Tree in the TrailTREE IN THE TRAIL by Holling, Holling Clancy (Author) on Sep-09-1964 Hardcover

by Holling Clancy Holling

The history of the Great Plains and the Santa Fe Trail is told in text and pictures by focusing on a cottonwood tree and the events that happen around it.

Genres: Geography, History, Childrens, Picture Books, American History, School, Nature

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1942

About the author

Born in Jackson County, Michigan, in 1900, Holling Clancy Holling graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1923. He then worked in a taxidermy department of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and spent time working in anthropology under Dr. Ralph Linton.

During this period, he married Lucille Webster, and within a year of their marriage accepted a position as art instructor on the first University World Cruise, sponsored by New York University. For many years, Holling C. Holling dedicated much of his time and interest to making books for children. Much of the material he used was known to him first hand, and his wife, Lucille, worked with him on many of the illustrations.

Sometimes listed as Holling C. Holling

Reviews

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of our geography books for my second grader this past year (see Ambleside Online 2nd grade curriculum). We loved reading one chapter a week but near the end we didn't want to stop and finished reading it all at once.

The illustrations are beautifully detailed with colors true to the colors of the Santa Fe trail.

I am grateful Holling C. Holling was a storyteller in this tale of history. Facts alone don't stick - they need relatable and enjoyable context. Mr. Holling is an expert at this.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

When my son was 9, he was willing to sit and let me read this entire book to him. He enjoyed the historical walk along the Santa Fe Trail. When he was 10 he was no longer interested--too many words, not tantalizing enough.

I enjoyed reading it, but catch your kids at the right time if you want them to enjoy it.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a well written creative story about a sapling that meets a young Indian boy. Each chapter focuses on a different time in history involving the tree. I thought it was wonderful.

[Heather Tully · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read it aloud for our 2021-2022 edu year but finished it just now. we love these books by Holling! such a lovely way to learn geography.

our 4th family read aloud of 2022.

[Angela Boord · Rating 4 out of 5]

3/24 - Just finished reading this to my 10 yo as we continue making our way through Holling C. Holling's books. As with all the books, some bits have weathered well and some haven't, but overall, my 10 yo enjoyed it. His ranking of the books we've read so far: 1)Paddle to the Sea, 2)Minn of the Mississippi, 3)Tree in the Trail, 4) Seabird (which was a DNF for him and the book which has not weathered as well). But I think the top 3 he liked equally; Seabird was the outlier.

Tree in the Trail has fewer intricate margin drawings than some of the other books, which might have affected his ranking. I personally had fun reading it aloud.

[Timilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative, entertaining, great pictures! I appreciate HCH writing these books and introducing us to other worlds/places/stories in this way.

[Corinne Holloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun one too. Holling does a great job of keeping chapters brief, but full of story. He really seems to care about every area he writes about and does a great job of making a time and place come to life. This one had a special place in my heart because I grew up in that region.

We used it for geography studies basically for Ambleside Online’s curriculum.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

AO Year 2. Finally giving myself credit for reading this aloud to four different students. Looking forward to one more time in a few years with Dan!

[Isabella Leake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt lukewarm about this book through most the 18 weeks we were scheduled to read it, but then toward the end it grew on me, and the final chapters caused me to bump it up from a 3 to a 4.

It goes without saying that the illustrations are absolutely top-notch, because this is Holling C. Holling. My criticism has to do with the text.

There are two distinct parts of the story that seem all but independent, only slightly connected. The first part chronicles the growth and use of a lone cottonwood tree on the Kansas prairie, covering a few centuries in a handful of vignettes; the second part begins when the tree, struck by lightning, falls and is fashioned into an ox yoke. The tree's second life takes it from Independence all the way to the end of the Santa Fe Trail over the course of the warm season in 1834.

