamefunctionallyextinct.Althoughthevirtualeradicationofthespeciescausedoneofthegreatestecologicalcatastrophessincethelasticeage,considerablefolkloreabouttheAmericanchestnutremains.Someofthetree’shistorydatestotheveryfoundingofourcountry,makingthestoryoftheAmericanchestnutanintegralpartofAmericanculturalandenvironmentalhistory.TheAmericanChestnuttellsthestoryoftheAmericanchestnutfromNativeAmericanprehistorythroughtheCivilWarandtheGreatDepression.Davisdocumentsthetree’simpactonnineteenth-andearlytwentieth-centuryAmericanlife,includingthedecorativeandculinaryarts.Whilehepaysmuchattentiontotheimportationofchestnutblightandthetree’sdeclineasadominantspecies,theauthoralsoevaluateseffortstorestoretheAmericanchestnuttoitsformerplaceintheeasterndeciduousforest,includingmodernattemptstogeneticallymodifythespecies.
MICHIGAN AMERICAN FENCING people
