The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1920-03-19
CHAPTER |.

Trinidad head and dropped anchor at
the edge of the kelp-fields. Fifteen
minutes later her small-boat deposited
on the beach a man armed with long
squirrel rifle and an axe, and carrying |
food and clothing In brown canvas
pack. From the beach he watched
the boat return and saw the schooner
weigh anchor and stand out to sea
before the northwest trades. When |
she had disappeared from his ken, he |
swung his pack to his broad and pow |
erful back and strobe resolutely into
the timber at the mouth of the river.
The man was John Cardigan; In
that lonely, hostile land he was the
hrst pioneer. This Is the tale Of
Cardigan and Cardigan's son, for in
his chose- land the nioneer leader in
the gigant': task of hewing path
was to know the bliss Of woman's love
and Of parenthood, and the sorrow
that, comes of the loss Of perfect
mate; he was to know the tremendous
Joy Of accomplishment and worldly
success after infinite labor; and In
the sunset Of life he was to know the
dull despair Of failure and ruin. Be
cause Of these things there Is tale
to be told. the tale of Cardigan's son.
who, when his sire fell in the fray,
took up the fight to save his heritage
"a tale Of life with its love and hate,
its battle, victory, defeat, labor. Joy,
and sorrow, a tale of that unconquer-
able spirit of youth which spurred
Bryce Cardigan to lead a f0rlorn
hope for the sake not Of wealth but
Of an ideal. Hark, then. to this tale
Of Cardigan's redwoods:
Along the coast Of California,
through the secret valleys and over
the tumbled foothills Of the Coast
range, extends belt of timber Of
an average width of thirty miles. In
approaching it from the Oregon line
the first tree looms suddenly against
the horizOn-an outpost, as it were, Of
the host Of giants whose column
stretches south nearly four hundred
miles to where the last Of the rear
guard maintains eternal sentry-go on
the crest Of the mountains overlooking
Monterey bay. Far in the interior of
the state, beyond the fertile San
Joaquin valley, the allies Of this vast
army hold small sector on the west
slope of the Sierras.
These are the redwood forests Of
California, the only trees of their
kind in the world and indigenous only
to these two areas within the state.
Notwithstanding sixty years Of attri-
ton, there remain in this section Of
the redwood belt thousands upon
thousands Of acres Of virgin timber
that had already attained a vigorous
growth when Christ was crucifled.
In sizes ranging from 1--WE to twenty
feet in diameter, the brown trunks
rise perpendicularly to a height of
from ninety to a hundred and fifty
feet before putting forth single
limb, which frequently IL more mas
sive than the growth which men call
q tree in the forests Of Michigan.
Scattered between the giants, like
subjects around their king, one finds
noble flr, spruce, or pines, with some
Valparaiso live oak, black oak, pepper.
wood, madrone, yew. and cedar.
John Cardigan settled in Humboldt
county, where the sequoia sempervir.
ems attains the pinnacle Of Its glory
and with the lust for conquest hot In
his blood, he filed upon quarter.
section of the timber almost on the
shore Of Humboldt bay-land upon
which q city subsequently was to be
built. With his double-bitted axe and
crosscut saw John Cardigan brought
the first Of the redwood giants crash
ing to the earth above which it hat
lowered for twenty centuries, and ir
the form Of split posts, railroad ties
pickets, and shakes, the fallen gian
was hauled to tidewater in ox-drawr
wagons and shipped to San Francisco
In the little two-masted coastini
schooners Of the period. Here, by thu
abominable magic of barter and trade
the dismembered tree was TRANSMITTED
into dollars and cents and returned
to Humboldt county to assist Johl
Oardiean IN his task OF hewing al
empire out Of q wilderness.
Time passed. John Cardigan n
toness swung an axe or dragged
csossLcut saw through a fallen red
wood. He Was an employer Of labo
now, well known In San Francisco a
4 manufacturer of split-redwood proc
ucts the purchasers sending the
own schooners for the cargo. An
presently John Cardigan mortgage
all Of his timber holdings with q Sa