TALK OF BIG TREES!

"Few, perhaps, of our citizens realize the importance of the Big Trees to Los Gatos. Many of us – the great majority, no doubt – believe that to see real big trees one must go to the western slopes of the Sierra Nevadas – to the world-famed Mariposa, Calaveras, Yosemite, and other groves. The facts are that we have just as big trees right near Los Gatos, though not so many of them. It seems to be a case of 'distance' lending 'enchantment to the view.' 'Big Trees' is only nineteen miles from Los Gatos, and may be reached by rail or carriage. In either case you pass through some of the wildest, most romantic mountain scenery of picturesque grandeur unequaled in Europe or America."

"Big trees are measured at the ground, and while many of the giants of the Sierras have a circumference greater than those in our own Big Tree grove, they are as a rule smaller above ground, have less lumber measure and are not so tall. Take for example the 'Giant' of Big Trees; it is 60 feet in circumference and 21 feet in diameter at the ground, and 18 feet in diameter fifty feet from the ground; it is now 306 feet high, and some years ago 75 feet of the top was broken off by the wind, which would have made it 381 feet high.* The 'Giant' is the largest single tree in the grove, though there are a number nearly as large, and some clusters a great deal larger … the 'Giant' is a perfect tree from the ground up, and as straight as an arrow; it is enclosed by a picket fence to keep the souvenir hunter from desecrating its bark or body … It should be more generally known to tourists that tree[s] as big as the biggest can be reached from Los Gatos any day in the year, and that they do not have to make expensive side excursions to the Sierra Nevadas."

* Measurements for the height of the Giant varied over the years. Most estimates in the 19^th century claimed that the Giant was 306 feet and lost approximately 25 feet of its height in a storm. This measurement of 381 feet is the largest so far found in newspaper accounts.

Source: “Santa Cruz Big Trees,” Santa Cruz Evening Sentinel, April 1, 1902.