IN PERPETUITY

Author's Personal Collection

As far back as 1876, one visitor pondered about the future of Big Trees Grove, stating that “somebody ought to buy that tract of land, and preserve it, and all that is on it, in its natural condition, as a public park.” After his May 1888 visit, noted caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast also added his sentiments on the subject when he declared “that the State ought to own the Big Tree grove and turn it into a public park.”  

San Jose Mercury-News, December 18, 1912

The December 18, 1912 San Jose Mercury-News described how the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce planned to put forth a bill calling for “the acquisition of about 150 acres of the Welch and Cowell grove of trees by the state.” The Chamber also noted that Mrs. Josephine Clifford McCrackin, president of the Ladies’ Forest and Songbird Protective Association advocated for the purchase of the Felton grove by the state back in 1901. Since the Welch family wished to continue their resort operation, McCrackin and others instead chose to back efforts to make Big Basin the first California state park in 1902.

Around 1900, an effort to make the giant sequoia of the Calaveras Grove a national park once again raised the hopes of many Santa Cruzans about the fate of Big Trees Grove. When a joint resolution to acquire Calaveras was introduced in the U.S. Congress, many Santa Cruzans asked, “Is it too late to include the Santa Cruz Big Trees in these negotiations?” When Congress balked at the purchase price for the Calaveras Grove, the deal fell through. The slight chance that Big Trees Grove might also receive federal government protection also evaporated.  

Fortunately, local preservation efforts finally paid off a couple decades later when the Welch family decided to get out of the resort business. To ensure preservation of the big trees, the Welch family sold 40 acres to Santa Cruz County for the establishment of a park.

In a July 18, 1928 article in the Santa Cruz Evening Sentinel, former Santa Cruz mayor William Jeter, who led the county’s effort, claimed that Joseph Warren Welch always intended that the

"… trees, plant life, shrubbery and undergrowth should be perpetuated and maintained in their natural state until the tract could be disposed of for public enjoyment under restrictions to effectively assure such maintenance. His wish in this regard was faithfully respected after his death in the ’70’s, by his widow up to the time of her death in 1905, and subsequently by the Welch heirs down to the present time."

The establishment of Santa Cruz County Big Trees Park in 1930 gave the grove its first government protection.

State park status was finally attained in 1954 after avid outdoorsman Samuel Cowell donated 1,623 acres of adjoining, previously logged land, to the State. Cowell insisted that his donation be added to the existing county park and together, in honor of his father, the parcel be declared Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park.

Sources: “Summer Recreation in the Open Air,” Santa Cruz Weekly Sentinel, January 15, 1876; “A Delighted Artist—Thos. Nast Enthuses Over Santa Cruz,” Santa Cruz Sentinel, May 5, 1888; Santa Cruz Sentinel, March 10, 1900; "Santa Cruz Wants the State to Buy a Grove," San Jose Mercury-News, December 18, 1912..