‘I Saw Pure Evil’: Benbook Woman Sees Something Terrifying At the So-Called 'Devil’s Tree'

The massive Bur Oak stands in Pecan Valley Park near Benbrook Dam, near Fort Worth, its gnarled branches stretching toward the Texas sky. Horror-folklore enthusiast Ashlee (@ashleeinc) calls it the “Devil’s Tree” or “the Tree of Souls,” which comes from a story by a fan named Sarah.

Per Ashlee, in a new viral video about the experience: “This is Sarah’s* spooky scary storytime submission about visiting the largest or oldest oak tree in Texas, known as the 'devil’s tree' or 'tree of souls.” Her friends were into witchcraft and told her that you’re able to see faces in the bark, but to never, ever touch the tree.”

She runs down the longer story in the nearly 3-minute clip, which sounds pretty ominous. “She was around 20 or 21 years old when she was hanging out with this group of girls, and they were self-proclaimed witches,” she said. “When they asked her one night if she wanted to go to the Devil's Tree, she said yes, obviously, because she was curious. They told her that it's either the oldest or the biggest oak tree in Texas—she can't remember which—but they also told her that you can see faces in the bark of the tree.”

At some point, Ashlee says Sarah and her new friends were spread out, but one sat at a picnic table.

“She starts to make her way over to the picnic table where her friend is sitting,” Ashlee continued.

“But she turns back to look at the tree, and for a split second, she said, ‘I saw the devil's face glowing in the tree. It was orange and flickering, as if it was on fire from within—like the classic devil face that you picture when you imagine Lucifer. I distinctly remember the pointy chin, but the orange flickering light made it look like it was alive, and it took my breath away.’”

Pretty weird and scary, right? But once you look in the comments, you realize something isn’t adding up.

How real is this folklore?

“I live 30 minutes from here and have NEVER heard of this,” said one commenter. “I’m close to Benbrook. Never heard of this,” claimed another. Another commenter wrote, “I’m in Benbrook - why did I not know about this?!”

The apparent oak tree in question has not been traditionally called either the “Devil’s Tree” or “the Tree of Souls.”

It is also neither the largest nor the oldest oak in the state. Brazoria County’s Texas Live Oak tree stands at 73 feet tall and has a trunk circumference of 30 feet. The Goose Island Oak, known as the "Big Tree," near Rockport, is Texas' most famous oak and is often cited as the oldest/largest live oak, estimated to be over 1,100 years old.

The massive oak in Benbrook, Texas, might have a scary story attached. However, it also has a long history.

Officially known as the Memorial Oak, locals whisper another name: the Hanging Tree.

The real history of the Benbrook oak tree

Typically, given that it is the state of Texas, one could associate the “hanging tree” with lynching. But there is an intriguing story attached to the tree.

In late October 1884, three followers of famed horse thief "Dutch Henry" Borne were captured near Mary's Creek by local ranchers after attempting to steal corralled horses. Borne was once a scout for General Custer shortly after the Civil War, but turned to stealing government mules and ponies belonging to indigenous tribes.

The ranchers, outnumbering the outlaws four to one, forced their surrender, and they were famously hanged at Memorial Oak.

Sam Owens, one of the ranchers, wrote in 1905, in a retelling of Benbrook’s long history: “All our men were hollering for ‘immediate justice.’ A delay for a trial and all that lawyer stuff seemed out of place. . . . We headed down Mary’s Creek toward ‘the Big Daddy of hangin’ trees’—that big old bur oak down south on the Clear Fork. We had quite a chore to throw those three ropes way up to the lowest limb. It was just turning twilight and I got a funny feeling in my stomach as I saw those three silent bodies hangin’ there, swayin’ back and forth in the breeze.”

At this time, there was a killing spree by horse thieves. In one Texas Monthly report, it got bad enough that night riders in Shackelford County, west of Fort Worth, killed more than 20 men. "Shall horse thieves rule the country?" a note pinned to one read.

That seems extremely harsh, but then the importance of a good, strong horse has to be understood in context. In the sparsely populated and mostly unpoliced Great Plains states and Texas, farmers and migrants depended almost entirely on their horses for transportation and farming. Secondly, and just as vital, settlers were essentially stranded in hostile territory with their horses.
Having or not having a horse was often a life-or-death proposition.

Patch reached out to Ashlee and the city of Benbrook via email. This article will be updated upon response.

@ashleeinc