My initial thought was Buckthorn. Never split any though. Nasty stuff takes over and shades everything else out. Get small purplish berries. Welcome to the club Wooden Beard
after looking at the last pic, the bark does resemble choke/ornamental cherry. Sort of looks like birch bark on steroids.
Took some pics of Buckthorn near me this morning. Thorns aren't always obvious, especially on younger growth. Bark starts out smooth, looking like birch or cherry, and gets rough and flaky as the tree matures. Never seen one get very big. I have pics of the trunks that show the stages they grow through but am having difficulty posting them.
