The story of the felling of the oldest tree

Prometheus (above) was the nickname given to the oldest known non-clonal organism, a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine tree approximately 5,000 years old which formerly grew at tree line on Wheeler Peak in eastern Nevada, USA. The tree was cut down in 1964 by a graduate student and U.S. Forest Service personnel for research purposes, who did not know of its world-record age before the cutting.
In the 1950s dendrochronologists were making active efforts at finding the oldest living tree species, in order to use the analysis of the rings for various research purposes, such as the evaluation of former climates, the dating of archaeological ruins, and addressing the basic scientific question of maximimum potential lifespan. Bristlecone pines in the White Mountains of California and elsewhere were discovered by Edward Schulman to be older than any species yet discovered.
The exact location of the now-oldest tree, Methuselah, is kept secret by the administering agency, the U.S. Forest Service. Because of the importance of the species in dendrochronological research, all bristlecone pines, standing or down, are now protected.