Frank Windes was fascinated by the “Big Tree” that stood near the present-day intersection of Glenview Road and the Edens Expressway in Wilmette, and created a watercolor painting of it c. 1940s. Also referred to as the “Potawatomi Tree,” this tree was a possible Native American meeting place before white settlers arrived. The tree was reportedly over 130 feet tall with a hollow cavity at its base that was “so large that a man on horseback could ride into it without lowering his head” (Lake Shore News, December 25, 1914). Many suspected it was over 600 years old and was the largest tree in the Mississippi Valley before it toppled and fell in 1903.

Image of the “Big Tree” taken by architect William Otis, 1897.