The Will Rogers Mesquite

Texas ranchers spend real money bulldozing mesquite, and this one is a national champion. The honey mesquite on the Will Rogers Memorial Center grounds measures 478 centimetres round, taped by the Texas Big Tree Registry in June 2024; an ordinary mature mesquite rarely passes 200. The DFW National Champion Tree Trail names it the national champion of its species, and that crown is the trail's claim rather than a permanent title, because the American Forests register turns over and champions get dethroned. The trunk is not in dispute. Mesquite is the tree Texas treats as a weed. It is thorny, crooked, deep rooted and almost impossible to kill, it takes over grazing land, it gets cleared by the acre, and then it ends up in the smoker giving brisket its flavour. Almost nothing is allowed to grow old. This one did, on city ground beside the halls where the Fort Worth Stock Show fills the complex every winter, watched by crowds who came for the livestock and walked past a record without looking up. Nobody has recorded its age, and mesquite growth swings so hard with rainfall that a guess would be worth nothing. If you have seen a figure, tell us. It stands free and unfenced in the Cultural District, a short walk from the Botanic Garden.