The Hanging Tree

The Hanging Tree. . , On February 14, 1878, Pocket, an Indian ranch hand of Lew B. Allen of Sweet Home came on horseback to the farm of LD. Peterson, about five miles west of Hallettsville and requested him to loan him his gun. Pocket said he had seen a drove of turkeys outside of Peterson's field. At the time Peterson was shucking corn with a young British subject named Leonard Hyde who spoke up and said he too wanted to go help kill the turkeys. , Pocket and Hyde borrowed a shotgun and a pistol and with Pocket in possession of both guns rode off on horseback. Hyde and another worker named Pat Boyle trailed the Indian on foot. After a short distance, the Indian told Hyde if he followed him any further he would kill him, and with that he shot him through the forehead with the pistol, killing him instantly. , On June 17, 1878, Pocket was arrested and on February 11, 1879, in District Court for Lavaca County, Case No. 1863, Texas vs. Indian Pocket, he was convicted of murder in the first degree and condemned to be hanged on Friday, September 12, 1879, by the neck until he was dead. , Lavaca County Sheriff J.W. Bennett constructed a gallows about 3/4 mile north of Hallettsville in an area covered with large oak trees presently known as the Golf Course Club House. Said execution took place between 2 and 3 o'clock p.m, on the appointed day. , The body of Indian Pocket after being pronounced dead by a committee of attending physicians was decently buried in the Freedman's grave yard on the banks of the Lavaca in Hallettsville.