International Forest of Friendship

The International Forest of Friendship is a living, growing memorial to the world history of aviation and aerospace. The Forest was a gift to America on her 200th birthday in 1976 from the City of Atchison, Kansas; The Ninety-Nines (International Organization of Women Pilots), and the Kansas State University, Kansas Forest Service.

Joe Carrigan of Atchison, Kansas, and Fay Gillis Wells, a charter member of The Ninety-Nines and noted journalist, co-chaired the Forest from its inception until their deaths. Their sons, Pat Carrigan and Lin Wells, and families continue their dream of “world friendship through flying.”

The Forest is nestled on a gentle slope overlooking Lake Warnock, on the outskirts of Atchison. It is made up of trees from all fifty states and thirty-five countries around the world where Honorees reside. There are trees from George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate, the Bicentennial American Spruce, a tree from Amelia's grandfather's farm, and the Moon Tree grown from a seed taken to the moon by Command Pilot Stuart Roosa on Apollo 14. This latter tree honors the 17 astronauts who gave their lives in America's pioneering of space exploration. In 2003 a monument near the tree was dedicated to the seven astronauts lost on Columbia Shuttle.