The legend of rural California’s ancient buttonwillow tree

May 29, 2025 6:31 AM PT

Share via
- Email
- Facebook
- X
- LinkedIn
- Threads
- Reddit
- WhatsApp

BUTTONWILLOW, Calif. — Honestly, I stopped for the dateline. In newspaper and wire service parlance, a dateline is the name of a place, typically written in capital letters and followed by an em dash, at the beginning of an article. It signifies a journalist’s physical location while reporting or writing a story.

As a state reporter who often writes about rural communities, I pride myself on getting obscure datelines from far-flung towns and census-designated places here in the Golden State.

Until this week, I had never been to Buttonwillow, an unincorporated farm town of about 1,200 people in Kern County.

While plotting a drive north on the 5 Freeway for another story — I can’t give that one away just yet — I was drawn to a location marker on Google Maps that read: “Buttonwillow Tree-Kern CHL #492.” It stands for California Historical Landmark 492: An ancient buttonwillow tree for which the town is named.

I pulled off the freeway early Tuesday morning and onto a small, dusty clearing in front of the bushlike tree, which is surrounded by a short concrete wall. The buttonwillow grows next to a drainage ditch. In front of it is an unadorned rock bench, a utility pole, and, on this morning, a discarded plastic jug on the ground.

It might not look like much. But the tree has a fascinating history.

According to the bronze historical marker placed in front of the tree by the Kern County Historical Society in February 1952, the tree was an “ancient Yokuts Indian meeting place” along a trail that cut across the Central Valley.

“The tree stood all alone and clearly visible for many miles almost in the center of a vast plain,” the Reedley Exponent newspaper reported in October 1952, noting that Indigenous people in the region met at the buttonwillow for “every social or tribal event of importance,” including dances.

Later, the newspaper reported, white cattle drivers turned the tree into a makeshift post office, affixing letters to it for those who followed. They also held rodeos at the site. It was hard to believe this tree — currently boasting ball-shaped white flowers that look like little pincushions — has survived so much: drought, extensive groundwater pumping, the transformation of the arid plain around it into farmland. I was glad I made the stop.

Here are a few of my other favorite datelines from across this endlessly fascinating state.

— Volcano: A town of about 100 people in Amador County that sits in a bowl-shaped valley Gold Rush miners thought might be the crater of a dormant volcano. It is home to a thriving, all-volunteer theater company.

— Weedpatch: In Kern County, this was home to the former Weedpatch Camp, the federally run camp for migrant laborers — many of them Okies — immortalized in John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath.”

— Blackwell’s Corner: James Dean made his last stop at this gas station — and census-designated place, hence the dateline — in rural Kern County. The convenience store has become a roadside shrine to the “Rebel Without a Cause” actor, who died in a car crash 26 miles west of there.

— Cool: In early 2020, I reported from this tiny town in El Dorado County where residents tried to fight a planned Dollar General store, fearing it would gentrify the place. That was just before pandemic lockdowns began. The store eventually was built.

— Peanut: This speck on a map in Trinity County is said to have been named by a postmaster who was snacking on a bag of goobers when he proposed the moniker for the Peanut post office, which became the town name.

Today’s top stories

Many fire victims are owed a tax refund. L.A. County can’t find some of them

L.A. County officials said they have sent roughly 9,700 checks totaling $26 million to residents whose properties were reassessed because of wildfire damage.
In about 330 cases, U.S. Postal Service workers tried unsuccessfully to deliver checks to vacant or destroyed homes, since residents hadn’t provided a new address.
Residents who were displaced by the fires can update their mailing addresses at the county assessor’s website.

Pollution from the Tijuana River is ending up in the air near the border

Researchers said the pollutants are carried in wastewater and stormwater runoff, and become airborne in spray where the river meets the crashing waves near the border, and also probably enter the air from churning waters in the river itself.
Findings show that the river, in addition to carrying water pollution that has forced beach closures and odors that have plagued nearby communities, also is releasing fine particles of air pollution beyond what people can see or smell.

Sean Combs’ inner circle reveals a world of guns, abuse, kidnapping and death threats

This week, the stories of those in Combs’ inner circle were heard in his federal trial on racketeering and sex trafficking charges. They told of his threats of murder, coercion, kidnapping and the beatings he inflicted on his former girlfriend.
One witness described himself as a Combs cleanup man who tossed out liquor bottles and narcotics after wild parties. Another witness said he once drove a heavily armed Combs for a confrontation with rap mogul Suge Knight.

What else is going on

‘It’s pretty bleak’: A warming planet is poised to get even hotter, forecasters warn.
A missing California influencer was found dead near an Arizona hiking trail after an extensive search, officials say.
As Musk exits, he sees his projects unraveling, inside and outside government.
The U.S. is poised to ‘aggressively’ revoke Chinese student visas, Secretary of State Marco Rubio says.
Under the Fire Act, inmate firefighters could have a new pipeline to employment.
Six Flags to cut 135 jobs at Knott’s, Magic Mountain and other California parks.
An Agoura Hills home displaying a Palestinian flag was attacked in a hate crime, authorities say.

Commentary and opinions

Target learns that bowing to anti-DEI backers can be costly, a lesson for those bowing to Trump, writes columnist Michael Hiltzik.
A foundation announced the groundbreaking for the Joshua Tree Art Museum, but public records reveal a more complicated picture, art critic Christopher Knight writes.
Once, international students feared Beijing’s wrath. Now Trump is the threat, argues guest columnist Sarah McLaughlin.

This morning’s must-reads

Other must-reads

Fifty years after its founding, L.A. Theatre Works finds new life thanks to the rise of podcasts and on-demand streaming.
In Netflix’s ‘The Residence,’ Uzo Aduba doesn’t tell jokes — but she’s seriously funny.

For your downtime

An aerial view of boats moored at Avalon Harbor.

Going out

Experiences: 25 fabulous things to do in L.A. to kick off the summer of 2025.
Travel: The 34 coolest, kitschiest, most fascinating motels in California.

Staying in

Music: Sparks Fly: Ron and Russell Mael, the beach boys of lotusland, get ‘MAD!’ on their latest album.
Recipes: Here’s a recipe for milk chocolate-dipped bacon ice cream sandwiches.
✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.

A question for you: What is your favorite California city to visit?

Cynthia says: “Pismo Beach.”
Terri says: “Morro Bay.”

Email us at [email protected], and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.

And finally ... from our archives

Page 3 of the May 29, 1973 edition of the Los Angeles Times, depicting Tom Bradley's historic mayoral win

On May 29, 1973, Tom Bradley became the first Black mayor of Los Angeles as well as the first Black mayor of a major U.S. city. He went on to serve an unprecedented five terms from 1973 to 1993.