THE CLEVELAND GRAYS

The Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park museum collection includes a bronze plaque which was apparently part of dedicating one of the big trees in 1912 to a group known as the Cleveland Grays.

The Cleveland Grays was an independent Ohio militia company first organized in 1837. Originally known as the Cleveland City Guards, they soon became known as the Grays because of the color of their uniforms. Their original purpose was to “bolster the local constabulary and to protect the city in case of invasion from Canada.” Members of the militia were called up for the Civil War, Spanish-American War, the 1916 Pancho Villa Expedition (a.k.a. Mexican Expedition), and World War I. Following the World War, the Grays became a social group. Today they serve as an educational and philanthropic organization and operate the Cleveland Gray’s Armory Museum.

There is documentation of the Cleveland Grays’ visit to California in 1912. About 150 militia members and their families traveled throughout the state aboard three special rail cars. As the guests of the California Grays militia, the Cleveland contingent were escorted around San Francisco including the grounds for the upcoming Panama-Pacific Exposition.

The bronze plaque states that the dedication took place to honor the 75^th anniversary of the militia group. Unfortunately, no documentation of their visit to Big Trees Grove has yet come to light. And the location of the supposed Cleveland Grays tree remains unknown.

Sources: “Cleveland Grays,” Ohio History Central, 2020, Ohio History Connection, https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Cleveland_Grays; “Cleveland Grays,” Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, 2020, Case Western Reserve University, https://case.edu/ech/articles/c/cleveland-grays.