Support this channel by purchasing my new book with stories just like this at www.theappalachianstoryteller.com

@JLDJR

Ай бұрын

So that's the "official story"? A "Chinese virus"?? Sounds a little suspicious to me. 🐑💉🦠

@jeffreygibson1629

Ай бұрын

I heard that an evasive worm was the culprit. Some old nail bins make of chestnut were still being used when the local hardware moved. They had worm holes in them. The owner said that worms caused the trees to die in a major infestation, so they're grandparents made boxes and bins from their wood. He was going to burn them for heat but he didn't want to burn something that had been in the store since the late 1800's,so he moved them into his garage at his home. Wormy chestnut.

@jgvtc559

Ай бұрын

At this point it's a bunch of non biblical opinions of genesis 6 Tataria mudflood giants ect ect ect

@user-sx5de5kf8j

Ай бұрын

❤️ heartbreaking and informative . 💔 .I now live in Ohio. Grew up in Connecticut. They were everywhere. No where as big as piks in this story . Absolutely stunning.

@user-sx5de5kf8j

Ай бұрын

Man's inhumanity to nature 😢

I read about these trees and my father told me stories about them. So I ran across a person who had the 15/16 American Chestnut trees. In 2017:I planted 5 of them. 3 of them made it, the other 2 became deer food the first year. I hope this year to have flowering chestnut trees. They grew from seeds. I planted them from 12 inch saplings. They are now over 10’ tall, and spreading their wings wide and proud, I am hopeful. I am getting old now, and when I am gone I hope these small seedling planted with hope will return to the towering giants from history.

@lisarodriguez8681

Ай бұрын

🙏❣️

@Light84736

Ай бұрын

✝️

@patstafford8488

Ай бұрын

God bless you !

@MsFunkypish

19 күн бұрын

I do hope there is a big revival .....as per the greedy of the white man wrecks havoc on nature...and in turn on man ...but they don't care as long as they have $ in the bank....

@MsFunkypish

19 күн бұрын

A sad sad story..... sometimes I wish I hadn't listened to this as it makes me so so sad.....and yet the greedy of man continues to wreck havoc on nature and the rest of mankind😢😢😢

I was born in 1951 and there were a couple of chestnut trees left on my grandparents property, in Western North Carolina. I remember my grandmother freezing every chestnut she could find in one of the first big stand alone freezers. I can still remember the taste, especially the roasted chestnuts. I also remember Grandma crying when those 2 chestnuts trees got the "blight" as she called it. Everything that was needed to survive was on those old homesteads, once upon a time.

@cchaffincc

2 ай бұрын

My grandfather bought a farm in the panhandle of Florida in the late 1950s. Three giant chestnut trees were in line in the middle of a field. We would gather the nuts and sell them in the fall. I still remember how they tasted. By the mid to late 60s, the trees were in decline and my grandfather had died young of cancer. I now live in Appalachia in a national forest. I often try to imagine what it looked like when the chestnut trees ruled the forest.

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

thank you for sharing this

@ronniebozeman5059

2 ай бұрын

What a great, great history lesson JD! I love the Forest and I knew from my grand folks about the GIANTS of the past...I imagine uncle Nick would have noticed this goin on...been in his lifetime and in the iron Mtns...

@mralowen

Ай бұрын

I'm in WNC, Brevard area, when I was little I heard people talk about them

@batmansdad4978

Ай бұрын

Agreed. Ive read several wonderful comments in this videos comments section. ​@@theappalachiachannel

My great grandmother was a Cherokee Indian. I remember when I was young her telling us that at one time, a squirrel could travel from the north Carolina coast to the Mississippi river and never touch the ground. And do all of this in one species of tree which was the giant chestnut!

@Sanity_Faire

Ай бұрын

That is so cool!

@johncampbell9120

Ай бұрын

I heard one similar to this...very believable!

@theappalachiachannel

Ай бұрын

I too have heard this

@shawntailor5485

Ай бұрын

When I was a kid the sky got dark spots from the migration of the Mississippi valley . Pa said when he was young it would get dark for days . Grampa said when he was young the sun got blotted out for 3 weeks straight . We are killing the very place we need to live on .

@user-dw7gl7fr6m

Ай бұрын

What do you mean I'm curious tell me more stories​@shawntailor5485

When I was 10 years old, I watched my dad remove some chestnut boards from my grandma's house in Meadow Bridge, WV. I still have those boards today, 65 years later. I use them as a background for photographing some of the hand tools I make. They have a lot of sentimental value. I once came across a large American chestnut standing beside a little store in a very tiny community in the backwoods of northern California. The storekeeper told me the tree came on a sailing ship around Cape Horn as a seedling more than 100 years ago. Isolated from the blight, it has survived all these years. I also know of an isolated grove of mature chestnuts surviving in Michigan, having escaped the blight by being an island population outside the blight's range. JD, your video does perhaps the best job I've ever seen of telling the tragic story of the American chestnut. It brought a tear to my old eyes. Thank you for helping people understand this tragedy. Researchers have been working hard for many years to restore the chestnut through modern genetics techniques. There have been some successes and many failures. Telling that story would make a nice sequel to this one.

