Story

Storyteller: Dr. Alicia Odewale

Out of this list of 500, one of the oldest trees nominated as a centennial witness tree was the “Creek Hanging Tree” located on North Lawton Avenue in Downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. This twisted bur oak tree that stands at least 6 stories tall has been estimated to be 235 years old, so it was already 100 by the time of the Oklahoma land run in 1889. Local stories describe this tree as the site of at least 15-20 public executions between the years 1870-1889 (DeFrange 2008, French 2010). While some have dismissed these stories as simply town lore, it’s worth noting that human ancestral remains were uncovered near the base of the tree by city sewer line workers in the early 1920s, possibly linked to the death of 3 cattle thieves who were hung together from this tree in the 1880s (French 2010, Owen 2002).