GOOD NEWS ABOUT FALL CREEK

Author's Personal Collection

At Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, some trails in the lower portion of the Fall Creek Unit are open to the public as of November 14th. The parking lot off of Felton Empire Road is also open.

CLOSED TRAILS (marked red on map)

Lost Empire,  Pine Flat,  Sunlit,  Tan Oak,  Big Ben, Ridge,  S-Cape,  North Fall Creek (between Cape Horn Trail and Big Ben Trail)

OPEN TRAILS

Bennett Creek,  High School,  Kiln Fire Road,  South Fork,  Truck,  North Fall Creek (between Cape Horn trail and Bennett Creek Trail)

All trails in red are closed for the winter.  Depending on debris flow this winter, the park may have to reevaluate closing more of the park. 

 A Little History of Lime at Fall Creek

In the 19th century lime was an essential ingredient in the making of mortar and plaster. Limestone found in the Santa Cruz Mountains was considered some of the purest in the nation, and the mortar made with it helped build and rebuild San Francisco. Limestone was reduced by heating it in stone kilns that were kept at temperatures up to two thousand degrees Fahrenheit. As early as the mid-1870s, the lime industry near Felton employed about one hundred men.

California State Parks exhibit panel showing the historic location of the IXL Lime Works in Fall Creek

In the 1870s, Henry Cowell bought into the IXL Lime Company located along Fall Creek. In 1900, he became sole owner of the kilns, which continued to operate until 1919. During their peak in the 1890s, these kilns produced fifty thousand barrels of lime per year. The combined limekilns of the Santa Cruz Mountains annually produced approximately 150,000 barrels of lime using as much as twenty thousand cords of wood, further decimating the old-growth forests. 

Author's Personal Collection

Thanks to the S.H. Cowell Foundation, remnants of the kilns became part of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park in 1972.
 

THE FIRST REDWOOD RESORTS

 

Visitors admire redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains, circa 1915 - Author's Personal Collection

Clarence E. Edwords, Chief of the Publicity Bureau for the California Promotion Committee, made the following statement in the April 30, 1907 Santa Cruz Surf.

"I must confess that I always had an unfavorable impression regarding Santa Cruz county until one day when I drove over the hills, down through the wonderful canyons, past such insistent evidences [of] magnificent natural wealth that I wondered how it happened that I permitted all this beautiful country to sit at my very door for so long without knowing anything about it ..."

"The world boasts no greater natural wonder than the tree growth of California. In this State are the largest and the oldest trees in the world – trees who send their tops up into the sky while their roots are entwined about the granite of the hills."

"In California nowhere are there so large ones of the Sempervirens variety as in Santa Cruz county, and the 'Big Tree Grove,' five miles from the city of Santa Cruz, has attracted the attention of world travelers."

"Two immense groves of these trees are preserved in Santa Cruz. The one best known is the Fremont grove [Big Trees Grove], five miles from the city of Santa Cruz. In this grove fifty of the trees range from thirty to sixty feet in circumference, and from two hundred to three hundred feet in height. Here notables of the world have come to pay homage to the patriarchs of earth."

"The Big Basin grove, or as it is now officially known, Sempervirens Park, is a recent public acquisition, and the 4000 acres of its area form one of the finest forests in the world* … Santa Cruz county will extend her fame over the world more through this wonderful park than through any of her many other interests which are being made known through extensive advertising of beach and summer resort."

From its inception in 1902, Big Basin was far larger than Big Trees Grove whose big trees stood upon about 40 acres. Despite its larger size, Big Basin attracted just over two thousand visitors each year during this period. The additional fifteen-mile journey up winding mountain roads and a lack of facilities probably contributed to its slower growth. For at least a little while longer, the larger crowds and more intense competition for redwood tourists continued to be between the two redwood resorts in Felton: the Welch brothers' Big Trees Grove and Milo Hopkins' Cowell’s Big Trees.

* Originally 3,601 acres, today Big Basin Redwoods State Park encompasses over 18,000 acres. Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, site of the historic Big Trees Grove resort, now contains 4,650 acres.

WITHIN A DAY'S JOURNEY

Path in Big Trees Grove, 1908 - Author's Personal Collection

"The Santa Cruz Big Tree Grove, seven miles from Santa Cruz, on the bank of the San Lorenzo River, is one of the most interesting points within a day's journey of San Francisco. The distance is 73 miles from the city, and the Narrow Gauge road runs through the edge of the grove, so that there is no delay or inconvenience in reaching the ground. A party leaving the metropolis at 8:30 A. M., can spend nearly three hours in the Big Trees, and reach home at 7 P. M., the same day. The grove covers an area of about 20 acres, and has a score of redwood trees … One stump of a redwood is covered with a summer house, which has seats for fourteen persons … Numerous tables and benches have been provided; and while there is room for thousands of people, there are also numerous secluded little nooks, suitable for the smallest party."

