My morning run took me past the oldest tree in Central Park. This London Plane tree is over 150 years old and was planted sometime shortly before the Reservoir in Central Park was constructed in 1862. To give a little historical perspective, at about the time this tree was planted America was fighting the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln began the process to free African slaves by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, but would also move to brutally eradicate Native Americans by ordering the largest mass hanging in United States history of 38 Santee Sioux and gave a presidential promise to kill or remove every single Native American from the state of Minnesota.