:2? \ :I:^^BSBBBB^B^SB»BBH!€«SS€SSSSSSSSSSSS€SSH % tg S! % t i I ^ MARIPOSA GROVE OF BIG TREES CALIFORNIA I t By B. M. LEITCH, Wawona, Cal. 8! I ■"Tp^ifjll it: %. I* "^'itfVrH/i'lWfc^^-^^:^^!^ s» I Wawona I It; I i I 1 MARIPOSA BIG TREES (Copyright applied for by B. M. Lcitcli) !^§^^HIS group is included in a tract of land that was granted to the state of California by the United States in 1864, and accepted by the State Legislature in ^^ 1866. The grant contains 2,589.26 acres. The name F^ given to the Grove is due to the latter's position in Mariposa county. Ceded to the United States by the State in 1905. The several groups that make this grove number 627 individual trees. When the species was discovered, botanists contended over the name, but finally adopted Sequoia Gigantea for these trees. For their smaller and more numerous cousins, the redwood of commerce, the name Sequoia Sempervirens was given. George Geuss was the Cadmus of the Cherokees; he invented the alphabet which made the Cherokee a written language and gave it a literature. His Indian name was Secjuoia, and this was chosen by the botanists and dendrologists for these big trees. This grove is no less a wonder than the Yosemite. Indeed to many the trees arc more wonderful than the valley, because they live. m 4^:^Kli i I I i (Hi S I Mariposa Grove of Big Trees 2076309 Governor Tod Group M m Si ^ »; Each spring the sap has risen in their mighty columns, and they represent a continuous vegetable life that began on the farther side of human history. Galen Clark, the discoverer of the Mariposa Grove, says that when he first saw the big trees in April, 1857, they were not burned much; that a forest fire raged through this section of the Sierra Nevadas in the summer of 1864, and that is the reason that the trees are so badly scarred by fire. The Sequoias of this group are really divided into two groves, the upper and the lower, from their respective sit- uations on the mountain side whereon they grow. s S ^ ^^^^^ l'^''Tight, 1908, SouUktu Pacific Compaay Grizzly Giant ■f* ■i« mm* i w w s i it) it; it; The Bachelor is 69 feet in circumference. The lieight of these trees is 240 feet. On the right hand road there are ten trees called tlie Cathech-al Group, average circumference 40 feet, height 240 feet. On this road is the Fallen Monarch, nearly 300 feet in length, and 26 feet in diameter. This is the tree on which "F" Troop, 6th United States Cavalry, were photographed, and a si.x horse stage was also photographed on this tree. Above the Fallen Monarch is a tree called Sacramento, circum- ference 66 feet, height 235 feet. On the turn above Sacramento is a tree called the Corridor, 72 feet in circumference and height 240 feet. This tree is very much burned. On the road towards the Grizzly Giant is a large fallen tree called the Emperor Norton. There is a grove of small Setjuoias near this tree. The largest Sequoia in the Lower Grove stands immediately by the road. It is called the Grizzly Giant. Its time-worn and rugged appearance is in keeping with its name. It has several very large limbs, one of which is 100 feet from the ground, and 20^ feet in cir- cumference. It is 104 feet in circumference at the base and 224 feet in height. It is estimated that this tree is about 8,000 years old and contains 1,000,000 feet of lumber. Below the Grizzly Giant, on a branch road, there is a tree called 'Wkg\\ it; it; SI ti! iSI I IS Mariposa Grove of Big Trees ::: Copyright, 1908, Southern Pacific Company The Sentinel i i w ^1/ I California, diameter 21 feet, height 248 feet. Stages pass through this tree by means of a tunnel. About one-quarter of a mile above the Grizzly Giant on the right, well up on the hill, stands the Forest King, circumference 55 feet, height 238 feet. On this road on the left there is a tree that has the most perfect top of any tree in the Grove. It is called Alabama. Circumference 62 feet, height 238 feet. The next is the Faithful Couple, circumference 97 feet, height 260 feet. There is no doubt but there are two trees grown together. This tree was named by Jessie Benton Fremont in 1859. On the right the next tree is called Pennsylvania, circumference 55 feet, height 230 feet. On the left is New Jersey, circumference 68 feet, height 240 feet. Above New Jersey is Michigan, circumference 60 feet, height 235 feet. On the right is Kate Field. On the left hand road there is a tree called Texas, circumference 63 feet, height 250 feet. There are very few Sequoias on the left hand road. On this road there is a tree called Grover Cleveland, circumference 61 feet, height 240 feet. Under this tree there are estimated to be 5,000 seedling Sequoias. Farther up this road there are two trees known as the "Western Sentinels, circumference 45 feet, height 240 feet. I ■ ->'47«V' ■■'•"*•• lid' -'-< I I IS Mariposa Grove of Big Trees Washington IS Si SI i i w »^ UPPER GROVE T i^^^HERE arc 368 Sequoias in the Upper Grove. S^ entrance stands the Mariposa, 100 feet in -* fercnce and 275 feet in height. It is the in either grove. It was named for the At the circum- finest tree ^ ?