The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1865-10-06
The Big Trees Of California.

Part WAY in our ride into the valley.
We stopped for day At 4 solitary ranch
OH the south fork of the M,rrcl. and hat
Galcn Clark. an old and intelligent pin-
neer in this region. and under his pilolagr
saw the reservation Of hig trees in Fresno
county They are but Il few mile; of, the
road To the 10 Semitr. and while ot' the
same character are alike more numerous
and larger in individual specimens than
the grove of bic trees in CalvaraS county
The latter are the ones first discovered and
often described, and are >till thosc m.>i
visited hllt they lie i'll an :llioinin" coun-
tv. and farther away from the route We
took to the lo Semitic. Other similar
Groves to both these have been discovered
within wear or two. and some Id or %
arc now known to exist among the forests
on the western slopes OF the Sierra Ncya-
da in southern California. They occur
/ along ut various points through some hum
,lrcd miles anl ii i quite likely that
many more will be found in the same
range vet farther south The biz trees
we visited are scattered iii groups AMONG
the pine and cedar forests through Il space
of several miles The collection numbers
about COO. East of the Rocky Noun
tains. their pine and cedar companionS-
80 common all over these hills and in
these ,alcvs-would he the wonder OF
the states for size and beauty for they
GROW TO six and eight and even ten feet in
diameter and to 25O and 800 feet in
hight. But these mammothS sink into
pigmics bv the side of the .>c9'toja Gigmtea
which Is the scientific rame applied 10 the
big trees proper, They swell to 80 and
10 feet i'll diameter and rarely fall below
go feet in hight ANON. those We cx-
amned are six each over 80 feet In diam
eter, and from 90 to 100 feet in circum-
ference; fifty over l6 feet in diameter
and two hundred over II feet. "Th,
Grizzly Giant" which is anon" the larg
est and most noteworthy, runs up 90 feet
with scarcely perccplible dimnution o
bulk, and then sends out branch, Itself
s feet in diameter. But they are ever
more impressive for their beauty thai
their bigncss The bark Is an exquiSitel,
LIGHT and delicate cinnamon color, flutcd
up and down the long, straight, slowly
tapering trunk, like columns in architect
ure; the top, resting like cap upon ;
high, bare mast, is Il perfect cone an,
the evergreen leaves wear a bright, ligh
shade. by which the tree can be dislin
guiShed from afar in the forest Tn
wood is a deep, rich red in color, and 9th
crwisc marks the similarity OF the big tree
to the species that grows SO abundahtly ol
the coast range Of mountains through TIN
Pacific states and known generally as tn
redwood Their wood is, however. of
finer grain than their smaller kindred. an,
both that and the bark. the latter some
times as much as 20 inches thick. are St
LIGHT and delicate. that the wind and SNOW
of the winter make frequent wrecks OF tn
: tops and upper branches. Many of tn
largest of these trees are, therefore, shOrI
, of their upper works. One or two of th'
largest in the grove we visited were Who'll
, " blown down, and we rode horsebacl
through the trunk of an old one, that ha'
been burned out Many more of the no
blest specimens are Scared by fires tha
! have been wantonly built about thei
trunks, or swept through the forest by &C