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

There’s a powerful message in this story for humanity

@rhondacady7120

2 ай бұрын

Where in Michigan?I'd love to see them

@VonFowler-fw3yh

2 ай бұрын

Perhaps 2 very important things you left out. The entire devastation was a direct result of 2 things, greed and ignorance. One mans greed to buy cheaper wood and ignorance of what could, might, did happen. ALL HAIL the GREEDY, ALMIGHTY DOLLAR LOVERS........

@VonFowler-fw3yh

2 ай бұрын

The next time you snivel about the EPA wanting an environmental report be made just think back to this travesty and ask yourself why you are so upset about it being done. Is it because you are greedy or because you are ignorant?

@dianesmith8183

Ай бұрын

Brought a few tears to me, but..there are people in Canada and here that are still working with blight resistant trees and growing new ones. We will never experience the sight of a forest with them though and that is sad. Cherish your memories of the grandfolks, keeps them alive in your heart.

I just planted four chestnut seeds this spring. They will more than likely not make it past 10-15 years but it’s worth a try.

We have chestnut trees in downtown Brampton Ont.,I collected a bunch of nuts and replanted in a forest owned by my sister up north….they’re thriving….I plan to plant more…I love trees especially the hardwoods

@yaddahaysmarmalite4059

2 ай бұрын

and how do you know those aren't chinese chestnuts?

@inthekitchen8842

2 ай бұрын

Do you sell any of the nuts? I would love to plant some in Texas.

@raythomas9176

2 ай бұрын

Yep, those are probably the Chinese variety. @@yaddahaysmarmalite4059

@VonFowler-fw3yh

2 ай бұрын

Are you absolutely sure that they're not the Chinese nut tree?

@georgecarlin248

Ай бұрын

Those are likely Chinese, maybe European chestnut, neither of which will survive in a forest. They're orchard trees.

I bought a 125 yearold old bank in Sutton WV. a fire had caved it in 15 years ago, the floor covered in debis 3 ft deep, was soaking wet from rain and snow for 15 years. buried in the mud below were 2 x 12 floor joists. I pulled them up and out with a winch, scraped the slime off the outside and dried them vertical.....Amazing, still good, beautiful sraight grain ..light strong

@carmell51

Ай бұрын

I would love to say them Thank you for not destroying them

My great grand parents remembered and mourned the loss of the Chestnuts. I remember seeing their bleached bones scattered thru the woods as a child. I didn't realize just how much the loss of the Chestnuts affected the mountain ecology. All that death and loss caused by one man's greed. Sad, ain't it? Thank you for the beautiful photos of my beloved mountains.

@theappalachiachannel

Ай бұрын

❤️

@juliolua2104

Ай бұрын

I think it's important to always take things with a grain of salt... many paths for human kind have been forged by the actions, choices and signature of 1 person but it does not necessarily mean the motion wasn't incepted by a higher Masonic order. It's important to take things with a grain of salt and realize motions that change the world are brought about by these higher up orders under false pretenses and artificial circumstance... if not a NWO concoction of their own doing to pervade the Illuminati Masonic Agenda under code.

@dukecraig2402

Ай бұрын

Half of the photos in this video aren't of Appalachian chestnut tree's, they're Sequoia's out west. There's never been 13 foot diameter tree's in the history of the Appalachian mountains, that's a common myth about the chestnut tree's due to the fact that years ago timber was scaled using the measurement of the circumference of the trunk of a tree unlike today where it's done by measuring it's diameter, so years later when people would read old journals or timber manifests and they'd see "13 feet" written in as the size of a tree's trunk they mistook it for being the common way of measuring today which is diameter, at 8:50 in this video is one of the few authentic pictures of Appalachian chestnut tree's being logged, those are fully matured Appalachian chestnut tree's and you can clearly see that their diameter isn't anywhere near 13 feet, they're more like 4 to 4½ feet, which if you use the formula for determining circumference from diameter which is dia×3.14 comes out to 12.56 feet circumference for a 4 foot diameter tree, other pictures that clearly shows the true size of the Appalachian chestnut tree's are the one's of standing dead tree's as a result of the blight, once again you can clearly see that there's none anywhere near 13 foot in diameter. Another myth here is that wildlife like the native whitetail deer and the Travler Pigeons were eradicated due to the loss of the chestnut tree's, they were both purposely eradicated by the agricultural industry because of their wiping out entire crops, the Pennsylvania Game Commission was founded in 1895 and it's first mission was to select a breed of whitetail deer fit to repopulate the state with, they'd already been eradicated intentionally years before chestnut blight was even identified in the New York zoo and got out of the place, same with the pigeons, their droppings would be so thick on crops when they'd pass through an area it looks like snow on corn crops in the old black and white photos, modern researchers can trace the movement of the different flocks of them by examining old agricultural reports, entire crops would be wiped out wherever they'd travel to and that's why they were intentionally killed off.

@Sup1719

Ай бұрын

You think it was that one man? A greedy white man? That’s the narrative today. Chinese workers were working all around America by that time. I am sure more than one had some in their pockets, and smuggled things in from China. Didn’t we just go through their nasty bio weapon assault? Don’t believe everything told you.

