Description: 1989 Slice of Historical Treaty Oak Tree with Signed Certificate of Authenticity Framed Austin Texas Getting harder to find every year!Here we have a part of a fundraising effort tosave an historic tree in Austin Texas.What we have here is a slice of the famous tree mounted on a certificate of authenticity, andsigned by the Mayor of Austin at the time, and the city's official Forester!It's all in the original frame it was distributed in. If you do not know the story of this tree, read on:The Treaty Oak is a Texas live oak tree in Austin, Texas, United States, and the last surviving member of the Council Oaks, a grove of 14 trees that served as a sacred meeting place for Comanche and Tonkawa tribes before European colonization of the area. Foresters estimate the Treaty Oak to be about 500 years old. Before its vandalism in 1989, the tree's branches had a spread of 127 feet (39 m). The tree is located in Treaty Oak Park, on Baylor Street between 5th and 6th Streets, in Austin's West Line Historic District. A Native American legend holds that Council Oaks was a location for launching war and peace parties. Legends also describe that Hasinai women would drink a tea made from honey and the acorns of the oaks to ensure the safety of warriors in battle. According to popular local folklore, as well as the inscription on the plaque at the tree's base, in the 1830s, early Texas pioneer Stephen F. Austin met local Native Americans in the grove to negotiate and sign Texas's first boundary treaty after two children and a local judge were killed in raids. No historical documentation exists to support this event taking place. Folklore also holds that Sam Houston rested beneath the Treaty Oak after being deposed as Governor of Texas by the secessionist state legislature at the start of Texas's involvement in the American Civil War. As more and more European-Americans colonized Texas, Council Oaks fell victim to neglect and the development of Austin. By 1927 only one of the original 14 trees remained. The American Forestry Association proclaimed the tree a perfect specimen of a North American tree and inducted the Treaty Oak into its Hall of Fame. Beginning in the 1880s, the tree was privately owned by the Caldwell family in Austin. Because she could no longer afford to pay property taxes on the land, in 1926, the widow of W.H. Caldwell offered the land for sale for $7,000. While local historical groups urged the Texas Legislature to buy the land, it appropriated no funds. In 1937, the City of Austin purchased the land for $1,000 and installed a plaque honoring the tree's role in the history of Texas. In 1989, in a deliberate act of vandalism, the tree was poisoned with the powerful hardwood herbicide Velpar. Lab tests showed the quantity of herbicide used would have been sufficient to kill 100 trees. The incident sparked community outrage, national news reports, and a torrent of homemade "Get Well" cards from children that were displayed on the fence around the park. Texas industrialist Ross Perot wrote a blank check to fund efforts to save the tree. DuPont, the herbicide manufacturer, established a $10,000 reward to capture the poisoner. The vandal, Paul Cullen, was apprehended after reportedly bragging about poisoning the tree to cast a spell. Cullen was convicted of felony criminal mischief and sentenced to serve nine years in prison. Frame: 12" x 10"Certificate: 10" x 84"Weighs 1 lbs. 12 oz. (before careful packing for shipment)Framed with matte finished glass. Nicer than pictures show! (I'm not a professional photographer!)All sales final. Sold as-is. Carefully packed for shipment! Emailed queries welcomed!Postage is never truly free! Some or most of my items have come from barns, old houses and estate sales... UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, I MAKE NO CLAIMS AS TO ITEMS being "SMELL-FREE" or HAVING COME FROM SMOKE-FREE ENVIRONMENTS! Emailed questions always welcomed! FAST Shipping! Check my perfect positive feedback! Shipping discount for multiple orders. I make no profit on shipping... you will always be refunded any significant overcharges incurred because of my estimates.
Price: 31.5 USD
Location: Spicewood, Texas
End Time: 2024-11-16T03:54:01.000Z
Shipping Cost: 12.5 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Year: 1989
Signed: Yes
Theme: Cities & Towns
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
Section of Famous Tree after Poisoning Attempt: Limited, numbered fundraising item w Certificate of Authenticity