The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1886-06-02
= IN THE REDWOOD REGION.
Work of California Iunbsr Men-How
the LoEs Are MOVED.

[Cor San Franriseo ChroaIeIel
Tho redwood of California Is the only
tree Of It's kind in the world, It's only
real relative Icing the Sequola gigantea,
found in few places on the Sierra
Nevada Tho area Of the redwood, or
sequoia sempervirens, Is limited to u
q lew counties Of the Coast range, e1-
lending from Monterey northward. 1t
Is essentially the product OF q moist
cilmate, and is practically limited to
sucll portions Of the Coast range as arc
composed Of or covered by tho sand
stones Of tho petroleum formation. In
Santa Cruz, Monterey and Santa Clara
counties. the territory producing
this valuable treo is only from three TO
eight miles wide. 1t grows in clusters,
and is not found like the pine and fir,
in forests Of uniform density. conse.
quently, many portions Of the redwood
territory contain little or none Of che
timber which grows most plentlfully
along tho deep, moist rayiles. The
redwood forests were a wonder to the
first immigrant, who had been accus.
toned to think tree three feetin diam.
eter a giant, aud one twice that a fable,
to be told in the same breath as one Of
Baron MunchausCn's stories. When
they found trees twelve or fifteen feet in
diameter, with trunk towering q hun.
dred feet high, without alimb, their
stories were hardly believed and tested
tho crcdulity Of our eastern friends,
until oycrshadowed BY the discoveries
of their congener, the Sequoia gigantea
OF the Sierra Nevada.
otwithstandlng the beauty Of these
lords OF the forest, the settlers pro-
ceeded 10 chop them down with the
same eagCrness that they would shoot q
seyen'pronged buCk or q stately elk, nm
I'll one Is about as scarce as the other.
Marvellous stories aretold Of the amount
Of lumber obtained from one OF these
giants. One man in the vicinity Of
Saratoga built a house and barn and
fenced in forty acres with high rail
fence from single tfeG It was com.
mon 10 split straight boards twelve feet
long, q foot wide and half-ineh thick,
which could easily DO dtessed into sid.
ing for q house, II was not uncommon
to cut $4,000 feet OF plank from one
tree. Two hundred thousand shingles,
or Shakes" were often made from one
trunk. When O tree failed 10 split
freely, Il was left 10 DO deStroyedby fires,
which were thoughtleSSly kindled by
nearly all who worked in tho forests in
early days, the victims Of FIRE being as
numerous as those Of the Ak.
AT first the distractions Of tho forests
was limited to such portions as were &C,
ceSsible 10 wagons, but as the demand
for lumber increased and railroads iacil.
itated tho carrying Of lumber 70 distant
points, new methods were invented
which made II comparatively easy 10
strip the rayines and mountains to the
very heads. This Is accomplished by
what Is called a +skldp road. AS this Is
In universal use from The most southern
point Of the rcdwoods in Monterey aud
Santa Clara counties to Puget sound,
your readers will be interested in O do.
scriptIon Of It. A mill site Is selected
as near the redwood groves q tho na,
ture Of the ground will permit the build.
iugot wagon road, tho place being
generally were several wooded rayines
converge together Tho wagon road Is
sometimes very expensive, being carried
across rocky canyons, or around steep
side hills, involving the cutting away
q bprc redwood EoOs Or the blasting