Historical Period: Early Statehood (1845-1861)
Historical Topic: Frontier Settlements, Law & Order
Species: Texas Live Oak (Quercus fusiformis)
County: Tarrant
Public Access: Yes, the tree is located on the east side of Traders Oak Park, off Samuels Avenue in Fort Worth.
More than just centers of commerce and conversation, trading posts were the cornerstones of frontier life. They were the vital link in the development of a region’s economic and political system. Trading partnerships could help quell tensions between the newcomers and Native Americans, who nervously shared divided territories throughout Texas.
In 1849, traders Henry Clay Daggett and Archibald Franklin Leonard recognized a financial opportunity in Tarrant County. Lured by the newly established military post at Fort Worth, the two men opened the Daggett-Leonard mercantile store a mile from the fort, in a log cabin behind this giant live oak tree.
The following year, Tarrant County’s first election for county officers was held at the Daggett-Leonard store. A few months later, the county’s first district court convened there with Judge Oran M. Roberts presiding (Roberts was later to become the 17th governor of Texas).
Daggett and Leonard moved their business when the military evacuated Fort Worth in September 1853. Daggett eventually partnered with Charles Turner (of Turner Oak fame) in opening one of Fort Worth’s first dry-goods store.