I liked the second portion of the book better than the first, because it was a more continuous narrative, dealing with the same people and issues but different places. The first part, though located in a single place, seemed scattered and hard to wrap your mind around -- true even for me, who knows a lot more history than my poor children, who seemed mostly baffled. The second portion ends with a magnificent and poignant depiction of Santa Fe and the trading and merrymaking that take place when the wagon caravan finally arrives. I've never felt much interest in the southwest, as a topic of either cultural or historical inquiry (perhaps because of disappointing experiences with the Josefina books, which did not capture my imagination at all), but these final chapters -- sumptuous, lyrical, enticing -- make me long to investigate further.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a read-aloud. The boys liked it, but not as much as Paddle-to-the-Sea. The illustrations were beautiful. This is a story of a cottonwood tree that starts as a sapling somewhere in Kansas and grows and grows and it tells the story of its life, while telling of the cultures that meet up and take shade from the tree. I enjoyed how it honored the Native Americans, the Spanish explorers and the wagon trains that went past in their way to Santa Fe. The evolution of the tree and the sights and times it lived through are the focus of the book. It was well done. Great for teaching an all around history of the plains of Kansas to New Mexico and geography at the same time.

[Cala · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am unsure what age range this is written for, but I read it aloud to my 6 y.o. son. It is recommended as an "extra" book for Sonlight K history. While it took us several sittings to read over a couple of weeks, we really enjoyed it.

As any other review can tell you, this is the story of a Cottonwood Tree along the Santa Fe trail and all the events that it witnessed and peoples that knew and cherished it. It is certainly a unique perspective of the clash between native tribes and frontiersmen, other tribes, animals, and even weather.

The highlight for me is the constant (and constantly changing) geographical implications. I would highly recommend this book, but maybe not for 5-6 year olds. I hope to revisit it when my son is older. While he liked listening to it, I know there are depths of meaning and running story points that he was far from grasping.

[Meredith Broadwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a read aloud for my 2nd grade daughter, but my 6yo son (KG) also enjoyed it. We read 1 or 2 chapters per week during lunch. There were parts about it that I really liked (the illustrations are wonderful) but there were times I was left wondering if I should edit or not 😅 I'm thinking specifically of mentions of "injuns" which has a pretty negative connotation to me. Two of the characters had that type of accent. I loved the end (the kids liked it too) and the descriptions of that part of the country have me wanting to visit again and watch old westerns.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A children's illustrated book telling the history of the Sante Fe trail through the story of a lone cottonwood tree. I would have liked this to have been more historical. I'm pretty sure the tree and the named people were fiction. But it still read well and the pictures added a lot.

[Lindsay B · Rating 2 out of 5]

My least favorite book in the series so far. I really did not enjoy it.

[Lindsay Broome · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading for our homeschool curriculum. My son seemed to like this one, but I did not like it nearly as much as paddle to the sea. Just never connected much with it.

[Cheryl]

Someone from ALA says "should have won a Newbery" but I seriously wonder if it's aged well.
---
Looking at it, I can see the appeal. But a skim reveals that it's not a book I would ever have enjoyed or shared.

Sept. 2025

[Kristie Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book but I think paddle to the sea is a little bit more interesting.

[Brit Chhangur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great Holling C Holling book! Lots of good chats and map-work opportunity!

Read again with Lucy for Year 2!

