‘Tique of the Week is an Austin-wide search for unique and interesting antiques. With dozens of antique shops around Austin, one-of-a-kind items from the past are not in short supply. Each week we’ll find a new favorite item and feature it as our Shores.”  This puts the oak at more than 600-years-old.  Its branches span over 128 feet, according to the Texas State Historical Association.

Although it may look like nothing more than an average tree to the untrained eye, the Treaty Oak was named “the most perfect specimen of a tree in North America” by the American Forestry Association.  This is no small feat considering the millions, perhaps billions, of competitors on the continent.

The Treaty Oak is the last surviving tree of a grove known as the Council Oaks, a group of 14 trees sacred to Native Americans.  The Comanche and Tonkawa would use the shade of the Council Oaks as a peaceful meeting place of their two tribes.  Women of these tribes would make a potion of the tree’s leaves on nights with a full moon to ensure the safety of their husbands in battle, according to the Texas State Historical Association.

The tree got its name from Stephen F. Austin himself in the 1830s.  The oak was used to sign the first boundary line between the natives and the white men.  This was the first of many treaties signed here, according to the Treaty Oak plaque.

Since being purchased by the city in 1957, Treaty Oak has caused quite a bit of drama.  In fact, in 1989 Paul Cullen poisoned the tree deliberately, according to the Texas State Historical Association.  Although the reason is unknown, the act was devastating, and the Treaty Oak did not produce acorns again until 1997.

Despite the over 600 years of mystery, conflict, sacredness and drama, this “most perfect specimen of a tree” stands for Austinites and tree-enthusiasts from all over the world to enjoy.