Historical Period: Republic of Texas (1836-1845)
Historical Topic: Law & Order, Mob Justice
Species: Post Oak (Quercus stellata)
County: Red River
Public Access: Yes, Page’s Tree is in the northwest corner of the old Clarksville Cemetery, at the corner of Washington and Grove Streets, in Clarksville.
As it sheds its leaves in winter, over the years, this post oak has shed its morbid reputation as a hanging tree to emerge as a symbol of peace and respite. For nearly two hundred years this towering oak has shaded the graves of those laid to rest in the historic Clarksville Cemetery. Over that time, it has revealed little of the days when the lives of men hung from its branches. This dark occupation began when slaves of area settlers Levi Davis and Capt. Charlie Burkham fled the plantations.
While Davis and Burkham were on the hunt for their fugitive slaves, they stopped at the farm house of a man named Page. The two were never seen or heard from again, though some legends state their bodies were later found floating in the Caddo River. After the men disappeared, their friends set out to find them. They spotted a man riding Burkham’s mule, and after questioning him discovered he had bought it from Page. The group then rounded up Page, his son, and two others and brought them into custody. Ultimately, a confession by one of the
suspects and a trial by the Clarksville vigilance committee led to a guilty verdict. By order of the committee, all four men were hung from this tree in 1837.
From then on the sturdy oak, now branded Page’s Tree, was routinely used in the fight for “justice”—so much so that early residents simply referred to it as the “Hanging Tree.” Judicial law eventually put an end to the hangings. Today, Page’s Tree lives peacefully in Clarksville Cemetery.