My grandfather grew up enjoying chestnuts in western Pennsylvania as a boy. He said that when he returned from WW2, the blight had taken the trees there. He always talked about it with sorrow. I walk through the forest here in eastern PA and throughout the chestnut’s range, and still see sprouts everywhere coming from old stumps, and sometimes even decent sized trees with burs. A double misfortune for these incredible trees is that they are not self fertile so they need another distinct tree to reproduce. They have been destroyed, but they are not extinct, thank God. I believe they will be back again.

@theappalachiachannel

Ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing this

@michaeldouglas1243

Ай бұрын

Same with my area of south central pa. I'm 48 and my grandpa and great grandpa used to tall about the enormous chestnut stumps left over here on our farm. They were harvested in the later part of the 1800s

@aquaseafoamcrayon1739

Ай бұрын

The blight went through PA. way before WWII.

@Sweatequitychampion

Ай бұрын

He told me directly. It began before WW2 but it definitely didn’t kill them all by then. By the time he had come home they were all gone. That’s what happened in his home town of Brookville PA. Some trees here and there are still alive in their range actually.

@aquaseafoamcrayon1739

Ай бұрын

@@SweatequitychampionThe blight covered all of PA. by 1930. Your grandfather was wrong .

Very few chestnut trees left hickory trees are becoming the same way but they are working on a blight resistant chestnut tree so hopefully they'll be able to save the American chestnut

@toniadugger3954

2 ай бұрын

None

@josephbeaver349

2 ай бұрын

​​@@toniadugger3954that's not true I know where several chestnut trees are they aren't completely gone yet and they are actually working on a blight resistant chestnut tree to save them before they are completely gone

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

They have been working for decades to crossbreed the Asian and American chestnuts, and they have introduced several experiments in the forest. Perhaps one day they will succeed, however it is very unlikely that the chestnut will ever grow to be the Giants of the forest that they were before this catastrophe. It would take thousands of years without humans for it to happen.

@josephbeaver349

2 ай бұрын

@@theappalachiachannel The few I know of are pretty big and we may not to get to see them as big as they once were but hopefully future generations will one day get to

@bradpanter6559

2 ай бұрын

@@josephbeaver349maybe they’re hybrids? Not the original American chestnut?

I know of one “wild” American Chestnut tree in WV, on a private 5 acre parcel! Beautiful pods drop down in fall…..so cool to see.

As a professional Arborist and a person who loves and is fascinated with trees, thank you so much for covering this subject. I wish I would’ve been around, to witness these beautiful giants.

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

I wish I could have seen them with my own eyes too

@robertbates6057

2 ай бұрын

I'm a history nut. Many accounts of the early eastern woodlands are staggering in their description of giant trees with open forest floor. ( The Native Americans before European disease, used fire to manage and the forests were spectacular. ) Just a hint of diversity, GA alone has more plant species than all the states west of the Mississippi COMBINED!

@Sanity_Faire

Ай бұрын

Are redwoods in the east gonna grow to be huge? @@theappalachiachannel

@Sanity_Faire

Ай бұрын

Should I assume my two chestnut trees are the Chinese variety? I’m 4 hrs from Appalachia.

The chestnut tree is not completely extinct! Not more than 25-30 years ago I lived in a house that had a pasture field beside it and a lone chestnut tree grew in it. Every fall I would take a one gallon bucket and gather some of them up. Just this past summer I was installing a fence and the folks I was installing the fence for had a neighbor that had three chestnut trees growing in their backyard. Hopefully arborists and botanists can help the few remaining chestnut trees make a comeback.

@johncampbell9120

Ай бұрын

Problem is there is a fungus that usually girdles the tree when the trees are between 6" and 8" thick causing the bark and cambian layer to die.

@shadowears

Ай бұрын

@@johncampbell9120 I have no doubt that you are more knowledgeable about this topic than I am but these trees that I am pertaining to stand approximately 100-120 feet tall and about 24-30 inches in diameter at the base. Maybe bigger than that as I didn't really pay close attention to the base of them but I did gander at their height each day for over a week until I finished the fence that I was installing.

@danielsmith4090

Ай бұрын

Seems like most of our problems come from Asia

@truther4life

Ай бұрын

@@danielsmith4090 Washington DC as well!

@longgone9869

Ай бұрын

I would imagine it’s their isolation from other chestnut trees, which help them to survive

I am proud to say that my Masters thesis was about my research in working to restore the American chestnut.

@theappalachiachannel

Ай бұрын

Bless you

@christopherbegley8755

19 күн бұрын

Your master is wood ? Lol

I first read about chestnut trees in a National Geographic issue back in the 1990s. It left me truly saddened to learn about the demise of these wonderful trees. Much later, during my hunting days, I found some dead chestnut saplings and salvaged one to make a unique walking stick. My family lived on a farm temporarily in 1950 & 1951. Not far from the house were four or five dead chestnuts. They were huge. Dad and I cut one down and sawed it up for firewood. I'll never forget that odor of that wood. It was quite unique. When I was sawing that sapling to make a walking stick I caught a whiff of that same odor. I've had a keen interest in the American chestnut ever since I read that article. I wish I could live to see a return of those magnificent trees but, alas, I'm 85 and won't be around when, and if, they return. Thank you for this informative video.

