The American Elm

The American Elm was the “go to” tree as the thing planted for shade in the mostly treeless Great Plains. As those Plains gave way to villages and towns and then to cities, the American Elm was the favored “street tree” that lined the streets in idyllic neighborhoods. There is an American Elm that has stood in Oklahoma City since before statehood, overlooked an ignored, that is, until April 19, 1995, when it’s sturdiness became a prominent part of a story that shook and restored the faith of a nation.