, 1885-09-05
N TAe REDWOOD REGION.


tree of It's kind in the world, its only
real relative being the Sequoia gigantea.
found in a few, places fon tho iSferra
Nevada. The area Of the redwood, or
sednoia sempervirens, Is limited to~a
a few counties OF the Coast range, ex-
tending from Mont6rcy northward. II
is essentially the product OF o moist
climate. aud is practically limited to
such portions OF the Coast range as are
| composed OF or covered BY the sand
stones Of the petroleum formation. In
Santa Cruz, Monterey and Santa Clara
counties the territory producing
this valuable tree i. only from three TO
eight miles wide. II grows IN clusters,
aud is not found like the pine Anid fl,
in forests of a uniformdepsity .Conse
ouently, many portions of the redwood
territory contain little OF none Of the
timier. which grows mdst plentifully
along the deep. moist rayines The
redwood forests were a Wonder to the
first immigrant, who had been accus-
toned tothipk a tree three feet in diam
eter a giant. and ono twice that a fable.
1 10 iUe told In the same breath as one Of
Iiaron Munchansen's stories- When
they found trees twelve or fifteen feet in
diameter, with a trunk towering a hun.
bred feet high, without q limb, their
stories were hardly believed and tested
the oredulity of our eastern friends,
until oyrrshadowed by the discoveries
Of their eonkener, the SequoiA gighntea
of the Sierra Nevada- rat-
Notwithstanding the beauty OF these
lords oil the forest, the settlers pro
ceeded 10 chop them down with the
same eagerness that they would shoot a
seve~nTroRged buck or q stately elk, I'M
til one is about as scarce as the other.
Marvellous stories are told Of the amount
OF lumber obtained from one OF these
giants. One man in the vicinity of
Saratoga built q house and barn and
fenced In forty acres with high rail
fence from n single tree. 1t was com
mon TO split straight boards twelve feet
long, q foot wide and q half-inoh thick,
which could easily be dressed into sid
ing for a house. 1t was not uncommon
TO cut 10, 900 feet OF plank from one
tree. Two hundred thousand shingles,
or shakes" were often made from one
trunk When a tree failed to split
freely, IL was left to be destroyed by fires,
which were thoughtlessly kindled by
nearly all who worked In the forests In
early days, the victims of fire being az
numerous az those of the y. 7sl1
At first the distinctions of the forests
was limited to such portions as were &C.
cessible to wagons, but as the demand
for lumber increased and railroads facil-
itated the carrying of lumber TO distant
points. new methods were invented
which made II comparatively easy u
strip the ravines and mountains to the
very heads. This Is accomplished by
what is called a skid road. As this Il
in universal use from the most southern
point Of the redwoods In Monterey and
Santa Clara counties to Puget sound,
your readers will be interested in n de
scription Of IL. A mill site Is selected
as near the redwood groves as tho ma
ture OF the grosnd will permitthe buih.
ing OF a wagon road. the place being
generally wore several wooded ravines
converge together. The wagon road Is
sometimes very expensive, being carried
across rocky canyons. or around steep
side hills, involving the cutting away
of huge redwood roots or the blasting
out of hard lodges of rock. Some OF
these roads are built on decti vities
where getting of the grade Q a
rough and-tumble descent hundreds OF
feet into a rocky gulch below.
The mill being located, her com
mences the building Of a skid road up
the Iavine 10 be first worked out. "A
road eight or ten feet wide is made with
u grade as uniform as the ground per-
mits. Sometimes the road way has to
be raised eight, ten, or perhaps fifteen
feet, with log pens filed with earth.
After the grade is completed the road Is
laid with timbers resembling railway
ties. two or three feet apart, and sunk
into the ground the depth OF the stick.
At either end the ties or gtimbers are
held In place by braces extending from
u TO the other, looked In by lemons
and corresponding notches. Without
these Traces the first log coming down
the rood would be certain TO leave 1t In
ruins with them a road will bear the
transportation of logs an entire season,
or until the gulch Is exhausted Of tim
ler. When finished. the road. with it,
cross timlers Just above the ground, re.
sembles o winding stairway, and tho
dense shade of the o~verhanging trees
gives it : romantic and enchanting APP
pearane.
A tnp up the stairway a half mile or
less 20 the scene OF active operations
tales the romance out Of the scene.
Great trees are being felled, sawed in
yroper lengths, and tumbled or slid
down 10 the roadway. Generally the
bark Is removed from the logs TO facill-
tate their sliding. In case the road Is
ste p II may be omitted. On q fat road
the tree must not only be peeled, but
the skids must be CREASED to facilitate
the diding OF the log train, for several
are fastened together by dogs and
chains TO mako an even run, Que log
pulling its neighbor along or holding il
back. AS the case may be. A bull
whacker, who has worked his team OF
four yoke OF cattle up these stairs with
his terrible bunch OF braided thongs,
now bitches TO the train aud starts bis
team. If the road Is well constructed.
and he has Judged correctly o the force
OF gravity and the resisting friction, he
engineers the train safely to the mill, IN
he thinks the logs will slide and over.
take his team, he puts q chain around
some Of them. making what he calls a
rough lock. II the trainis TOO heavy he
detsches some OF the logs, so the cattle
can pull the remaining part
II re uires a great deal OF experience
and good judgment to ''guleh' logs
Sometimes with all due caution a train
Of logs will start into rapid motion
down the incline, Then the only way
TO save the team Ia TO lash them into
a run TO keep them before the logs II
oyertaken the team is likely TO be
manned, crushed and killed BY being
dragged over the rough road. A good
teamster, who can gulch logs without
In ury to his cattle. gets the highest
wages hen an or Is IN ured IL is
slaughtered and dr,-axe9 fof heef } Mnnx
OF the logs are so large that they have
10 he blasted before they can he got into
the mill.
Another Life saved
Chapbelain,s Cobc, Choleai Hnnd
lHsn4,hea rp~srsdv. hureA ma az thrcnir