^ in either grove. It was named for the countv of !!53S^«^^ Mariposa. Washburn, circumference 52 feet, height 247 feet. This tree was named for Albert Henry Washburn, the pioneer stage-man who took the first tourists to Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Trees in 1866. On the left hand road leading from the entrance there are 38 Sequoias, largest circumference 103 feet, height 240 feet. Sunset, circumference 63 feet, height 235 feet. On the main road we see the San Francisco, circumference 69 feet, height 240 feet. . San Diego, circumference 63 feet, height 235 feet. Iowa, circumference 71 feet, height 250 feet. West Virginia, circumference 82 feet, height 240 feet. Brooklyn, circumference 75 feet, height 238 feet. Governor, circumference 90 feet, height 240 feet. Arkansas, circumference 92 feet, height 282 feet. Commissioners, average circumference 32 feet, height 240 feet. Missouri, circumference 102 feet, height 274 feet. Haverford, circumference 120 feet, height 280 feet. This tree is hollow at the base. Seventeen people on horseback have been sheltered in this tree. % $ t t^^; I ? I SI SI SI SI i I ■•• ■«■ Mariposa Grove of Big Trees a U M I ill I («; w it; I Connecticut, circumference 68 feet, lieight 248 feet. St. Louis, circumference 92 feet, height 204 feet. Andrew Johnson, diameter 18 feet, length 337 feet. This tree fell in 1870. Philadelphia, circumference 90 feet, height 262 feet. Ohio, circumference 63 feet, height 280 feet. Lafayette, circumference 95 feet, height 270 feet. Old Guard, four trees, average circumference 40 feet, height 260 feet. Rhode Island, circumference 37 feet, height 253 feet. - Fresno, circumference 66 feet, height 315 feet. Columbia, circumference 87 feet, height 323 feet. General Grant, circumference 67 feet, height 268 feet. General Sherman, circumference 67 feet, height 266 feet. General Sheridan, circumference 78 feet, height 275 feet. Delaware, circumference 48 feet, height 245 feet. Samoset, named by Ralph Waldo Emerson, May, 1871; ference 56 feet, height 240 feet. New Hampshire, circumference 50 feet, height 250 feet. North Carolina, circumference 63 feet, height 245 feet. Florida, circumference 61 feet, height 243 feet. Maryland, circumference 66 feet, height 248 feet. Colorado, circumference 54 feet, height 258 feet. Oregon, circumference 48 feet, height 250 feet. Francis Scott Key, circumference 51 feet, height 258 feet. Utah, circumference 72 feet, height 230 feet. Montana, circumference 52 feet, height 248 feet. Indiana, circumference 57 feet, height 238 feet. Nevada, circumference 49 feet, height 248 feet. Kentucky, circumference 55 feet, height 257 feet. circum- I W! 8! I I ^M^ 'Ml -■'■**■ f:W W: Mariposa Grove of Big Trees I ■■■ mi I i I ,[ m w (A Pasadena, circumference 55 feet, height 242 feet. Governor Tod, circumference 56 feet, height 240 feet. General Logan, circumference 81 feet, height 235 feet. Minnesota, circumference 75 feet, height 242 feet. Washington, circumference loi feet, height 245 feet. McKinley, circumference 84 feet, height 263 feet. Los Angeles, circumference 62 feet, height 230 feet. Lincoln, circumference 77 feet, height 236 feet. John Hay, circumference 59 feet, height 234 feet. University of Pennsylvania, circumference 90 feet, height 260 feet. Dewey, circumference 76 feet, height 252 feet. West Point, circumference 84 feet, height 245 feet. Wigwam, circumference 81 feet, height 238 feet. William Penn, circumference 81 feet, height 248 feet. Chester A. Arthur, circumference 84 feet, height 248 feet. Harvard, circumference 82 feet, height 230 feet. James A. Garfield, circumference 92 feet, height 233 feet. Forest Giant, 34 feet in diameter. This one was four months burning in 1864, and was no doubt the largest Sequoia in the Grove. Pittsburg, Pa., circumference 62 feet, height 24S feet. New York, circumference 57 feet, height 252 feet. Virginia, circumference 89 feet, height 192 feet. Wawona, circumference 85 feet, height 260 feet. Stages and other conveyances pass through this tree by means of a tunnel. Plonolulu, circumference 42 feet, height 230 feet. Chicago, circumference 59 feet, height 238 feet. Boston, circumference 60 feet, height 250 feet. Hamilton, circumference 85 feet, height 241 feet. Stanford University, circumference 76 feet, height 254 feet. -TW •' Ss* 1 ' ^V ?2"-l^i# I I I ! I 1 i I !.