The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-12-19
The Big Red Woods Of Tulgyc County.
California.

No person NlSlllng tall1OrNld toU!i
20 home satisfied without seeing these
trees. The trees have not long been ac-
cesaable TO tourists. The Marliposa
and Calvaraus groves have been seen,
and written about by many. Not 81
with the trees of Tularc county. These
trees are row considered by well i'll
California, and probably the largest
and oldest on earth The big trees all
stand on the west declivity Of the Sierra
Nevada Mountains. at an altitude Of
about seven or eight thousand feet.
They are equally objects 0f interest,
whether we consider their great age. or
enormous size Careful estimates
made hy the very best authority, makes
the trees at least three thousand years
Old. That space of time would carry
us back more than thousand years be-
fore the birth Of Christ. The very tree We
gaZcd 1T saw Greece and Rome III then
glory. 1t did not see the foundation of
the Pyramids laid. Two generations
of such trees would carry us back To the
good old days of Adam and Eve, while
beneath its ample branches rcposcd the
great MaStOdon, whose rib b0neSmcaS-
urCd twenty-five feet, and his jaw cAlt
feet. while his eve teeth weighed l6
pounds. Words utterly fail to express
the emotions, as one looks at these old
mountain scntinclS. who have been 50
long standing at their posts. One gets
Il poor idea Of the enormous bulk of
these trees by reading the figures Civ
ing their dimensions. To know how
large they really are they must be seen.
one tice we will call RI Captain. 1t
was more than forty feet in diameter,
and It's height is estimated to he over
four hundred feet The tree is a very
perfect one. holding its size well mp to-
wards the top. At the distance or two
hundred feet from the earth il must
measure a. least thirty feet in diameter.
The day we were there we could not see
the top half Of the tree, for that was
sight. Comparison sometimes give a
clearer idea, and We seem to understand
the better by such comparison. If FL
Captain was cut down. and Tie bait cut
square eff. il would require a ladder
nifty feet long To reach the top. We
saw Il hollow log. in which a family ie-
sided all summer and kept hotel. Four
horseman could ride into that hollow
abreast and have plenty Of room To turn
around and gallop out. ] looked in
vain for the fallen tree where hOrsemcn
ride in at the butt Of the tree and ride
out through knot hole; we were told
il was in the next town. But we did
see trees burned through AT the base
and We passed through the opening thus
made. In one place We saw five of
these great trees growing III clnmp-
they were about - feet in diameter.
The sight was well worth travelling miles
to see. The bark is quite thick, some
times two feet III the roughest place.
The wood is very durable and heavy.
There is no way at present 10 handle
or en-. these trees into lumber, except
first to burst them with powder, and
draw the sliyerS to mill. Out of one of
these slivcrs they have made IA plank
eight feet wide and forty feet long.
In 1876 J. W Mckeenon anI two
other men undertook 10 cut down one
Of these trees. y SCaifOld was erected
twenty-siX feet high and the tree cut
off at that distance from the ground.
1t took four men nine days to fell the
tree. When the tree fell. the fall WAS
! heard, and the earth tremblcd at the
distance Of seven miles. Fourteen feet
, of the stump was then cut off, the out
side nine inches thick, taken 10 san
Francisco and placed on exhibition.
! From there it vas taken to New York
City. and is now believed TO be in New
Orleans. The venture proved Ia be q
financial failure. as the people would
not believe so large tree ever grew on
earth. The whole thing was denounced
as a tremendous fraud. and the eXhibi-
tors came near being mobbcd. The
credulous public however, purchased
several ear loads Of bark all taken from
! the SAID tree. r. W. {.
Tulare, Cal.