Dauphin Island’s Legend of ‘The Goat Tree’
DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. (WKRG) — A town that’s rich in history and nature, Dauphin Island has myths and old tales, but few are as popular as the story of the Goat Tree.
The Goat Tree is a historical part of Dauphin Island. As legend has it, it used to serve as shelter for the island’s wild goats that would climb the tree at night to stay protected from the alligators that roamed below.
The tale is a favorite of locals.
Artist Dena McKee is the island’s chief ‘yarn-spinner’ when it comes to the Goat Tree.
“One day, I was doodling as an artist, and I did this funky little oak tree, and I did some goats in it and somebody said, ‘Ooh! You should make a T-shirt out of that,’” McKee explained.
And so she did. Her goat t-shirts have even earned her the nickname, “The Goat Lady.”
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“I’m a little bit obsessed with it,” McKee said. “I’m even doing a series of shirts like ‘Goats in the Boat’ and even the ‘Goat Sings the Blues.’ I’m kind of out there with the goats.”
Today, the Goat Tree, found at the corner of Grant Street and Cadillac Avenue, is owned by the Dauphin Island Bird Sanctuary. The historic oak hosts a variety of migrant and resident songbirds instead of the wild goats it once sheltered.
“When the bridge came in, in the ’50s, the state made them get rid of all the livestock, the cows and the goats and all that was running loose on the island,” McKee explained.
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Despite no longer having wild goats on the island, McKee believes her art is a contributing factor to the legend’s present-day popularity.
“People will go into the Sandbox or the Hippie Fish to buy shirts, and the first thing they do is, ‘What’s the story behind this?’ And they get to tell the story behind the tree,” McKee said.
McKee said her shirts have helped to spread the legend of The Goat Tree all over the country.
“A friend of mine was at Disney World and sent me a photo of a guy, I have no idea who he was, walking around in a Goat Tree t-shirt,” McKee explained. “So they’re kind of all over. There’s quite a few in Maine, in California, and the tourists will get them and go from here with them.”
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Through McKee’s art, visitors can take home just a piece of Dauphin Island’s history and small-town charm.
“Oh, it’s wonderful. It’s like a step back in time,” McKee said. “Your neighbors support you, they’re there for you. If you’re sick, they bring you soup. You know, it’s just a very sweet, little place.”
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