The Big Tree you can't see

[NewsCopy]

The old part of the University of Louisiana campus is surrounded by 100-year-old oak trees planted in 1900 by Southwestern Louisiana Institute's first president, Dr. Edwin Lewis Stephens, who promoted the planting and maintenance of oaks across South Louisiana.

However, one of the trees is not among them. It guarded the entrance to the campus until 1941.

On June 20, The Advertiser reported, "Struck vitally by a bolt of lightning Thursday afternoon at about 2:30 was the famous Robert Martin Oak on the Southwestern Louisiana campus. This venerable oak . is the parent tree of all Southwestern's oaks and many of those in Southwestern Louisiana.

"The tree was named . after the late Robert Martin, St. Martin Parish senator, who introduced the act, which established Southwestern Louisiana Institute.

The rest of the story

C'est Vrai (It's True) by Jim Bradshaw

1940 photo of "Martin Oak" and the main entrance to the campus