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

thank you for sharing your story

Greed is a hideous thing, if that man had left those "cheaper" trees where they belonged we could still enjoy the beauty and bounty of the native chestnut tree but now there's nothing left of them but a memory. Thank you for sharing this story with us 🌳🌹

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

well said Melissa

@stephenbartram7377

2 ай бұрын

It was part of their plan to take over complete control The act of 18 71 turned America into merikkka the korporation, when they "borrowed munney " from the yourapeein bankers to rebuild after their preplanned Civil War

@yaddahaysmarmalite4059

2 ай бұрын

it was probably inevitable with the rise of aircraft travel. people tracking spores on their shoes across oceans in just a few hours.

@raythomas9176

2 ай бұрын

You are so right Melissa. Greed of more profits. Same problem today. We never learn from our past mistakes. Very sad!

@rusr9327

Ай бұрын

I agree 💯 We will never learn!!

Always loved the trees and, being raised in the east, knew about the sad loss of the chestnut, but never the depth of the tragedy. We are all connected...much respect for all the work and time you invest in these history presentations. Love & hugs ❤

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

Thank you Diane, have a wonderful day my friend.

As an 'old man' in his 60's, I remember a small stand of Chestnut trees still remaining on my grandfather's land in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains...and I remember roasting chestnuts in mid-winter. In 1997, I bought a small parcel of land in a valley near his old place, it having sold off and parted out to bedroom community housing in its unsightly presence...no Chestnut trees remained there anymore, having been bulldozed down for 'track housing'...but the land I purchased was untouched for many decades, possibly centuries...and in the center of it, ringed by large oaks, ash and elm; were four giant live Chestnut trees! I sold the land a decade later...and as could be expected in the Southeast, the land was almost immediately clearcut for the various hardwoods and resold...nearly worthless compared to what it once was. I don't feel sorry for mankind...he CONTINUOUSLY proves he'd cut his own mother's legs off and sell them individually, just for a profit. The tragedy of the Chestnut trees simply serves as an example...if there's an easy dollar to be made, mankind will do it...he is without morals, putting a pricetag on anything he claims to own...until it is gone, then lamenting how its such a shame he doesn't have that thing any longer!

@theappalachiachannel

Ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing

@judithstafford9907

Ай бұрын

Yes GodBlessYouSir 🕊

@peteblackburn7850

Ай бұрын

No lies detected. You're absolutely right about humans as a species. We're quickly racing straight into our own extinction. Humans are too greedy, too corrupt, too overconfident, and especially too stupid to survive long term as a species. Unfortunately, I'm afraid hundreds of thousands of other animal species, who would get on just fine on their own. Will be annihilated before we ultimately extinct ourselves.

@arthurchadwell9267

Ай бұрын

Can't argue with that! Look at how many people will cheat on a spouse, then lament their loss.

@prototropo

Ай бұрын

I appreciate your story so much. And this is why some reasonable but firm regulations are so important--to save things like valuable trees, fisheries, wetlands, etc. Otherwise the greedy will inherit the Earth.

I work for the National park service in Virginia. We planted 7 chestnuts last year. More to come in the future

@theappalachiachannel

Ай бұрын

7 hybrid chestnuts*

i planted 15 grove of the new chestnut cross a year ago here in NC they're doing great and getting alot of love to grow old and strong

Oh my gracious! I had no idea about this happening! This is a hard lesson that bringing something from a foreign country isn’t a good thing when you don’t know what things it carries with it. I’m so saddened by the fact that this disaster could’ve been prevented had a man not chosen a foreign product over the American giant!! Thank you so much JD for sharing this sad history lesson. Blessings always my dear friend! ❤️😊✝️

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

its a lesson the world should learn from

@bettyfeliciano7322

2 ай бұрын

@@theappalachiachannel Amen! I agree! ❤️😊✝️

@lynnhughes6350

Ай бұрын

The Chinese are always sending US diseases

@gep2771

Ай бұрын

Exactly what the Native Americans said about the pale faces who speak with forked tongues.

@bettyfeliciano7322

Ай бұрын

@@gep2771 Hmmm…….is there another message you’re trying to convey? Or is it you don’t like “pale faces”?? Yes we are all aware of the history of the Native Americans and the white settlers. Or was this just an “off the cuff” reply??

This story is interesting and educational. Thanks for telling the history of the chestnut tree. God bless. 🙏

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

Thank you!

I live in southeastern Virginia (Williamsburg), but when you drive west to the mountains it’s absolutely incredible. It’s just like that feeling you get when you reach the ocean, but completely unique. Pictures don’t do it any justice, it’s a breathtaking display of natural beauty, that everyone should see.

Fantastic video!! My father was born in 1917 in Mercer County, West Virginia. As a young boy, I remember him talking about the American Chestnut trees that were cut for mine timbers and standard lumber in southern West Virginia and southwestern Virginia. After he returned from combat duty in WWII in the South Pacific Campaign, he worked for Appalachian Power Company as a Transmission Lineman. They cleared the right of way, built the towers and strung the high voltage lines for the electrification of southern WV. He'd tell me about the huge dead Chestnut trees they fell along the way starting in 1946. So sad!!

