IMPRESSIONS OF THE BIG TREES

Tourists pose beneath the General Grant Tree, circa 1880s - Author's Personal Collection

"At Santa Cruz I engaged a team to drive about seven miles to look at the big trees. This ride was very enjoyable. As we rode up the mountains close by the side of the road we could look down the ravine seven or eight hundred feet, and above us the mountain towered high. Part of our road lay through a forest of immense pine and hemlock, some of them 200 feet in height. At last we reached the big trees, a sight never to be forgotten. 'The giant tree' is said to be 300 feet high and 60 feet in circumference, and the Fremont 52 feet in circumference and 275 feet high. There is a hollow or opening in this tree and said to be large enough for thirty-three persons to stand inside of it. It is said that when General Fremont was exploring this country he and his party encamped for about six weeks in the tree’s base, which is about 14 x 16 feet in interior diameter. It was also once used by a trapper and his family. There were children born in it, holes were cut for windows, a stove was put up and pipe, giving it the appearance of a home."

"One tree, above all, deserves special mention. It is called the General Grant, whose name will never die and will be a household word for future generations."

Several ladies rest besides Ingersoll's Cathedral, circa 1880s - Author's Personal Collection

"Another tree is named Colonel Ingersoll, and is said to be ninety-eight feet in circumference."

Source: “California Impressions,” by J. Whitney Farlin, The Inter Ocean, (Chicago, Illinois), December 11, 1887.