The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1905-09-30
BIG TREE RESERVES.
FOREST GIANTS IN SEVEN CAL.
1FoRNIA GROVES.
Redwoods That Are Six Thousand
Years Old-Sor,e 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, popular summer resort. An
other of $500 acres is at the Big
Basln,' 16 miles from Santa Cruz
which the state Of California has re-
Gently purchased for s25OOUO and re-.
served as public park. The third is
in Caiaveras county famous mining
icSinn east of Sacramento-the scene
OF many of Bret Harte's stories. The
fourth is in Tuolumne county between
CalaNcras and the Yosemite. The
Mariposa 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 iulare county, both of them just
west OF Death valley. complete the list.
II is popular impression. writes Will
Lam f. 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 arc
NANSiS oNotlSlSV. tal1 vi ll1tlll are az
tessible, but the forest at Santa Cruz
is most convenient and the only one
that can DO reached without long
Stage ride. A narrow gauge railroad
luns trains to it every hour in about
50 minutes; the Big Basin park can be
reached by pleasant l6-mle drive;
Caiaveras grove, Tuolumne, Mariposa,
!! Gen. Grant park and the Seluoia park
are all reached by stage rides of from
du to Is miles.
The Santa Cruz forest is not so large
IS some of the others but it is a & sod
type CT them all, and people whose
time is limited can get an adequate
iuea by coming here and taking this,
the easiest and shortest route.
The big trees"-"equoia scmper-
vircns"-;ound at Santa Cruz are cou-
SINS oi 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 Cherokee chief in that
state who was very tall and very
strong and had a fine character, which
The botanist greatly admired Others
explain that the word was derived
from the Latin "sequor," which means
FIN shed"
The trees are not in one mass. They
are scattered through forest of mas
sive pines. cedars and other varieties.
but the Santa Cruz park can be seen
thoroughly in a few hours. There are
no accommodations at the forest how
ever-only few old buildings at
which photographs and curios are sold.
here is not even restaurant. Poo
pie can visit the grove and get ba tx
| tO town between the ordinary hours
| for meals. 1t is true. but there shoIId
| he a first-class hotel in the forest so
that visitors would not be compcllc |
TO hurry back and forth. The owna $
OF the property are the heir; OF the lat
Joseph w. Welch. 70 many years one
O. : h proprletors of the Alta Califor-
MAN. a newspaper Of San Francisco
| II was formerly part of a Spanish
grant, Rincon de la Canada. and was
turned over to the late Gov Stanley,
formerly of South Carolina, as a fee
70" his services in a lawsuit. In 1896
Mr. We!rh bought from Gov. Stanley
3G5 acres. containing 100 trees more
than Il feet in diameter, the largest
called The MISUNDERSTANDING 30 feet
In diameter and 106 feet in circumrer
rnCe. This is claimed to be the largest
tree In the world. The highest tree in
the Santa Cruz forest is called ",hc
Giant" 1t towers BOG feet toward the
Sky aHu was rs feet taller few years
ago. when its tip was broken off by a
storm. More than GO trees in the
grove are over 300 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 $l1
4 thousand on the cars; $50 railway
ties were cut from the limbs. which
sold for SO cents each. Thus the pro-
cecGs brought total of 1927. which is
probably record price for one tree
No more of the giants will be cut
however,
Costly Skate.