A jail tree is any tree used to incarcerate a person, usually by chaining the prisoner up to the tree. Jail trees were used on the

American frontier The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of United States territorial acquisitions, American expansion in mainland North Amer ...

in the

Territory of Arizona The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...

, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; jail trees were also used in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. A few jail trees survive to this day.

Examples

* Gleeson Jail Tree: A large

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

tree in the ghost town of Gleeson, near

Tombstone, Arizona Tombstone is a historic city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1877 by prospector Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It became one of the last boomtowns in the American frontier. The town grew si ...

. A thick metal cable and chain wrapped around the trunk of the tree was used with handcuffs to chain up prisoners. In use before the construction of the original wooden-frame jail building in 1909. * Paradise Jail Tree: Pair of oak trees with a log chain stretched between them. Prisoners were shackled to the chain. Located in the ghost town of

Paradise, Arizona Paradise is a small ghost town located in Cochise County in the U.S. state of Arizona. The town was settled in 1901 in what was then the Arizona Territory. History In 1901 the Chiricahua Development Company located a vein of ore here. A post of ...

. * Ruby Jail Tree:

Mesquite Mesquite is a common name for several plants in the genus ''Prosopis'', which contains over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. They have extremely long roots to seek water from very far under grou ...

trees in the ghost town of

Ruby, Arizona Ruby is a ghost town in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. It was founded as a mining town in Bear Valley, originally named Montana Camp, so named because the miners were mining at the foot of Montana Peak. History Mining started '' ...

, used for chaining up prisoners sometime before the construction of the current concrete jail building in 1936. * Wickenburg Jail Tree: 200-year-old mesquite tree with a chain and handcuffs for prisoners. Located in

Wickenburg, Arizona Wickenburg is a town in Maricopa and Yavapai counties, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 7,474, up from 6,363 in 2010. History The Wickenburg area, along with much of the Southwest, became part of ...

, and in use between 1863 and 1890. Preserved for its historical association with the early-day Wickenburg mining camp. * Wyndham Boab Prison Tree: A large

boab ''Adansonia gregorii'', commonly known as the boab and also known by a number of other names, is a tree in the family Malvaceae, endemic to the northern regions of Western Australia and the Northern Territory of Australia. Names The specific ...

tree south of

Wyndham, Western Australia Wyndham is the northernmost town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, on the Great Northern Highway, northeast of Perth. It was established in 1886 to service a new goldfield at Halls Creek, and it is now a port and service centre for ...

that was used as a lockup for Aboriginal prisoners on the way to the town during the late 1890s. Unlike other jail trees, prisoners were held ''inside'' the boab's hollow trunk, though prisoners were also chained to the tree outside if there was no room inside. A similar tree in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

was also thought to be used for the same purpose but there is no evidence to support its use as such.

Similar jails

* Arivaca Jail: A slab of concrete in the ground with two metal bars embedded in the center, where heavy log chains for the prisoners were attached. Located in the historic town of

Arivaca, Arizona Arivaca (O'odham: Ali Wa:pk) is an unincorporated community in Pima County, Arizona, United States.Arivaca ...

. * Greaterville Jail: A large hole in the ground. A rope was used for letting prisoners up or down. Located in the ghost town of Greaterville, Arizona. * Tubac Jail: Wooden post in the ground with an attached pair of

leg irons Legcuffs are physical restraints used on the ankles of a person to allow walking only with a restricted stride and to prevent running and effective physical resistance. Frequently used alternative terms are leg cuffs, (leg/ankle) shackles, foot ...

to hold the prisoner. The leg irons were originally used on board a Spanish ship to chain prisoners to the mast before being used as the town jail in

Tubac, Arizona Tubac is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 1,191 at the 2010 census. The place name "Tubac" is an English borrowing from a Hispanicized form of the O'odham name ''Cuwak'', which tr ...

. They are now on display in the museum of the

Tubac Presidio State Historic Park Tubac Presidio State Historic Park, located in Tubac, Arizona, US, preserves the ruins of the Presidio San Ignacio de Tubac and various other buildings, thereby presenting a timeline of human settlement in this Southern Arizona town. The park ...

References

{{Reflist History of Arizona Arizona Territory American frontier Jails in Arizona Trees Penal system in Australia

Examples

Similar jails

See also

References