Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1906-08-10

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ditions they will not mature In their new
surroundings until a thousand years have
rolled around.
First Seen in 184t.
The big trees were never seen by white
men until 1S4l, when discovered in the
Calayeras grove by John B.dwell, after
ward a California candidate for congress.
For some reason, then, discovery has gem
orally been credited TO A. T.. Dowd, a
hunter, employed to supply game to men
building q canal in Calaveras county, IN
1852. Having wounded a grizzly bear In
the spring Of that year, Dowd Is said to
have followed the animal into a strange
forest, where he came upon the giant
trees. Returning to camp he related the
wonders he had seen, but the workmen
laughed at his story until he brought them
to the spot and let them satisfy their own
eyes. Another story has it that this hunt
er made his discovery in the Mariposa
grove, just receded TO the federal govern
ment. Victor Hugo in his ''Toilers of the
Sea- make the traveller, Mons. Leth.
Jerry, tell of a PROSTATE tree IN California
through whose hollow trunk a horseman
could ride 1O paces-which was a POSSIBLE
ity whether Hugo knew Il or not.
Vandals have kept their greedy claws
fastened upon the giant trees since the
first year OF their discovery. In 1853 the
destruction OF one of the largest-said to
have been the original discovered by Bid
well-was commenced. 1t was originally
SOP feet high and Sc feet in circumference
The bark was first removed to a height
Of thirty feet from the ground and sent to
England, whereof was formed into a room
In the Crystal Palace, S~ydenham, where
1t was destroyed by fire. This tree, which.
of course died, was next felled, five men
with pump augers being employed for
over three weeks in boring through the
huge trunk, just above the base. But
after the stem had thus been completely
severed from the stump so straight did
it stand characteristic Of the species
and 80 broad was its base that II still re-
NAMED as erect as a church spire. Great
wedges were next driven beneath IL by
heavy logs swung upon cables. While its
despoilers were one day at lunch, a gust
of wind took hold OF It's evergreen top and
hurled the colossal trunk to the ground.
Its fall IL sad TO have caused a veritable
earthquake. The top Of the stump was
next converted into a dancing floor, a
c~otillion party OF thirty-two persons In adj
dition to seventeen musicians anu onlook-
ers-forty-n.ne people in all once occupy
ing 1t at the same time. The bark of the
famous Mother Of the Forest ninety
feet ' in circumference, was similarly
stripped Off at about the same time, but
the barred runk still stands. Other Sc
quotas have been cut for lumber, many
have been destroyed by fire and many
young trees have been trampled to death
by stock.
D~epredations Of Lumbermen.
BY far the greater number Of the big
trees are now held by saw mill and lumber
companies, even the famous Calaveras or
Mammoth" g~rove-carefully preserved
rsA,A ~ . Atr ArrY.aAI No. N
man said to represent a lumber syndicate.
Forty mills and logging companies are at
work wholly or in part upon big tree lum-
Der. When the felled giants strike the
ground with a force of thousands Of tons
the brittle trunk are often crushed into
useless fragments. What remains is
blasted with gunpowder which often tears
the wood into wasteful shapes. The debris
left in the forest, In piles often as high as
a mans head, dries and forms finder for
destructive fires. THE devastation which
follows such numbering is as complete and
deplorable as the untouched forest is un-
paralleled, beautiful and worthy Of pres
ervation. AS a rule it has not ever had
the advantage OF being profitable" says
Clifford Pinchot, chief of the United States
bureau OF forestry.
The Yosemite valley has been famed as
cne Of the greatest scenic wonders of the
world ever Stree its discovery In 1851, when
an expedition was formed to drive out the
Indians who made it their stronghold. II
was first visited by tourists In 1856. In
igg4 III sightseers visited It, whereas the
number Of tourists now average more than
500 per year. In 1903 so great was the
travel to the valley that the state commits.
stoners had to notify transportation com
plnies to suspend their bookings, as the
hotels, camps and tents were filled TO over
moving. The government VIII Immediately
connect this natural center of the great
Yosemite rcgion with a system Of tele-
phone lines radiating to al, portions OF the
national park, thus insuring fire and police
protection. The d~eplorable stage roads In
the valley will be improved, and the toll
system by which, under the dual govern
ment, tourists have been unreasonably
taxed, will be abolished. A new hotel will
probably be built and a boulevard con-
structed through the beautiful MERGED
canyon. A fort will probably be built upon
this highway as a post for the regular
soldiers patrolling the entire national park,
which will now rival the Yellowstone, and
be similarly guarded throughout.
Beauties Of Modern Eden.
Tourists to this Eden will enjoy modern
comforts, security Of person and freedom
Ai'ht ~ "bth tASy NOiiiO ~
the famed Bridal Veil, the Nevada falls,
Eel Captain, the Three Graces, Glacier
Point and it's many other scenic s~plendors.
The Bridal Veil fall is precipated from a
height of 500 feet, and as 1t sways to and
fro in the winds. seems from a distance
to wave like a thin white veil.
FL Captain, further up the gorge, Is an
immense block of granite presenting an al
most vertical edge $500 feet high. At the
head of the valley the MERGED river gushes
over coo feet of rock and forms the Me-
vada falls. Glacier Point, the highest pro-
lection Of rock in the region, is 4,7S7 feet
above the valley.
The Yosemite Park commission has been
disappointed in finding so little game with
in their reservation. There remain no elk,
antelope, mountain sheep or beavers, al
though there still are bears, mountain
lions and a few deer. Since all of the
larger game animals we're there when the
first white men arrived, the COMMISSION
recommends a restocking OF the park and
newly acquired valley, thus making the
combined reservation, with It's unsur-
passed scenery and majestic trees. a para
disc for the naturalist, artist and hunter.
The Miser of Loretto.