For the benefit of those who haven't seen this monument before the root started shoving it, the

attached photo shows the late Clark Hall on June 21, 1991 when we first visited this tri-point.

I believe you can see the root by Clark's left foot when the root was much smaller. Thanks for the

update Lowell.

Jack

-----Original Message-----
From: Lowell G. McManus [mailto:mcmanus71496@msn.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2003 12:49 PM
To: Boundary Point
Subject: [BoundaryPoint] The tree that ate ARLATX

Back in message 11281, I promised a reconnaissance of the ARLATX state tripoint in the fall, and Mike suggested in message 11289 that I use square, level, and protractor to determine if the monument has been moved by the large sweet gum tree (Liquidamber styraciflua) that grows next to it. Last Friday morning, Geography teacher James Robichaux and I visited ARLATX and took the attached photos (also available at the URL's specified below for those who read this message in digest or archived forms). The photo with James posing at the monument ( www.mexlist.com/bp/james.jpg ) shows that the stone has obviously been displaced from the vertical by the large root that wraps around it. The yellow lines indicate a rough guess as to the actual location of the boundaries, but it's hard to tell without knowing the depth of the stone in the earth. The photo of the level ( www.mexlist.com/bp/level.jpg ) shows how slanted the top surface of the rock is. Using the square, level, and protractor, we determined that the monument leans six degrees to the west. The other photo ( www.mexlist.com/bp/root.jpg ) shows how the Arkansas tree wraps its large root around the monument, through Louisiana, to sip the sweet soil of Texas, undoing the precise work of the USC&GS in the process. Lowell G. McManus Leesville, Louisiana, USA