LEGEND OF THE OCTOPUS TREE
AT CAPE MEARES STATE SCENIC VIEWPOINT

SITKA SPRUCE - (PICEA SITCHENSIS)

Tradition handed down by the Indians is that the eerie giant is a burial tree shaped when it  was young to hold canoes of a chief's family.  Such deeply-rooted lore passed from generation to generation is likely to be founded on truth, and Indian history of the area will corroborate it. 

Archaeologists have found evidence that Indians lived along these shores.  The tribes in this area for generations back through the dim past placed their dead in the trees in  canoes.  But the trees had to be prepared to hold them.  Branches of a forest tree normally reach straight upward, toward the light, but those on a burial tree were forced, when pliable, into a horizontal  position beyond which they grew upward.  Once the pattern was set, the tree might grow to a great size but always kept the shape, as did the Octopus Tree. 

Burial trees (the oldest trees) for  many years could be spotted here and there in the virgin forest.  The Octopus Tree (which the Indians revered and called The CouncilTree) is more than 60 feet at its base.  No one can tell its  age without counting the rings.  Some theorize it could have been a young tree at about the time of Christ.  No matter what the actual age of the tree may be, a visit to the prehistoric tree of mystery is  truly an enjoyable visit. 

The Octopus Tree is located about 600 feet south of the parking lot.  It was recognized as an Oregon Heritage Tree in 2009.