TOWERING GIANT

Author's Personal Collection

“One tree, the ‘Giant,’ whose head towers far, far toward the heavens, piercing the very clouds with its branches, with forty feet broken by the storm, and hurled to the earth, still stands in its majestic height 300 feet. The ‘Giant’ is indeed a giant and a father of the forest, measuring in circumference eighty-four feet*, the bark being two feet thick, and requiring the second look to reach the top.”

During the 19th century there were numerous estimates of the Giant's height, anywhere from 300 to 365 feet. Most accounts claimed the Giant stood at least 306 feet. At some point a portion of its top was apparently broken off in a storm. Today, this still impressive monarch of the forest measures just over 275 feet.

* This figure is rather an exaggeration.

"Felton – A Village in the Mountains of Santa Cruz County," Santa Cruz Sentinel, March 31, 1887.