Houston Campsite Oak

In 1843 Sam Houston spent about six weeks camped under a post oak here, waiting to sign a peace treaty with Native nations. The City of Coppell, which looks after the park, calls the tree the Sam Houston Treaty Oak. Dallas County's account and the Coppell Historical Society agree on the outline: almost six weeks of waiting in 1843, and a treaty that was finally signed months later at Bird's Fort, near present-day Euless. Not every telling matches. A student article puts the camp in 1836, and the state historical marker for the park places the treaty site near Arlington. Whether this particular trunk is the one Houston slept beneath is tradition rather than record. Nobody has published its age, its girth or its height either. If you know how old it is, tell us. What is on record is that it is alive and doing well. A visitor who came in December 2019 found it bare, returned in spring 2020 to find it in full leaf, and called it healthy. It grows in Grapevine Springs Park, 23 acres with features built by the Works Progress Administration. A sign marks it, so there is no guessing which oak carries the name. The park opens half an hour before sunrise and closes half an hour after sunset.