What a tragedy! We never learned about this in school. The photographs are amazing. It's a great documentary.

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@aquaseafoamcrayon1739

Ай бұрын

The photographs are mostly or all of Redwood trees, not American Chestnut.

On my first tour of the new building at work the guide pointed out that the paneling was reclaimed wood: wormy chestnut. Everyone else just walked by. I had to go lay reverent hands on it, pausing to contemplate the history represented by that humble paneling.

60 years ago, my parents rented an old Victorian in a small Virginia town. The first tree I ever climbed was a little chestnut in the back yard there. It didn't stand much taller than my father's head, but I could climb higher than he stood, and that was exciting to a four-year-old girl. That autumn, he showed me the prickly pods and how to get the chestnuts out of them. We moved away after a year, and although I never forgot that tiny chestnut tree, I doubt it survived for very long. Someone probably planted it with optimism, hoping to bring back some remnant of times long gone. My father occasionally mentioned the chestnut blight through the years, but I learned more in 14 minutes watching your video than I had ever known before. Thank you so much! And additional thanks to those people who are currently attempting to reintroduce the chestnut (an Asian hybrid, I believe) to the Appalachians. I saw a news report a decade or so ago, and I wish them all the best of success. 🌝🌳

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

Thank you Nancy, I always try to teach a lesson in each video I do. I think it's because I was a teacher for 22 years.

@feliciagaffney1998

Ай бұрын

Some chestnuts will start growing even now, but when they reach maturity, they will catch the blight and die. 😥 I haven't researched how long it takes for them to become mature, but perhaps your little tree was just a baby.

Having a lazy day today, resting up whilst being ill, this is the perfect video to watch curled up with a cuppa and a blanket 😊 I’m from the U.K. It’s been my dream for years to visit The Appalachians, until then I’ll enjoy your channel and all of the stories and history you have to offer. You’ve fast become one of my favourite go to channels, thank you 💚

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

So glad to have you here Sarah

@Crushbandicoot-wv8xb

2 ай бұрын

Well from the blue ridge mountains I hope you feel better and get well!

@bettyfeliciano7322

2 ай бұрын

Awww sorry to hear you’re not feeling well Sarah. I’m home from church suffering from my severe arthritis. Blessings of healing to you! ❤️😊✝️

@roserollins9800

2 ай бұрын

Hope you get to feeling better real soon

@bettyfeliciano7322

2 ай бұрын

@@roserollins9800 Awww thank you Rose! My body is ravaged with it but God helps me to keep moving forward! ❤️😊✝️

I live in western north Carolina and have one native chestnut tree. I got it from someone who has a huge one near Asheville and It's doing fine. It's about 6 years old I hope it lives 100 years.

Tragic, this hurts my heart. 💔🌳💔

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

A powerful reminder of the devastating impact of humans

I’ve been lucky to have salvaged chestnut planks and beams from an old barn. Such beautiful wood to work with. I knew about the fungus that killed them off, but I never realized just how big this event was. Such a shame.

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

save that wood brother

Absolutely fascinating. It makes me cry that they were all destroyed. What a part of history. Thank you ❤

Thank you for covering this 🙏🏻🥹

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

It’s important, lest we forget

I live in the NC mountains. A friend near us found a few seeds from, what he believes was American Chestnut. Tree. There are a few of those trees on his & his uncles land. He is trying to re-introduce them to his land.

This is so sad, it almost brought me to tears……I remember hearing about the ‘ Chestnut blight’ as a child in the 1950’s. DEVASTATING 🥺

@wizardbeard69

16 күн бұрын

it's sooo damn sad :( ..... literally a tree of life...provided food, unmatched shelter, unmatched materials and in my opinion unmatched beauty.

It is sad how the actions of one man changed Appalachia and world forever this was an amazing tell sad but true

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

Absolutely devastating

@CjbrkBrooks

Ай бұрын

This has happened all over the world for CENTURIES…do you think that the “native” Polynesians didn’t bring chaos to the islands when they sailed to them? They brought their native plants and animals with them from wherever they came from, and the same ecological problems arose. This has happened all over the world, for thousands of years. No one knew back then, or even in the 1800s, that a simple nut could destroy an ecological system. Get a grip. This is very sad, but STOP demonizing a guy for what he didn’t know. You are using this to create more hatred and division. Shame on you.

This video made me cry. I am a lover of trees, ( an actual tree-hugger). What a horrific loss to the people of Appalachia, and the world you live in, and what a lost off life to all creatures who depended on the cycle of life provided by those noble trees. Ultimately a loss to all of us on the earth; whether people realize it or not. 😥

@markvanderstelt8999

Ай бұрын

Think of it one Guy made this Happen by bringing those trees over,

Excellent work on the heartbreaking history of where I was born and raised. My ancestors are Scotch and Irish. Parts of my grandparents barn was built with chestnut wood that they had milled. The Chestnut was the Redwood of the east. Sadly the Redwood too is a disappearing beauty. Thank you for sharing this awesome episode!!😢🌳

Thank you for the wonderful short documentary on the history of American chestnuts!

