So many stories about trees, and this is just a sample, so I provided the link at the bottom to continue reading.

Plant Your Own Holiday by Jack Hudson

Newspaper editor Julius Sterling Morton wasn’t afraid to think big. In 1855, he started building a modest four-room house in Nebraska City, Neb., that later expanded into a 52-room White House lookalike. But it was only after his mansion was finished that Morton realized he had a problem. His spacious new digs sat on a desolate prairie, which made it hard to attract neighbors.

So Morton went to work planting trees. Lots of them. To gin up a little help, the newspaperman proposed a holiday on which all Nebraskans would join in. The State Board of Agriculture loved the idea, and on April 10, 1872, Nebraskans planted more than a million trees! The tradition became so popular that in 1885, Nebraska made Arbor Day a legal holiday, even tweaking the date to April 26, Morton’s birthday. Soon the rest of the country was celebrating Morton’s brainchild, and today, tree planting days are celebrated around the world.

Morton’s effort earned him and his family some good karma too. He went on to serve as secretary of agriculture under Grover Cleveland, and his son, Joy, founded the Morton Salt Company.

Read more great tree stories by following this link:

http://mentalfloss.com/article/50274/16-amazing-stories-about-trees