The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1865-11-23
THE BIG TREES OF CALIPOR
MA a.er-
The "PTOStrate Monarch" the HGTIE1l,
Z Bear,7 ana the "FaithfuI CoupIe.s
A Tree Forty Feet Thick and -Four Hum
dred Feet In Length.

A Tree Forty Feet Thick and -Four Hum
dred Feet IRLength.
A. d. Richardson. ESQ. corrcspon.
dent Of tho New York Tribune, and
the wcll-known author Of "Thc Field
the Dungeon. and the Escape accom-.
panied Mr.. Colfax and Lieut.. Gov
Bross, of Illinois, on their recent triI
to the Far West. Among other mar.
vels, they visited the Big Tree region
OF California. Mr.. Richardson's &C.
count of these mammoth trees, which
VIC find in the New York Tribune.
will be read with interest. He says:
The Mariposa Big Trees are. 30
miles from the Yosemite Valley. We
visited them by divcrging five miles
from our homeward route to San Fran
cisco. SixAundred of those nam
moths are scattered among the noble
pines Of 1.200 acres. Many of the
pines are 200 feet high. Elsewhere
they would be kings Of the forest, but
among these hoary giants they become
children. Pigmics on Alps may be
pigmies still, but Pyramids arc not
always pyramids in valleys.
The Big Trees have been consider
ed redwoods-a species of cedar aboun
ding upon the coast-but the botan-
lists decide otherwise, and name them
Sequoias. They are the oldest and
most stupendous vegetable products
existing upon the face Of the globe
Already twenty groves have been dis
covered in California. The Mariposa
is largest and finest, though the Gala
veras, fifty miles to tie northward il
better known. s..-
Of the Mariposa Sequoias, two hun
dred are more than twelve feet in di-
ameter fifty moro than sixteen fect,
and sixty more than thirty feet
The largest, called the Prostrate Mon
arch, now lying upon the ground,
leafless and branchless, is believed to
have fallen fully one hundred and fif.
ty years ago: fire has consumed much
of the trunk, but enough remains to.
show that, with the bark on, it must
have been forty feet in thickness. OF
course, figures give little idea of such
Dimensions. Measure up forty feet on
house-wall, then four hundred feet
along the ground, and try to picture
the diameter and hight of the Pros
trate Monarch as it stood q thousand
years ago.
The tops of the largest trees are bro
ken off, leaving their average hight
about $50 feet. We saw one with {
branch-not fork, but an honest lat
eral branch-six feet in diameter
growing from the stem eight feet above
the ground. Into a cavity burned in
the side of another standing tree fif
teen of us rode. together. Without
crowding we all sat upon our horse:
in that black novel chamber, though
it occupies less than half the thickness:
of the trunk. Through q stem lying
upon the ground, fire has bored like
an augur. Our entire eavalcade, in
cluding all the tall men, all the fat
men and all the ample skirts, rode
through it from end to end, like q
railway train through q tunnel. One
enormous living trunk which parts
near the ground into two tall, symmet-
tic, perfect stems, is christened the
Faithful Couple. Mr.. Clark assured
us in poetic gush quite unlocked for
from hermit and backwoodsman
that they were "
"Two souls with but single thought.
Two hearts that bea; as one -..''
The taithfulness of this forest lingo
mar and Parthenia is like that ofsomt
human coupIes-neither can get
away! ......-@t.,-
Tho largest standing tree is the
Grizzly Giant. Its bark is nearly 2
feet thick. II it were cut off smooth
ly, fifteen horses could easily stand, or
sixteen couples dance, upon the stump
If it were followed tO q shell, it
would hold more than aman of-war or
ocean steamer $50 feet long! One Of
the Calaveras Sequoias was cut down
by boring with augurs and saving the
spaces between. The work employ
cd 5 men for twenty five days. When
fully cut off, the tree stubbornly con-
tinued to stand, only yielding at last
to wedge and battering ram.
The pine cones are cylindrical and
sometimes nearly two feet long
Those Of the Big Trees arc round and
not much larger than apples. Seed
lings from them are growing in every
country of Europe. They arc numer-
GUS in English parks, whore mania
prevails for coniferious trees. Two
hundrcd arc planted in our great Gen.
trail Park, and many more in the nur-
series of Western New York. They
are thrifty and vigorous; how large
they will become is an interesting
problem.
There seems to be no convincing or
even plausible theory of their origin.
| should rather say of their preserva-
tion, for they are children of q long
ago climatic era. Tho age of giants
fingers on the entire Pacific coast;
stupendous red woods are everywhere
numerous; and on the summit of tho
Sierras, almost milo above the sea-
level, grow sugar pines ten and twelve
feet in diameter. these monster
Sequoias are the worlds patriarchs.- =
Some botanists date thoir birth far
back of earliest human history; none
estimate their age at less than eighteen
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