The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1871-08-10
TRANS CONTINENTAL LETTERS.
From the Evening Wisconsin.
CLARK'S RANCH,
July 24th.

From the Evening Wisconsin.
CLARK's RANCH,
MARIPosA, July Oath.
One hundred and twelve milesis long
ride by stage in these days Of quick and
comfortable travel by rail The distance
in California implies clouds Of dust, the
eonipanionship of driver who knows
the country and the people,and generally
q most intelligent man. Down the valley
of the San Joaquin you drive through i'm
mense farms of ten and even twenty
thousand acres, but scarcely spear of
wheat was grown this summer, owing to
the absence of rain. The whole country
is like brick dust, and the mountains are
filled with the stock driven hundreds of
miles in search of food.
[ wish, however, to write at present
about the Big Tree Grove of Mariposa.
This is one of the real things about which
there is no humbug. You can brag on
these trees. This is the largest species of
tree in the world and this is the largest
grove Of them. r.
| have just returned from twenty
mile pony-ride through the grove | can
give fresh impressions and reliable facts.
There are in all about 600 Of these trees
in this valley When you enter the grove
you see on sill sides these immense giants
of the forest, varying from twenty to
twenty-five feet in diameter and from
two hundred to four hundred feet in
height. They are so large that you can
not at first comprehend their size, and
you begin to measure them to see that
you are not deceived, and they are so
high that you must stand off some dis,
lance to see their tops We rode through
one PROSTATE trunk, which was burned
out,tWo abreast on horseback. There are
seYeraly peGuliarities about the trees. They
grow close together three or four being
crowded into the smallest space. They
are perfectly smooth and straight for one
and two hundred feet They have two
kinds of leaves. The seeds from which
these giants grow are not more than a
quarter Of an inch long, and as thin as
writing paper. The probable age of the
larger trees has puzzled botanists, and, as
usual, Ghey differ considerable as to their
antiquity. All agree, however, that
twenty centuries or more have passed
away since the long race Of life commence
ed with them. What thought, as you
stand beneath the giant of 1900 years of
age Twenty centuries or more looking
down upon you It sprouted while Rome
was in glory. It is older than any king
dom, language or creed of Europe or
America, It was a large tree before
christianity began its course.
''When these great structures had their birth
Our Saviour had not walked the earth
To save our race.
Yet then, amid their boughs on high,
Times diapasons swept them by.
SIN ages gone, these olden trees
Perchance O'erloOked great inland seas,
Whose ripping waves
Bore on their floods some unknown race
Who had their season, time and place,
Now in their graves.
'Methinks, as from some eagles nest
I soar above their mighty crest
To gaze abroad,
And, looking down the paths of time,
| hear chant in solemn rhyme
Of our great God.
From wood or plain or mountain peak,
Each, all, aloud his wonders speak"
These trees are found only in Califor
MIA, and have been known to the worlC
only eighteen years The discOverer, Mr.
Clarke, the first civilized man who ever
looked upon them devout worshipper
IL GhC oOIAOAOCC VI ucbLuIOJ duu WIGudl d
botanist of considerable knowledge, who
has lived alone in these mountains fol
nearly twenty years, was my guide to
these wonders They seem to him grand
temple, and he seems to be filled with
awe, as he rides among them. He has
seen several of them fall, and has beheld
with grief the ravages of the fires
frequently in the grove. The bark is
reddish brown in color, and of coarse,
dry, stringy, elastic substance, and very
thick-on the largest trees not less than
eighteen inches The wood is soft elastic,
straight grained, freesplitting,light when
dry, and red in color 1t bears close
resemblance to red cedar, but the grain
is not quite SO even. The wood is very
durable. Among botanists the tree bears
the name of the Liquola Gigautea
This letter must close The ponies are
ready for 70 Semitic the guide is
tightening their girths, and, as I write, a
little stiff in the joints after yesterday s
equestrian exploits, my letter fancy, is
somewhat stately. Tomorrow / hope
to be amidst the cliffs and cascades of the
tar-famed valley, and from there I will
write again. IA.
At Cape May, the other day rich
Philadelphia espied a charming girl
struggling all alone in the breakers, and
pal1anr1v nropoca6 RI loorr Ior ~ ex-,;,,