According a brochure found at the trailhead:

This large 57″ diameter dominant White Oak with a spreading crown has tremendous wildlife value. A “wolf” tree is a historical remnant (equivalent to a stone wall) that is an obvious indicator of past agricultural activity. This particular tree was from the Everett Farm. The family came from Scotland in 1746, Isaac Everett (Everitt) was a mason who built blast furnaces for melting iron ore. He settled in Putnam in 1750-1760 and was one of the chain bearers who surveyed the lot lines in the Philipse Patent in 1777. His son Abraham bought the 236 acre farm in Carmel from Frederick Philipse in 1813/14. Abraham and his sons were pioneers in the western cattle trade and drove fatted steers to market on foot. One of his sons, Leonard K. Everett lived on the farm from about 1850-1880. He was treasurer of Putnam County in 1854, and a trustee in the association that built the Carmel Collegiate Institute and Drew’s Ladies Seminary (William S. Pelletreau, History of Putnam County, 1886)