Grand Forks herald., 1918-08-14
MANY VISITORS
T0STATEPARK
IN CALIFORNIA
Marine Training Station
Sends Out About 800
Trained Men a Month.

California Redwood Park, Cal,
Aug. 14.-vis.tors are arriving at
this state park, called the big
Basin" in larger numbers this year
than ever before. Lying only seventy
miles south of San Francisco. 1t is a
favorite rendezvous for automobile
lists. and it is estimated that in the
five months summer season more
than $4,000 persons will have en-
joyed the beauties of this virgin for
est Of redwoods and Douglas frs
There are now 144 camping sites
equipped with piped water tables,
benches and sanitary arrangements
free to those who wish to occupy
them. The rush has heen so. great
this year that many more camps are
to be built in the 'craters" of the
redwoods The thousands Of auto
mobiles being driven into the park
carry tents, blankets, cooking appar-
atus, canned goods and other pro-
visions. There is an inn for those
who do not care to camp.
The big Basin which was pur-
chased by the state in 1902 largely
through the efforts Of Andrew p.
Hill an artist and president of the
Sempervirens club. is one of the most
beautiful Of California's forests Of
virgin redwood notwithstanding it's
proximity to cities. 1t is being pre-
served in it's native wildness except
for necessary roads and thirty-five
miles of trail. The $500 acres of
are at an elevation of only 1000 feet,
but are pocketed by heavily forested
ridges of 1900 feet, giving rugged
ness like that of the high Sierra. Yet
the Big Basin is in the Coast range,
and only eight miles in an airline
from the ocean.
Scientists have computed the age
of this forest as the oldest in the
world, descending from the pliocene
age> 1t was saved from the glaciers
that overspread North America. 1t is
thought, by warm currents in the
ocean. The Sequoia Gigantea Of the
trees in the world. are believed to
have sprung from seed preserved in
the prehistoric ice, while the Sequoia
Sempervfrens, the redwosds of the
a,ecies. escaped the destroying ice.
They are part Of the redwood belt
which extends from twenty miles
above the oregon line to a short dis
tance below Monterey. Cal, and
about fifty miles inland from the
ocean. being found nowhere else.
In the Big Basin are seen "crat-
ers up to fifty-f1ve feet in diameter,
marking the places where stood the
enormous trees of, a past age. The
old trees have passed away. their
roots have sprouted to form, great
circles Of younger generation of
giant redwood. The tallest tree in
the grove today is "The Mother
which towers 304 feet, the greatest
in the world. Before it's top broke
off 1t was 32s feet high. Its di-
ameter is 81 feet, and it is thought
to be more than 5000 years old.
Fire has swept through the. forest
perhaps a hundred times, but the
redwood is most difficult to kill. It is
slow burning, and when felled inn
mediately sprouts from its roots in
a new generation. The life Of q tree
lies close to its bark. In the Big
Basin are hundreds of trees SCARED
by fire.. and It il possible to pass
through many that are perfectly
healthy.
Through the forest. deer roam in
security. One Of the sights ts TO- see
Albert Weaver. assistant warden. call
them from the forest at ntghtfall. He
feeds them lettuce, barley and apples.
And IT'S said-whisper tits said,
Weaver also gives them the Jumps
Of sugar allotted by the food admin
istration for his coffee. With hum
dred4l Of persons looking on. the most
timid animals Of the forest MUNICH
their feed, una1raid Of Weaver, fbut
alert for an overt act Of. others.
vs.