[2] The land was officially donated to Chehalis by the Henderson Lumber Company in 1908 but forgotten by the city until 1913, though the area was treated as a park by local residents.

[7] At the end of 1916, the city commissioners, led by the actions of a local auto club, began to convert the land into a park for automobile travelers.

[12][13] Henderson Park, along with other recreation spots in the city, received a small Works Progress Administration (WPA) grant for improvements and the addition of playground equipment in 1937.

The tree, originally located on Market and 4th Street, grew from a graft completed in 1870 by an unnamed Native American boy and Joseph Saunders, youngest son of the city's founding family.

[18] The pioneer tree, most likely part of the Saunder's family orchard on the Hillside Historic District, was reported to have died a year or two later.