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The Treaty Tree (
The Treaty Tree (Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
: ''Verdragboom'' or ''Traktaatboom'' ) is a 500-year-old white milkwood tree on Treaty Road and south of the rail line in Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...
, Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
, South Africa. Peace was made under the tree on 10 January 1806 after the Battle of Blaauwberg
The Battle of Blaauwberg, also known as the Battle of Cape Town, fought near Cape Town on Wednesday 8 January 1806, was a small but significant military engagement. After a British victory, peace was made under the Treaty Tree in Woodstock. ...
, thereby starting the second British occupation of the Cape and leading to the permanent establishment of the Cape Colony
The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...
as a British possession. Until 1834 slaves were sold and convicts hanged under it.
Prior to the arrival of the Dutch, the tree was known to have been a feature of the local landscape since at least the early 1500s. In 1509 a massacre by Khoikhoi
Khoekhoen (singular Khoekhoe) (or Khoikhoi in the former orthography; formerly also '' Hottentots''"Hottentot, n. and adj." ''OED Online'', Oxford University Press, March 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/88829. Accessed 13 May 2018. Citing G. S. ...
of 64 Portuguese sailors under the command of Dom Francisco de Almeida
Dom Francisco de Almeida (), also known as the Great Dom Francisco (c. 1450 – 1 March 1510), was a Portuguese nobleman, soldier and explorer. He distinguished himself as a counsellor to King John II of Portugal and later in the wars against the ...
took place close to the tree.
Protection
The City of Cape Town owns the property, and the tree was declared a monument in 1967.See also
*Post Office Tree
The Post Office Tree (Afrikaans: ''Poskantoorboom'') is a famous milkwood tree (''Sideroxylon inerme'') in Mosselbay, South Africa that was used by early Portuguese explorers as a post office. It is located in the grounds of the Bartholomeu Dias ...
in Mosselbay
Mossel Bay ( af, Mosselbaai) is a harbour town of about 99,000 people on the Southern Cape (or Garden Route) of South Africa. It is an important tourism and farming region of the Western Cape Province. Mossel Bay lies 400 kilometres east of the ...
– one of several other South African white milkwood trees that have been declared monuments
* List of individual trees
References
Bibliography
* Green, Lawrence G.: I heard the old men say. Kaapstad: Howard Timmins, 1964. * Oberholster, J.J.: Die historiese monumente van Suid-Afrika. Kaapstad: Kultuurstigting Rembrandt van Rijn vir die Raad vir Nasionale Gedenkwaardighede, 1972.External links
* {{Cape Town, history History of Cape Town Monuments and memorials in South Africa Individual trees in South Africa