The Message Tree

Before Oklahoma became a state, people in this area used the Message Tree to communicate by nailing messages to it for loved ones or business partners. The surrounding area was tied to early travel and mail routes, from the Overland Mail Stopover to the Butterfield Stage Line, which connected St. Louis to San Francisco in the mid-1800s. In 1931, during the bridge wars between Texas and Oklahoma, Governor Alfalfa Bill Murray arrived with troops to open the New Free Bridge and posted a notice on the tree saying he had plowed up the road to the old toll bridge and needed everyone to meet that day to cross the free bridge.

Colbert, Oklahoma · United States