Great Storytelling, My Scotts Irish Brother! My Great Uncle, '92 last October, was talking about the 'Chestnut' at our last visit, just before Christmas. He had planted a couple of the "New" ones at the old home place. He said, "Once they flowered, Dad wanted me cut them down. He said they didn't stink as good! Mom, talked him into keeping them around for a bit longer." He was asking if the trees were still there, and they are, barely. If not for the Chestnut, I probably wouldn't be here. I have been told...also... just saying, as my Grandfather told ME..."We are NOT from that line of Parsons!" So I already knew about the Giant Killer being a 'Parsons". My folk settled in WV, mid to late 1700's. There are a few different lines of 'Parsons', even locally..still! hehehe I come from 2 to be exact...HEY NOW! They weren't cousins neither, quit chuckling, darn it!🤣🤣Was funny, I lived in NE Alabama for a spell, and my neighbor was also a Parsons. I have met many, even as far away as Henderson,NV and Twenty Nine Palms, Ca. Seems we get around a might bit? Even had a Sister Mary Parsons of the LDS/Mormon Missionary type, from Oregon of all places, come knocking when I lived in Alabama. Neighbor and I got a kick out of that! With, him being Church of God and myself being Baptist. Naturally we invited her over for some Dinner and a discussion...she accepted too 😁😁 It was an awesome visit. Her fam had originally been from Bristol,Va area, and she was full of questions. Fun time!

Every once in a while, you click on a random video and have your mind blown. This was one of those videos.

@theappalachiachannel

Ай бұрын

thank you for that

The land is magnificent, and it breeds a person that is as unique as the land it's self.

Great story . Sure would have loved to seen them . That would be one heck of a climb .

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

Sure would have

Now I know God really loves us because of the chestnut. I knew it before, but now I really know. He was really thinking through every detail to show us His love.

Great story JD , my granny use to speak of the beautiful chestnut trees and how everyone's life changed so much after the trees were gone . I would have loved to walk these woods and see the trees of old. Thank you for the video amazing story telling. ❤

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

I’d love to have seen them with my own eyes

Beautiful, sad story. Love your voice and narration. This was quite educational. Thank you.❤

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

Thank you ❤️

God blessed us with all we needed.

Hello my long lost friend. Been a few months. Your still my favorite KZread creator ! Got one for you brother. I moved here from Louisiana 18 years ago. I lived in Loudon by the Cherokee mountains overlooking the Lake. Well old country me trapes off in my yard and I come across this big old fuzzy looking husk and soon learned that it was pokey. I bent over to pluck it from my foot and low and behold there was the biggest old nut looking thing inside. So I took a picture and called Daddy back home. Daddy said young'n that's a chestnut and some of the biggest ones he'd ever seen ! Well I was so excited like a kid in a candy store ! From that morning on , I would run out and step over the squirrels ( yea, we were in competition) and hunt them things like it was gold Easter eggs ! My neighbors would be peeking out their curtains like what in the Sam Hill is this Cajun RiffRaff doing ? Why everytime I'd find one I would Yelp so excitedly and do a little jig like I'd just discovered gold ! Of course I shared with the deer and squirrels ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ Good to be back in touch ! God bless you and yours ! Love in Christ, Barbie Kyzar

@theappalachiachannel

Ай бұрын

❤️

Thanks again for sharing

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

Thank you John

Wow, this put a rip in my soul, but the narrator's voice was so soothing , he patched it right up. Thanx!

I learned so much. I had no idea what a devastation this was. Having only seen all the elms die, and then ash borers take all the Ash trees. I only had my own experience as far as what to compare it to. I see there is just no comparison at all. I did not know it was a "keystone species" on which the entire ecosystem depends. Truly I cried to feel the pain of those peoples and all the animals that depended on them. What a resource loss. Thanks so much for the informative documentary, told in such a story telling way..

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

This is a lesson humanity should never forget

The national Forest found an American chestnut tree in Taladega national Forest. It was such a big deal. It actually made local news.

@bevilj

Ай бұрын

There’s some at Portland Landing south of Selma. Pretty sure they’re Asian though.

This was one of the saddest stories I have ever heard!😢I had no idea. I remember my parents and grandparents talking about the chestnut trees when I was a child but I had no idea of what they were referring to. Now I’m greatly saddened. My father was a tree rescuer and planted trees everywhere. No wonder he was obsessed as am I. Thank you so much for this story that I have never heard before. God bless.🙏🏼

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

❤️

Heartbreaking .....hope they are brought back ❤

Great video thanks for sharing this with us

So sad, but life keeps going, and sometimes not for the better. 😢🇨🇦

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

💜

Sadness across the American land. We have some growing in the state of Arkansas. Hopefully they'll make a come back. Thanks for sharing a piece of American history.

That was very interesting, thank you! 👍🏻

I grew up in CHESTNUT HILL, Tennessee and remember these massive old stumps from the giant trees that used to be there.

Great job on this topic JD.

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

thank you!

Heartbreaking story.

When I was young Dad told me about his Grand dad shooting a large mess of squirrels from a chestnut near his house while he and his brother gathered nuts on the Rapid Dan River in Virginia. That would have been in the late 1920's. I went there and found the dead grey shell in its final stand in the late 1970's.

