A DISTINCT DISAPPOINTMENT

The Fremont Tree and hotel at Big Trees Grove resort, circa 1910 - Courtesy of Frank Perry

The heyday of Big Trees Grove was the 1880s and 1890s. Despite being "… visited by more people annually than any other scenic locality in the State," after 1900 Big Trees Grove began to slide into decline.

After the grove’s most successful manager, Joseph Ball, left in 1901, supervision of the resort fell to the Welch brothers. The brothers, particularly Stanly Welch, did not appear to be up to the task. Soon the Welch family was faced with competition from the new, neighboring resort managed by Milo Hopkins. Established in 1902 on Henry Cowell’s property, the new resort proved very successful. The contentious rivalry between the two resorts was in full swing when this item appeared in the Santa Cruz Sentinel on April 4, 1911.

"A resident of New York temporarily sojourning on the Coast sends the following communication to a San Francisco paper, the sentiments of which will be fully endorsed by every one who has seen the splendid grove of big trees near Felton Station, in the Santa Cruz Mountains."

"As a visitor for pleasure for the second time to your beautiful State. I want to protest at the condition and neglect of one of the finest natural show places you possess, viz. the Big Trees near Santa Cruz."

"Here is a magnificent group of gigantic trees, something God has created and man cannot duplicate[,] easy of access to the average traveler and well worth the visit, yet it is permitted that the pleasures shall be marred by turning the Big Tree Grove into the cheapest kind of a picnic ground, with shameful toilet arrangements and a never-to-be-forgotten restaurant. Litter of all kinds is scattered through the grounds, which, with a number of unkempt shanties, and materially to the air of uncleanliness and disorder prevailing."

"It is too fine a possession for California to treat in this way. The State should own it and keep it clean, at least. As it is now, it is a distinct disappointment to the visitor who prizes nature’s wonders and beauties."

"Some day somebody who knows what he is about will stir things up, and then those magnificent trees will come into their own."

Some of these problems must have been resolved by that summer since the crowds continued to come. In August alone, there were two large excursions which included tree dedication ceremonies: the Corinthian Yacht Club of San Francisco and the International Typographical Union.

Sources: “Santa Cruz Big Trees Shamefully Neglected – Eastern Visitor Voices the Opinion of Many San Jose People,” San Jose Mercury-News, Volume LXXX, Number 94, April 4, 1911; “The Famous Big Trees,” Santa Cruz Sentinel, August 27, 1911; “Corinthian Tars Desert the Seas – Amateur Sailors Take to the Big Trees and the Beefsteak” San Francisco Call, August 12, 1911, 20:4; “Dedicate a Big Tree to Lynch – Officers of the Typographical Union Honor Their International President,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 12, 1911, 3:4.