The mighty Ponderosa Pine where Peter Lassen was finally laid to rest was no longer to be. By the late 1940s, the estimated 600 year old tree was slowly dying. By the late 1950s, the tree was dead. It was deemed a potential hazard to visitors and the monuments. On Sunday, September 10, 1961 three timber fallers—Lloyd Eoff, Preston Franklin and Orien Worley—were delegated to fall the tree. The164 foot tall tree measured nine feet in diameter and 27.3 feet in circumference at the butt. At the time, it was believed to the oldest and largest Ponderosa Pine in the United States. A section of the tree was shipped to the University of Arizona to be studied. Another section of tree was placed next to the museum in Susanville.
