![](https://wasgs.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Trivia.jpg)
Does your city have an official tree? Does any city where your ancestors lived have such? Is Spokane really unique in that arena?
![](https://wasgs.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/PondPine.jpg)
It was explorer David Douglas who, in 1826, identified and named the pinus ponderosa or Ponderosa Pine. Now it’s The Official Tree of the city of Spokane.
Using Wikipedia, I found this factoid:
During Operation Upshot–Knothole in 1953, a nuclear test was performed in which 145 ponderosa pines were cut down by the United States Forest Service and transported to Area 5 of the Nevada Test Site, where they were planted into the ground and exposed to a nuclear blast to see what the blast wave would do to a forest. The trees were partially burned and blown over.
All I can say to that is DUH!