Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1905-10-10
BIG TREE RESERVES.
FOREST GIANTS IN SEVEN CAL
IFoRNIA GROVES.
Redwoods That Are Six Thousand
Years Old-Some Historic In
cidents of Santa Cruz
Reserve.

Years Old-Some Historic In
cidents of Santa Cruz
Reserve.
There are seven groves of "big trees"
In California, and most of them are
now protected within forest reserves.
One CT them is five miles from Santa
Cruz, a popular summer resort. An
other of $500 acres is at 1.-The Big
Basin 16 miles from Santa Cruz,
which the state of California has re-
Gently purchased for s25O,O00 and re-
served as a public park. The third is
in Calaveras county. famous mining
region east of SacramentO-thes scene
of many of Bret Hartes stories. The
fourth is in Tuolumne county between
Calaveras and the Yosemite. The
MarlpOsa grove at the southern en-
trance of the Yosemite is fifth. The
Gen. Grant national park in Fresno
county and the Sequoia national park
in Tulare county, both of them just
west OF Death valley, complete the list.
II is a popular impression, writes Will
liam E. Curtis, in the Chicago Record
Herald, that the "big trees" are all IN
the same section, but this is a great
mistake. The groups have named are
widely scattered All of them are &C
Cessible, but the forest at Santa Cruz
is most convenient and the only one
that can be reached without a long
stage ride. A narrOwgauge railroad
runs trains to it every hour in about
80 minutes; the Big Basin park can be
reached by a pleasant 16-mile drive;
Calaveras grove, Tuolumne, Mariposa,
Gen. Grant park and the Sequoia park
are all reached by stage rides of from
40 to Is miles.
The Santa Cruz forest is rot so large
as some Of the others. but it is a good
type OF them ALL and people whose
time is limited can get an adequate
idea by coming here and taking this,
the easiest and shortest route.
The big trees"-"equoia semper-
virens"-found at Santa Cruz are cou-
sins OF the ''Sequoia gigantes" found in
the other parks and are from the same
family and about the same size. The
name "sequoia" is said to have been
given them by an Alabama botanist
who came here and described them in
an early day, although he did not first
discover them. The name originally
belonged to a Cherokee chief in that
state who was very tall and very
strong and had fine character, which
The botanist greatly admired. Others
explain that the word was derived
from the Latin "sequor," which means
finished"
The trees are not in one mass. They
are scattered through a forest of mas
sive pines, cedars and other varieties,
but the Santa Cruz park can be seen
thoroughly in few hours. There are
no accommodations at the forest, how
eyer-Only a few old buildings at
which photographs and curios are sold.
There is not even a restaurant. PeO-
pie can visit the grove and get back
to town between the ordinary hours
for meals, it is true, but there should
be a first-class hotel in the forest, so
that visitors would not be compelled
TO hurry back and forth. The owners
of the property are the heirs of the late
Joseph w. Welch, for many years one
of the proprietors of the Alta Califor-
MAN, newspaper of San Francisco.
1t was formerly part of Spanish
grant. Rincon de la Canada, and was
turned over to the late Gov. Stanley,
formerly of South Carolina, as a fee
for his services in a lawsuit. In 1866
Mr.. Welch bought from Gov. Stanley
S65 acres, containing 100 trees more
than IL feet in diameter, the largest
called 1.-The Cathedral''-being 33 feet
In diameter and 106 feet in circumfer-
enCe. This Is claimed to be the largest
tree in the world. The highest tree in
the Santa Cruz forest is called "the
Giant" 1t towers 306 feet toward the
sky and was rs feet taller few years
ago, when it's tip was broken off by a
storm. More than 60 trees in the
grove are over 800 feet high. One of
them was recently cut down and 10000
"split shakes"-which are large shin
gles-were cut from it and sold for Sill
Z thousand on the cars; $50 railway
ties were cut from the limbs, which
sold for 38 cents each. Thus the pro-
ceeds brought total of 1927, which is
probably a record price for one tree.
No more of the giants will be cut
however.