T here are many stories in the old west about hanging trees. This is one of the few that is authentic. The Hanging Tree is on the north lawn of the Goliad County Courthouse with many sturdy, low branches. Between 1846 and 1870 criminals convicted of capital crimes inside the courthouse were immediately brought outside and their death sentence carried out at the end of a rope. It isn’t known how many people lost their lives here, but most estimates are between the dozens and the low hundreds. The practice was halted by the Texas Rangers. Oak trees are an essential part of the town of Goliad and are revered by the locals. In fact, there are a number of trees that exist in the middle of the city streets and traffic has to maneuver around them. Some are marked with low clearance signs because of their branches, but it is very easy for someone in a van or truck, or even a tall pedestrian, to get crowned by one of these twisted branches.
A plaque nearby reads:
"The Hanging Tree Site for court sessions at various times from 1846 to 1870. Capital sentences called for by the courts were carried out immediately, by means of a rope and a convenient limb. Hangings not called for by regular courts occurred here during the 1857 ‘Cart War’ - A series of attacks made by Texas freighters against Mexican drivers along the Indianola - Goliad - San Antonio road. About 70 men were killed, some of them on this tree, before the war was halted by Texas Rangers. (1964)"
