Two Trees

As seen from Poinsettia School

Two Trees is the common way to refer to a pair of Eucalyptus trees up on the hills above Ventura. It is sort of an emblem of the city, along with the Poinsettia flower.

• Legend speaks of three or more trees up on that hill in the past, but its mostly just rumor. If someone has any stories, please add them.
  

• I heard that there was like 12 or more trees and somebody cut all but 2 down to prove his love to his fiancee, and that he was arrested for doing this.
  

• There is also a rumor that the reason they closed off the trail is because some satanists sacrificed a horse or cow or something in the 80s and that it was in the paper.

Tree Two

Tree One Eucalyptus Tree Flower A View from the Trees

Comments:

Note: You must be logged in to add comments

2009-05-28 18:02:54   Please use the comment section for your unsubstantiated claims unless you can reference them, in which case, please edit this page. —JohnNash

2009-05-28 19:47:14   Man, those "unsubstantiated claims" were made by an anonymous editor, so you're talking into the ether, man. I do have an account by a friend who says one of his ancestors cut down a third tree, but I'm waiting for some sort of confirmation that this whole "third tree" idea isn't just a founding family myth. Also, I think I had a tendency to think they were oaks from a long way away, because I thought they were naturally occurring. As eucalyptus trees, they had to have been planted by someone. —BrentLaabs

2009-06-24 03:31:50   I'm sure you might take this as a unsubstantiated claim, but actually there were 13, planted at the turn of the last century. Joseph Sexton, a horticulturist noted in local history books for his work with walnuts, avocados, and the introduction of pampas grass, is responsible for one of Ventura's most unusual landmarks. In 1898, Mr. Sexton, then owner of the land, hired a neighbor, Owen Marron, to plant thirteen Big Blue Gum Eucalyptus trees for him. His reason for this unusual undertaking? Just because it would be nice. Marron planted the thirteen saplings and then spent many hours hauling water to the trees, by horseback and burro, to insure their survival. And survive they did for the first five years. Then a raging fire, typical of California's brasada (brush country) destroyed all but five of the trees. And that is how "Five Trees" got its name. Now you may be wondering how there came to be only two trees on that hill? It was shortly after WWII that some Halloween pranksters decided to cut down the trees that had been sentinels above Ventura for over half a century. Citizens rallied. They replaced the three trees that had fallen victims of the vandals' saws. Again, fun-seeking dunces struck, leaving only one of the original trees and one of the new standing. In 1966, the Ventura Junior Women's Club took it upon themselves to plant trees on the hill, so that "Five Trees" would once again be shaded by graceful eucalyptus trees to the number of five. An ambitious project, it must have failed in some unknown way. —69.230.193.201