Thomas Cree’s Little Tree

Set behind protective fence at south edge of U.S. 60 about five miles southwest of city is site of first tree planted throughout entire Texas Panhandle. Immense plains were once a sea of grass from horizon to horizon. In 1888 pioneer settler Thomas Cree hauled a sapling of bois d’arc from beyond the Cap Rock and planted it by his dugout home. Cree is long gone, but the tree thrived until 1969 when accidentally killed by an agricultural chemical. Carson County residents planted a new one as a memorial to early pioneers. Site is marked by two state historical markers and by a medallion from National Men’s Garden Clubs of America.