Very informative. Thank You.

when i was at primary school in the 50s there was a chestnut tree beside a creek. we used to collect the nuts when they fell. we took them home and roasted them over the fire. i have not had them since i moved to the deep south. there are no trees down here. i miss the flavor now days. i live in newzealand.

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

❤️

A very sad story, beautifully told.

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

💜

Thank you for this effort and knowledge.

I’m 74 from MI and did not know (or remember) this sad piece of history. From reading the comments there is hope alive and some even in MI! We are all connected to nature, our Mother Earth. We depend on her for life.

There are people working on breeding blight resistant American chestnut trees and replanting them in the forests of the Northeast and Appalachia. I hope I live long enough to see many blight resistant Grandfather trees planted. I want to plant as many as I can here on our property for future generations.

I can remember my grandparents talking about this

I just found your You Tube Channel here . And I love it. I love the Documentary Video Story on" The Giant Appalachia Chestnut Trees " I love Trees & I Observe them on my own & read about them .Study them. I look at them. And I listen to all the different Trees & their Sounds they make in the Winds & Storms. I am happy that I found your You Tube Channel here . I will listen to the other Stories & Documentary Videos that you have here.

Thank you for this video. As another commenter stated; it brought a tear to my old eyes.

JD this is great information for all of us. Such a terrible situation for the animals , birds people, the streams etc… What a terrible thing to be seen coming yer way knowing you can do nothing . Well except harvest the wood. 58 species of trees must be an amazing sight! The size of those trees rivals the ancient Redwoods along the coast of California. Right now we have a devastation of Pine trees due to a damn beetle. I’ll bet a lot of those log cabins are still standing. I watch a Feral Foraging Utube channel and a subscriber actually found a young Chestnut tree growing somewhere in Appalachia. Maybe they can come back even if we won’t be around to see them in their glory. This was a heart wrenching tale. But I’m glad you are educating us. Thank you. Do you watch Mark on Barnwood Builders that man and his team are incredible trying to save all the old log cabins. I’ll bet you know him. Take care and have a wonderful day

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

The blight is a fungus that eats sores into the bark of the tree killing the tree however, it cannot kill the roots system because of the acidic soil. Thus all of the root systems still remain, and they sprouted up chestnut saplings continuously, and once they reach about 2 inches in diameter, the once again kills them off and the cycle repeats over and over

@karenroot450

2 ай бұрын

@@theappalachiachannel damn thanks for the extra information

@nancylowe2692

Ай бұрын

They should study the genetics of the American Chestnut and the Chinese Chestnut & see what advantage the Chinese has. Maybe they could do some gene splicing to make the American more resistant to the blight. Such a sad story. Tragic.

@John_Redcorn_

Ай бұрын

@@nancylowe2692or do the same to find a way to kill that damn fungus, or at least study it to see if it has some useful properties. Never know, they might find it to be a powerful medicine for cancer or somethin.

I have a few on my property here in WV. Came up off the old root system. One is about 14” diameter and has had chestnuts several times. I think it will die though. There are still sprouts that come up but they don’t make it. My grandfather said the trees were so high you couldn’t kill a squirrel in the top with a shotgun, you had to wait till they came half way down the tree. I bet a fella had to be careful not to slip and fall in the woods.

@sharencook3600

2 ай бұрын

There are 3 on our property on Mount Nebo WV. They are Beautiful and of course I love watching the wildlife come and feed on the nuts. We use raise a few pigs every year and the tasted really good. A few survive but it will never be like it was. I would have liked to have seen the giants.

We just moved to WV and want to thank you for enlightening us on the history of our surroundings❤ so sad for the savings of a penny an ecosystem was destroyed, just like today. As a retired teacher I feel this would be a story every student should hear.

From the uk and love your storytelling, and appreciate your knowledgable information

Thank you 1000x 👍🕊🐑

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

❤️

In the 2000 teens, My wife's cousin showed me the first adult Chestnut I ever saw on a ridge near the Greenbrier River. About 14 inches in diameter and forty feet tall. Here is hoping for a comeback. I saved a few boards from my Father in law's barn in the 1980's and they are now living room furniture.

The algorithm just sent this story my way. Wow! I can't wait to hear more stories.

Now I know the meaning of a truly beautiful tragic story. I'm So very appreciative, Thank You for doing this video. Sincerely.

I am a lover of tree's... this made me sad😢

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

its a terrible lesson to learn, but must be remembered

I have a 150 yr old barn on my property made of hand hewn American Chestnut. It is the absolute HARDEST wood i have ever come across! You can NOT drive a nail into it, nor pull any old nails from i! You will wurn up several drillbits trying to drill just one hole!! Its a shame its gone.

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

Wow

@GenX-Grampa

2 ай бұрын

@@theappalachiachannel yeah. I was going to pay some Amish builders to repair some bad areas and restore it. They couldn't do it. LOL Hell, I can't really even use the wood to make a smaller barn. There is a market for this wood, I was told it's valuable. I just don't understand how and what they can do with it. I tried using some planks from it for shelves in my chicken coop but deck screws would go in about 1/4" and seize up. Either stripping the head or sheering in half! Nails just bend. I was trying to pull the old handmade iron nails from old pieces and couldn't. It's CRAZY. Its like it's petrified!

