New Mexico Delivers Christmas Enchantment to the U.S. Capitol

November 6, 2019 | By Jaymi Firestone | Photos/Videos provided by Kinsey Webb

Mid-morning on November 6th, a crew of the very best workers around harvested a beautiful blue spruce from the Carson National Forest near Red River, NM to be used as a Christmas tree.

The importance of this is where this particular tree will be placed for the holidays. It wasn’t pulled out of the ground and tied to a station wagon like the giant Griswold Christmas tree. This one was harvested with great care to make the long trip from the beautiful mountain town of Red River to our Nation’s Capital, Washington D.C. In fact, this gorgeous tree will be the 2019 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, or “The People’s Tree,” resting on the West Front Lawn of our beloved U.S. Capitol building, and will proudly be representing the holidays for our country!

The tradition of a yearly Capitol Christmas Tree began in 1964. The Speaker of the House that year was a Democrat from Massachusetts names John W. McCormack. He placed a beautiful Douglas-fir he purchased in Pennsylvania on the lawn of the Capitol Building. The tree ended up living well beyond the holidays that year. In fact, it ended up living until 1967 when a terrible wind storm damaged its roots (uscspitolchristmastree.com). For the 3 years the tree was thriving in Washington D.C., it was redecorated yearly in celebration of the Christmas holiday season.

After that tree died, white pines from Maryland were cut down and put on display for the 1968 and 1969 seasons.

Then in 1970, the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) requested the U.S. Forest Service to provide a beautiful tree each year to be “The People’s Tree.”

49 trees of all different breeds have been harvested since 1970 to adorn the lawn of the Capitol Building. Twice prior to this year, New Mexico’s National Forests have been chosen to provide the Capitol Christmas Tree.

In 1991, the tree was provided by Carson National Forest. The tree was a blue spruce, much like the one harvested this year, and was 66 feet tall. It was lit by former President George Bush, along with the aid of Terry Anderson, who was the last American hostage released from Lebanon. Addressing the former hostages of that year, President Bush said “Your fortitude, your humor and generosity tell us the true meaning of this season, and, at this time of year especially, these men remind us that the glitz and glamour of material things don’t matter.” [Washington Post, December 13, 1991.]

Then in 2005, the Santa Fe National Forest provided The People’s Tree for Washington D.C. It was a beautiful, 65 foot Engelmann Spruce. It was decorated with some 3,000 ornaments crafted and donated by the people of New Mexico, and was lit with 10,000 lights (including strands of LEDs for the first time). The tree remained lit from dusk until 11 pm each night through January 1, 2006.

This year, New Mexico will be represented again by providing the nation with a tree from Carson National Forest.

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The Land of Enchantment is delivering an enchanting tree to Washington that will be decorated with ornaments made by our local communities. The holiday season is about happiness, love, and memories. And as New Mexico proudly boasts in the state pledge, nothing is more important than perfect friendship among united cultures.

As Americans, regardless of where you live, what religion you follow, what sexuality you claim, or what the color of your skin is, The People’s Tree is meant to bring our country together for the greater good, to remind us all what it means to be an American.

This year, the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree from our small mountain town of Red River represents the beauty New Mexico brings to the country.

And as it travels across the country, and is placed in Washington and adorned with ornaments, may it be a reminder to celebrate the holiday season as a diverse, but unified nation.

If you’d like to track the tree’s path, please visit: Capitoltreetracker.com