The newest U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree took the long way east. The 79-foot Engelmann spruce was harvested Nov. 7 and then took a two-and-a-half-week, 3,500-mile ride from northwestern Montana to Washington, D.C.

The tree stands tall today, lit and decorated, on the West Lawn of the Capitol. The spruce tree was nicknamed “Beauty of the Big Sky,” and when decorated, carries thousands of LED lights and handmade ornaments from the children of Montana. A 5-foot star made of copper mined and processed in the state tops the tree.

The tree was harvested in a remote part of the Kootenai National Forest in Montana. It traveled from Libby, Mont., on a Kenworth T680 Advantage tractor-trailer rig with special decals. The truck made 23 stops before arriving at the Capitol.

The rig was driven by Larry Spiekermeier, an owner-operator contracted with Billings, Mont.-based Whitewood Transport. Spiekermeier, in his 49-year career as a truck driver, has amassed 3.5 million accident-free miles — 1.6 million of those miles with Whitewood.

In a press statement about the tree and its transport, Spiekermeier commented that watching “The People’s Tree” light up “was an incredible way to end what has been the crown jewel experience of my 49 years driving trucks.”

Power traveler
That Kenworth truck was a Paccar Powertrain-equipped vehicle with a Paccar MX-13 engine, Paccar 12-speed automatic transmission with column-mounted shifter, and a Paccar 40,000-pound tandem rear axle. The rig also has a 76-inch sleeper with the premium “Driver’s Studio” option.

The tour attracted thousands of visitors as it traveled through Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri and Kentucky. The tour trailer featured a 3-by-15-foot clear acrylic window so people could see a section of the tree’s top, which was lit up with lights. Those lights were powered by the Kenworth rig.

Spiekermeier was met with dry weather for the trip, too, which helped make travel easier. “Tribal elders from the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation came out and blessed the tree and our trip. I think that may have had something to do with why we were blessed with dry roads for the rest of the trip,” he said.

The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree tradition started in 1964 with then-Speaker of the House John W. McCormack, who planted a live tree on the Capitol Lawn. That tree was destroyed by a severe windstorm and its roots damaged. In 1970, the U.S. Forest Service began the annual tradition of providing the tree, which became known as “The People’s Tree.”

Source: Kenworth