Arbor Day is the brainchild of pioneer J. Sterling Morton who, with his wife, moved into the Nebraska Territory in 1854 from Detroit, MI. Since the 1800s saw a shortage of trees in Nebraska Morton, a journalist and editor of Nebraska’s first newspaper used this forum to share his love for trees, shrubs and flowers with an enthusiastic audience of fellow northeasterners who missed their trees. However, more importantly the cold Nebraska climate needed trees to act as windbreaks against the numbing cold, for fuel, for housing material and for shade from the summer heat.

As Morton’s fame increased, he became secretary of the Nebraska Territory and used his influence to encourage not only individuals but also civic organizations and groups to join his campaign on planting trees. It was during this time that Morton, on January 4, 1872 first proposed a tree-planting holiday – “Arbor Day” at a meeting of the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture. Because of his proposal, Arbor Day was first celebrated on April 10, 1872, with prizes being awarded to counties and individuals for correctly planting the largest number of trees on that day. For enjoyment, reports indicate that a huge parade preceded Morton delivering speech honoring the Territory’s schools for having every classroom plant at least one tree. It is estimated that in excess of one million trees were planted on that first Arbor Day but it wasn’t until 1885 that Nebraska Governor, Robert Furnas, made Arbor Day a legal holiday to be observed on April 22 every year, in remembrance of Morton’s birthday.

After the 1872 celebration, other states began to pass legislation to observe Arbor Day and by 1882, it had become a school tradition nationwide. Today the most common date for the observance is the last Friday in April but some states adjust the date to coincide with the best tree planting time in their areas of the country.

[tags]J. Sterling Morton, Arbor Day, Tree planting, Nebraska history, Legal holiday observation,  history[/tags]