They say a boy left his bike chained to a tree when he went away to war in 1914

A young boy heads off to war, leaving his bicycle leaning against a tree, never to return. His grieving parents leave it there as a memorial, and over time the tree slowly grows around it. It’s the kind of tale the people love, poignant, mysterious, and just believable enough to spread. But like many viral stories, a closer look quickly unravels the myth. For one, the United States didn’t enter World War I until 1917, not 1914, and the bicycle in the image clearly isn’t from that era, nor does it resemble something owned by a soldier of any age.

The real story is far more grounded, if no less fascinating. The so-called “Bike Tree” on Vashon Island dates back to the 1950s and belonged to a boy named Don Puz. After his father died in a house fire, the local community rallied to support his family, gifting young Don a bicycle he never particularly liked. While playing in a swampy area that would later be developed, he simply abandoned it and forgot all about it. Decades later, during a visit in 1995, he was taken to see the now-famous tree, by then grown around the rusting frame, and immediately recognised it as his own. Reflecting on the strange twist of fate, Puz remarked that he no longer owned the bike: “I threw it away a long time ago… I think the tree owns it now.”