GENTLEMEN OF UNQUESTIONED VERACITY

The Giant, circa 1890, from the University of California, Santa Cruz, Special Collections, Santa Cruz County Historic Photograph Collection. Tourists often tacked their personal calling cards upon the forest monarch.

The following appeared in the May 2, 1867, issue of The Cultivator & Country Gentleman magazine:

“I hold in my hand a statement signed by twelve citizens of the county of Santa Cruz, [naming them] gentlemen of unquestioned veracity, an extract of which is as follows:

‘On land owned and cultivated by Mr. James Williams, an onion grew to the enormous weight of twenty-one pounds. On the same land, a turnip was grown that equalled exactly in size the top of a flour barrel. On land owned and cultivated by Thomas Fallen, a cabbage grew which measured, while growing, 13 feet six inches around its body. The various cereal grains also grew to the height of from 6 to 12 feet. One redwood tree in the valley, known as Fremont’s tree, measures over 50 feet in circumference, and is nearly 300 feet high …’”

A COUPLE OF CURIOUS GENTLEMEN

 

Author's Personal Collection

Soon after arriving in Felton around 1924, fifty-one-year-old Henry Staley was hired by the Welch brothers as the new manager of Big Trees Grove. Known as Harry to his friends, the native San Franciscan served as manager until the Welch family sold the grove to Santa Cruz County in 1930. Once the grove became Santa Cruz County Big Trees Park, Staley stayed on as a grove guide.* 

 

Staley became an expert in local flora and fauna. It was said that if he "… had twin daughters that’s what he would name them." He escorted countless visitors through the grove and received letters of commendation from dignitaries all over the world. One day at the grove in the early 1920s, Staley met a distinguished-looking elderly gentleman who expressed an equally intense interest in native plant life.

 

"The guest was anxious about the flowers and the dispositions of the redwoods. He kept Henry busy answering questions for fully an hour. Returning to the park gate the guest thanked Henry cordially for his courteous treatment and said: 'If you should happen to be in Santa Rosa some day, call and see me. My name is Burbank.'"

 

Luther Burbank, c. 1910 - Library of Congress

Luther Burbank, considered the leading horticulturalist in America, was born in Massachusetts in 1849. There he began a 55-year career in plant breeding. After selling the rights to a new Idaho potato he developed, Burbank used the windfall to move to California. He settled in Santa Rosa where he established a nursery, greenhouse, and experimental gardens. He developed more than 800 new strains of plants, including 113 varieties of plums, 10 commercial varieties of berries and hundreds of ornamental flowers. "One of Burbank's goals was to increase the world's food supply by manipulating the characteristics of plants. Burbank developed an improved spineless cactus which could provide forage for livestock in desert regions."

 

Burbank passed away on April 11, 1926 and was buried under the Cedar of Lebanon in his front yard. The Luther Burbank Home & Gardens, located in downtown Santa Rosa is a Registered National, State, City and Horticultural Historic Landmark.   

* Harry Staley passed away in 1941. Sadly, but perhaps fittingly, he died a few days after collapsing while taking a party on a tour of the Big Trees.

 

Sources: “Inside and Outside by Brent,” Santa Cruz Evening News, April 14, 1932, 1:1; Luther Burbank Home & Garden, “Luther Burbank,” 2021, http://www.lutherburbank.org/about-us/luther-burbank; Encyclopedia Britannica, “Luther Burbank – American Plant Breeder,” 2021, Revised by Melissa Petruzzello, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Luther-Burbank