Nature At The Confluence Legacy Trees are Eastern Cottonwoods
Nature At The Confluence is an environmental learning center in South Beloit, IL, right on the border of Beloit, Wisconsin. I was the founding executive director at this beautiful space which was built on a former industrial dumping area at the confluence of Turtle Creek and the Rock River. Although I am now retired I still enjoy taking walks along the trail and admire the cottonwood trees there which are estimated age to be: 100-110 years old.
About Eastern Cottonwoods (Populus deltoides): Cottonwood trees typically live 70–100 years, but they have the potential to live 200–400 years in ideal conditions. Cottonwoods are commonly found along streams or rivers because they tolerate wet conditions. They consume large amounts of water in their growth cycle; a mature cottonwood tree uses 200 gallons of water a day. Cottonwoods can be either male or female, but only the female produce the cottony seeds in spring (which is where the tree gets its common name).
Historical significance
The cottonwood tree is sacred to many Native American and they have many old stories they tell about this tree. They used the sticky resin from the buds as a type of glue and made a yellow dye from the buds. Its roots were used for carving kachina dolls, masks, and other ceremonial objects by the Hopi, Pueblo, and Navajo tribes. Plains Indian tribes crafted sacred poles and sun dance artifacts from cottonwood trunks and branches.
Cottonwood bark and leaves were also used as medicinal herbs by many different tribes, particularly to treat wounds and swelling. Herbalists still use the cottonwood tree for many remedies. Balm o f Gilead is one remedy made from the fragrant buds of the tree. It is believed to be anti-inflammatory with antifungal and anti-microbial properties.
In this region, the Ho-Chunk carved dugout canoes from Hoch-hoo-dah (cottonwood trees). To escape horrible conditions on the Crow Creek South Dakota reservation they had been forced onto in 1863, they felled the only trees to grow along the Missouri River to craft dugout canoes. In 1865 they paddled in their cottonwood dugouts down the Missouri River, some finding refuge in Nebraska, others continuing down to the Mississippi River and paddled it back up to their beloved homelands in Wisconsin.
On the vast treeless prairie, the sight of a row of cottonwoods in the far distance was welcomed by early pioneers and wagon train scouts, as it signified water on the parched prairie and offered shade and wood for campfires. American pioneers used the cottonwood’s leaves and bark for animal fodder and herbal teas, its canopy for shelter, and its wood for building structures.
Modern Ho-Chunk dugout canoe made from a cottonwood tree
Nature At The Confluence Legacy Cottonwood Trees
There are 4 cottonwood trees near Turtle Creek that are estimated to be 100-120 years old. Perhaps their mother tree provided shade for the Ho-Chunk who lived here along Turtle Creek at Ke-Chunk village until 1832. A modern sculpture by Ho-Chunk artist Truman Lowe called “Ke-Chunk Ciporoke” that depicts a Ho-Chunk dwelling is placed under the shade of one of our cottonwood trees in remembrance of the Ho-Chunk people who called this area home. In the summer of 2022 we gathered with members of the Ho-Chunk nation under that very cottonwood tree to commemorate a weeklong paddling journey Ho-Chunk adults and youth made on their ancestral waters of Yahara and Rock Rivers in a newly crafted cottonwood dugout canoe.
Irish Settlement The first settlement in what is now South Beloit came around 1853 with 15 Irish immigrants railroad workers and their families formed a community right here, building homes overlooking Turtle Creek. Water-loving trees such as willow and cottonwood were common along the creek.
World War I Hero A 1912 census shows a 21-year old Ray C. Dickop living at 7 Maple Avenue (now Dickop Street) and old survey maps show the location of his home to be at a pretty spot overlooking Turtle Creek.
WWI Hero Lt. Ray Dickop
Our legacy cottonwood trees would have been just small saplings on April 6, 1917 when America joined the war raging in Europe. Three months later, Ray Dickop left his home on Turtle Creek and along with several men from Beloit joined Company L, 127th Infantry Regiment of the National Guard’s 32nd Division. Our trees were likely witness to his departure.
On August 4 1918 Company L lead assault near Fismes, France. As the troops moved forward, enemy fire poured down on their squad and they were caught in a terrible crossfire. Dickop was in command of more than 100 Beloit men when he was shot in the head, body and legs five times. Although fatally wounded, when orders came for another assault, he gave the command “Charge!” to his company and led the assault until he fell dead. Letters from witnesses that described his death say any of his five wounds would have been severe enough to force him to retire to safety. But he ignored his wounds and led his company in the charge until he dropped from loss of blood.
Dickop was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his leadership and heroism on the battlefield. General Pershing is most famous for serving as commander of the American Forces in World War I. After the war was over, he listed the 100 greatest heroes of the war, later called “Pershing’s 100”. Lt. Ray C. Dickop’s act of heroism places him on this list. Maple Avenue was renamed to Dickop Street after the war to commemorate this great national hero of World War I who once lived here overlooking Turtle Creek among the willows and cottonwoods.
Not many people love cottonwood trees because the female tree produces messy cottony seeds that coat the grass and get stuck in window screens. But, I love the majestic cottonwood trees!
