Town Square - Silverton, Oregon - 1890
By Homer C. Davenport, preface to "The Country Boy" - 1910

The giant oak, the tree that had many beautiful stories to tell, was voted "guilty" and was slain. That evening as its huge branches were divided among the town's people, a small party of big men gathered at the stump of the tree. They were mad men and sad men as they realized that Silverton had to change, that a newer element with higher collars and smaller hats was in command. Many of their best and bravest citizens had already gone beyond the call of human voice, others would soon follow, and the tree, being one of them, had also, made obeisance to the demand of society, fashion and wealth.

The city's early history will always be linked with a large White Oak tree that stood on Main street from Silverton's beginning in the 1840's. Old timers, planning their annual picnic August 3 in the city park, recalled this week. The tree stood between the present locations of the First National Bank and Weiby's Department store. Silverton's early planners platted the town around the tree. Farmers liked to hitch their teams under its spreadinq branches. Indians often ate their lunches under the tree. The old oak was removed in the spring of 1893 while the late George Cusiter was Mayor. B.B. Smith and his father, William Smith of the Silverton Hills, cut the tree down. Jim Edison helped clear away the debris. J.D. Drake remembers "leaning out of the Knights of Pythias hall nearby and touching the tree's branches.