■•■ Mariposa Grove of Big Trees w t w 8! Si SI S! I I University of California, circumference 69 feet, height 253 feet. Longfellow, circumference 60 feet, height 242 feet. Whittier, circumference 72 feet, height 238 feet. Yale, circumference 87 feet, height 270 feet. Stonewall Jackson, circumference 51 feet, height 241 feet. R. E. Lee, circumference 49 feet, height 239 feet. Mississippi, circumference 50 feet, height 238 feet. Georgia, circumference 51 feet, height 241 feet. South Carolina, circumference 72 feet, height 243 feet. Wade Hampton, circumference 67 feet, height 244 feet. Wisconsin, circumference 65 feet, height 240 feet. Telescope, circumference 60 feet, height 190 feet. Kansas, circumference 68 feet, height 275 feet. Illinois, circumference 70 feet, height 270 feet. Massachusetts, circumference 93 feet, height 234 feet. Diamond Group, four trees in shape of a diamond: first, 82 feet in circumference; second, 45 feet in circumference; third, 47 feet in cir- cumference; fourth, 45 feet in circumference; average height, 260 feet. Maine, circumference 63 feet, height 230 feet. On the trail from the Wawona tree to the cabin there are about 70 Sequoias. The first discovery of the Big Trees was made in October, 1849, by Major Burney, then Sheriff of Mariposa county. He came across a few of these trees, probably forming part of a group in what is now Madera county, and known as the Fresno Grove. Thereafter, from time to time, persons exploring the mountains found grove after grove, until it was known that groups of these trees were scattered \^^^'\ '•■'■A-lt*-'- I I S! I I Mariposa Grove of Big Trees i SI w w 1 Si Si* 2 along the western front of the Sierras for a distance of about 200 miles. These forest giants have been standing for from three to eight thousand years; during that time, by the mere doctrine of chance, they must have been exposed to forest fires, not once, but many times. And while the trees are not absolutely fireproof, the fact that they have stood there through ages shows that they must be decidedly fire resistant. Nearly every tree is scarred at tiie base by fire, Init tlic tree still lives. The Secjuoia has no diseases, never decays, cannot be blown down and docs not burn up. That is the reason it outlives everything else in existence. I would advise parties visiting the Grove to take the whole day; a quick trip through the Grove docs not seem to satisfy. Walk around among the trees for two or three hours. From the cabin in the Upper Grove you can see over 100 big trees that will average 25 feet in diameter and 300 feet in lieight. Take a little time, for these trees are not to be seen elsewhere in the world. To reach the Mariposa Grove, see the agent at Sentinel Hotel, Yosemite Valley, where infor- mation regarding the route will be furnished. The best trip to take is via Glacier Point to Wawona, returning by Inspiration Point. The cones are remarkable for their diminutive size, and the seeds are short and thin as paper. The seeds were first sent to the Eastern States and Europe in 1853. They germinate readily and it is prob- able that thousands of these Sequoias are growing in different parts of the world from seed planted. There are ten groups of the Sequoia Giganteas in California, to wit, Calaveras, South Grove, Tuolumne, -V?>V' '' *rVv. '^i/;^^i0^^}^m >:::< '■•*> I IS I Si Si i I I Mariposa Grove of Big Trees . 8 8 w 8 i i i 8 1^ Merced, Mariposa, Fresno, Dinkey Creek, Kings River, New Kings River, Kaweah or Tule. Elsevi'here in California these trees are not known to exist. The tree is closely related to the redwood of the Coast Range. The wood of the Big Trees, like that of the redwood, is valuable for its utility. When exposed to excessive moisture it is unsurpassed for its dura- bility; it is easily worked into any shape, is light, and receives a high polish, and some specimens are beautifully marked. In its natural condition it is generally of a pale red tint; the bark is very thick, some of it being 30 inches through. It is estimated that the Big Trees are from 3,000 to 8,000 years old. The average height of the Sequoias in the Mariposa Grove is 250 feet, the average circumference 60 feet. The magnificent proportions of the trees and the awful solitude of the forest give an almost sublime grandeur to this part of the Sierras. The Mariposa Grove was discovered by Galen Clark in April, 1857. Mr. Clark was for many years Guardian of the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees. ALTITUDE AT BIG TREES Sentinel Trees 5,75o Grizzly Giant 6,200 Cabin, Upper Grove 6,800 Wawona Tree 6,920 Wawona Point 7,140 MS 8 8 ! i ! [ I mmmim^ m Mariposa Grove of Big Trees SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSiSSSSSSSSS^SSS^iSSSSm o c4 a CD o o n c o Designed by H. C. Tibbitts, San Francisco, Cal. University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 305 De Neve Drive - Parking Lot 17 • Box 951388 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90095-1388 Return this material to the library from which It was borrowed. HI ] ] m ^"^ in '^OIJTHERN RFr.iONAi LIBRARY FAClliI 1!|1 !!|l!ll||lll||!l! ! "11' '1 D 000 015 005 2