The evening times., 1900-10-09

"a Short Account of the Big Trees of
| California" emanating from the Division
| of Forestry of the Agricultural Depart
ment, and recently published, was origi-
nally compiled for the purpose of furnish
| ing information to the Senate Committee
| on Public Lands w4sseh at the last session
| Of Congress was considering the preserya-
| ton of the Calaveras and Stanislau5 big
! tree groves. From this publication is CLEAN
| ed the following:
| The big trees are unique in the world,
| the grandest, the largest, the oldest, the
most majestically graceful of trees, and
| if it were not enough to be all this, they
| are among the searcest of known tree spe-
cies. and have the extreme scientific value
! of being of the best living representative
of a former geological age. 1t is tree
which has cone down TO us through the vi
! cissitudes Of many centuries solely be
cause Of its superb qualifications Its bark
J is often two feet thick and almost non
! combustible. The oldest specimens felled
! are stlll sound at the heart. and fungus is
/ an enemy unknown to it Yet with all
| these means of maintenance the big trees
| have apparently not increased their range
/ since the glacial epoch. They have only
| Just managed to hold their own on the lit
| tie strip of country where the climate is
/ locally favorable.
| Before the glacial period the genus of
| big trees called Sequoia fourished widely
| in the temperate zones of three CONT
nents. There We're many species, and
America. Europe, and Asia, had each its
share. But VIXEN the ice fields moved
! down out of the north the luxuriant veg
citation of the age declined. and with it
| these muItitudes of trees One after an
| nT hsaF rhn lii
| remains became buried. and when the ice
receded. just two species, each separate
/ from the other. and each occupying il
| comparison with its former territory, a
mere island OF space As we know them
now, the Redwood lives only on q narrow
| strip of the coast ranges ten to thirty
miles wide, extending from just within
| the southern border Of Oregon TO the Bay
of Monterey, while the Big Tree tSequoia
| washingtoniana) is found only in small
| groves scattered along the west slope OF
/ the Sierra Nevada Mountains, from the
middle fork of the American River to the
/ head OF Deer Creek, a distance of 260
miles The utmost search reveals but ten
groups, and the total number OF sizeable
! trees in these groups must be limited to
figures in the thousands. II is moreover
/ the plain truth that all the specimens
which are remarkable for their size do
| not exceed 500.
| The big trees occur exclusively in groves
| or scattered over limited areas, never form
! ing groups by themselves but always dis
! seminated among g much larger number of
/ trees of other kinds. There are ten dis
| tinct groves CT the big trees: First the
| Caiveras; second the Stanislaus. or South
| Calaveras; third, Crane Flat. or TUolumne:
! fourth MaIiposa; fifth. Fresno; sixth,
Kings and Kaweah rivers: seventh, North
/ Fork Tule River; eighth. South Fork Tule
| River; ninth, Merced; tenth. Dinky; and
TO these must be added the six trees known
! as the North Grove.
! Calaveras, or Mammoth Tree" Grove,
| the most important is situated in the
county of that name. 1t is near the read
! crossing the Sierra by the Silver Mountain
| Pass. This being the first grove of big
| trees discovered and the most accessible
| ii has come more into notice and been
much more visited than any Of the others.
| This grove occupies a belt 1900 feet long
by 700 feet broad, in a depression between
two slopes, through which ueanders a
small brook which dries up in summer.
There are between 90 and 100 trees Of large
| size in this grove, and considerable nun
Der of smaller ones, chiefly on the out
skirts. Several have fallen since the grove
was discovered, one has been cut down
and one has had the bark removed from it
up TO the height of i1o feet above the
ground. The bark thus removed was ex-
:
resting r-ece in Sydenham Crystal Pal
ace, at Kensi ston, England. where it was
unfortunately burned in the fire which
sumsd part OF that building several years
ago. The two trees thus destroyed were
perhaps tae finest in the grove The tall
est now standing is the one called the
| keystone State" 325 feet in height. The
largest and finest is called the Empire
! State whose circumference is ninety-foar
feet at the ground. Four of the trees in
this grove are over 300 feet in height
The tree which was cut down is sup
posed to have been the original tree dis
covered by John Bidwen. or as the cur
rent story has it, by a. T. Dowd and
was one of the largest trees. In diane-
tre across tie solid wood after the
bark. 10 to IS inches in thickness was
removed. was 20 feet. although the cut
was made 6 feet from the ground. The
tree was 302 feet in heighth and sS feet
in circumference before it was disturb d.
The Mother of the Forest" VIII ch las
been stripped of its bark was another
notable specimen The heighth CT this
tree was 321 feet. and the circumference.
including the bark. was originally 80
feet at the base.
But a short distance from this tree
lies the PROSTATE form of THE Father
of the Forest" probably the tallest Sc
quota that ever grew. This tree when
standing in its primitive majesty is ac-
credited with exceeding 400 feet in
heighth. with a circumference at its
base of 10 feet.
Ca1averss Grove was the first discovered.
having been located in 1S41 by John Bid
we'll, afterward candidate for Congress
from California. This discovery, how
ever. seems TO have been generally cred
tied to another person, A. t. Dowd.
hunter.
In the spring of 1852 Dowd was en-
ployed to supply workmen engaged in
the construction of a canal in CaIa4 eras
county with fresh meats from the large
quantities of game running wild While
engaged in hunting for this purpose he
wounded grizzly, and while in5us ri
ously pursuing him he suddenly came
upon one of these immense trees Re
turning to camp he related the wonders
he had seen TO his incredulous cornpan-
ions. He later induced them to visit the
spot with him, and they verified his d g.
covery.
At the present time the only grove
thoroughly safe from destruction is the
Mariposa, and this is far from being the
most interesting. Most of the other
groves are either in process of or in dan
ger Of being logged. The very finest of
all, the Calaveras grove. with the biggest
and tallest trees. the most uncontaminat-
ed surroundings. and practically all the
literary and scientific associations Of the
species connected with it. has been pur-
chased recently by a lumberman who
came into full possession on the iirst of
April CT this year. The Seauofa and Gen
eral Grant National Parks which are
supposed TO embrace and give security to