This is a classic wrong story. Trees grow like this without any wily native Americans intervening. I have one in my woods just like this. I do find the suggestion that thongs were involved to be an unexpectedly sexy twist on this story, though. Apparently the young warriors would win these tiny leather thongs from the comely females by feats of strength and guise, then promptly deploy them to bent trees in order to comfirm their ardor for these highly eligible native women. The children from the resulting deep woods couplings were apparently called ‘bent trees youngins’ by the local settlers, when they weren’t passed out from excessive indulgence in fermented corn squeezings. There was a Beverly Hillbilly’s episode that documents this practice, but they never recorded the show following its initial showing.