"… [T]his grove gives as much satisfaction to most visitors, as do the larger Calaveras and Mariposa Groves, which, if they have larger trees, cannot be visited without much more inconvenience and expense. The grove has a small house built for a hotel, but it is entirely inadequate to the wants of the situation, and in the spring of 1882, has no tenant. If there were a good house, there would probably be many summer boarders; that is, if the attractions of the place can be fairly estimated from the impressions left by repeated visits of a few hours each."

Source: Hittell’s Hand-book of Pacific Coast Travel by John Shertzer Hittell, 1885.

FIRE & THE BIG TREES

Historic Tales of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park: 

Big Trees Grove

Landmark History Series published by the History Press, part of Arcadia Publishing

Historic Tales of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park: Big Trees Grove, traces the evolution of the first redwood resort. When Joseph Warren Welch purchased a grove of coast redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains in 1867, he became the first to preserve a redwood forest for public recreation. Visiting the redwoods in nineteenth-century California meant coming to Big Trees Grove. The resort managed by the Welch family for 60 years is where the public got to know the redwoods and where they fell in love with them. 

Fires this summer damaged nearly 40% of the magnificent redwood forests of this region. Fire touched the area’s two state parks which contain old growth redwoods: Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park and Big Basin Redwoods State Park. Though fire, sadly devastated Big Basin, California’s first state park, it left untouched the historic heart of Henry Cowell, the site of Big Trees Grove resort.

The coast redwoods are survivors. They are imbued with tannic acid which provides them with a greater ability to withstand fire, as well as insects and disease. The redwoods also have the astounding ability to sprout from their roots. These attributes enabled the redwoods to endure and survive fires for thousands of years. 

Fire last swept through Big Trees Grove in 1867 - Author's Personal Collection

From the beginning, fire played a role in shaping the redwood forest and the history of both parks. For 15,000 years Native people often set fires to foster the region’s abundant food resources. A fire last swept through Big Trees Grove in 1867 and may be the reason why Joseph Warren Welch, rather than a logger, was able to purchase the grove. The remnants of that last fire are seen today in the big tree’s singed bark and fire etched hollows. Though this year’s fires were more intense than those of the past, hope is found in the fact that the same pattern of regeneration that Big Trees Grove experienced over the past 150 years, will soon commence among the redwoods of its sister park, Big Basin. 

The very existence of Big Basin Redwoods State Park is linked to the history of the Big Trees Grove resort. A fire in 1899 played a pivotal role in the redwood preservation movement. The fire, which raged through the eastern portion of the Santa Cruz Mountains, was halted in an uniquely California manner and inspired a British magazine to publish an article entitled, “How A Forest Fire Was Extinguished With Wine.” The article’s images were provided by San Jose photographer, Andrew P. Hill. To better demonstrate the immensity of the fire, Hill planned to take photographs of living redwoods at the world renown redwood resort, Big Trees Grove. When confronted by resort personnel, Hill refused to pay the 25-cent admission fee and was unceremoniously kicked out of the resort. That incident led to famed, local journalist Josephine Clifford McCrackin to pen a blistering editorial criticizing the resort owners, but more importantly, advocating for the public ownership of the redwoods. The movement to preserve the redwoods led to the establishment in 1902 of the first California State park, Big Basin. 

The development of Big Trees Grove resort set the stage for preservation. As a world renown resort for sixty years, Big Trees Grove introduced thousands to the majesty of the redwoods. Historic Tales of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park - Big Trees Grove recounts the stories of the first redwood tourists and the awe-inspiring landscape they helped preserve for future generations.  

For Media Inquiries Contact:  Sarah Haynes  843.853.2070 x199 shaynes@arcadiapublishing.com 

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.

PRESIDENTIAL THOUGHTS

President Theodore Roosevelt stands beneath the Giant at Big Trees Grove on May 11, 1903 - Author's Personal Collection

"We should see to it that no man for speculative purposes or for mere temporary use exploits the groves of great trees. Where the individuals and associations… cannot preserve them, the state and if necessary the nation, should step in and see to their preservation."

Address of President Theodore Roosevelt at Santa Cruz, California,  May 11, 1903 

It is Election Day - please remember to VOTE

 
 

REVIEWS

"Deborah has been a docent at Henry Cowell for many years and her 208 page book is jammed backed with history, photos, a list of all the named trees in the grove and an extensive bibliography. This is a must-have for your local history book collection. Unfortunately this book came out just before the Covid-19 pandemic so Deborah hasn’t had many opportunities for book signings. This book is available at BookShop Santa Cruz and Henry Cowell State Park."

        Scotts Valley Historical Society

 

"This year we read an extraordinary book written by an author who lives in Santa Cruz and personally experienced the recent fires in California."

 

"Every time we read about a California wildfire we hope and pray that none of the historic and much-loved tourist destinations are involved. One such destination is the Big Trees Grove at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park."

 

"This historic book by author Deborah Osterberg is an exciting read for people who love the ages-old redwood forests of California. It details the trials and tribulations of great Americans who saved may of these wonderful stands of trees from the logger's ax - it wasn't always an easy task."

 

"We highly recommend this paperback book for a self-reading or as a gift."

 

        Travels with Wayne and Judy Bayliff