The Sam Houston Oak
age unknownSouthern Live Oak
On the night of 13 March 1836, Sam Houston and as many as four hundred Texans camped under this live oak with Gonzales burning behind them. News of the fall of the Alamo had arrived, the town was burned, and the retreat that followed is remembered as the Runaway Scrape. The tree carries that name too. One account has Santa Anna's forces camping under the same oak about three weeks later, which no reliable source confirms. Treat it as a story attached to the tree rather than a fact about it. The Braches House beside it came afterwards, a Greek Revival house of 1842, six years after the night that made the spot worth marking. Texas put up a historical marker at the roadside turn in 1936. This is a view only tree. The house and the land around it are private and cannot be entered, but the oak stands plainly visible from CR 361, a public dirt road, and the pin marks the roadside viewing point rather than the trunk. Nobody has published an age for it. It was already big enough in 1836 for several hundred men to camp under, and no source gives a figure. If you know one, tell us.
The button above opens directions in your maps app. Rural Gonzales County, Texas, about 8 miles / 13 km east of the town of Gonzales on Hwy 90A then north on CR 361. Not within 30 minutes of any city we currently publish (Houston and San Antonio are both roughly 90+ minutes away); stands alone as a Gonzales-area entry.
- Species
- Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana)
- Age estimate
- Location
- Beside the Braches House, off CR 361, about 8 miles east of Gonzales, Texas (Rural Gonzales County)
- Access
- View-only from a public dirt road. The Braches House and the land the oak stands on are private property; visitors cannot enter, but the tree and house are visible from CR 361, a public dirt road, from a respectful distance outside the gates and fences. A 1936 Texas state historical marker stands at the roadside turn (Alternate US 90 / CR 361).
- Getting there
- Rural Gonzales County, Texas, about 8 miles / 13 km east of the town of Gonzales on Hwy 90A then north on CR 361. Not within 30 minutes of any city we currently publish (Houston and San Antonio are both roughly 90+ minutes away); stands alone as a Gonzales-area entry.
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