Seminole Whipping Tree - Wewoka, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 35° 09.471 W 096° 29.472
14S E 728516 N 3893430
This tree represents a symbol of justice in the Seminole Nation in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.
Waymark Code: WMX637
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 12/02/2017
Views: 2
This pecan tree stands in front of the Seminole County Courthouse, the former location for the Seminole Nation Courthouse. It is approximately 65 feet high and thought to be 150 years old. It was used to dispense justice from 1899 to 1907. The tree is living and healthy and still produces pecans. The main branch of the tree to which the guilty man was tied has been removed but the location of the scar is visible in the photos.
The tree was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. The National Register nomination application outlines the circumstances under which this whipping tree was used and is quoted here:
"The whipping tree was used from 1899 until 1907 for public whippings given to guilty persons by the Seminole Lighthorsemen. The Seminole Council was the body which conferred judgment and pronounced sentence. Whipping was punishment for crimes such as arson, perjury, incest, rape and small thefts. A man judged to be guilty of a crime by the Seminole Council was told to report at a certain time, usually the Saturday following his appearance before the Council. The Lighthorsemen (the Seminole police) were sent in search of pecan or hickory switches or rods which they used to whip the guilty person.
"The whipping was a public affair. The guilty man was stripped to the waist and his feet loosely tied together with a rope. A pole 16 to 20 feet long was placed on top of the rope between the man's feet. Two men would sit on either end of the pole to hold the man in place. The man's hands were tied together palm to palm and the rope thrown over a limb of the tree and pulled tight. The effect was to keep the man upright for the duration of the whipping. Depending on the severity of the crime, 25, 50 75 or 100 lashes were given. After a third offense the guilty person would be executed."