FOR THE PEOPLE

Author's Personal Collection

 

 

"Later it was our pleasure to visit the big trees or the redwood (Sequoia sempervirens). At the big tree near Santa Cruz in California this small grove of this majestic tree contains some of the largest of the species with the exception of a few in the Muir woods near San Francisco. A part of this grove is free to the public but a part of it is fenced off and a small admission of twenty-five cents will admit you to the grove containing the largest tree."

 

"Some of the trees are dedicated to a few notable personages like McKinley and Grant. Most of the trees have inscriptions of some fraternal order. I have no objections to the placing of such monuments in appropriate places around these trees; however, it does appear to me that a grove like this, accessible to travelers along the line of the Southern Pacific railroad, should become the property not of an individual or corporation but it should belong to the people. For this reason the state or national government should control this grove as one of the nation's play grounds. This grove would then be more adequately protected from vandalism and fires." 

Thanks to the Welch family who operated the resort for 60 years, Big Trees Grove finally came under government protection. In 1930 they sold the grove to Santa Cruz County. The grove flourished as Santa Cruz County Big Trees Park for nearly 25 years. In 1954 it became part of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park.

 

Source: “The Conservation of the Wild Flowers,” by L.H. Pammel, Transactions of the Iowa State Horticultural Society, December 1915.