@GenX-Grampa

Ай бұрын

@ConontheBinarian uh, sure. That's what they did.

@hegilliam

Ай бұрын

I lived in a chestnut log cabin for 30 years here in Virginia. Log cabins were not built using nails.

@GenX-Grampa

Ай бұрын

@@hegilliamI said it's a barn

Excellent video. Thank you!

Chestnut, pawpaw, Chinquapin, black walnut, white walnut....... I live in western North Carolina in the shadows of the great Smokie mountains and I can tell you for a fact the forest here can feed a family with ease. I still come across a chestnut stump from time to time. they are the bones of the old man of the woods. My grandmother used to tell me about gathering chestnuts. A lot of old barns are made of it. Old timers called it "acid wood" because it would dissolve nails so most were built using mortise and tenon.

WNC, is the best place to live on earth. Especially Brevard N.C!

@danielleshea8782

Ай бұрын

I’m dying to go see all the waterfalls there!

I have a chestnut tree on my property here in WV. I've been replanting them here as well. The deer love them. I remember my parents roasting the nuts for us years and years ago.

Had a monster chestnut on top of the farm in stickleyville back in the day. I have been wanting to get some back growing before my kids grow up. Such an awesome tree. Hoping one day to move back to the farm before Im old.

I live in Ellijay, GA. Right in the middle of town there are two huge Chestnut trees behind a large old home. I had never seen one before I moved here. One Christmas the lady who lived there brought roasted Chestnuts into a pub for all the people there.

@danielleshea8782

Ай бұрын

I live in Blue Ridge, I would love to see them. Where abouts?

The whole eco system rellied on chestnuts including the people .

It’s a crying shame that the things man has brought into this country have caused so much destruction. Kudzu, love bugs, African bees, Burmese pythons, just to name a few!😮😮😮😮

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

exactly

@chrisf7374

Ай бұрын

Those were all a by product of the love of money, the true downfall of man.

Wow. Just wow

Omg i absolutly loved this

I was born 25 years after the American Chestnut trees were killed off by a blight. The only Chestnut trees I have ever seen were Chinese Chestnuts. I have seen salvaged lumber from old buildings that had been built out of American Chestnut. You could tell (by the thickness and length of the old lumber) that the trees they came from had been huge. There is supposed to be a small area somewhere in Kentucky where some American Chestnut trees still live. However, that area is protected. They are trying to breed a new American Chestnut tree that will not be affected by the blight. Most people living today have never seen a virgin forest. I haven't.

@theappalachiachannel

2 ай бұрын

yes, that's what folks don't realize... when they say "I know where a grove of chestnuts are" or "I know of a chestnut tree on some island" or I know of a chestnut tree that survived.... There are no American chestnuts left, none. The blight is still here and travels on the wind and birds feet. The ones that are here are Chinese Chestnuts or hybrid Chinese/American experimental Chestnuts. Yet the Chinese and the Hybrid Chestnuts do not have the virtues of the American Chestnut, the wood is not the same, it's a completely different tree.

@johnwingate8799

Ай бұрын

If there was one Weyerhaeuser would destroy it.

@dj393

Ай бұрын

I've been to Jedidiah Smith Redwoods State Park in CA, and it's old grove. And I've been to Adirondack State Park in NY which is old trees. My parents were teachers and we travelled around the USA, camping during the summers.

I know where a few of the chestnut trees are at. I usually get the nuts from them but last few years they had worms in them. Let the nuts lay for a few days and the worms will come out of the nuts. I love eating the chestnuts now

I was fortunate to have salvaged chestnut boards from a few restorations I worked on. I made door and window trim from some of them and some furniture from others. Chestnut is a pleasure to work with. It is dry and does not warp or cup easily.

I talked to a very old woman in 1979. He was a greeter in Joyce Kilmer part the largest stand of trees east of Old Miss. So many of the animals were dependent on the American Chestnut that it caused the wild to crash HARD. The animal populations never recovered from that. It effected EVERYTHING!!!

I have some seeds from a 🌰 tree American chestnut tree that lived ? yrs past the blight.this is how I have seed looks just like a dried up tiny chestnut.Wish me Luck planting some this year.

Nature doesnt need our intervention, it needs our absence.

@timharper4246

Ай бұрын

Don't be that guy. Humans are part of nature. We're of this earth.

Wow, what a video❤ Love this, from the informative history to the voice of the narrator. Thank you💐 I was completely unaware that the Chestnut tree was once indigenous to this area, how much it did for the ecosystem, plant and wildlife as well as early settlers, or how prolific they were. Not to mention how Huge they could become. How sad they died out.😔🎯💯👍

Hello JD I am not able to drive much anymore but every fall I would head to West Virginia at my aunts and pick up baskets of chestnuts for the upcoming holidays. I sure miss doing that. I did it for 45 years and only missed it one time because I fell from a 40ft building into some loose dirt. I was dang sure lucky on that one. But all my people up there are gone now. I did not know that these trees were that big back then. Thanks ya see you never get too old to learn something new.