
Image of “The King’s Mark” Chesterfield New Hampshire Historical Society
Today, April 19th, 2025 marks the 250th anniversary of the “shot heard round the world.” The Battle at Lexington and Concord marked the beginning of the American Revolution. One of the causes of the revolution was the resentment felt by colonists of a king and parliament across the ocean asserting their authority on commercial issues. The famous Boston Tea Party in 1773 was a riot against the tax on tea but less well know is the Pine Tree Riot of 1772, which was a push against royal control of pine trees.
As an island nation, Britain relied on the might of the Royal Navy for much of its power. Ships of the time needed a lot of wood and the American Colonies provided a new and abundant source of available lumber. The eastern white pine was quickly singled out for as ideal for ship masts. White pine grows tall and straight, its wood is light but strong. The British Government sought to claim all desirable white pine trees for the Royal Navy though a series of White Pine Acts, also known as the Broad Arrow Policy.
The first of these Acts was in 1691 and was written into the Massachusetts Charter, which established the Province of Massachusetts Bay as a colony. This claimed all trees of 24 inches diameter or greater for the Royal Navy.
“.. for better providing and furnishing of Masts for our Royal Navy we do hereby reserve to us … ALL trees of the diameter of 24 inches and upward at 12 inches from the ground, growing upon any soils or tracts of land within our said Province or Territory not heretofore granted to any private person. We…forbid all persons whatsoever from felling, cutting or destroying any such trees without the royal license from us.”
As part of the enforcement “Surveyors of the King’s Woods” were assigned by the Crown to identify suitable “mast pines”. These pines were to be marked with the “King’s Mark”, a broad arrow marking. The broad arrow mark, a stylized arrow head, had been used to mark English royal property since the 14th century. It also had the added benefit of being easy to apply to trees, taking just three ax strikes to make.
Several other white pines acts were passed with the last in 1729. By this time the act has been expanded to the Colonies of Nova-Scotia, New-Hampshire, Massachusetts- Bay, the Province of Maine, Rhode Island and Providence Plantation, the Narraganset Country, Connecticut New York, and New Jersey. It said that no person in those colonies “shall presume to cut, fell, or destroy any white pine trees… without his Majesty’s royal license…”

An excerpt of the 1729 White Pine Act, The New York Gazette, November 17th, 1729.
Despite having many white pines, Pennsylvania seems to have mostly escaped these acts. This was perhaps due to the type of charter the Pennsylvania Colony had which made it a colony controlled by the Penn family.
Enforcement of the white pine acts was spotty and many colonists simply ignored them, yet the resentment of their existence and enforcement started to built up. It was not unheard of for colonist to harass or run off the surveyors trying to enforce the law. One such incident was the “Mast Tree Riot” of 1734 in Fremont, NH. Perhaps the most famous was the “Pine Tree Riot” in 1772, also in New Hampshire. During this 1772 riot, a mob of about 20 townsmen beat and drove off a sheriff and deputy who had been sent to collect a fine owed by a local sawmill for cutting “Royal” pines. Though a seemingly small event, this act combined with others like the Tea Party and growing revolutionary sentiments helped lead to the events at Lexington and Concord and the Revolutionary War.
The Pine Tree became a symbol of the patriot movement, a symbolic reclaiming of what had been claimed by the King. The pine tree appeared on early flags including the famous “Appeal to Heaven” Flag, used by naval ships commissioned by George Washington in 1775 as well as the Massachusetts State Navy. A pine tree flag on the cross of St. George is said to have been flown at the battle of Bunker Hill.

“An Appeal To Heaven” flag, Chase and Sanborn Coffee illustration, 1898