Meet the Hooker Oak
In the 1800s, Chico founders John and Annie Bidwell were fascinated by a huge valley oak on their property. They named it the Hooker Oak in honor of British botanist Joseph Hooker, who visited the Bidwells. The tree came to represent Chico, and is remembered even after it fell in a storm in 1977.
- The Hooker Oak in Bidwell Park. Date unknown.
- It was said that 7,885 people could fit in its shade. Whether that was ever proved is unknown.
- The tree fell during a storm on May 1, 1977. Further examination showed it was actually two oaks that had grown together. One tree was 226 years old, the other 222, according to Chico botanist Kingsley Stern, who counted the rings.
Hooker Oak - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaHooker Oak was a large valley oak tree (Quercus lobata) in Chico, California. It was named after English botanist and Director of the R...- Annie and John Bidwell. January 1897.
- An undated photograph of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker.
The Joseph Dalton Hooker website: Welcome!Site about the life and work of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, botanist, explorer, plant collector and friend of Charles Darwin. Maintained ...- Chico may have been chosen for the filming of "The Adventures of Robin Hood" in 1937 because of the Hooker Oak. Many scenes were shot in Bidwell Park. The park was home to the Hooker Oak, which could stand in for England's The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest, home to Robin and his men.
- An undated picture of The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest, near Edwinstowe, Nottingham, England.
