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Tree, Henry

Private detective in 1876.[1] (August 22, 1823 – September 2, 1901)[2]

A smart and cunning man, Henry Tree was nevertheless loyal to his clients. While opportunistic, he would not take undo advantage friends or clients with whom he had agreements.

In 1876, Tree was employed by George Cross to keep surveillance on Samantha Crawford, also working for Cross, as she went about trying to win all the money she could from Bret Maverick in poker.

Aboard the Delta Star out of St. Louis for New Orleans, Tree watched as Samantha won $12,000 from Bret. On the Stonewall Jackson bound back to St. Louis two nights later, he witnessed Samantha invoke an obscure rule of Hoyle against Bret, beating his straight with a pair of nines, again cleaning him out. After the game, he lurked in the shadows to eavesdrop on Bret and Samantha as they conspired to use her poker winnings to finance the purchase of gambling equipment to take to Wagon Wheel, Wyoming Territory, and open their own gambling hall.

Since Samantha had been staked by Cross to play poker with Bret, the winnings, less her commission, belonged to Cross. Tree's loyalty to Cross bound him to report the transaction to his client, and in St. Louis, Tree and Cross confronted Samantha. She had already given Bret $9,000 from the winnings to buy gambling equipment and have it shipped to Wagon Wheel. Tree negotiated a new agreement between the three of them to allow Samantha to proceed with her plans with Bret for 50% of the profit to Cross, 25% to Samantha and 25% to himself.

In Wagon Wheel, Tree acquired the bills of sale for the gambling equipment from Samantha and turned them over to Cross. The three of them approached Joe Riggs, offering to sell him the gambling equipment and thwart Bret's plans. Riggs offered them ten percent of the profits of his Golden Bucket Saloon for three years in exchange for the gambling equipment. But before Riggs had a chance to expand his operation with the new equipment, Bret exposed him for a cheat and the Golden Bucket was smashed to bits by angry patrons.

The next day, Tree left Wagon Wheel on a stage for Kansas City with Cross, Samantha and Bret.[1]

See: According to Hoyle