My friend, Suzanne dropped me a most interesting note. She attended Notre Dame University in the early 1960s and developed a special relationship with a unique tree.
Recently she went back to visit.
“While in the area in 2010, I took a sentimental journey to my other alma mater, Notre Dame University, including a visit to the sycamore tree where I often sat 48 and 47 years ago to read beside the lake on campus. The intersection of branches that formed my perch has grown as high as I am tall. Its branches form an open hand stretched upward. Estimated to be about 200 years old, it is said to mark the spot where an innocent Potawatomi who lived near the lake was murdered for a crime committed by another; and, according to tradition, the tree represents the hand of God, who offers protection and proclaims, “Vengeance is mine.”
Thank you Suzanne, for providing your story, sharing your photos and for the links below to the rest of the story….
On the Notre Dame University campus in South Bend, Indiana, stands a large Sycamore tree. Legend has it that this Sycamore sprung from the place on the ground where the blood of an Indian was spilled.
http://www3.nd.edu/~wcawley/corson/cors022.htm
Dorothy Corson spent quite a bit of time and effort researching the early Native Americans in the region and the relationships between the early Potawatomi and Miami Indians, pre-removal, and whites, both settlers and missionaries, associated with what would eventually become Notre Dame.
Is the legend true? It might be. Read what Dorothy has to say…
http://www3.nd.edu/~wcawley/corson/cors021.htm
Please visit this link for additional chapters in the book, “A Cave of Candles.”
Native Heritage Project 
How wonderful. I love Sycamores, and this is a great story. Thanks for sharing it.
It’s officially the University of Notre Dame. There is a Notre Dame College in Euclid, Ohio or Notre Dame de Namue University in Belmont, CA. And the University of Notre Dame didn’t even have co-ed classes with St. Mary’s College accross US31 till ’65.