Dr. H.J. Webber from the Citrus Experiment Station Recites a Poem He Wrote to the Mother Orange Tree of California at Monument Dedication
Bidwell Bar, Oroville on Nov. 27, 1926
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"Ancient in years, wind scarred, sun seared,
A Monarch now you stand.
Your lofty crown to Heaven reared,
In you Kingdom of the land.
Tumultuous torrents of ancient days
Enriched the soil on which you stand;
Denuded the quartz of mountain maze
And flaked with gold your virgin sand.
In your shade as the years rolled past
The children of man have played,
Their joys and sorrows all at last
Beneath your branches staid.
Oh noble tree of the golden fruit
Thy good life's well nigh o'er;
Yet thoughtless men thy branches loot
God's choicest fruit of yore.
You perish not when life is done
Thy seedling throng the fields
Death then for thee but life begun
Thy golden fruit the blessings wield.
Live on old tree in memory
Of the garish scenes of old,
Of the fields of gold and hearts so bold
That enriched thy destiny.
Stay on, and on, in your golden sphere
Refreshing men by your fruits divine.
A noble task, man's lífe to cheer,
A boon God willed as thine."


Background from IT WAS TOLD TO ME: A Novel with Historical Background by Florence Danforth-Boyle:

"In 1856, the same year the Suspension Bridge was opened for travel, Judge Joseph Lewis of Bidwell Bar went to Sacramento and purchased a small two-year-old orange tree which was growing in a tub. He brought the tree to Bidwell Bar and had his foreman, Howard Burt, plant it...

"On November 27, 1926, the Honorable Board of Supervisors of Butte County and the Native Sons and Native Daughters of the Golden West of Oroville erected and dedicated a monument to the pioneers of California commemorating the Old Suspension Bridge and the orange tree, now known as the "Mother Orange Tree of California."