The disease evidently arrived when the powerline went in running north to south at the top of the ridge on the far left side of the pic. Or possibly when that gravel pit was scooped out just to the right of the earliest attack. Those earliest trees have been dead at least five years.
In 2010 it moved abruptly downgrade attacking the trees surrounding the cabin and in the vicinity of the chickenhouse. But I hadn’t noticed until I viewed the sat-image that it’s also moving west beyond the ridgeline [far left]. Beyond that ridge and to the west it’s heavily treed with oaks all the way to the western property line.
Judging from what’s happening to the west of the ridge there mightn’t be a red oak left on that side of the property within a couple of years.
But downgrade to the east there doesn’t appear to be any infestation at all, yet.
Truly a mystery.
Old Jules
My 2011 posts about this:
Oak Wilt, Firewood and Sawmilling, For Want of a Nail – Something Worth Knowing Chainsaw-wise, A Poem as Lovely as a Tree – An Oak Ponders Oak-Wilt, Outsmarted by a Dead Tree.
So Far From Heaven 
There used to be beautiful Dutch elms lining the streets in the town where I grew up. Dutch elm disease got them. It made me sad to see them gone. We had an ice storm one year that took the trees we had our swings on; it made my gram and mother sad to see the devastation of proof of our childhood. I hope you don’t lose all of your oaks.
elroyjones: I hope Gale and Kay don’t lose them. I’m guessing before the trees around the cabin breathe their last I’ll be somewhere further west so’s I be thinking about different trees. Best to you. Jules
Happy New Year 2012,,,, have fun 🙂
Thanks The Tale Of My Heart. I hope you the best. Gracias, Jules
I stumbled across some colonial descriptions of this part of Oklahoma, in which there were very few trees at all. It was mostly open prairie. From what I understand, white settlers managed to raise the water table a whole bunch in the past century. Now the whole place is infested with a big mix of trees. Then we started getting various attacks on some of the trees in the past few decades. I reckon for us it would simply be a cycle with a longer tail than anyone living.
Hi Ed. I expect you’re correct. One way or another, anyway. Gracias, and best to you. Jules
That is really interesting, how clearly you can trace the activity of man just by looking from above. Here in Illinois there is a large group of us active in restoration. Sometimes, though, the question does come up of just what period are we trying to restore to. My personal belief is we should be aiming for healthy ecosystems and then let species duke it out for themselves. At least, to the extent they can, on the relatively small pieces of land left to them! It is extremely useful to have people keeping an eagle eye, so to speak, on things. Sooner or later there will be a tree that is resistant to the wilt.
Melissabluefineart: We leaves our footprints. Same as the dinosaurs left theirs in the riverbed not-too-far-from-here. Flood came and washed away the overburden and there they were, a moment in the life of a giant lizard a buzzillion years ago someone snapped a picture of. It’ll pass some future flood, same as ours. Gracias, Jules
This is great post!
Heather: Thank you. Jules