Eagle Tree

The Eagle Tree was a historic California sycamore (Platanus racemosa) tree in Compton, California. It was the marker for the border of Rancho San Pedro. The tree toppled in 2022, from a combination of disease and a long history of vandalism and government neglect. At that time, it was on land owned by the Chevron Corporation. Its name came from the eagles that were commonly found nesting on the tree.

History
The tree dates back to December 1857 when it was used as the natural boundary marker in Mexican surveys to show the extent of Rancho San Pedro. It was also used for navigational purposes as it was a tall landmark. Many travelers used it as there were many tall fields of mustard in the area. As time passed, the City of Compton was formed and a neighborhood was formed near the tree. However, the Standard Oil Company of California (now Chevron Corporation) found that the best place to drill was along the border of the former ranch, meaning that the tree would have to be removed. The Native Daughters of the Golden West advocated for the protection of the tree, and an agreement was made where the pipeline would share the land with the tree, which was then fenced off. In 1947, the Daughters placed a historic marker and plaque there. The Standard Oil Company sponsored it and is on private property.

A designation of the tree as a California Historic Landmark was proposed, but it was never completed. The tree and its accompanying plaque were repeatedly damaged in the 1980s. An apartment building was built under the tree. Jesus Arroyo took care of the tree starting in 2009, when he moved into the apartment. One of the branches fell off the tree in 2015, crushing the roof of one of the apartment buildings. Arroyo had called the city earlier about concerns, but they did not do anything. After the branch's fall, the city had a company trim the tree, but the company ended up removing the entire canopy, removing nearly all of the leaves on the tree. An arborist on location discovered a large hole that reached from the top of the tree to the trunk and believed that the tree was suffering from a fatal disease. They recommended that intense care must be taken to keep the tree alive. In 2017, the tree stopped growing leaves, which may have been due to a lightning strike.

On April 7, 2022, at approximately 9:20 PM, the Eagle Tree's main trunk fell over and crushed a car parked behind the apartment it covered. The main tree had died, but there was healthy, young growth surrounding the trunk. A young 30 ft tall clone tree was found to be growing behind the fallen trunk as well. The 7 ST trunk was preserved and is located in a space adjacent to the Chevron property, where it is in holding while plans are being made to display it as a historic resource. Arroyo decided to take care of the new growths, but Chevron asked him to take the fence protecting the plants down within a year, as it was blocking access to their property. Chevron soon took down the fence and placed a higher fence covered in tarp and topped with barbed wire that blocked Arroyo's ability to go on the company's property to take care of the plants. On April 7, 2023, a Chevron work crew removed the clone tree, but cuttings for possible propagation were allowed to be taken before. The cuttings were distributed to multiple arborist institutions, like Huntington Library's Botanical Garden, Theodore Payne Foundation and the California Botanic Garden. Chevron explained that the clone tree had the fusarium dieback disease transmitted by a tea shot-hole borer and had to be removed. Many supporters of the tree advocated for a cutting being planted at the former site of the Eagle Tree, as the plaque had been unchanged.

The Eagle Tree's cuttings were put in the care of North East Trees and were distributed to cities and historic sites in Southern California to keep the tree's legacy alive. The first cutting was planted at East Los Angeles College in 2024 as a part of an Earth Day celebration.