[Karen GoatKeeper · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Santa Fe Trail is famous. It was the major route for people going from Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe, now New Mexico. Along that trail was a hill topped by two buttes and a spring. A cottonwood tree seed grew into a tree beside the spring and stood as a sentinel along the trail for over two hundred years as Indians moved from walking and using stone arrowheads to riding horses using steel arrowheads, as the Spaniards arrived, as the white men arrived. This book uses the tree as a starting point to outline the history of the Santa Fe Trail and the many different peoples who used the trail.
The book is a fascinating read, easy to follow, filled with illustrations. The margin sketches, diagrams and historical facts add much to the book. There are maps of the Santa Fe Trail pinpointing where things were at the time and indicating where more modern towns and cities have appeared.
As the other books by Holling Clancy Holling I've read have been, this book is a good book to read on the subject, more than an overview or introduction to the topic.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Great illustrations. I think this quote is the thought I want to take away with me: "Seems funny not to see [the tree] spreading above us, don't it?... But if a tree could think, I'll bet she's mighty glad to be a yoke, swinging along, tinklin' pretty. That tree was too held down. Always pointin' as if she wanted to follow us on the Trail. Now she can go beyond her hill, away out yonder - farther than she ever dreamed.
'Maybe it's that way with people, sort of. They git rooted down, too. Along comes disaster, or what looks like it, an' they feel lost. But maybe, if they only knew - all that's happened to 'em is that they've been freed. Freed to go farther than they ever thought." Chapter 21.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classic following the classic format of Holling Clancy Holling.

This is an interesting look at the Santa Fe Trail.
I understand from the Acknowledgement ... Lucille Webster Holling for her many hours of research on the trail...

I understand the story of Jed and Maria is inspired by the gread-grandfather of Virginia Ann Hutchison. I failed in trying to learn more about this Virginia. I am such a fan of author's notes and the story behind the story.

I didn't label this book as a picture book, the format has sometimes too much text, and it's not really a page turner.
Some pages are more interesting than others, the introduction of Jed's story.

[Hayley Grapenthin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why read about the Great Plains and Santa Fe Trail in a dull, forgettable textbook when there is a beautifully illustrated living book to delight the whole family? I recently finished reading this with my Ambleside Online ( https://www.amblesideonline.org/ ) Year 2 students and was thrilled to see how much it interested all my children down to the two-year-old. And I have to be honest, it had me a bit emotional by the end.

[Sarah Wales · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book to read to your children. It's a pretty easy read because each chapter is 1 page long. The chapters captivated my kids, and they kept asking to read one more. The book describes 1 tree as multitudes of people came across it, through the centuries. This book encouraged both me and my family to look up and study further in depth some of the history and people that came across it.

[Sarah Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not this author’s best work IMO. I didn’t like how everyone was portrayed for a children’s book and I just felt like the story line was a little disjointed. Still interesting but didn’t really catch any of our interest. “Seabird” has been by far our favorite from this author, and “Paddle to the Sea” was also excellent.

[Celinda Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stretching over a span of almost 300 years, this awesome story (full of History) takes us through the existence (not necessarily life) of a cottonwood tree. What an fun, engaging and beautiful way to introduce kids to the Geography and History of the west expansion. Read aloud with my 7 and 5 y old girls.

[Emma Filbrun · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book about 40 years ago when I found it at the library, and now I have finally gotten a copy for my family and read it to my children. What a wonderful, gentle way to tell the story of the Santa Fe Trail and the changes that took place on the Great Plains over the span of a couple of hundred years. The beautiful illustrations greatly enhance the story.

[Wren · Rating 5 out of 5]

We used this book(and 3 others) as part of our geography curriculum with Beautiful Feet Books. The writing and illustrations are beautiful. It has been a nice, slow way to travel around the US, and it not only helps with geography, but with history and social studies as well.

[Mary Lee]

Published in 1940, this book is (not surprisingly) problematically white-centric. Not a book I would ever use in my classroom. Read upon recommendation that it connected (tree witnessing history) to my poem: http://www.maryleehahn.com/2020/06/sa...

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

We enjoyed this book and liked learning about the early history of the west. It had cool stories and lots of extra information in the sidebars. We also followed along using a map to see the trails they took and learned the states and cities as we went. Fun unit.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible illustrations that only enhanced the story with interesting details. Not my favorite Holling to read aloud, compared to, say, “Seabird” or “Paddle To The Sea”. “Tree” was rather choppy reading and, for me, hard to pull off the Wild West accent (not sure how else to describe it.)